I agree with Jason about pushing boundaries. I think that is what following such a slogan does. I do not concur, however, that the slogan has lost its meaning because some people do not push for radical change. Those people are NOT following the message. They probably don’t know it, either. Or at least have an understanding of how massive changes happens. For a Dr. King, there was a Malcolm X. Someone (or a movement) visibly pushing for larger change and moving the powers-at-be to compromise for some improvements.

I think the failures of the left to effectively struggle for things like single-payer doesn’t stem from a lack of determination, but rather from the Left’s organizational weakness and ideological confusion — not to mention the historical bankruptcy of the left’s core ideas in the 20th century. (Namely Stalinist planning, the dependency theory and (the embrace of nationalist) Keynesianism/import-substitution.)

The left of all shades don’t want to acknowledge its own impotence — the PSL and others focus on Cuba and Venezuelan solidarity and a Stalinist anti-imperialism, the ISO seems to uncritically attach itself and siphon new recruits from whatever movement pops up, and on the opposite pole groups like the CPUSA/CCDS are playing out popular front fantasies with the Obama administration (which PWW declared the most pro-labor administration in US history).

The alternative is an honest assessment of the Left and principled engagement with existing progressive forces, something I think David and most of YDS/DSA are doing better than others. The present crisis has shown us that capitalism’s woes aren’t going to drive people into the ranks of the Left, it’ll take some fundamental change in the Left. I may be a bit jaded from a year + of being surrounded in the campus scene by the politics of actionism and lifestylism, but I believe that this is a ship that can be righted (no pun intended).

– I’ve digressed a bit, but this was an excellent piece.

But “the left wing of the possible” can also be used as an excuse for political passivity, for a refusal to engage in projects deemed too difficult. Example: a whole slew of healthcare activists — not to mention unions — have decided that single-payer isn’t “possible” and have wholeheartedly embraced “the public option.” They have bent and fit their politics to be compatible with what Obama deems possible. This is a grave mistake, one which will most likely help ensure that the “public option” we do get is no improvement over the present healthcare system.

The job of the left is to expand the boundaries of what is considered possible, to make the politics of the moment MORE LEFT WING than it might appear at any given moment. “The left wing of the possible,” in my humble opinion, doesn’t really help us do that job.