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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joshie Furuhashi wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"Moreover, if
the liberal <BR>elite manage to elect John Kerry by neutralizing the main
left-wing <BR>electoral alternative to the Democratic Party and allowing Kerry
to <BR>run to the right of Bush, e.g., on fiscal discipline, the occupation
<BR>of Iraq, etc., they can move both the Democratic and Republican <BR>Parties
to the right -- just imagine what Democratic and Republican <BR>candidates we
will face in 2008, 2012, and later!"<BR></FONT><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>I just don't understand this statement. Fact is, I don't understand
a lot on this list that has to do with politics. Must be that folks are
still trying to make up their minds on who to vote for, whether third parties
are viable, etc. I'll likely vote for Kerry as the lesser
evil, even though I like much of Nader's economic program and his
crazy willingness to nose-thumb capital. Hell, in '99 I was
registered Green while running for Albuquerque city council in a non-partisan
race on a pro-worker and environment-friendly platform (got 20 percent of the
vote in a Republican district). About the same time, I was elected chair
of the Labor Party of New Mexico (my first loyalty) and changed my registration
to the inactive La Raza Unida Party as an act of solidarity with the Latino
and Native majority in that state. While the Greens could attract few
POC, the majority of Labor Party members were POC (and unionists). The
social bases of these two third parties were different as day and night.
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>But we were
able to coalesce with certain influential Democrats and labor leaders
to nearly get an IRV constitutional amendment passed by the state legislature in
'99. Needless to say, enormous energy, study, and coordination
were required by a dedicated few. If IRV passed, we
anticipated organizing a proportional representation movement.
Lessons that were reinforced: (1 ) independent progressive third
parties are valid (2) coalitions on specific issues can be formed with liberal
Democrats (3) good organizing and dedicated workers are vital (4) social
differences in "constituencies" must be acknowledged (5) leadership from the
most exploited/oppressed makes sense. Perhaps nothing
new here. But then came Bush 2000 and 9/11, the going got tougher,
and nearly everybody moved to the right or turned off politics. Well, I
reckon that's temporary.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>But back to the
basics of this thread. It must be</FONT> clear to all that both
major parties have been moving in tandem to the right since the end of the
Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, and the "accord" of big labor
with capital. Neither party was ever very far to the left, but there
was more liberalism in both parties from the end of World War Two until the
early 70s when the boom ended, the peoples' movements faltered, and big labor
became firmly embedded with corporations. The falling rate of profit
and liberation movements here and abroad scared the pants off
capital. It correctly perceived a significant loss of its
political and economic grip. </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>This had to be reversed by any means necessary:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>police action, law, propaganda, education,
industrial technology, general power of the purse, national and
local control of government, etc. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The right wing propaganda machine churned up in the
70s, with clarion calls for massive change. Free copies of Richard
Viguerie's The New Right: We're Ready to Lead were provided by the
publisher for distribution to my political sociology class. Viguerie
became the pre-internet expert in direct mail advertising of the right wing
agenda. Then Business Week magazine summed it all up in three
comprehensive issues. "The End of the Industrial Society" (1979)
reviewed socioeconomic trends and championed supply side theory. "The
Reindustrialization of America" (1980) challenged labor, women, minorities,
jobless, homeless, and environmentalists to get ready to receive a smaller part
of the national product and cooperate in a new social contract for a more
competitive economy. "America's Restructured Economy" (1981) endorsed
Schumpter's creative destruction theory, called for immense capital formation,
and bid the working class to cooperate in the spirit of patriotism.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm not saying much that you already don't
know. It's just a reminder that right wing forces put in motion
decades ago have to be dealt with. That's our political
challenge. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bob Mast</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>