The left leads the way. Some are just slow to recognize it. On issue after issue, it plays out more or less the same. All the best ideas come originally from the left and are resisted to the very last minute and then claimed as their own by the moderates and centrists. But the left is virtually always right and always ahead of the curve.
Vietnam. We said it was about the CIA and the war-profiteers they served. We were right.
Our government lying to the American people. We said they did it often and without compunction, and we said it way before it became obvious to everyone.
Nixon being a crook. Reagan being a wolf in sheep's clothing. Trickle-down being tinkle-on. George W. Bush being an unmitigated disaster for America. Government spying on ordinary citizens. The unsustainability of "the American way of life." "The American way of life," being code for the ruthless rule of the greedheads and fat cats. The dangers of deregulation. The reality of our ongoing ecocide. The Wall Street house of cards. The ever worsening plight of the poor and disenfranchised. The bone-deep corruption in our government. The hostile intent of the republicans. The betrayals of democrats. Peak oil. The ecology movement. The organic food movement. Coops. Permaculture. The tragic consequences of not prosecuting torture and other grave crimes committed at the top echelons of society. The fact that our elected officials don't give a fuck about any of us. All of these realizations originated on the left or from those who inform them, such as the world's scientists. And virtually all scientists are liberals. Ever wonder why that is? Is it because they were brainwashed in college by the vast left-wing conspiracy? No, it's because they are smart and know how to think critically. So all these people ragging on the left or bragging about how far left they are not, need to wake up in my very humble opinion.
As a member of the 'professional' left, do I want the pentagon to be abolished? No. but I do want it to be demoted. I do not want it to be in charge of our nation – to the point that it tells presidents what to do, sucks up the lion's share of the national wealth and is taken seriously when it proposes raiding social security to pay for idiotic and unjust wars. I don't want to get rid of the military. I want it smaller and saner and to be used much more judiciously. I want these bogus wars ended ASAP – and I don't mean pretend ended, I mean seriously ended. I want that money spent on real problems. I want America to live up to its promise. I want our country to be the world's leading peacemaker. I want our sons and daughters to have a reasonable future.
It's probably unlikely that the left will ever get the respect it deserves. Too many people find the prospect of change jarring, inconvenient or frightening – even when the profound need for it is so blatantly obvious. Being the vanguard of change in a hopelessly conservative society is probably never going to be easy. If only more people would leave their conservative comfort zone and embrace their inner leftist...but I guess that's asking a lot. Change is scary.
Without union organizers, activists and movement leaders from the left, people like Mother Jones, Joe Hill, Eugene V. Debs, Martin Luther King Jr, I.F. Stone, Cesar Chavez and countless others, we'd have no weekends, paid vacation, sick days, overtime, a minimum wage, company-paid insurance, on-the-job safety regulations, and on and on this list could go. Virtually every good thing ordinary Americans have they owe to the bitter struggle on the left. The left fought for everything we've got. We have now lost much of that, and are losing the rest of it at an accelerating rate thanks to centrists and moderates whose lack of commitment and clarity serve only to empower the minority right wing, the plutocrats, kleptocrats and neocons.
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.
Joe Hill - Songwriters: Hayes and Robinson
There have been no moderate or centrist union organizers, activists or movement leaders. Virtually all of the progress we have made has been a direct result of the struggle of these brave 'radical' leftists.
Many people are emotionally invested in politicians, and often avoid recognizing what a one-way street that is. Politicians (generally speaking) only love us when it comes time for our money or our votes. Once elected it's all about serving the corporations, not the people.
Remember this from years back?
"They are not your friends."
Mike Stark
It's important to realize just how true this is – now more than ever. If we don't get wise to these bastards, we'll never make change happen – not in time to avoid the coming catastrophes.
The vast majority of our politicians on either side of the aisle worship and serve power and power only. The plutocratic elite and their corporations have it, the American people do not.
They Don't Give a F@#K About You
To recognize the truth of this, all you have to do is look around.
The American people are hurting. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and their ability to get a higher education. Today, some 22 percent of our children live in poverty, and millions more have become dependent on food stamps for their food.
And while the Great Wall Street Recession has devastated the middle class, the truth is that working families have been experiencing a decline for decades. During the Bush years alone, from 2000-2008, median family income dropped by nearly $2,200 and millions lost their health insurance. Today, because of stagnating wages and higher costs for basic necessities, the average two-wage-earner family has less disposable income than a one-wage-earner family did a generation ago. The average American today is underpaid, overworked and stressed out as to what the future will bring for his or her children. For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.
No To Oligarchy by Bernie Sanders in The Nation (h/t Ministry of Truth)
They are taking our jobs, our homes and our livelihoods, all for their personal gain. They're selling us out to enrich themselves. They don't care about Americans or America. Now they're coming for our social security. Once they have that we will have outlived our usefulness. Cheaper labor can be found elsewhere and profits are profits. Who cares that the American people are left to their desperate plights or America herself in ruins? But let's not support the extreme radical left – they might make us actually change. Wouldn't that be just awful?
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