> So the radical left should abstain from analysis?
No. But the left has to understand that analysis outside of a political movement is not the most helpful thing.
Let me borrow an image that Chávez recently drew from Les Miserables. A character in Victor Hugo’s novel says (more or less): “With the revolution, we thought we had changed the world. We demolished the old mills, but the wind that moved them continued to blow. We now realize that we need to stop the wind from blowing.”
The left can certainly help working people, with its analysis, to realize that we need to stop the wind from blowing. But it is not the wisest thing for the left to get in the way of people when they are trying to demolish mills. Yes, tell them that they are only demolishing mills, and that the task ahead remains to confront the wind itself. But *start* by giving them a hand (and a good hammer) to better smash those mills.