> Also, there is a suspicion of success among the left,
> and that has sometimes-unfortunate counterparts in the
> punk community. When a band becomes too popular, folks
> start jumping ship. The band MUST have done something
> to sell out to get as popular as they did. There's a
> similar dynamic with Noam Chomsky. He's "too popular,"
> which is a bizarre problem in the left. Better-knowing
I think the problem is that the US left, or rather its certain segments, is devoted to counter-culturalism rather than to economic and political issues, social and economic justice etc.. Since becoming "popular" i.e. "mainstream" is ipso facto tantamount to losing the counter-cultural status, that automatically turns that person into the enemy. I also think that these folks are identified as "left" by coincidence only - or rather because being "left" was once a counter-cultural trend which they embraced and the label stuck. But if we simply stop treating such opinions as expressions of political views and treat them what they really are - fads, fashion statements and gossip - this whole thing of left being suspicious of success will become a non-issue.
Wojtek