[lbo-talk] How Americans would respond

Marvin Gandall marvgandall at rogers.com
Sun May 1 11:21:34 PDT 2005


Leigh Myers:


> I have a hard time visualizing anything truly socially constructive
> or progressive being derived from fear, unless it's only progressive
> or constructive for a subset of the society as a whole.
>
> The fear of starvation, poverty and unemployment during the depression
> wasn't what drove people to organize around "radical" causes...

Doug Henwood:


>But the left used to be about hope, optimism, the future.
------------------------- Both these elements - a desperate impulse to escape from intolerable conditions, coupled with hope the future will be better - are present in every movement for social change, including those which arose during the Depression. If forced to choose between the two, I'd say the first is a more powerful incentive than the second. If conditions are merely a daily grind, but not experienced as "intolerable", as is the case today, the resulting mood is one of resignation and cynicism, the least fertile soil for cultivating optimism, confidence, and combativity - as so many thwarted left groups and activists have found to their dismay. I'm afraid things will have to get worse before they meet the left's definition of "better" - or, alternatively in such circumstances, before they get even worse (fascism).

MG



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