On 12/11/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
me:
> > yes, we live in the midst of a moral plague (to use Wilhelm Reich's
> > apt phrase).
Yoshie:
> Neoliberal capitalism, by diminishing the state' and unions' roles,
> creating more harder-to-unionize service jobs than manufacturing jobs
> (in both developed and developing nations), and expanding the informal
> sector (mainly in developing nations), creates more room for religion,
> for people turn to religious institutions to satisfy unmet needs.
> Secular leftists in most nations have yet to come up with a viable
> approach to this neoliberal reality.
right
Yoshie had said:
> > > Whether in the USA or Iran, waging the main battle on social/cultural
> > > things rather than economics and foreign policy is a sure loser for
> > > the working class.
me:
> > Maybe. Why not try to unite these? the old communist and
> > social-democratic parties (RIP) used to try to fight on all three
> > fronts.
Yoshie, now:
> There is much more consensus -- which is closer to the standard
> leftist view -- on economics like the minimum wage and foreign policy
> like the withdrawal from Iraq among American workers than on abortion,
> gay marriage, and other issues like them.
really? maybe we hang out in different circles.
According to the latest poll, 60% said they favor "a six-month
timeline for withdrawal" (Nancy Benac, "AP Poll: Few Expect Victory in
Iraq," 8 December 2006,
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6266792,00.html>).
60% is a solid majority.
Compare that with polls on abortion:
<http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm>. It looks like a
plurarity of Americans are to the left of Christian fundamentalists
but to the right of pro-choice leftists, favoring stricter limits on
abortion without going so far as to wish to ban all abortions.
The problem is that there is no organized Left to speak of in the USA,
so even when Americans actually agree with leftists on economics and
foreign policy, leftists aren't making any political headway and not
in a position to do so any time soon.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
