BK on Identity

[Carl Remick]

>How many workers *feel* this systemic exploitation? They may have a
>gripe about the boss, or wish they could pay the kid's orthodontist
>bills more easily, but you're assuming a sophisticated political
>economy analysis that right now only left-wing intellectuals can
>articulate. But even among those who might feel it, without a
>possible utopia to imagine as an alternative, most probably view it
>as a fact of nature.
>
>Doug

Loss of vision is surely a chief factor in the such-as-it-is quality of the 
left today.  Preoccupation with quantification has led to sterile 
compromises that reinforce existing society, and an unwillingness to draft 
"cookbooks of the future" has meant no compelling dreams that can inspire 
people at large to demand basic change.  It's easy to deride utopian works 
like Looking Backwards as naive or worse, but I think it's inarguable that 
the left had more political traction when there was a willingness to make 
bold statements about the possibility of creating a fundamentally different 
and fairer society.

Carl
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