>From: "Justin Schwartz" <jkschw at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: Alterman: Left in Shambles
>Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 03:52:01 GMT
>
>
>>Chris Kromm wrote:
>>
>>>Question: Is Eric Alterman the most reprehensible human ever?
>>
>>Well, there's David Horowitz.
>>
>>Doug
>
>We said "human." --jks
In the Mr Alterman vs Mr West debate, there is no reason to prefer the latter save out of misguided racial political correctness. The latter has supported the reactionary million man march; he has often made the crisis of nihilism central to the plight of the so called underclass. He has an exaggerated role of the importance of religion in progressive social struggle. He also believes in God. He is as bankrupt as the other Nader supporters. His politics have been subjected to withering critique by a few revered fellow leftist business observers. If he were to be honest, Mr Schwartz would doubtless tell you that his much heralded work on prgamatism is mediocre at best, though of course only after Mr Schwartz had reminded you of every elite institution in which he has ever set foot ("Rorty commenting on Papineau commenting on Posner noted about West, all former teachers and now colleagues of mine though I am still stupid enough to have supported Nader"). It would be a fortunate outcome of this disastrous election if his support for Nader could be used to fully delegitimize him--West, that is.
This is not to say that Mr Alterman is also not a joke; he is no Ms Amy Goodman who despite her terrible interview has done brave and brilliant journalism. Mr Alterman would never take it on himself to demonstrate the recent modest bottom-up gains have almost nothing to do with Democratic policies. He would never explore the importance of extra legal workers' struggles in the advancement of proletariat. He is just the mouthpiece of a leftist AFL CIO-Democratic Party dues-collecting bureaucracy; he only sounds radical at times for the purposes of legitimacy. His mentor the even bigger windbag Mr Gitlin seems to think God is on his side so when anything he proposes as a reasonable reform does not even get off the ground, he is not the least bit bothered because he knows the Big One/ Justice/Reason is behind him.
But such types are a dime a dozen. Their total world view of righteous, no gain pragmatism--C Wright Mills once called it crackpot realism--can be distilled in a few paragraphs, though it is spun out over and over again in hundreds of non descript columns which collapse one into another.
Mr West however is in the position to do unique harm.
That this is the American left--Mr Alterman vs. Mr West--is all one needs to underline to demonstrate the collapse of real opposition.
Warmest regards, Jan
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