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After only becoming more involved in looking at politics in late 2006 to now, I've noticed a lot of things about myself, my political leanings and had to look more at the political structure. In the beginning I called myself a moderate because I didn't really want to labeled as an idealogue, but taking time to realize that I was a liberal but was not dogmatic in my beliefs. I also voted for Barack Obama, and in that time become more vocal politics and his policies and now most recently, the larger Progressive Movement. I think with first 2 and a half years of the Obama Administration, and the most recent protests in Wisconsin, soon to be around the country and how the Progressive Movement has responded I think this is a moment that we as a whole should really focus and reflect on.
The Failure Of The Liberal Class
I know some of you may or may not have read Chris Hedges' book "The Death Of The Liberal Class" which he analyzes the Progressive Infrastructure through the Universities, The Press, The Labor Movement, The Civil Rights Movement, The Anti-War Movement, The Democratic Party. His assessment is pretty much that after World War II the Liberal Establismhment disempowered itself by trying by having access to the power elite, A good example of this is the Labor Movement and the Democratic Party. Now the more mainstream unions were able to have a seat at the table in the White House and actually gain victories only because of the more militant Labor Unions put the fear of God into some of the power elite. Hedges talks about how certain examples of these more militant unions being underminded by the more mainstream elements of the Labor Movement in order to gain a measure of power. I'm only using the example of the unions because of what's going today but you can pretty use that for anything in the Progressive Movement wheter it be the Enviromental Movement, Gay Rights Movement etc., and of course it applies today. I'm being reminded by Jane Hamsher's blog post about the "Veal Pen". In one of Chris Hedges' appearances talking about his book he stated something that was very sad but true. He said the the Liberal Class' biggest enemy was not people like Glenn Beck, but Noam Chomsky. Because Chomsky remains critical of the power structure even among the left. We om the left tend to treat the people who we should've most likely stood up for with comtempt. If you don't believe me, look at Ralph Nader. A lot of liberals till this day, especially on this website will fault Ralph Nader for what happened in Florida in the 2000 election, yet they know that the Supreme Court had gift wrapped the election for George Bush, The Governor of Florida was Bush's brother and Katherine Harris was a campaign chair. Yet we treated him with a huge amount of comtempt.
The Absence of Black Political Thought In The Age Of Obama
You can't talk about the Progressive Movement without the contributions of Black People. In the age of Obama, most African Americans don't really have that much of broad discussion about how Obama has reacted to the struggles of black people. Black People have the highest level of unemployment, yet Obama refuses to address these issues. Also, people in my community don't seem to notice that everytime he talks to black audiences it's always about how we're lazy, we need to pull ourselves up by our own bootsraps. A lot of time's he often says disparging things about Black Men and is quick to bring up the stereotype that most black men are often absentee fathers and commiting crimes. Yet he won't bring up how the war on drugs, the Prison Industrial Complex locks black men up at alarming rate compared to their white counterparts. When ask at a press conference by a reporter from BET about how the stimulus package, he basically gave the usual "all rising tides will lift all boats" answer. It's almost as if he's afraid to address even the most minimal of issues of the situation in the black community. One example frp, my own experience is talking about politics with a classmate who's black and like I said, over time I've become more critical of President Obama, we were talking about the Health "Reform" bill and he asked me "Why do you hate President Obama so much?" I was stunned, I mean I really was really taken for a loop for a second. Right now in the Black Community it seems that the only discussion about Obama is largely what Obama is goin to do or who is trying to take down Obama. Without a strong response from the black community, the Progressive Movement will suffer.
Final Thoughts
I think that the Progressive Movement has to look at itself from now on and realize that if it's gonna move forward Progressive Movement has to be indpendent of both parties, whether it be Republican or Democratic and the power structure. We are at a very tough time now, even with the First Black President. Right now it seems that the presence of a Black President has effectively neutered the Progressive Movement and because of that, it's emboldened the most right wing elements to things like what they're doing in Wisconsin and across the country with Union Busting. The Progressive has to really look at ourselves in the mirror, and really examine ourselves, because if not, The Progressive Movement will have itself to blame for not standing up when it should have.
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