> If one is imbued with the Calvinistic inevitabilities of historical
> materialism, a "shrinking American left" would be not much to worry
> about. For that, and for myself, the question of how the left, and/or
> workers movements worldwide are doing is a question of more
> importance. Looking south of the US, or to France's upcoming NON vote
> to the EU constitution and so forth, or to Roh Moo-hyun's presidency
> of South Korea, I think things worldwide are on the right track.
> Nevertheless, I do not think the American left is shrinking, I think
> it is growing, at least in terms of how people think, and people from
> Michael Moore to Noam Chomsky seem to think the same thing. Of
> course, to what degree organization exists for these people is another
> question.
I agree with Lance. I'm still pretty optimistic about the possibilities of radical social change, although I've been frustrated with the post-9/11 downturn in dissent. It's entirely possible that this downturn may have happened without 9/11 as the intensity of the post-Seattle movement would have burned people out.
There are plenty of signs that the left, generally speaking, is growing in the U.S. I think many of these people tend to shun labels or affiliations at this point. There hasn't been any growth among the old school sectarian groups, despite the pretenses they put up.
The anarchist movement, and the number of non-movement, anarchists continues to grow. My role as an anarchist organizer is a 24/7 job that I don't always do very efficiently. Still, these days I'm more likely to hear from anarchists in offbeat places. The biggest anarchist newsmaking event this week was a feisty protest in Houston, Texas. And I'll be attending an anarchist conference in South Dakota later this year!
Chuck