On 2013-06-11, at 7:33 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
> Ordinary people are in a far greater need of good
> life, food, shelter, public services, access to health *care* (not health
> business), social safety net, personal security, - not some bullshit
> abstraction cooked up by reactionary philosophers.
>
> This whole affair is a sad manifestation of American knee-jerk anti-statism
> and libertarianism. It is really sad that they rally against the
> government (that safe scapegoat of businessmen) in the name of a bullshit
> concept of liberty rather than, say, that of "good life" or "health care
> and social security for all." For that reason, when I hear about liberty
> in America, I want to puke (elsewhere, it might be a different story).
> Long live Hobbes. And send all liberty lovers to a reeducation camp where
> they can learn the virtues of solidarity and reasonable limits on human
> capacity to act ;).
Another good if overwrought challenging post, Wojtek, but I'm afraid you're missing the connection between political rights and the possibility of social and economic progress. The classic struggles for democratic rights were not simply a preoccupation of the rising bourgeoisie interested in free markets and constitutional checks on absolute monarchies. The masses, led by the early trade unions and the socialist parties, also fought against censorship and for the right to assemble and organize and, above all, to vote and to form workers' governments in order to legislate public pensions, healthcare, education, unemployment insurance, safe and healthy workplaces and neighbourhoods, improved working conditions, sport and cultural facilities, etc.
Contemporary social movements still need democratic rights in order to advance. That's why they're typically the first demand of social movements which are forced underground by dictatorships. State surveillance is intended to thwart the appearance and progress of such movements, to disrupt and limit their effectiveness. Democratic states also spy on fascist and reactionary and terrorist organizations, but in the main they have been concerned with popular movements on the left whenever these have emerged to seek fundamental reform or overthrow of the capitalist system. It may be too much to expect states to accept reforms which defeat the purpose of their secret agencies, but calls for greater transparency and curbs on the powers of these agencies are well within the tradition of popular struggles for democratic rights aimed at improving living conditions, and are therefore worth supporting.