Re: Observer poll gives tories 12 pt lead - Another poll gives tories only 1 pt lead... Archived Message
Posted by Sinister Burt on September 15, 2019, 5:43 pm, in reply to "Re: Observer poll gives tories 12 pt lead - Another poll gives tories only 1 pt lead..."
"But 'it', the triumph of socialism doesn't seem to have happened, does it? Does it look like socialism is around the corner? " The darkest hour is before the dawn and all that. And as many marxists will probably tell you (endlessly), it's a dialectical process of interacting forces anyway - not a simple binary (or as i'd say, it's not over till the weight-challenged person sings ). In an admittedly flimsy way, socialist-ish ideas have been increasing recently in various places, where it seemed impossible not long ago - i know, sanders and corbyn aren't proposing 'proper' socialism, but who would deny they would be an improvement on current neoliberalism, and at least help combat the seemingly inevitable rightwards slide of the overton window, even if only symbolically. If sanders gets in in america (big if, but not that big), and attempts some keynesian-ish policies, the global position on the soft end of these ideas could change - if corbyn won here too, there could be similar ideological realignments - this could be a crack in the door for wider public exploration of 'proper' socialist alternatives to make some headway - or another episode in elite crushing of the ideas (which can also be positive for socialism if it's obvious to the public). The 'elites' would be fighting to blairise this at all times, or cast it as the evil commies of course, but they don't have to get it their own way if enough people stand up - nothing is inevitable (they're even less evitable than usual at the moment i'd say). Socialism through history always seemed like this impossible task, but there were victories nonetheless - there's no reason to think this couldn't be the same in future. Today's struggle seems more uphill than it's been before - as mark fisher talked about regarding capitalism's hegemony (quoting jameson?) 'it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism' - the corollary of this could be 'we can end/improve on capitalism if we get more imaginative' - i would say that giving up hope of better is a limit to the imagination that only suits the beneficiaries of the status quo. (another political koan i like, 'Be realistic, demand the impossible' seems appropriate too). Saying all that, i'm not that inclined to be hopeful or able to predict much in general, due to oncoming synergising global crises or whatever - but maybe that unpredictability should be the biggest clue that things can be very different (for good or ill). Sorry for the waffle couldn't be bothered to edit.
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