[lbo-talk] What the results tell us...

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Wed Nov 8 11:16:56 PST 2006


Chuck:

I am an anarchist. As such, I oppose the American system and see the Democrats as being the same as the Republicans. Even the election night pundits last night were talking about this similarity. Something about "Blue Dog Democrats."

I'm sorry, but I just don't go to bed with people who repulse me.

[WS:] That is a problem - you seem to prefer ideological purity to pragmatism. I share your opinion of the American system, but I do not think that rebuilding it from the scratch is a viable option. Nothing ever is rebuilt from the scratch - even the most revolutionary movements are built on the already existing institutional resources.

There is nothing carved in stone about the current state of the Democratic party. They are what they are because people who care to work with them or to support them made it that way, while the more ideologically pure folk took the high road and withdrew into sectarian politics of academic departments or phony "third" parties.

What people often fail to realize is that political parties in the US are closer to political blocs in European politics - or coalition of many different parties for the purpose of forming a government. The main difference is that European coalitions are formed after the election, whereas in the US they are formed before. Therefore, what happens before the election, the primaries and before is as if not more important as what happens in November. This is the formative phase of the coalition, and this is the most opportune time to shape the Democratic party.

Therefore, anyone seriously interested in changing the system should start working inside the existing parties. The conservatives got that long time ago and reshaped the Republican party to their liking. I wish that the sectarian Left did the same with the democrats, instead of dicking around with phony parties and factions.

One final comment. I think it is a no brainer that the US population will not accept anything that even remotely resembles socialism, let alone anarchism. This is an individulalistic society that believes in individual success and free market and is fundamentally opposed to anything collectivistic. The best you can hope is a slow drift of the center of gravity toward EU-style social democracy. Therefore, expecting any party, Democrats or any of the "third" parties if they by some accident come closer to the halls of power, to remake the US system in a socialist or anarchist mold is sheer delusion. It aint' gonna happen - not in our lifetime and not in our children life time.

Wojtek



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list