There is likely little in this world that would nip a column's cyber-readership in the bud faster than an antique quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but what the hell, I'm feeling defiantly bold this morning:
"[T]he sour faces of the multitudes...," mused the 19th-century philosopher in his famous, albeit indirect, assault on populism, "have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper directs."
That line is from "Self-Reliance," and upon rereading it this weekend I was reminded that this, perhaps Emerson's most famous essay, was less a defense of seeming intellectual inconsistency (from this work came his pertinently memorable line about the "hobgoblin of little minds") than an indictment of sociopolitical conformity.
Broadly speaking, such an indictment is rather easy to prosecute: for good reason, few among us look fondly upon, say, society's gray-flannel mentality of the 1950s or its populist kin, the manic, witch-hunting consensus of anticommunism.
But -- and this is where things get paradoxically tricky -- as one drills down to society's subsections of political thought, it soon becomes evident that only conformity -- for our purpose, let's just call it general agreement -- can ever move mountains.
In numbers, there is power, and with power, desired change is possible. That in itself is manifest enough. Underlying those numbers, however, is the sine qua non of general agreement not only on principles (the desired change), but on the numbers' relative power.
This, it seems to me, is where modern progressivism breaks down and self-frustrates. There is indeed a vast consensus among progressives on what they want, but there is also mass confusion -- even self-delusion -- as to where they stand. And if you don't know where you are, you can't possibly know how to go where you want to be -- and this, as though you haven't guessed, is where, I believe, we as progressives require a little more clarity, a bit more thoughtful conformity, a trifle more general agreement on fundamentals.
To wit, the instances in which I've heard some high-profile progressive say on cable news or write online that the left "put" President Obama in office are innumerable; yet nothing could be more (unintentionally) fallacious. The base didn't put Obama in the White House; independents in the swing-middle did, just as they've put most presidents in the White House. And that's why, furthermore, most presidents as candidates run from the middle and why they persist in catering to the middle as president.
This, simply, is an electoral fact of American political history. There is no way around it. Yet so many progressives refuse to grasp it. Is it any surprise, therefore, that they now feel betrayed?
Another immovable but not necessarily immutable fact of American political history is that we are a centrist if not (in the Burkean sense) a fundamentally conservative nation. Hell, even our Revolution was conservative -- the exceptionalist first in world history.
Yet what do we hear from many prominent progressives? We are in the majority -- after all, we put in Obama in office, remember?
As further proof of this staggeringly imprecise analysis these same progressives customarily cite some poll on some issue that superficially shows that a majority of Americans agree with progressives. The battle over a public option was a perfect example. Yet never do these progressives also reveal the rapid degradation of popular sentiment, nor do they reveal the poll's internals; that is, the essentially conservative impulse of so many American liberals: 80 percent of Obama's "base," for example, has said they'll rather willingly accept health-care reform without a public option.
That leaves that 20 percent -- the most vocal percentage, of course -- that repeatedly misconstrues its relative strength within the electoral arena. Never, ever does this 20 percent concede to the other 80 or the public at large that, according to Gallup's most recent survey of ideological self-identification, a stupendous 75 percent of Americans regard themselves as either "moderate" or "conservative" or "very conservative" (35, 31 and 9 percent, respectively).
How many Americans call themselves liberal? A mere 21 percent, with five of those percentage points self-identifying as "very liberal." Do the math. This latter group is, roughly, the voluble 20 percent of all progressives, who account for only about 20 percent of the entire electorate.
Yet, being voluble, it is this internal 20 percent that we predominantly read and hear. Is it at all shocking, then, that so many progressives are stunned and disappointed by recent developments?
Which brings us back to Ralph and his "sour faces of the multitudes," which "are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper [or cable-news network or Web site] directs." Like Rick in Casablanca, most progressives have been profoundly misinformed.
I titled this little ditty "Speaking truth to the powerless," but the title isn't intended to imply hopelessness. In fact, far from it; in it I find a kind of liberation -- depending.
When a competent general goes into battle, he has first asked not for just feel-good intelligence as to his resources and those of the enemy's. He wants, he needs, an accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses -- no matter how monumentally dismaying they may be -- otherwise he and his forces face certain doom.
