FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE RECENT ELECTIONS Probably the best commentary on the recent elections that Ive seen so far was offered last night on the PBS News Hour. (Ive linked the video segment below.) As is often (but not always) the case, Mark Shields dissects matters pretty well. I particularly agree with Shields assessment concerning where the energy is on the left today. I say that as someone who has been a left wing activist for more than a decade now. Back when I started out getting involved in activism in 2002-3 the energy on the left was definitely around opposing the (then-forthcoming) Iraq War. (Between 9/11 and Bushs State of the Union Address in 2002 wherein he laid out his axis of evil formulation and then began promoting the idea of invading Iraq, there was almost no left wing activism going on, but once Iraq came up then some started to emerge around that issue.) Between that point and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, the anti-war scene was where the American left was; the Iraq War the main issue around which they congregated. The Great Recession, and in particular the crash of 2008, however, seems to have permanently altered the center of energy on the American left. From that point on, economic inequality became the source of energy and intellectual ferment on the left. The so-called old left -- the economic left -- is back and its going to be gaining more and more political expression as the years go by. I think thats actually the overall most important takeaway from all this because it relates most to the long-term political directionality of the country. Progressives hence should celebrate de Blasios victory more than McAuliffes. Check out what Shields has to say on this at the video segment linked below. pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec13/politicalwrap_11-08.html
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 17:14:12 +0000
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