Eli Zaretsky interview on BBC Radio 3

[Blue_Tires]

Philip Dodd with an interview with cultural historian, Eli Zaretsky on his new book, 'Why America needs a Left' in which he argues that the idea of the left has become discredited. Examining three key moments in American history - the Civil War, the New Deal and the civil rights movements since the 1960s - he explores the ways in which the active involvement of the left was indispensable and that, without the left's critical interaction with mainstream liberalism, the Democratic Party has become ineffective.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01d0yfn/Night_Waves_Eli_Zaretsky/

The Zaretsky interview starts at about 23 minutes in...

[socialist_n_TN]

1. This ties into something ELSE I've been thinking about lately.......

(I know I keep saying that, but it's TRUE dammit , the ONLY times in US history when we've had serious progressive changes is when the ruling class has feared a revolution. So the left not only has to be PRESENT, a solid percentage of it MUST BE MILITANT. Or they're not scared enough to throw us any crumbs.

[Blue_Tires]

2. excellent points

[TBF]

3. Bingo.

Folks like Eugene Debs got votes and the Palmer Raids weren't conducted under a republican administration - leftists scare the status quo. FDR's "new deal" was in response to socialists/communists doing so well with the trade unions.