[lbo-talk] Franken wins Minnesota

Julio Huato juliohuato at gmail.com
Wed Jan 7 12:17:12 PST 2009


Doug wrote:


> Like I said, this is hardly an original
> point and I don't want to perseverate.
> But I don't want my precious bromide
> misunderstood.

Maybe I can re-state my own bromide this way:

No surprise that the left has a different view of what's best for workers than the workers themselves. The history, experience, living and working conditions etc. of leftists is different from the history, etc. of workers. (And if you happen to be a leftist and a worker, then this contradiction lives inside of you.)

But contradictions of this kind are not peculiar to the left in the U.S. or to this time and circumstance. These contradictions are of the type whose recurrence and ongoing solution are what we call "living." They are older than written history. And they are going to stick around for long.

There's nothing inherently *wrong* with the left saying that what's best for workers is X, while workers think it is Y. Of course the left thinks it knows what's best for workers. And of course the workers don't think so. Neither the left nor the workers are perfect and round. They need to dance their dance, collide, step on each other's toes. Much better than standing apart, just glancing at each other.

That's all I'm saying.

Again, this is not exclusively a problem of the left. It's a problem of spouses, co-workers, neighbors, teachers and pupils, parents and children, you name it.

Wife knows what's best for husband and kids, yet she needs to educate husband and kids to come around to her point, which entails a complicated dance. Education works best when husband and kids *freely* do -- out of their own need and volition -- exactly what wife wants them to do. And vice versa. Etc.



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