Alterman: Left in Shambles

Chris Kromm ckromm at mindspring.com
Mon Nov 13 04:57:31 PST 2000


It appears the only politics we are left with are ... Jan's. Sigh. Warm regards, Chris

----- Original Message ----- From: jan carowan <jancarowan at hotmail.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 2:33 AM Subject: Re: Alterman: Left in Shambles


>
>
>
> >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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