[lbo-talk] Obama's betrayal of hope

[Bhaskar Sunkara]

And the "independent class action" alternative was?  An Obama victory was
still preferable to a McCain one and an alternative couldn't have been *willed
*into being.  If efforts were made by the leadership and organizations of
the "actually existed left" to work towards some type of refoundation of the
anti-capitalist left we would have been able to make some strides in the
right direction (I don't mean electorally).  I'm not blaming Obama.  He's
just a symptom.  But what was the best decision... knowing what you know
now?   (I also would object to the 1930s nostaliga.  The 1930s represented a
historic defeat for the left and there is no going backwards in time to the
era of social democracy)

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 2:00 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:


>
> On Dec 1, 2009, at 1:14 PM, Julio Huato wrote:
>
>  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/asia/02policy.html
>>
>> I voted -- and asked people -- to vote for Obama.  I made my case on
>> the grounds of what would better advance the class struggle.  I still
>> think that, with the information then known, it was the best decision.
>>  I didn't think I had high hopes or expectations about him as an
>> individual.  I did think though that, under the right conditions, his
>> personal background made it possible for him to become a decisive
>> reformer, even if not an FDR.  But I think I was entirely wrong on
>> that.  He is not one of us.  Period.  I don't entirely understand his
>> motivations, but that matters little now.  I am convinced that this
>> decision offsets anything historically progressive that Obama may
>> accomplish -- if at all.
>>
>
> I admire you for saying this. Thanks.
>
> Doug
>
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