It is this sort of strategically consensual thinking -- a sort of conformity of thought, if you will -- that is fiercely needed and I think is possible among progressives as a starting point. But they will never enlarge their numbers or effect the change they seek as long as they're fooling themselves as to their relative strength, and that of the enemy's.
First and above all, "know thyself," as Emerson would have Socratically concurred. Then the world opens and possibilities abound.
Holding Our Noses
Just so we're all clear. In the upcoming election the Dems are going to run on a platform that says even lousy health reform is better than none, and the GOP is going to say that NO reform is better than lousy reform. So with SUPER majorities in both houses of Congress and a Dem WH to boot, the single greatest accomplishment of this Dem-dominated gov't is that they've actually managed to make the party of Palin and Limbaugh sound REASONABLE for the first time in over 30 years! Congratulations. MORONS!!!!!
Actually I think you may be
Actually I think you may be misidentifying who are the ‘very liberal’. I call myself a ‘very liberal’ and I’m not one of those miscounters -- indeed, how could I be, when BuzzFlash sometimes looks to me (except for yourself, of course) like a quasi-liberal incarnation of the tea parties? The main point of being liberal is tolerance and openness -- not demanding favored treatment, which is what I see so often these days. I have no sympathy for these demands.
The very liberal pays no special respect to the very liberal:
Jesus IS NOT a Liberal, nor is he a Conservative
"My kingdom is not of this world."
You may identify yourself with some of the qualities possessed by Jesus, but so do Conservatives. He would never identify himself as a Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, Republican, left, right, etc. He was in the heavenly business of saving souls, not in the worldly business of winning elections or passing legislation.
If he were alive today, he would most likely act like the Dalai Lhama.
"Be in this world, not of it."
The man can't help himself
He simply can't get thru a single column without insulting liberals. Whether he compares us to Emerson's "sour multitudes" or a delusional subset of the Left of the Left, it's always something. However, as ever it must be with The Carp, he buries a few nuggets of wisdom within his insults and half-truths.
Liberals certainly need to find out what they want, where they stand, and how to achieve their objectives.
Albeit a simplistic analysis, democrats appear to be split into 2 main camps: the corporate incrementalists and the ideological purists, and a variety of levels between the two--including the cult-of-personality Obamabots. I suppose I am nearer the ideological purist spectrum--and it's probably a counter-reaction to watching the dems govern this year because I was once a pragmatist. But never in my wildest dreams did I realize just how corporate the Democratic Party is and how many of its rank-and-file (like Carp) would wholly enable it. It has been a real eye opener and a call for reflection. As far as I'm concerned, the Democratic Party has made me what I have become.
You continue to say politics is the art of the possible, and I agree. We just have a huge disagreement over what was possible after 8 years of conservative incompetance and Obama's election. I had hoped (and expected) that he would go straight to the people and ask them to demand the change he ran on from congress. But I underestimated his cautiousness, his timidity, his unwillingness to try to use the bully pulpit to move the country to the left rhetorically. Instead, we hear the "government can't do everything" or anti-Keynesian, anti-deficit BS in the middle of a recession.
But I feel betrayed by Obama for one main reason (among others)--his pledge to change the way Washington does things--I.E. fight the lobbyists and corporate interests that have turned this country into a corporate fascist state. And I think I'm right to feel betrayed. Can you honestly say that this president has held to that promise?
So I'm angry--really at myself--for falling for a timid, cautious, corporate-enabling charlatan weilding a mighty sword of progressive rhetoric and milky white pablum at his unwitting minions at a time when we really could have had REAL progressive change and not this corporate incrementalism. And I fell for it.
But Carp, I am now self-aware. Other rank-and-file liberals are going thru their own process of self-awareness. The time-frame will differ with each individual, but it will happen. More and more people are beginning to understand who the master of the Democratic Party is, and--hint hint--it's not the people.
At some point we will reach critical mass in the anti-corporatist wing of the party and the corporate incrementalists will be outnumbered. At that point the Greens will have a home and some real power, too. The only question is--how long will it take and how much more damage will be done by this unholy alliance between corporation-and-state and their political enablers.
So for liberals to achieve REAL change, we have to take back the Democratic Party from Carp and his corporatist incrementalist ilk. If that means an intraparty civil war, so be it. We will not be your sheeple.
