The Problems of the American Left

When I look around me at the American Left, what I see is a movement that’s treading. Perhaps it is a matter of definition (who is really in the Left and so on) or perspective (seeing vs. not seeing the great things going on in the progressive community). But when I look around me, the overarching relationships I see are not those of solidarity, but of jealousy, competitiveness, and hostility. Instead of real diversity, I see a drive to homogenize our strategies and actions - even if only by default and submitting to the status quo and “fighting the good fight”. Instead of egalitarian social relations and equity, I see social relationships which largely resemble the relationships that exist in the systems of exploitation which we oppose and seek to replace. Instead of strategy I see inefficiency and a lack of concrete goals. Instead of visionary thinking, I see a lack of direction. Instead of real organizing aimed at taking power, I see activism, lobbying, and resistance-mode repetition. Instead of fighting to win, I see more of the same habits of defeat.

One of my biggest internal battles has been “as organisers, should we engage with the (organized) Left? Or is even associating ourselves with most who call themselves ‘leftists’ enough to prevent real progress and growth?” Should we try to try to convince leftists that their actions aren’t moving us forward on a trajectory of change, or should we just spend our time with ordinary folks who sincerely want to help change the world.

I don’t know the answers to these things. I have lots of ideas about them though. What I do know is that a lot of people who don’t consider themselves “radicals” are doing some damn innovative things that’s moving the movement forward more than most “leftists”. Those who are committed to building a mass movement aimed at building a new future need to start having these big-picture conversations with one another. Intentional organizing and dialogue is one of our greatest tools.