69\u00a0 bar rises 30.00 0mph NE\u00a0 dew-point 63\u00a0 sunrise 6:15\u00a0 sunset 8:20\u00a0 Lughnasa<\/p>\n
Waxing Gibbous Corn Moon\u00a0\u00a0 moonrise 1926\u00a0 moonset 0334<\/p>\n
A fascinating article in the NYT magazine, Is Barack Obama the end of black politics?<\/a><\/p>\n One of the more interesting ideas, which comes from the new generation of black leadership–more Obama than John Lewis–that an Obama presidency might find itself hampered when trying to deal with black issues.\u00a0 How can you present your community as victimized if Michelle, Barrack and the kids are in the Whitehouse?\u00a0 A speculation, in my opinion, that reveals the extreme naivete of American politics.<\/p>\n That there are issues in the train of identity politics goes without saying.\u00a0 Women earn less than men.\u00a0 Still.\u00a0 Blacks still end up in jail disproportionately to whites.\u00a0 Gays do not have the right to marry or have partner benefits.\u00a0 All these are true.\u00a0 But.\u00a0 The big divider is not identity, not gender, race, or sex.<\/p>\n No.\u00a0 It is, as it always has been, class.\u00a0 While identity plays a role, class determines.\u00a0 If you do not have adequate cash, you do not live in the good neighborhood where your kid goes to the good school, learns dominant class cultural mores.\u00a0 This whole argument goes back to the rise of the new left.\u00a0 The new left did not pick up socialism as its banner, but struck out for analysis of the “system.”\u00a0 Was there an oppressive overclass that manipulated power to the disadvantage of the poor, women, blacks? Of course.\u00a0 It was then as it is now the capitalist elite, the ruling class.<\/p>\n I know what you’re thinking.\u00a0 This train left the station a long time ago and never arrived at its destination.\u00a0 Look at Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, even the People’s Republic of China.\u00a0 None of them are poster children for socialism.\u00a0 Correct.\u00a0 They illustrate the bankruptcy of Marxist-Leninism, a system in which even communism did not have a fair chance.<\/p>\n The failure of early 20th century Marxist-Leninism is not a critique of socialism.\u00a0 It is a critique of a unique experiment in totalitarian government and a corrupted revolution.\u00a0 Furthermore, it does not dismantle the critique of capitalism made by socialists.\u00a0 It only highlights the genuine difficulty of changing the course of a behemoth long underway.<\/p>\n Obama does not need to deal with black or Latino issues.\u00a0 He needs to deal with poverty.\u00a0 We need a government which allows no child and no adult to go without housing, food or health care.\u00a0 We need a political system which ensures the equal education of all its children and full employment for its adults.\u00a0 As the rise of the black middle-class has shown, if the issue of poverty is dealt with the dynamics change forever.\u00a0 Has this rise eliminated racism?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Has Hilary Clinton’s run for the presidency eliminated sexism? No.\u00a0 Will these pathologies of a traditional society still remain and need amelioration?\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Economic empowerment increases the capacity of these groups to fight for themselves and to find their natural allies in our political system.<\/p>\n So, no.\u00a0 An Obama white house will not weaken the ability of advocates to make their case, because the first case to be made is against poverty, against class bias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 69\u00a0 bar rises 30.00 0mph NE\u00a0 dew-point 63\u00a0 sunrise 6:15\u00a0 sunset 8:20\u00a0 Lughnasa Waxing Gibbous Corn Moon\u00a0\u00a0 moonrise 1926\u00a0 moonset 0334 A fascinating article in the NYT magazine, Is Barack Obama the end of black politics? One of the more interesting ideas, which comes from the new generation of black leadership–more Obama than John Lewis–that … Continue reading Is Obama the End of Black Politics?<\/span>