Reply #18: My suggestion [View All]

Is that you and the other editors go back and find an obscure book called "The End of Ideology" by Daniel Bell, where he analyzes why radical political movements failed in the early 20th century.


The most obvious flaw in your argument is your groundless assertion that the Democratic party is inherently "corporate" (whatever that means). In fact, there is no reason why you cannot build up a democratic socialist movement within the Democratic party while also fighting for incremental change. If Bush is reelected, the goal of socialism in America becomes that much harder--we both know it.

Furthermore, I can't help feeling that your idea of one mass workers' revolution is an adolescent fantasy that is increasingly unreal in the modern world. History doesn't inspire much confidence that revanchist workers revolutions can be the foundation of a just society. The sad, boring fact is that real justice is hard work--it requires gradual, incremental democratic change under a system of law, order, egalitarianism, and individual responsibility. It requires enlightenment, peace, and rational conflict resolution-none of which are revolutionary mentality's strong suit.

We have to alter the conditions that determine consciousness so that consciousness can peacefully adjust, then we have to do it again. And again. It's a long, hard road to real socialism and a just society and it will require further advances in technology before it's over.