[A-List] Whither or Wither Europe?

[Tony B.]

"Another of the "thousands" of examples of
exaggerated, slanderous anti-Obamaisms from the ultra-left.

'ultra-left'....hmm...That must be bad, right?  ..So there's a 'good' left 
and 'bad' left...and 'ultra-left' must be really bad.

I'm afraid this manner of talking is to adopt the false dichotomies and 
definitional prescriptions/assumptions of the anti-democratic, 
authoritarian, imperialist ideologues..or should I say, the 'ultra-right'. 
This term, 'ultra-left' is, in other words, taken straight from the 
establishment lexicon...an official semiotics intent in positioning itself 
on the high terrain of ideological corrrectness and respectability.

Now, perhaps it is valuable to critique the anti-democratic, paternalistic, 
central authoritarian traditions of, say, the old Stalinist 'left'...fair 
enough. But I get a little queasy when I hear the term 'ultra-left' thrown 
about so facilely in the face of the modern left....a 'left' by the way 
which in the US is, by any non-American standards, hardly 'ultra', but is, 
instead, rather milquetoast.

"And who is your alternative to Obama ?"

*We* are, i.e. the non-elite 'masses', the people.

That is, in a sense, you are right Charles. There is no executive / imperial 
alternative to Obama. And certainly the asendency of, say, an explicit 
exponent of the Christian Right into executive office could conceivably be 
worse. But really, this is mostly beside the point...the point being, that 
Obama is patently a dyed-in-the-wool imperialist. He is seeking US global 
hegemony with as much fervour as any US emperor of the recent past. 'Get in 
to the real world'?...Well, when Obama & Co. attack Iran ..and send the 
world galloping towards Armageddon...perhaps then we'll all be in the 'real 
world'. The 'alternative', then, is for mass social struggle to hammer the 
elitist, militarist power base into less dangerous, and hopefully, more 
progressive shape. Continuing to defend imperialism, militarism and 
corporate capitalism under the auspices of defending a mythical, progressive 
'Obama' is hardly 'reality' based. It is simply delusional.

The 'real world', in any case, is not something that simply exists....the 
world is something that we create. This demand to simply 'get with the real 
world'...the world 'as it is'...is merely a demand to let those in power 
continue to create the world in their image, i.e. unfettered by those in the 
vast majority who seek to create a rather different world. In short, there 
is no 'real' world. There is merely the world we strive to create ..the 
world we fight for. Period. Any other description/prescription is sheer 
elitist, verbal mystification. A recipe, if you like, for quietism and 
political passivity.

...Finally, this is not about race, Charles...though certainly there are 
many racists in the US who are taking any opportunity to bash Obama.,,,This 
is about class, this is about corporate, crony capitalism, about 
authoritarianism, about the continued dissolution of personal liberties, 
about militarism, about imperialism....about the accelerating 
destabilization of world security etc. If you can explain how Obama has 
moved in a progressive manner to counter any these grave socio-political
currents, then please explain it to me.

Tony


---- Original Message ----- 
From: "c b" <cb31450 at gmail.com>
To: <a-list at lists.econ.utah.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 2:25 PM
Subject: [A-List] Whither or Wither Europe?


> Gary is wrong that Paye is so on left field his analysis does not
> apply to the realities on the ground.  Paye is right on, entirely.
> Obama is doing a snow job as he did about the BP oil eruption, about
> the Georgian War, and thousands more.
>
> Assumptions can blind us as the Americans have know well.   Suzanne
>
> ^^^^^^^^
> CB: Gee, you Chicken Littles are kind of quiet about the BP oil spill
> getting capped a lot quicker than you predicted.  Seems like you are
> doing a bit of "rain job" on the BP oil spill. Obama looks executive
> effective on that.  Another of the "thousands" of examples of
> exaggerated, slanderous anti-Obamaisms from the ultra-left.
>
> And who is your alternative to Obama ? Sarah Palin ? Newt Gingrich ?
> Hilary Clinton ? Get into the real world, comrades.
>
>