<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>What is different
between the new left as in Clinton and Blair and the progressive right
as in many of the governors in the states?
</smaller></fontfamily></excerpt><<<<<<<<
It seems to me that the difference is, substantively, precisely nothing.
There are, of course, fine nuances that can be dismissed as "branding"
differences, but in terms of political economy, there is no difference
whatsoever. I concur that there has never been a Left in the form of a
Labour movement (in politics, I mean). Even John McSweeney's group (I
forget the acronym - the US union movement) is now fronted by the
"Heritage Foundation" which seems as intent on "freedom" (in the most
perverse sense of the word) as the hardest
neo-liberal/conservative/libertarian/anarchist think-tanks.
One of the interesting things about US political history is the early
emergence of Communism (to be more precise, "Utopian Socialism") in the
form of James Fourier's and Robert Powell's settlements in the midwest.
This also appears to be unique to the US and preceded Russia's communisms
by more than half a century.
>>>>
<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>While this tweddle
dee - twiddle dum has a sense a "newness", at least in America, it
seems to have a long history.</smaller>
</fontfamily></excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>
</fontfamily>Indeed it does. That's the scary bit for me. It is
underpinned, as you may well have noticed, by extreme nationalism and
(ostensibly economic, but also cultural and military) expansionism of the
most aggressive kind. Religious trappings of such political movements
have always been eclectic up to a point. Who was it that said "Patriotism
is the last refuge of scoundrels"? Mark Twain, I think.
The unhistorical badge - " The Third Way" - is a poor choice of political
branding. Hitler, Mussolini, and Oswald Moseley (to name a few of the
most famous fascists) all badged their policies as "Third Way". The
infamous book, "The Third Reich" (which had an arguable amount of
influence among the German fascists) was also first named "The Third
Way".
History is dead. Long live history.
Phil
Phil Graham
p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html
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"Another damned fat book, eh, Mr Gibbon? Scribble, scribble, scribble, eh, Mr Gibbon?" - The Duke of Gloucester to Edward Gibbon upon the publication of "Decline and Fall".
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