Diminished Expectations (Re: [lbo-talk] plea from gay Iranian)

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Thu Jun 29 21:03:27 PDT 2006


On Jun 29, 2006, at 8:22 PM, B. wrote:


> Hope you're not suggesting that because the workers' movement (or
> lack thereof) in the US has been sclerotic for the past 25-30
> years, that ideals of radical economic, workplace, etc., democracy
> should be abandoned. (Actually, I dunno if you even embrace those
> ideals to begin with, but those are ones I hold.)
>
> A fine essay you sent to the list by George Orwell on power-
> worship complained about folks who saw current trends as
> indicative of permanent ones. Maybe the workers' movement sucks
> now, but that doesn't mean some kind of Chavez-ian strong man-ism
> is the answer, either. (Sorry for that clumsy phrasing there.) The
> lefty messiah thing ain't my bag!

I'm not suggesting abandonment at all. I was trying to explain why people were excited about Chavez and not making more radical demands. The old ideas have lost some of their popular appeal, don't you think?

Doug



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