Comments on: The Left and the elections http://polizeros.com/2007/12/12/the-left-and-the-elections/ Musings on politics: anti-war, global warming, peak oil and otherwise Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:19:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: DJ http://polizeros.com/2007/12/12/the-left-and-the-elections/comment-page-1/#comment-146270 DJ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:21:09 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/12/12/the-left-and-the-elections/#comment-146270 People no longer believe that protests change anything. They (quite rightly) think that the shots are called by those with money and power, regardless of what the voters say. The post-1960s, as the establishment re-established itself, has disillusioned many. To break the lock on power is simple-- but not easy. It would take a person of integrity, courage, and vision: three things we seem to be short on among politicians of any stripe. We need (1) a vision that puts people first-- and one accessible to the voters, (2) dedication to that vision beyond personal advancement, (3) mass organization AND (4) electoral politics. The problem seems to be that no one can put all four of these together. Great organizing skills won't help if you're trumpeting Marx. A great doctrine won't do it if all you really want is to get your name in the paper. And organizing without a candidate to vote for is like foreplay with no satisfaction. The Right has been doing this for years-- with reasonable success. IMO, the Left got lazy-- except for the hard Left that the mainstream wouldn't vote for anyway. Now I hear people say this kind of work takes too long. But the longer we wait, the longer it'll take. People no longer believe that protests change anything. They (quite rightly) think that the shots are called by those with money and power, regardless of what the voters say. The post-1960s, as the establishment re-established itself, has disillusioned many.

To break the lock on power is simple– but not easy. It would take a person of integrity, courage, and vision: three things we seem to be short on among politicians of any stripe. We need (1) a vision that puts people first– and one accessible to the voters, (2) dedication to that vision beyond personal advancement, (3) mass organization AND (4) electoral politics.

The problem seems to be that no one can put all four of these together. Great organizing skills won’t help if you’re trumpeting Marx. A great doctrine won’t do it if all you really want is to get your name in the paper. And organizing without a candidate to vote for is like foreplay with no satisfaction.

The Right has been doing this for years– with reasonable success. IMO, the Left got lazy– except for the hard Left that the mainstream wouldn’t vote for anyway. Now I hear people say this kind of work takes too long. But the longer we wait, the longer it’ll take.

]]>