Carrol wrote:
Too many leftists are flocking to a
once-in-a-lifetime sale of 10 pairs
(of rose-tinted glasses) for the price
of one.
Julio replied:
Right, leftists who don't fall for that, are holier than us.
Marv can speak for himself. But I don't think that by forwarding that
note he was endorsing the Economist...He's not saying that they've
suddenly become radical critics of
capitalism.
================================
I don't believe Carrol understands that ruling classes have made concessions
throughout history in order to preempt the development of economic and
social crises, and that the ideological apparatus is often a bellwhether in
advance of such turns. Or if he does appreciate it, it doesn't have much
impact on how he thinks about politics.
Whether those with power have the will and capacity to implement reforms to
head off or blunt mass discontent when confronted with deepening crises is
what makes history interesting. They didn't have much of either in the
particular cases of 18th century France and 20th century Russia and China,
but mostly, they have had the means to absorb protest, often to the surprise
and consternation of the revolutionary left.
No doubt Carrol would have scoffed at those who expressed the possibility
that the New Deal could contain and institutionalize working class militancy
as just another example of "leftists with rose coloured glasses", mistakenly
interpreting their understanding of the potential of the Roosevelt
administration to coopt the mass movement and prevent any further leftward
motion as somehow representing an endorsation of that development.
