[lbo-talk] Nader, et al

Jim Straub rustbeltjacobin at gmail.com
Tue Aug 7 16:10:56 PDT 2007


I must say, I found these comments of Julio's very insightful. Now almost everyone on this list occasionally has perceptive and wise things to say about the eternal debate about the left and the dems, but the folks I find most penetrating on the subject when they speak on it are Julio and Marvin. Now I could be totally mis-remembering my lboster geography here, but, do I recall correctly that Julio is based in Mexico and Marvin in canada?

If so, why such wise commentary on us electoral politics from folks who are in countries that are foreign, but also nearby? I wonder if it might stem from their being in countries that, unlike the us, do have some existing mass center-left and left organizations and institutions; knowing what that looks like up close gives one a very pragmatic perspective on the mass character of left politics maybe? Or that being nearby, but in a very different polity, allows one to truly graspy by comparison the reality of a truly mass conservative bent to us society?


>
> Effective, lasting, sustainable social change can only result from
> large masses of people in motion with a political compass. That's
> why, regardless of our desires, the most likely way for a radical
> alternative to emerge in the U.S. is through a long series of
> struggles *within* the DP. A credible third party -- I mean one
> capable of changing things for good in the country -- is not likely to
> emerge out of radical-propaganda clubs, no matter how persuasive their
> doctrines, ingenuous their methods, and committed their individual
> members. Most likely, it will result from the split of the DP, after
> a protracted battle for the hearts and minds of the U.S. workers (in
> the broad sense of the term "workers"). The "third party" alternative
> will require a long period of gestation as a wing of the DP.
>



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