Now you may not think that is smart--in fact, I am sure you do not. But this brand of anti-corporatist dove will be smarter than your daddy's McGovernites. And when we have completed this takeover we will expect you corporate types to follow along with us, the way you demand the same of us now. And we will move the center of the rest of the nation to the left of where it is now through intelligence and good policy.
I say we begin the takeover by giving Obama a DEFEAT on some issue that is important to us, like war-funding. Progressives must be prepared to drag the political zeitgeist back to the left--and Obama with it--by being prepared to kill legislation that he wants and we don't. That's how you get respect--you utilize power. If you do not, you will lose it. If liberal politicians aren't prepared to go that route and challenge Obama and the corporatists, then we need to begin electing some who will, thru the use of primaries if necessary.
And BTW, liberals are responsible for Obama being in the White House every bit as much as independents, you dimwit. He could not have won without either block, but all the indies contributed (mostly) was a goddamn vote. Compare that with the time, energy, passion, money, neighborhood canvassing, phone-banking and GOTV operations done by unions and liberals. Sheez, do you really need to be told this?
Best comment EVER!!! Thank
Best comment EVER!!! Thank you! Chew it Barry!
You insult liberals, by
You insult liberals, by using their name to represent foolishness and intolerance, at an intellectual level about equal to that of George W. Bush, and in a style reminiscent of John McCain.
Any specifics of which you speak?
Please re-read what you wrote and tell me how your one sentence reply to my 1000 word essay is not exactly like that which you supposedly decry. Comparing what I wrote to the intellect of George W Bush without offering specifics is the epidome of intellectual lazyness, something you apparently specialize in after reading several of your disjointed offerings at this site.
Now Barry, let me tell you something--any so-called "liberal" who compares another professed liberal to George W Bush is being deliberately provacative and insulting. Do it in person sometime to the wrong individual and you' might just get your ass whipped. Just a word of advice.
Want tolerance? Practice what you preach and lay off the Bush comparisons.
Something smells fishy?
Seems some 'Progressive' commentators and media hosts are bending over backwards to support Congress' current health care scam, and in almost exactly the same manner bought-off Righties usually do.
One wonders ... ?
You must mean 'alleged' 'Progressive' commentators
'...and in almost exactly the same manner brought-off Righties usually do.'
This is just more evidence that proves the MSM is neither conservative right biased nor liberal left biased. They are upper 1% plutocratic fascist biased.
truth hurts but
PM you aren't even a centerist except in newspaper babble,you are a flat out conservative.Why does a supposedly progressive web site even keep you around.
Above The Fray?
The attitude in this post reminds me of something a bit more ancien regime than Emerson: the Olympian gods. Said deities would manipulate each others scams through manipulated human interference, and then blame the humans for being such fools no matter what the outcome. Humans were, after all, merely the playthings of the gods.
So it is with our elites (whom it now, sadly, appears that PM is chumming up to). Start wars in horrible places and send our future to combat them. Spend money we don't have making the self-proclaimed great ones incredibly wealthy (if only on paper) while we lose the means to generate real wealth through the direct transport of our industry to foreign lands. Toy with the means of making our meager existence reasonably long and moderately comfortable by messing with mortgages and killing health care. Why allow us to continue to beleive we are free and holding certain inalienable rights? Why not just declare humans to be leaglly corporate property and dispense with the illusion?
But we aren't to speak ill of the gods, are we, PM? We aren't to express our displeasure because we were misled by a candidate who clearly had no intention of living up to his own promises. We're just supposed to bend over and take another one for the team, aren't we?
Make sure you get a good seat with a clear view. You wouldn't want to miss anything that will happen to you when your turn comes.
Criticism of Progressives
I am frankly surprised at those who criticize progressives so much about our displeasure with Obama. The reason always is because once in power one must govern from the center. If only Obama would govern from the center, I would be less displeased. I do not think that Geitner or Summers are "centrists" by any stretch of the imagination. They are corporatists. I do not think that refusing to sign the land mine treaty is centrist. I could go on, but think about these statements.
Obama is not governing from the center. He is governing from the right. I would be much less angry and disillusioned if only he were a centrist.
