-- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote: "Well yeah. But it does matter to the formation of a political movement."
Not really. What's crucial is whether or not the 10%, 20%, or 30% who agree with us can be mobilized or not. If they can be, you can put together a viable political movement that can have some impact, regardless of whether a majority agree with them or not. In time, such a movement, as it begins to have an impact on government decisions, can start to swing a majority of public opinion to its side. Even if that doesn't happen, that's not necessarily relevant anyway.
As I recall, you used to be a right-winger. Did your former comrades on the right care that they did not have a majority of the American people on their side? I don't think so, since they realized that what was relevant was whether or not they could mobilize a determined minority of their fellow citizens to their side.
If the right followed your advice, Doug, I would submit that they would never have achieved the successes they did over the past three decades.
Jim F.
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