Duncan Cameron writes that, historically, the working class has driven social change. But that trend has been reversed:
Today while the world faces growing inequalities, environmental destruction, and rapid climate change, members of the working class, abandoned by their representatives and attacked by governments, have joined the right-wing populist insurrection in alarming numbers.
Without the working class where are the agents of progressive social change? In his latest work, French economist Thomas Piketty points out that support for parties of the left now comes from the more educated strata of society.
How to organize and mobilize the highly educated seems less than obvious.
Within the context of corporate control over the political process, the women's movement has been the most powerful social force operating outside the mainstream, and could be expected to be a source of support for an alternative agenda.
The reality is that political parties of the left have to re-invent themselves as anti-capitalist formations. Issues of inequality, environmental degradation and rapid climate can all be traced back to how we produce goods and services and exploit resources.
We have been living with a corporate agenda for a long time now. And the consequences are everywhere. The most obvious consequences have been on the planet itself. Cameron believes that left-wing parties must focus on the future of the planet:
Left political parties have to reinvent themselves. Ideas for change need to be central to what they do. There is no point in waiting for an election to campaign on the issues that matter to people. Large numbers of engaged members are needed if left parties are to become agents of change.
A message of hope -- we can organize ourselves differently -- needs widespread attention from the public.
Food for thought.
Image: The American Prospect
8 comments:
The biggest hurtle for any movement seems to lie in the descriptive or use of terminology.Cuban voters who support Trump are associating Communism with Socialism and they seem both equally frightening. I met up with an Illinoian on my dog walk who called the actions of the ontario health restrictions on a church assembly as"Socialism". He clearly didn't understand the terminology. Radical Left. Antifa, etc, are all negative terms that do not appropriately describe a movement of concerned citizens. Organize the intelligent yes, but certainly do something about those individuals who a show a lock of it.
Change needs to be driven by the young since they have the most at stake. Older people understand that the world they created is untenable, but they have little to gain from its complete structural overhaul.
Centre-left and left parties like the Libs and NDP offer lip service to attract young voters, but they have a forty-year history of blocking and stalling desperately needed change. They offer incremental change at a pace that's far too slow, even with the International Energy Agency warning that we need to stop oil and gas production now and fearing that we'll pump an extra 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere as the economy rebounds from Covid. The Libs and their ilk are happy to call global warming a crisis, but they won't act like it is. We need more Greta Thunbergs and fewer Justin Trudeaus.
Cap
George Orwell illustrated how easily language -- and thought -- could be corrupted, zoombats.
In politics, Cap, the prime directive has always been, "Pay attention to what they do, not what they say."
Further to Cap's comments about so-called left leaning political parties, my biggest disappointment is with the Greens. The Green Party used to be focused on global warming and imminent climate crises. Under their new leader the Greens seem to be more interested in promoting social issues. Check their home page. Where is Climate Change? https://www.greenparty.ca/en
I sense that disappointment in former Green supporters, too, Toby. If I'm wrong perhaps someone will correct me.
The “older people” are not to blame for the problems the world faces at this time, Greed, Corporations and Governments are to blame. Siince when has the ordinary educated person ever been heard with out screaming? Anyong
The primary human weaknesses effect us all, Anyong. Youth and age are irrelevant.
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