[lbo-talk] A 'Progressive Conference'

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Nathan Newman:
> Yes, they don't talk about dialectical materialism every other
sentence, but
> they are pretty much proof that lots of money and volunteers can be
> mobilized on a pretty progressive platform, something much of the
> traditional left has failed at.  So maybe the problem is not the
> conservatism of the American people but the lack of skill of the
organizers
> on the left?

I am not arguing that there not great numbers of people sympathetic to
Left/liberal positions in this country - but even if those numbers were
in tens of millions - we are talking about 5-6% of the population, a
statistical margin of error if you will (it is a figure of speech, of
course, since we are not dealing with statistical samples here).

Leaders like LePen cannot mobilize more than 10, perhaps 15% of the
French electorate.  Bush, who is a US version of LePen (if not worse)
enjoys a sold support of about 48% of the US population.  This speaks
volumes how deeply reactionary the US society is.  In other words -
there are fascist sympathizers and reactionaries in all developed
countries, but the US seem to have a much greater share of them than
other countries - and there are good historical reasons for that.

The best political strategy for the Left in this country is elitist
politics giving substantial influence to relatively small but vocal and
well organized groups.  Mass mobilization and populism can lead only to
the tyranny of the majority and totalitarianism.

Wojtek