[TLDR (too long didn’t read): If you are reading this, chances are you care about HR. This Reader is about the painful veering to the center of leftwing parties leaving HR wanting. For a quick overview, just read the bolded text]. Traducir/traduire los/les Readers; usar/utiliser deepl.com
–Let us be forewarned: we have entered the era of the most unabashed non-ideological pragmatism.
The Left no longer dares to speak of class struggle, while the Right practices it on a daily basis (Politika)
[For starters: For a political party to exist, it must have three fundamental elements: a political ideology, a government plan, and a permanent organization established on a national scale. What characterizes political parties is their stable organization that enables them to intervene in the moments of the life of the state plus a set of doctrinal principles to which they adjust their political action and from which they derive their plan of government. (Rodrigo Borja, Enciclopedia de la Política, FCE, Mexico, 1997)].
The Left has, unfortunately, contributed to make people accept the world as it is, without proposing to think the world as it could and ought to be
1. Humanity is experiencing an environmental, economic, social and cultural crisis of such magnitude that, either claim holders are collectively capable of mobilizing to the benefit of their own human rights (HR) interests, or they themselves will be hopelessly shaped by this already maddening dynamic. Are parties on the Left stimulating such mobilization?
Who do the socialist parties think they are fooling?
2. For a long time, Socialism* has not been the central ideology in parties that call themselves socialist. This ‘socialism’ sticks on selling a merchandise that is not faithful to its principles: It is what is usually called misleading propaganda. This, because the ‘old word’ is used to designate ideas different from those they used to mean in the past. How to believe those who do not believe even in themselves? (Louis Casado)
*: Are190 years of capitalism going to give birth to a practice of (consistent and unswerving) socialism? (scratched on a pedestal in London, 1965)
3. A Socialism that dares nothing is destined to fail, because the combative spirit that created the socialist movement is also necessary to lead it to its goal. (G. D. H. Cole, English historian, Fabian Society, 1889-1959)
[Not being facetious: Any man may call himself a capitalist, a socialist, an anarchist, a Jew, a gay. But in truth he is nothing but a swine. If he is beaten, he screams; if a third party is beaten, he forges a theory. (Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jewish-American novelist, 1903-1997)].
Let me Talk to you about The Pink Tide (Juan Pablo Cardenas)
4. Pink Tide is a brand of leftwing politics underpinned by a behaviour inconsistent with its ideology. Their leaders have turned their backs on the banners that catapulted them to power. It is no small wonder that the criticism formulated by leftist detractors of these ‘progressive’ Pink Tide governments has become increasingly severe. There are plenty warnings against these Pink leaders ignoring the fact that they are encouraging processes that are, to a significant extent, not anti-neoliberal and not anti-imperialist. They undertake reforms from above that defuse mobilization from below for more far-reaching transformation.
The co-optation of social movement activists is the cornerstone of a passive pink revolution
5. Have Pink Tide governments thus succumbed to global capitalism? Yes, if they become wedded to so-called ‘neo-extractivism’. Only some of the benefits of extractivism filter down to claim holders in the popular sectors with relatively petty handouts that do not compensate for the-blood-spilled-from-extraction. Counting on windfall revenue derived from extraction, Pink Tide governments fail to even attempt to lessen dependence on the export of primary commodities and their ties with certain capitalist groups.
6. Pink Tide policies are serving the interests of Capitalism, with nothing much more than crumbs for claim holders. Pink actions in favor of popular causes appear to be of limited significance, because those governments have been incorporated into the web of an unfair global capitalist system.
7. The fact is that Pink Tide governments have often been the result of multiclass alliances.** In all fairness, the progressive politics part of Pink Tide governments cannot be totally played down or relegated to a category of secondary importance though. There are Pink Tide programs that are not resounding successes, but that cannot be considered failures with regard to the goal of achieving structural changes. (J. P. Cardenas)
**: We have, more and more, witnessed repugnant alliances between ideologically and historically adverse parties built to share power, sharing ministries and public institutions to, in the end, forget about the objectives set out in the struggle that precedes the elections.
8. So, what are we left with? Is there the possibility that, at a given moment, Pink Tide governments can move significantly to the more radical traditional, deep-seated Left values of anti-neoliberalism and anti-imperialism? (Steve Ellner) Food for thought.
In politics, interest produces more converts than intelligence and reason (Marcos Roitman)
–The enthusiasm of a convert is directly proportional to the reward, be it economic or the false peace of mind offered by “I don’t really care anymore”. (Politika)
–Many enthusiasts, yesterday leftists, today militate in the market society …and there have been many.
9. Revolutions arouse enthusiasm. But as social changes deepen, many take a prudent distance, becoming unabashed defenders of the free market and of meritocracy. In the Americas and Western Europe, writers, essayists, philosophers, actors, sociologists, professionals and bloggers have ended up cheering for Bill Clinton, Barack Obama or Joe Biden, Tony Blair or Felipe Gonzalez who, beyond any doubt, belong to the establishment. Their governments were/are full of HR violations that constitute a clear attack on democratic values. [Is it a surprise, then, that the United States has one of the most unequal social structures in the Western world?].
10. The asymmetrical social order (pretty much everywhere now) is controlled by insurance companies, pharmaceutical and food companies, defense industries and banking, in short, the financial, technological and military industrial complex. Those who clamor to follow their path, yesterday enthusiastic anti-imperialists, today defend the empire. In Latin America, as in educated Western Europe, many of the former enthusiasts are literate people. Their names appear in history textbooks; their novels, poems and essays are required reading in ministries of education. Their thought has been disseminated, studied and praised. I refer to those who, in their day, were part of the great family of the world Left –a family broken into pieces, with violent divorces.
11. They were enthusiastic Marxists, Guevarists, Gramscians, Trotskyists, Maoists, Leninists and today they claim to have become realists. They have seen the light and proclaim the good news: Capitalism is salvation; the United States is a lighthouse and the market society, the best of all possible societies. They are committed to being their critical conscience: “It’s all about fine-tuning the gears,” they say.
12. As relates to gender inequality, the rights of ethnic minorities, the racial gap, global warming, sexual identities and free access to the Internet, they embrace these tasks with the same enthusiastic fervor as in their leftist days, but do not address their structural determinants. The ex-revolutionaries have been transformed into globalist fanatics of the order of capital.
13. To use an analogy, Franz Fanon (French psychiatrist and philosopher from Martinique, 1925-1961) described these enthusiastic converts as part of a cultural alienation. When did they break down? What made them renounce the ethical principles of humanism? Why do they amass so much hatred for socialism? Money is not always the means used to add enthusiasts to liberal militancy. Status and power are not always reflected in a bank account. Scientific and literary awards, publicity in the media, publication of their works, institutional visibility, everything adds up. It is the way to sponsor enthusiastic converts. In a crisis situation, they gain relevance, they influence public opinion, they have institutional coverage, they are interviewed, their opinion columns are translated into different languages and are widely reproduced. The political and social right gives them shelter. In their new role as enthusiasts, they keep a well hidden secret: their political past. (M. Roitman)
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
Your comments are welcome at schuftan@gmail.com