The left end of the blogosphere was mostly quiet tonight. And why shouldn’t it have been? As Mark Twain once observed, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.†And lately, I must say our messages have been foolishly self-centered, at best.
Let’s be honest. Our “progressive†movement has had an insignificant impact on public affairs at best. Our causes: human rights, social justice, equality, and peace are only talked about, never actually made into solid policy. And should this be a shock? After all, what is a "progressive"? I'd imagine the dozens of answers to that question would be as diverse as the multitude of factions that call themselves "progressive." In fact, I'd say that Progressivism is not a movement at all. Rather, it is a plurality of narrow interests and radical politics that needed a word to replace "liberal". And as Adele Stevenson once remarked, "a liberal is one who had both feet firmly planted in the air."
The various sects of Progressivism -- which include “the deaniacsâ€, the Kucinichers , the elderly “new deal liberalsâ€, the Socialists, environmentalists, pacifists and anarchists – have historically kept their goals self-centered, static, and uncompromising. This is a shame; if these sects could cooperate and support each other, they might be able to revolutionize our government. However, these sects won’t have that. Our bickerings usually come down to something like, “my issue first -- we need to save the seals, than we can concentrate on racial equality". As a result of this selfishness, our goal --- the movement – is forever exiled to highbrow books, “alternative†publications, and the local coffee shop debating societies. Meanwhile, the conservatives, as always, continue to find total unity around the pursuit of dollars. See the difference? Ask yourself, how powerful of a motivation is greed? Now ask yourself, “will reframing our message be enough to fight the interests that own our governmentâ€? I hope you see where I’m going with this.
By Howard Zinn
