Jim S. wrote:
>I guess I chose C.
>
> Others?
>
>> The choices for socialists are now either a) to merely observe political
>> life or abandon politics altogether for other pursuits, b) adapt to the
>> liberal parties and institutions which today form the only opposition to
>> the
>> conservative ones and become leading figures within them, as some have c)
>> adapt to the consciousness of the ranks in these parties and merge with
>> them
>> and their immediate struggles in hopeful anticipation that "history" will
>> someday turn them in an anticapitalist and even revolutionary direction,
>> or
>> d) form small harmless play groups outside the current mass parties which
>> claim the mantle of the Bolsheviks, IWW, etc. but have none of the
>> influence, face any of the challenges, or run any of the risks which
>> confronted the revolutionary left of previous generations.
==========================
Most of my generation, including myself, who retain an interest in politics
are no longer active - therefore (a) - engaging at best in online chatter
and going to demonstrations.
Many started out as (d) and then ended up as c). Partly that is what happens to radicals when they are confronted with competing claims on their time from new family and work responsibilities, but I think in the case of our generation, especially for those who of us who were involved in unions and union-based political parties, the retreat from political action was effectively owing to the epochal collapse of the labour and socialist movements. So, at the risk of being self-serving, I'm loath to condemn those who drew the practical conclusions from that.
You strike me as the kind of person who would have followed a similar path. You've managed to avoid the futility, but have unfortunately missed a lot of the excitement and valuable political training which went with belonging to a "vanguard party" when history seemed to be moving forward. But I admire most the choice you've made in current circumstances, and the way you've communicated your comprehension of the current state of working class consciousness based on your union experience.