[lbo-talk] Adolph Reed on the politics of the crisis

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Tue Sep 30 09:49:23 PDT 2008


[I emailed Adolph Reed with a complaint about the vacuity of so much "left" response to the financial crisis/bailout. Here's his response.]

Unsurprisingly, I guess, I've had the same reaction on hearing the left demands to block the bailout. I kept thinking that I must have been missing something, that they must have some follow-up position that would modify that stance. Who, after all, could imagine that the alternatives they push for could even be in the ballpark for consideration at this point? But, alas, like so much else they do, it's all about making themselves feel good at what they hear coming out of their mouths. That is, there doesn't seem to be much concern with thinking and acting strategically from a left-critical perspective that takes into account the actual constraints of the moment, including the ideological constraints that no one has been more significant in imposing than the Dems so many of these "leftists" insist every two years that we have to vote for or else goblins will eat us.



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