'Where Is the Uprising from the Left?'

[FarCenter]

Political scientist Francis Fukuyama was once the darling of American neo-conservatives. In a SPIEGEL interview, the author of "The End of History" explains why he now believes that the excesses of capitalism are a threat to democracy and asks why there is no "Tea Party on the left."

...
SPIEGEL: The latest financial crisis was often compared to the Great Depression: Why did we not see another case of the left wing rising up against the rich?

Fukuyama: I am at a loss, too. Where is this uprising from the left? This is a crisis that began on Wall Street. It really was rooted in the particular American model of liberalized finance. It hurt ordinary people tremendously, and it benefited the richest part of the country -- the finance sector -- which came through the crisis very well, thanks to government bailouts. You would have thought that this would pave the way for a rise of left-wing populism as seen in the 1930s. A Tea Party on the left, so to speak.

SPIEGEL: Could the Occupy Wall Street movement fill this void on the left?

Fukuyama: I really do not take this movement seriously, because its social base is extremely narrow. It consists mostly of the same kids that were protesting in 1999 in Seattle against the World Trade Organization -- anti-capitalists. The big problem sociologically for the left in the United States is that the white working class and lower middle class, that in Europe would be reliably social democratic in their political behavior, tends to vote Republican or is easily brought into the Republican camp. Until the Occupy Wall Street people can connect up with that demographic group, there is not going to be a big left-wing populist base of support in the US.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,812208,00.html

[tabatha]

1. Wow, you think there should be uprisings?

[Warpy]

2. Fukuyama needs to get out more

Perhaps he missed the marches by airline pilots and other unionized workers in support of OWS.

Narrow base, my ass.

[mike_c]

6. yet even here, where support for OWS should be near universal...

...there is constant criticism and derision of the movement. I think he's at least partly correct-- OWS has largely NOT connected with the working and lower middle class yet, especially those with jobs and homes. I don't think that's necessarily OWS's fault-- it likely has more to do with the entrenched power structures in American society and the habit of long subservience to capitalist institutions.

Real reform of U.S. social and political institutions will require lots of sacrifice, and the people who need that reform the most are currently among the least willing to put their perceived social and economic stability at risk. I don't know the answer, but I think the movement is in danger of moving past the opportunity to engage those demographics in any broad sense because it must continue moving forward to avoid stagnation, but moving forward without a broad support base will only empower its enemies.

I also don't think there's much time left. OWS must make real gains THIS SUMMER, before the November elections, in order to have a voice in the national debate during those campaigns. There will be significant repression aimed at OWS this summer. It will need that broad base to weather that repression. Otherwise, like Chicago in 1968, there will be lots of teeth gnashed, but in the end, no real reform.

[Warpy]

8. There is constant derision from official blowhards employed by the corporate press

and the really stupid people at the bottom parrot it because they think that makes them look dead clever.

However, the support is just under the surface. Check out opinion polls about how the country is on the wrong track and what should be done about it.

The majority of the 99% realize what's going on.

[mike_c]

12. that's why I still have hope....

I fear it's going to take a few more really painful episodes to bring that sentiment to the surface, though.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

17. +1000

I agree with your subject line, and second line, but I'm not so optimistic about 99% catching on quite yet. Sadly, many willfully Choose to live in the dream world.

[JackRiddler]

10. "Here" is exactly where I expect resistance to OWS...

Last edited Fri Feb 3, 2012, 10:48 AM - Edit history (1)

from people who are in tune with establishment liberalism, leader-follower dynamics, and conventional party politics; who are constantly downplaying systemic corruption and the long emergency we find ourselves in; and who see OWS as a threat or as nothing more than a voting clientele that should obediently get in line.

All I know right now in person is New York. On the street and this winter in the meeting halls, it's growing and gearing up...

And Fukuyama is little more than a glorified pundit, interested above all in framing his own thoughts as Very Important. You'd think Mr. End of History would have learned some humility, but as a professional requirement he can never do that.

[mike_c]

13. good point....

I'm out on the left coast, and in a rural area at that. I suspect the picture I see is very different than what you experience in the urban east.

Solidarity!

[tledford]

15. You nailed it.

"'Here' is exactly where I expect resistance to OWS from people who are in tune with establishment liberalism and conventional party leader-follower politics, who are constantly downplaying systemic corruption and the long emergency we find ourselves in, and who see OWS as a threat or as nothing more than a voting clientele that should obediently get in line."

Best, most valid expression of the reality of OWS that I've heard to date.

[gopiscrap]

3. Because fucking big business has us right where they want us

Most of us just comfortable enough that we can make the rent/mortgage and put food on the table but scared enough that we're 1-3 paychecks away from being on the street...they have us in a place where we have just enough to be kept quiet, but also in a zone of serious economic fear.

[mike_c]

7. bingo!

That is exactly what I meant by "the habit of long subservience to capitalist institutions."

[gopiscrap]

9. Hey what a coincidence

my name is also Mike C

[mike_c]

14. dude....

[Starry Messenger]

4. Lulz. He was wrong about capitalism and now he's fishing for relevency.

"Fukuyama: The Tea Party is a genuine grassroots movement, so I do not buy into these conspiracy theories that rich billionaires initiated it. When you go to one of these rallies of Ron Paul supporters, they are very passionate. They all tend to be young, and they have just got this libertarian idea in their minds that the government is really the source of all of our problems. So I think the convictions of Tea Party activists are sincere, they are not manipulated by billionaires. But it is true that they mobilize against their own economic interests and for the interests of elites they should despise. I still do not fully understand why they do that.

SPIEGEL: Why can't Obama reach these frustrated people?

Fukuyama: The president never annunciated a vision of a different kind of economic order that did not just look like a return to a kind of classic big spending, liberal Democratic formula. The Democrats have never articulated an economic philosophy that is not just the return to the 1970s, big government and so forth, or the position of the labor unions which is very hostile to globalization."

More of the right wing embrace of populist language, but still right wing. He thinks the Tea Party© and the Ron Paul corporate cult are genuine grassroots, but Occupy can get stuffed? The PNACer can go blow it out his commodity.

[Kurmudgeon]

5. The fact that he thinks Occupy is just the kids who protested in 1999 shows his blindness.

[JackRiddler]

11. The fact he'd think the protesters of 1999 were "just the kids" also.

[T S Justly]

16. Lol! What a nut. (nt)

[Change has come]

18. Thanks FarCenter!

I also like "darlings of the neo-conservatives" to tell me what to think and provide me with talking points. Well done!

[MFrohike]

19. The kids of 1999?

Wow. All I will say is that he should leave his office at Stanford sometime and check out the real world.