- 25 Feb 2014 10:17
#14368669
Something has happened to the left in the last 30 years, which has weakened it considerably. Many have lost their faith, their idealism, their sense of a better future and that history was on their side. Like Christians who lose their belief in the divinity of Jesus, they have mostly ceased to believe in the teachings of Marx, or simply see them as no longer relevant. Many left wingers still have their left wing ideals, but no longer adhere to the unifying sense of utopian vision and sense of purpose that Marxism offered.
This has led to a fragmentation of the left, a loss of confidence, and a lack of vision or real sense of purpose. This continues even now that the public in many western democracies are crying out for left wing solutions, and a credible and practical alternative to the egregious neo-liberal economic dystopia which has been dominant for too long. In the UK, to give but one example, close to 70% of the population now support the renationalisation of the railways and the utilities.
This loss of faith in Marxism has weakened the left in western democracies in numerous ways. Many responded by abandoning or severely watering down their own ideals, and cravenly surrendering to – and collaborating with – the forces of the neo-liberal economic enemy. In doing so, many of these so lost touch with any left wing ideals they might once have had that they practically ceased to be left wing at all, and attracted supporters who were not really of the left either, at least not in any real sense. As left wingers lost their faith in Marx and despaired at the new neo-liberal economic hegemony, many were prepared to accept anything or anyone who seemed to be able to perhaps at least mitigate the worst evils of this new economic dystopia.Hence, what were once genuine parties of the left fell under the spell of a coterie of neo-liberal collaborators, no longer themselves truly believing in any left wing ideals they perhaps once had. And their victory grew complete when those party members who still clung solidly to their ideals began leaving in droves in disgust.
In the UK, we are obviously talking of so-called New Labour here. Many of it’s adherents – and I have encountered more lowly examples of them on other forums – whilst laughingly calling themselves “socialists” when it suits, favour the affluent middle classes over the working class, buy into the supposed ideal of home ownership to such an extent that they look down their noses at tenants and want to get rid of council housing, and express snobbish disdain for those who are happy to do working class jobs instead of climbing the greasy pole. Aspiration is the be all and end all, rather than ideals of a fair days pay for a fair days work for all. Clearly, such New Labour accolytes are not really recognisable as genuine left wingers at all to those of us with true left wing ideals.
But such economic neo-liberal collaborators who have lost any real idealism they once had – along with many of their new found supporters who never had it in the first place – are only one aspect of what has happened. Many others who have lost their faith in Marx – and this group includes me – have come to accept notions of an enlightened and guided capitalism, perhaps with public and cooperative sectors as well, but generally akin to the Nordic model. As such, abandoning Marxism, I have morphed into something much more akin to a left wing social democrat, and quite a few others have made this same political journey. Having lost our faith in Marx, yet retaining such a loathing for the econonic neo-liberal model that we cannot collaborate with it and wish to continue our resistance, we have been left scrabbling around looking for non-Marxist alternatives that work much better for their peoples than the Thatcherite one does for us. The Nordic model is like a beacon of hope, something to cling to and aim for, something into which we can still invest our ideolistic sense of mission now that our faith in Marxism has gone.
Still others on the left, who have lost their faith in Marx, and along with it their sense of hope for a better future, but who cannot either collaborate with the enemy, buy into support for the Nordic model, nor see any hope in any other alternative, have simply retreated into cynical despair and political disengagement, making the best out of a bad situation for themselves personally and their families, but ceasing political activity, often not even voting in most cases. Their loss of faith in Marx has led to the loss of their campaigning zeal and sense of hope for the future, and it’s replacement with a cynical and despairing conviction that nothing will ever change for the better, and that attempting to make it do so is a waste of effort.
And of course, there are Marxist believers still, but they are fewer in number, more fragmented, and no longer a powerful element in almost any mainstream political party anywhere in the advanced western nations. Marxist ideology appears to have lost it’s ability to inspire millions. And yet, the public at large IS increasingly moving towards the left in a growing number of areas as disdain for the free marketeers,super rich CEOs, and greedy bankers who have been seen to have done so much harm in recent years grows. What the left now needs more than anything is a new unifying idea to unite around, which we can all believe in, and which can inspire millions once more. If we can find that idea – and the prophet who can convincingly preach it – in the current climate we would see a left resurgent and triumphant. The neo-liberal dystopians would be forced to collaborate with us to have any say at all, rather than the other way around. Ideally, we need a new, telegenic and charismatic, Marx for the 21st century to appear, with a credible analysis of what is wrong and how to fix it that is adapted for a 21st century world economy. Someone that can both convince and inspire the left wing intellectual intelligentsia, yet also speak to and inspire millions of ordinary downtrodden people the world over, and motivate them to follow too.
I could have sworn Carter was asking lefties.
Maybe it was humour that I didn't get.
- By Verv
- By Rich
- By Puffer Fish