Watergirl
Speaking nontruth to the progressives
Carpy, MSM putz wannabe, parrots the fascist propaganda again, as usual. He has joined the fascist minions in the schoolyard mud puddle and is gleefully lobbing mudballs at the progressives, along with the rest of the stenographing MSM putzes, talking heads and Teabagger politicians from down the rabbit hole.
Hey kids! Keep your balloons away from Carpy. He wants to deflate them just as badly as he wants to deflate the progressive movement.
Of course in Carpy's deluded world, progressives are a "powerless", irrelevant political power and are less popular than dick Cheney giving a root canal with a shotgun. Never mind the fact that progressives raised over $500,000 in one day, and donated it all to progressive politicians as a message to the Blue Dog DINO-Fascists that they would not fall in line and become good little yes men, as ordered by the appallingly corrupted Rahmbo who tried to throw them under the bus in exchange for a little more corporate bribe money. Never mind the fact that progressives have proven themselves to hold sway over the outcome of next year's general elections, not to mention the Democratic Primaries. Never mind the fact that without progressives, the Obama administration would not exist.
I wish Carpy's daily anti-progressive lying rant did not exist. Buzzflash, if you want to remain a progressive website, then you need to get rid of Carpy. He is single handily destroying your credibility.
"root canal with a shotgun" ! I nominate Kevin
for Buzzflash columnist, assignment to begin 1/1/10. replacing Mr. Carp, whose contrarian rountine has run its course, which is putting it mildly, as actually it has worn boringly thin. seriously, Kevin, you have earned it beyond your tireless work on deconstructing Carp. now, under the category burying the lede, here's a little secret: I didn't read today's post. I went straight for the comments from which I gleaned the nature of the post (as if they weren't static), following my own advice on an earlier blog post. anyway, do I hear a second?
What are you doing New Year's Eve?
&%*$$#@^(*)^:"#^#%##@@*^($>
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I doubt that there are more
I doubt that there are more than handful of buzzflash readers who share Carpenter's neocon fantasies. And that, along with their squandering funds by paying for unreadable web pages, is probably at the root of buzzflash's current financial problems.
That being obvious, may I suggest a solution for both problems?
Let buzzflash have a fundraising drive promising to banish the Carpenter name forever from its pages if a certain amount of money is raised within a certain amount of time? I've got a $20 I can't afford to lose to start the bidding.
My guess is it would be the soundest financial move the powers that be at buzzflash headquarters have made for 10 years.
I'll match your $20 to oust Carpy. Will others follow?
Now all of you others, please make this financial move even sounder.
Please donate to oust Carpy.
misconstruing percentages...
...they can be chopped and diced and used in whatever blocks one wants to 'prove' a point--which is vague at best here in this piece.
Fact is the only percent that counts in an election is what a candidate gets to get him elected. Obama got it. The problem is that there are so many issues ,and some very important, which weigh into the 'who wins'--assuming no tampering or fudging.
As a supporter of Obama in the general election I expect and want him to be somewhat true to his preelection talk. I am frustrated and angry that he has not made any attempt to be anywhere near 'True".
He based his electoral fortunes on a few words i.e. Hope and Change. he won and as he took his oath of office he tossed those words to the winds. I am bewildered, how does one make a 'change' and refuse to look back at what happened so he can make the 'change' he so proundly declared we need?
If he is so smart why does he insist on walking in the same footsteps as the dumb guy who just left?
The 911 official story is a sham. There are too many non answered and implausible components and those can be answered. The only reasonable expanation for continuing to keep the answers hidden is that the facts would expose the sordid details and 'they' do not want that.
Support Obama? Heck no, not until he supports the percent that got him elected.
Conservative country?
Sorry Mr. Carpenter, but if the conservatives had won the day during our revolution, then when you go to a ball game you would stand and sing "God save the Queen" instead of the National Anthem! If this truly were a conservative nation there never would have been the vote for women, there would never have been school desegregation, there would have never had been the war on poverty, nor would there ever be unions in this country.
If we truly were a conservative nation, than the old nazi saying would be true " Ein Volks, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer! One People, One Party, One Leader!
Then we would truly be One Nation, Under One God and One Party. But then we wouldn't be America, would we?
By the way, I'm getting tired of you center/right wacos' referring to yourselves as progressives. Your taking something good and turning it foul! Why not refer to yourselves as regressives? Just a thought!