As a "heretic" socialist/leftist who gives the middle finger to classical leftists (i.e. advocates of fake sophistication who perpetuate BS in guise of rigor) I am already aware of May 1968 revolution of the French youth. That was a series of students and wildcat strikes which lasted for about 18 days, challenging and, almost, toppling De Gaulle's government of the time. It stopped short of an ensuing civil war (does this remind you of anything that has been happening for the last three months in a stretch of arid land we call the MENA?).
Already ten days of happiness.
This event to me was a mere black box, which I did not know much about other than the role it played in the evolution of socialism, and the emergence of new lefts. However, I was recently introduced to a very interesting aspect of this revolution revolving around the youth dissatisfaction with the norms and culture of the French society back then. Regardless of their political affiliations, they just did not want to comply with whatever the society and their parents expected of them, and found it hard to fit into the "pre-tailored" role a young person was supposed to play in that dull state.
They roared and the society took them light no more. 18 days were sufficient to initiate a shift from conservatism to liberalism (freedom and not the liberal ideology). Just another evidence that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. And you know what, we do not need such events to take place in order to understand that real changes in any society are abrupt in nature; they are too transient, the structures of societies, to be changed one step at a time.
Now, as is always the case with fake intellectuals, be those classical left or "celebrity and commercial" intellectuals, many books were written in the aftermath of the 1968 revolution in an attempt to theorize and provide explanations for what happened, something, I am afraid, is already being done to the Tunisian and Egyptian equivalents. Luckily, the French youth produced graffiti and posters during these 18 days which still resonate in our days preserving and capturing the essence of the revolution vividly. Here are the ones I liked the most (you can find many others here):
Meanwhile everyone wants to breathe and nobody can and many say, “We will breathe later.”And most of them don’t die because they are already dead.
We demand the right to contradict ourselves!
Run, comrade, the old world is behind you!
No replastering, the structure is rotten.
Don’t liberate me — I’ll take care of that.
Already ten days of happiness.
lovin' your blog dude ,,
ReplyDeletekeep it up :)
What or who are you calling "classical leftists"? The terms seems to be ambiguous. I suspect you are talking about libertarians, although I see no actual indication of what you are talking about!!
ReplyDeleteM7md,
ReplyDeleteThanks blog star ;)
Devil’s Mind,
Classical leftists are mainly literary intellectuals who believe in literary theories (http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm). They are brainwashed by social theories of the left, especially Marx theories, to the point that they became delusional like no other faction on Earth.
Now I am glad that one of those had posted something on 7iber (http://www.7iber.com/2011/03/tunisian-revolution-jordanian-questions/#). If you read this post you will see a clear example of a delusional classical leftist. With all due respect to the writer, he refuses to admit that the left theories hardly describe the world we live in, that is if we called them theories and not bull shits in the first place. He never thinks for a second that what he believes in might be nonsense, but instead attributes the left failure to a lack knowledge that only a superpower or liberals and rightists have. What do you call this?
Second, read the part where he tries to counter the argument that their theories are not realistic. How does he do that? Simply by reaffirming struggle of the classes! They simply can’t reason outside of what Marx taught them. Told you they are brainwashed.
Devil’s Mind,
ReplyDeleteI think I know what confused you in this post. I already corrected the fourth paragraph. One more thing, the central theme here is “if you don’t respect youth, they will eat you alive”, hopefully Jordanian youth as well.
Well, for the blog entry that you provided, the guy isn't saying much. My perception is that it is full of vague statements that do not make any commitment to any particular view or policy. Consequently, I fail to see your point. Maybe you have a specific criticism in mind which I'd like to hear.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, I see an implicit assumption in your reply that "political left" is same as "socialism movement". While socialist parties are considered as political left, many leftist movements do not support socialism.
My point is social sciences and literary theories are pure bullshit. You can't take them seriously. Anyways, classical leftists (old leftists) and dogmatists of the left are well known for giving lame reasons for their failure, such as "liberals and rightest are very smart and know something we don't know" especially in the Arab world. Try to hang around with some of those in Jordan and you will see this yourself.
ReplyDeleteAbout the implicit point, left-right definition varies from a country to another. In Jordan, all of the left parties are socialist and communist. And the old or classical left belongs entirely to the varying shades of socialism and communism.
I am not familiar with the political scene in Jordan. However, I would be surprised that there would be no liberals who support capitalism in Jordan. I generally consider myself pro-capitalism liberal. However, I support free-market capitalism (aka laissez-faire), not state capitalism that is currently implemented in most countries.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, I see some compatibility problems between socialism and liberalism. For this reason, I would guess that most liberals would not support socialism.
PS: This raises the question: Do you support liberalism and socialism? Or only socialism?
ReplyDeleteBoth. When it comes to economic policies I identify with the social democrats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy#Ideology).
ReplyDeleteIn anything else, I identify with the Green and LGBT social movements. I support the type of feminism which doesn't seek reconstructing women as men as well. (The egalitarianism and not Marxism movements)
I have to agree that Social Democracy is a decent system. Welfare programs are practical tools to provide social justice, and improve the human condition. It also reduces the incompatibilities with the liberal thought.
ReplyDeleteSo my guess is that what you are trying to say is that Social Democracy is superior to Marxian/Leninist theories (which you are calling "classical left"). If that's your point, then I agree.
Yes they are superior :) even though I think they can do better. But the point here was mainly that I detest whoever try to theorize when it comes to the evolution of societies and what better fits humanity. I detest even more those who cling into nonsense forgetting that humanity is what matters and not cultures, norms or pride.
ReplyDelete