> I have been exposed to much theoretical hocus-pocus on this list over the
> course of years now, and I don't see that any of this strenuous obscurantism
> has done one whit to raise the left from its moribund state. What I
> consider "deeply conservative" is to indulge in pedantry that stands no
> chance whatsoever of connecting to or transforming mass politics at any
> point. Having until recently occupied a perch in the corporate world, I
> have, one might say, been in the position of an artillery spotter. And let
> me tell you, LBOers, *none* of the furious salvos of intensely academic
> commentary fired off here make the slightest difference to, or are even
> heard by, the business world. Let's be honest, LBOers: You can't claim to
> be laying the foundations for social transformation when -- month after
> month, year after year -- listees gripe endlessly about the unremitting
> "such as it is" state of the left, which continues to dwindle away to
> nothing.
>
> When you find yourself in a hole, as the cliche goes, the first thing to do
> is stop digging. I certainly don't want to come across as a Michael Moore,
> but something must be done -- patterns of scholarly thought, study and
> expression changed -- so all this leftist intellectual effort breaks out of
> the academic ghetto and starts enlightening people in general about the
> structurally cruel, dehumanizing nature of the society in which they live.
>
> This is not meant to be carping criticism. I simply feel a great sense of
> frustration because I sense that (as I commented to you offlist yesterday,
> Doug) the tide of history really is beginning to reverse its course of at
> least the past two decades, and if any real left continued to exist, I am
> certain it would have significant opportunities for advancement in the near
> future. As things stand now, however, it doesn't, so it won't.
It depends which Left you are talking about. I agree that the academic Left has no bite.
What of the anti-globalization movement that Greenspan bitched about the other day?
<< Chuck0 >>
This was the year *everything* changed.
-- Commander Ivanova, 2261
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"A society is a healthy society only to the degree that it exhibits anarchistic traits."
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