Max wrote:
> You're right. You don't know what aggregate demand means.
Max,
I know you have a good sense of how things play out concretely,
especially as they relate to fiscal policy. But my feeling is that
the problem with the tax deal is much more fundamental. It is just
another symptomatic expression. The whole situation called for
audacity (a word Obama used to title one of his books). In that
department, the guy has been (to put it gently) underwhelming. After
using all the right phrases ("change comes from the bottom up," etc.),
his big flaw as far as the left is concerned is not tactical. He
could have framed things as "bipartisan" and palatable as possible --
"I'm just, reluctantly but firmly, enforcing the rules already in
place, which are there for a reason;" "I'm just saving capitalism from
a few bad capitalists;" "This is too important to leave it to
ideologues and far right-wing extremists." As far as the left is
concerned, the real problem with Obama is much more basic. He does
not trust in, believe in, or want popular involvement in politics. I
thought he was cocky about his own ability to harness popular energy
to propel his narrow agenda and that alone. But he wasn't serious
about that. Either he's terrified of what popular involvement could
lead to, views it as a greater threat to the status quo (of which he's
a child and defender) than any conceivable abuse from those at the
top, or whatever. The fact is that, aside from his foreign-policy
performance (Afghanistan, Gitmo, rendition, etc.), he's done more than
his share to suffocate popular involvement in health care, financial
reform, macro policy, etc. It looks like a deliberate choice to me.
And without popular involvement (what else is there to usher any
meaningful reform, let alone radical change?), which necessarily
entails the risk (for them) of an independent political dynamics,
there's no substance to Obama's postures. Nada. We have to emphasize
that and help the left wing of the Democratic Party, independents, and
scattered people to draw the conclusions from that. In the face of
this economic catastrophe, that is the responsible thing to do. After
years of trying to rape the girl (to paraphrase Gramsci), finally the
shibboleths of infantile leftists are starting to make some sense.
That's not because, but in spite, of the source.
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