Nick Cohen lost the left
If he took a rational view of modern political science, he might see where it went
Part One- He blames commies and a film.
Nick Cohen begins his
diabtribe against the left titled "Where Have All the Children of the Left Gone?" by blaming a movie. Why such emphasis on a piece of entertainment? I think you have to ask yourself that question because it colors much of his complaint.
Cohen imagines the millions of people who viewed 'Fahrenheit 9/11' as those who would see Iraqis as "comrades". I really think that's pushing the envelope....no...ripping the envelope.
Most of the people who viewed the movie had no strong political or ideological motivation whatsoever. I would say the major force driving them to the theater was sheer curiosity.
Just wait for the book.
Curiosity will also lead people to read
Michael Moore's upcoming book of letters from Iraq war soldiers.
After 9/11, we're told that we're leaving cold war thinking behind....but are we? When will our ideas catch up with our bombs?
Cohen writes as if Marxism was still a major threat to modern societies. The Cold War ended some time ago and I think we've all seen political progress and mutation borne by the mere passing of time.
The problem with the hard right is that they cling to old ideas, therefore thay cannot imagine how the left may have evolved. Perhaps that is why they are called conservative...and perhaps that is why many of them have to be careful about what they choose to conserve. Antiquated thought is seldom a healthy thing to be clinging onto. History can be used to make a better future rather than used as a tool for division. The world has changed drastically over time and the fact that 9/11 occurred and we were
shocked and unprepared was proof-positive that many of us simply didn't "get it".
So, I ask you---when
will we get it? We aren't going to win any wars against terror in a divided global state.
Our world troubles shouldn't be posed in the tired frames of right-world vs. left-world any longer.
Right/left? How utterly simplistic.
I believe Mr Cohen is far too simplistic in his analysis. If we examine the world through the eyes of a political scientist, we would see that it's full of myriad systems and movements that are vying with each other for power.
We need imagination (as the 9/11 Commission pointed out to America). We need to see
fewer of our differences and
more of our common decency.
Our world troubles shouldn't be posed in the
tired frames of right-world vs. left-world any longer. If we use our intelligent imagination, we would see how American-style corporate capitalism and statist liberalism can work successfully together to beat terror. (The folly of Iraq exposed a gigantic crack between the two, however, and we need to mend those fences with intelligent leadership).
When are we going to learn?
This incessant mistrust and teeth-baring at the left is going to kill us--and I mean that
literally.
We need to be decent and civil world vs. indecent and uncivil world.
It isn't complicated and it doesn't take a genius to understand.
To his credit, I think George W. Bush believes this in its black-and-white terms, but has never had a clue how to make it a political reality.
He's a beautiful fool who should never have been allowed to run powerfully amok. I believe he was ill-advised by those he trusted.
I do not believe he was ever a capable leader.
If Cohen can't see the left anymore, he may need to take that log out of his own eyeball and put down that old crutch of left/right division (which should have died along with the cold war).
The right has shifted backward surely as the left has progressed
If we must talk in terms of left and right (bored sigh), let's state what is real and what is true.
In reality, what was once the "left" (and is still "the left" to Cohen's rather antiquated way of thinking) is now being replaced by what we know as the radical right. Think of the NeoConservative movement and the totalitarian-leaning activities by the Ashcroft Justice department and you may begin to understand what I mean.
The Bush effect
The Bush administration has contributed to this political upheaval and unrest in our world. They've practically ruined Tony Blair by his association with them.
Until the Iraq war, I'd wager most of the world saw Blair as a rational, intelligent, and decent leader.
He got into bed with a fool--albeit a beautiful fool.
The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.
Cohen says honorable traditions have been forgotten by 'the left'. I think Cohen needs to sift through the cobwebs in his mind and think anew. All good people desire honorable and decent goals. There are good people on the old left and on the right and in all ideological spaces in between.
If we don't seek the common angels of our better nature, the civil world will go to hell.
