The false dichotomy of left/right in American political usage is untenable. Democrats and Republicans, Greens and Libertarians are all right-wing parties. As a matter fact, only right wing parties are given any leeway or coverage in US politics. The opposite of "liberal" in US politics is "conservative", not "right-wing", and "liberal" is in no way remotely "left-wing". The misuse of these terms appears to be intentional and geared toward muddying the playing field (this may or may not be accurate, intellectual laziness is an American bourgeois trait, and it could just be that).

At any rate, I think we should try and not use these descriptors, at least as much as possible. It seems to easily distort discussions with folks who are looking for conflict. You can't be "left" and be an active Democrat. (I would say you can't be "left" and be active in the CPUSA - but I am probably over stating.)

One of the problems of discussing current conditions and events is this distortion of right and left politics. If you start out by saying that Democrats are "left" and Republicans are "right", nothing but confusion can ensue. We have to recognize that all ruling class politics is right-wing, period. And it is the task of the "left" to organize an opposition (where one currently does not exist).

Now, that being said, it is in no way an amelioration of the anti-working class position of Republicans to say that Democrats, too, are anti-working class. To view discussions of current political conditions in the US through the lens of "better on some issues/worse on some issues" is not productive. The working class has been steadily ground down over the last 40-odd years (and longer) by both parties in a continuing ruling class government, that rarely changes stripes regardless of which party is ascendant. This is the "truth on the ground".

All discussions, all evaluations and investigations have to start with the basic reality of US politics and how, where and why the working class fits into it. That's where we are.

Right on, Dhal. And I would add that the primary reason - scratch that, the only reason - that Democrats/liberals have ever co-opted left-wing demands is because the Left - specifically, those dreaded Reds, with the CPUSA leading the way back when it had some goddamn teeth (as well as active support from those cursed Ruskies and other segments of the international revolutionary Left) and had deep roots in and connections to the American working class - well, the Left was incredibly powerful in the 1930s, and that fact, when combined with the immense social unrest during the Depression posing an existential threat to the entire capitalist system, made certain (liberal) parts of the ruling class recognize that (some of) the Left's demands had to be at the very least, given a "fair hearing" (as embodied by FDR and his business allies - whom were indeed fewer in number than the outright reactionaries, but there just enough pragmatic-minded, powerful American capitalists to provide a source of support, albeit tenuous support, for the New Deal reforms and compromises with organized labor and the Feds).

Furthermore, I really hate the framing of the New Deal era as the ruling class granting "concessions" to the working class - as if most of the "economic royalists" didn't think FDR (who really, campaigned and governed - or tried to govern as one, more successfully in his second term, which was of course, a low point for New Deal reform and economic recovery, and a bit of a forerunner to the rollback of working class gains - as a budget-balancing conservative, albeit a pragmatic one) was a "traitor his class"; and - more importantly - the idea that it wasn't the revolutionary working class movement itself that earned those victories for workers (with the Commies leading the way, on both radical economic agitation and advocacy on behalf of all workers as well as civil rights advocacy for blacks and women - at a time when the liberals' beloved FDR was perfectly willing to accommodate and grant significant concessions to reactionaries, particularly in the Solid Democratic South) is in short, noxious and reactionary to the extreme. And after the War, with the Second Red Scare and the onset of McCarthyism, the Commies were of course purged from the labor movement and the rest of the working class institutions (e.g. the working class media) that had been incorporated into the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

So yeah, fuck the Democratic Party and the craven "left-wing" opportunists who align themselves that party. Truly the graveyard of social movements.

The false dichotomy of left/right in American political usage is untenable. Democrats and Republicans, Greens and Libertarians are all right-wing parties. As a matter fact, only right wing parties are given any leeway or coverage in US politics. The opposite of "liberal" in US politics is "conservative", not "right-wing", and "liberal" is in no way remotely "left-wing". The misuse of these terms appears to be intentional and geared toward muddying the playing field (this may or may not be accurate, intellectual laziness is an American bourgeois trait, and it could just be that).

At any rate, I think we should try and not use these descriptors, at least as much as possible. It seems to easily distort discussions with folks who are looking for conflict. You can't be "left" and be an active Democrat. (I would say you can't be "left" and be active in the CPUSA - but I am probably over stating.)

One of the problems of discussing current conditions and events is this distortion of right and left politics. If you start out by saying that Democrats are "left" and Republicans are "right", nothing but confusion can ensue. We have to recognize that all ruling class politics is right-wing, period. And it is the task of the "left" to organize an opposition (where one currently does not exist).

Now, that being said, it is in no way an amelioration of the anti-working class position of Republicans to say that Democrats, too, are anti-working class. To view discussions of current political conditions in the US through the lens of "better on some issues/worse on some issues" is not productive. The working class has been steadily ground down over the last 40-odd years (and longer) by both parties in a continuing ruling class government, that rarely changes stripes regardless of which party is ascendant. This is the "truth on the ground".

All discussions, all evaluations and investigations have to start with the basic reality of US politics and how, where and why the working class fits into it. That's where we are.

Hello. Big thanks to Blindpig for helping me get registered despite a couple days of technical difficulties. I'm excited to delve into the great resources on the Bell, though it looks like I picked an...interesting...week to sign up. I'm not sure if the above post is a "subtweet" (as coined by my generation) in regards to the "Philistine" thread, or if it was a general critique; it seems like there's a tense history on this forum extending beyond politics that clouds discussion. At least that's my outsider-perspective of the past few days. Good post though.

Hello. Big thanks to Blindpig for helping me get registered despite a couple days of technical difficulties. I'm excited to delve into the great resources on the Bell, though it looks like I picked an...interesting...week to sign up. I'm not sure if the above post is a "subtweet" (as coined by my generation) in regards to the "Philistine" thread, or if it was a general critique; it seems like there's a tense history on this forum extending beyond politics that clouds discussion. At least that's my outsider-perspective of the past few days. Good post though.

Hey solidgold, glad you made it. You can thank the Kid for finally getting you in, must be 'old-timers' or something.

As to 'this week', it goes back a decade and Dhal's post is indeed a response to that other thread. Not to worry, avoid the spittle & brickbats, it'll resolve.

Hello. Big thanks to Blindpig for helping me get registered despite a couple days of technical difficulties. I'm excited to delve into the great resources on the Bell, though it looks like I picked an...interesting...week to sign up. I'm not sure if the above post is a "subtweet" (as coined by my generation) in regards to the "Philistine" thread, or if it was a general critique; it seems like there's a tense history on this forum extending beyond politics that clouds discussion. At least that's my outsider-perspective of the past few days. Good post though.

Hey, solidgold. My advice (and it's just that) is to try and take every post at face value and try not to read anything into it. Most of the posts here are just straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda' things. Most of this theory stuff is not easy, we all know that, just jump in and let the rest take care of itself.

Welcome.

Hey, solidgold. My advice (and it's just that) is to try and take every post at face value and try not to read anything into it. Most of the posts here are just straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda' things. Most of this theory stuff is not easy, we all know that, just jump in and let the rest take care of itself.

Welcome.

I'll keep that in mind. :)