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Leftists and Popular Movements
By Ted Glick
There are a number of reasons why some of those who are left
of center in the United States have not yet decided to
support the Ralph Nader/Winona LaDuke Green Party
independent Presidential campaign. Some have the usual
"lesser of two evils" arguments, with the fear of Attila the
Hun-like Supreme Court nominations often being at the top of
the list. Others have problems with Nader because he has a
poor track record when it comes to speaking out in the past
on certain issues; e.g., police brutality, affirmative
action, reproductive rights, lesbian/gay rights and peace
issues. Although he is now speaking to them during his Green
Party Presidential campaign, some activists still question
the depth of his commitment to "doing the right thing" on
these issues.
Then there are those who don't support Nader because he's
not a socialist, or is not radical enough.
At the risk of offending some friends, I have to take issue
with those in this latter category. I think that this
approach is reflective of a larger problem among some
sections of the political Left.
Why has the Left in this country been so relatively small
and ineffective? There are many reasons, among them: the
strength of individualism and competitive ideology, racism
and racial divisions, a winner-take-all electoral system, a
population with a large percentage of middle-income people,
and repression and/or cooption of union organizing efforts,
anti-racist activism and leftists. Also significant,
however, has been a long history of sectarianism and
"correct-lineism."
Too many leftists have not grasped one of the most
fundamental, most basic lessons from history when it comes
to major social transformation: masses of people in motion
make history. Relatively small groups of organizers, no
matter how dedicated or skillful, cannot by themselves
overturn structures of injustice and oppression.
Our role as organizers, more than anything else, is to play
a connecting and leavening role, helping broader and broader
numbers of people become active with others as they learn
through experience that only by doing so can their
conditions improve.
What do I mean by "masses of people?" If we are talking
about something as big as an actual struggle for power, for
control of the government, which is ultimately what those of
us who are serious about change have to see as our objective
down the road, then we have to be talking millions,
eventually tens of millions of people involved or
supportive. Nothing else stands a chance against a ruling
group as powerful as the tiny minority of ultra-rich
individuals who stand astride the commanding heights of the
corporate economy and the corporate-controlled government.
The United States is not a country with a history of mass
socialist or communist parties as is true in western Europe,
Japan and other parts of the world. Movements of opposition
to the rule of corporate capital in this country have been
programmatic and issue-based and not ideologically-driven,
even when there are those within them whose work is
ideologically-based. There is a relative paucity of
knowledge within the U.S. population about Marxism,
socialism, communism, anarchism and other historic Left
ideological traditions, primarily due to government
repression and mass media distortions of those ideologies.
Within this political context, it is unrealistic in the
extreme to think that the way in which a broadly-based,
popular movement for fundamental change is going to emerge
is through an emphasis on socialist education, or the
building of an ideologically-based political organization.
It is not that these cannot be of value and even of
significant value, long-term. But that value, that political
impact, will only come to pass if a politically less
radical, more populist, more issue-driven and program-based
alternative emerges, grows and eventually succeeds in its
objective of winning political power.
Those who are ideologically-driven need to swim in that
people's ocean, interact personally and politically with
"the masses." They need to learn how to talk to, influence
and learn from working people from a wide range of
backgrounds and with a mix of different ideas, some
progressive, some conservative, some confused and some just
plain common sense.
Progressive electoral campaigns, with candidates who are
articulate and democratic in their approach to the campaign,
can be one of the most effective ways to put forward a
comprehensive, alternative vision of change. Such campaigns
can plant the seeds to help increasing numbers of people
grow in their understanding of our political/economic
reality and their commitment to being part of the process of
altering it.
They can also be an important arena for ideologically-based
leftists to test their ideas in practice, gather signatures,
ask for money, motivate people to come out and vote. In this
way they can discover the extent to which their ideas match
with reality. And as a result, the two can become more
closely aligned.
Maybe then we'll see the emergence of a 21st century
organized Left in this country that is unlike any we've seen
for decades: playing a significant role in a broadly-based,
popular movement to take back our government from the
corporate criminals who control it now. Let's speed the day!
Ted Glick is the National Coordinator of the Independent
Progressive Politics Network (www.ippn.org). His first book,
Future Hope: A Winning Strategy for a Just Society, has just
been published. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 1132,
Bloomfield, N.J. 07003 or futurehopeTG@aol.com.
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