[Marxism] : From the Iowa heartland: People are 'mad as hell'

[David Thorstad <binesi@xxxxxxxxx>]

I agree with Carrol Cox. Here's more anecdotal evidence for how "mad as 
hell" exists, even if, in the absence of any credible (or even 
existing!) radical left alternative, it could easily be turned in a 
fascist direction, especially (1) if the right fascist-populist 
demagogue were to connect with such sentiment, and (2) in view of the 
fact that, as of today, it appears that a black man might become the 
next executor of the imperialist empire. (In some ways, the Civil War is 
still being fought in the United States, and racism remains endemic.)
    My plumber the other day told me he had a solution to the present 
economic crisis: Give every citizen one million dollars, and shoot all 
the top CEOs and politicians. His concern was how to get on TV to 
explain his proposal to the masses. I told him it would never happen 
because the capitalists exist to rip off the workers and make profits at 
their expense, and their control of the mass media not only wouldn't get 
him on TV, it won't even allow Nader on TV.
    Interestingly, a socialist friend of mine told me that an ordinary 
coworker of his also had come up with the same idea of giving a million 
dollars to every citizen.
    While encouraging, this is also discouraging, because there is no 
credible left-wing, let alone revolutionary, alternative, now when it is 
needed more than ever. In the absence of that alternative, being "mad as 
hell" is unlikely to lead anywhere positive, certainly not to the 
overthrow of the rotten system.
David
=======================================================================================

Carrol Cox wrote:
> Joaquin Bustelo wrote:
>   
>> That's why I was quite struck when someone gave me a copy of this op-ed from
>> a week ago by Schmidt. It is quite a surprising read on the popular mood.
>> People are "mad as hell" in a very profound way, one that begins to eat away
>> at the perceived legitimacy, not just of the government, but of the whole
>> interconnected web of institutions and their directorates that constitutes
>> "the establishment."
>>     
>
> Assuming this is true, it is not necessarily good from a leftist
> perspective. Unfocused resentement of "the way things are" can, in the
> absence of an organized and active left, easily take the form of
> right-wing populism (i.e., some form of fascist movement).
>
> Carrol
>
>
>
>   


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