> Buck up. Sure, the left may be in disgrace with fortune and men's
> eyes, beweeping its outcast state, so to speak. But take it from the
> US Coast Guard, whose motto goes: "Semper Paratus." To cite WS still
> again, "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the
> flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is
> bound in shallows and in miseries ...."
Well, those are very comforting words in our present miserable state, but not enough. I'm still looking for a serious account of what socialist ideas (that is, precisely, social or government ownership of the means of production, etc., not just anonymous "progressive ideas") can contribute to the message the Left should give the public right now -- in 2004. What can socialists say to the American public which will make sense to it, and not stimulate the automatic reaction, "Oh, you're talking about the old Communist dictatorships in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Phooey!"?
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org _____________________________ "Simply by being human we do not have a common bond. For all we share with all other humans is the same thing we share with all other animals -- the ability to feel pain." -- Richard Rorty