The devolution of the Western Left from Paris Commune to identity politics has been a disaster

[Scoop]

Quick and dirty history lesson: The Paris Commune was an unsuccessful revolution in 1871 in Paris. For roughly two months, from mid March to late May, a relatively unorganized group of citizens occupied the city of Paris and for all intents and purposes took control of the city from the French government. This was largely made possible by a unique military structure in Paris and the rest of France where the two actually had separate militaries. The National Guard was Paris's army, and it was largely sympathetic to the working class while the main French Army was much more loyal to the French government. Anyway, during the occupation most decisions were made by consensus. The reasons for the revolution included exploitation of workers, undue influence of certain institutions such as the Catholic Church and also an invasion of areas surrounding the city by Germany which had been poorly defended by the national military. The revolution wasn't communist (at least not openly) but instead advocated for what is widely called Democratic Socialism today with extremely decentralized leadership.

Think Occupy Wall Street but instead of setting up camps they set barricades with cannons:

Now, I'm not trying to glorify the Commune. It had a lot of problems. It DID eventually get "leaders" who executed opposition. It was unruly, conditions deteriorated in the city as many of the participants were more interested in looting and crime then they were in building a society and it was eventually wiped out.

Anyway, I've been reading up on all of this and was like damn, today's left is all about exploiting people's skin color and genitals for votes. There's no effort to end corporate welfare, no effort to change a system that clearly favors the wealthy, no effort to enfranchise people into the decision making process. Today it's all aesthetic: What is the tax rate going to be? Are we going to approve that merger between multinationals or not? Are we going to make that baker bake you and your partner a cake?

If you haven't noticed, there aren't many left leaning governments in power in the West in large countries right now. You have Hollande with his sub-20% approval. You have Nieto with sub-25% approval. You have Italy which has elections pending because Renzi resigned. You have Venezuela which is collapsing. The only "successful" one is Trudeau. The US, UK, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, Russia and Colombia are all right governments. I mean, is this the weakest the left has EVER been in the modern era?

Point is: The descent of the left in western civilization from Paris commune to identity neo-lib politics has to be one of the least successful political movements in recorded history.

 

[Shogun]

Great post. Get ready for dismissive smileys and tweets about Putin.

 

[acri1]

I don't know if "identity politics" is really the main issue since the right is more or less based on identity politics too, just with different demographics (ie. rural white folks, evangelicals, etc.).

The bigger problem is just that there's a lot of white resentment in the current political climate and most white folks view pretty much any government program as a handout to minorities.

 

[FAH1223]

The left was destroyed in the last decade

The 2008 crisis was a big opportunity but neoliberal policies further eroded the working and middle classes

 

[MeachTheMonster]

"The left" as in, those in power, not the everyday liberal. Only care about preserving their power.

The right has decided the way to gain/preserve power is through attacking minority groups and speaking to white supremacy. The left has decided that opposition is what will get them votes.

Neither actually care about the people they are pandering to. They just want votes

 

[WaveMolecules]

Conservatives are regressive by nature and are better digging in their heels.

The word of the day for them anytime liberal policies arise is obstruction.

I'll give conservatives credit they'll die for their ideology but the fact is they're on the wrong side of history.

Liberal policies can't succeed when your dragging 30 percent of the population towards progress. They'd rather be an out of luck future millionaire then see "socialism" take root.


What do you expect though. They also tend to believe that earth is 6000 years old and a giant invisible man in the sky will take care of all their problems.

 

[thatrapsfan]

The left was destroyed in the last decade

The 2008 crisis was a big opportunity but neoliberal policies further eroded the working and middle classes

Bernie Bros so commited to the narrative that the right is taking over

I'll quote this in the summer when the EUs two most important countries have left leaning governments.

 

[hashmander]

and yet no one is more interested in identity than trump and his supporters.

keep projecting though.

 

[Broke Wave]

Bernie Bros so commited to the narrative that the right is taking over

I'll quote this in the summer when the EUs two most important countries have left leaning governments.

You're an idiot. The political paradigm has absolutely shifted to the right. If you can't see that then you need to do some homework

 

[thatrapsfan]

You're an idiot. The political paradigm has absolutely shifted to the right. If you can't see that then you need to do some homework

Easy with the insults.

Perhaps you need to do your homework if you think the far-right is on the verge of taking over Germany or France.

Saying they've gained popularity and saying they're taking over everything is not the same thing btw. Likewise Bernie-bros are very much committed to overstating Trump's popularity and dominance.

 

[FAH1223]

Bernie Bros so commited to the narrative that the right is taking over

I'll quote this in the summer when the EUs two most important countries have left leaning governments.

Germany and France ain't electing AFD and FN, I know that waryaa

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

complaining about identify politics = white men aren't the center of discussion

 

[thatrapsfan]

Germany and France ain't electing AFD and FN, I know that waryaa

OK so how is the threads premise and the claim the left-leaning parties are destroyed holding up then?

This whole conversation/narrative will flip on its head this summer.

 

[Broke Wave]

Easy with the insults.

Perhaps you need to do your homework if you think the far-right is on the verge of taking over Germany or France.

Saying they've gained popularity and saying they're taking over everything is not the same thing btw. Likewise Bernie-bros are very much committed to overstating Trump's popularity and dominance.

I never said far right. The right wing has controlled Germany and France for decades. The actual right wing not the right wing parties per say. And spare me your strawman, I nor FAH said that ever.

 

[FAH1223]

OK so how is the threads premise and the claim the left-leaning parties are destroyed holding up then?

This whole conversation/narrative will flip on its head this summer.

It's destroyed in the USA as we dont having a left wing party