Who is the "far left"?

[eridani]

Reposted from a subthread by request.

--was anti-slavery in the 1830s
--was pro-women's suffrage in the 1870s
--was pro-union and anti-child labor in the 1890s
--was anti-imperialist in 1910
--was pro-civil rights and anti-Jim Crow in 1930
--was pro-"homophile" in 1955
--was for the Equal Rights Amendment in 1970

--has fought the wafflers and cowards as they opposed the expansion of the category Real First Class Human Being (TM) throughout our history, and is responsible for any progress whatsoever that any society has made on this front.

It always happens that way. First some outcast unfashionable queers kicked some ass at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, and eventually created a social space that made it possible for the cowards in the Log Cabin Republicans to tiptoe out of the closet. And so on for just about every social movement. "Centrists" never got us the 8 hour day.

[XemaSab]

1. You forgot the entire environmental movement

Rachel Carson, anyone? :shrug:

[eridani]

5. OK--

"far left" = pro-environment in 1960.

[XemaSab]

6. And

1970. And 1980. And 1990. And 2000. :P

[eridani]

24. I'm going for the meme "far left" = early adopters here

So nothing later that 1970 counts. When environmentalism sounds like common sense instead of scary fringe stuff, you get politicians and businesspeople at least sounding like (and sometimes even being) environmentalists.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. I am

I used to be mainstream, but the far right has pushed me to the 'far left'.

[rurallib]

17. Me too. I felt like the world kept stepping right and I was on

an Island.
What passes for mainstream now is far right of the 1970s version repukes. Except for the ability to lie.

[ShortnFiery]

3. Here! Reporting - unabashed liberal, one each.

:thumbsup:

[Warpy]

4. Hightower is right

There is nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.

Leftists have been right about everything but the resistance of frightened people to change, even the most necessary change. Every period of progress has been followed by a period of backlash by the timid souls who call themselves "moderate."

Still, change is worth pursuing even if the personal cost is steep. Just be aware that the cost will be paid.

[MrPrax]

16. Guilty as Charged...

Leftists have been right about everything but the resistance of frightened people to change

...or even their bs govs and their Judo-Xian morals, to resist on behalf of frightened idiots.

(the 'far left' these days are probably thoughtful people, who are still digesting Gonzo's mid-night hospital meet with AshTray and wondering 'What Should Be Done!' while FaceGib Cheney as he discusses why he isn't really part of the Bush crowd, and the other part about 'caging' folks coz they don't vote properly and all sorts of nasty crap the media hates)

[Middle finga]

7. I'm so far to the left

Some of my friends think I'm a Socialist. The right wingers have been on the wrong side of history on all major events through out America history. They have always had a backward, regressive ideology and those Neanderthals should never be in charge of any branch of government.

[SoonerPride]

8. Raises hand.

I'm the far left and damn proud of it.

[Bjornsdotter]

9. Me

I am far left and proud of it.

Cheers

[FarLeftRage]

10. Yes, here I am...

A very proud Socialist/Anarchist.

[ulysses]

11. me! me!

The sad part is that I'm not.

[JeffR]

12. I've been waiting for everybody since 1968

Misery loves company. And the more company we get, the less miserable we'll all be.

[Warren Stupidity]

19. Indeed.

It has been over 30 years of watching us get more right and more retarded and digging this hole deeper and deeper and wondering, as we few who never forgot sit watching this nation of hole diggers, when are they going to stop digging and look up?

[JeffR]

20. Zackly

Well put.

And off-topic: your DUzy-winning comment this week was a great one.

[Warren Stupidity]

22. I think Husb2Sparky may have taken it the wrong way.

I was already in the same dark hole of a world he started that post from. The same one where you and me and a few others are sitting watching the right-idiots dig themselves ever deeper.

[JeffR]

23. I'm figuring he got that

Hope so, anyway.

[Tom Joad]

13. another: anti-fascist before it became okay. Supported Spain (Abe Lincoln Brigade)

btw, i know one survivor here in the Bay area.

[eridani]

25. Oy! "Premature anti-fascists"!

--"Far left" = being against fascism in 1933.

[Tom Joad]

14. Opposed Bush's Iraq War Resolution when it was brought up to a vote.

another "far left" position. Or even opposed Bush1 and billy Clinton's deadly sanctions on the people of Iraq.

[Capn Sunshine]

15. I thought if the majority was behind it , that automatically made it kind of "centrist"?

Just because progressives are in the majority doesn't mean we are far left. I'd say we're pretty mainstream. When someone way the hell over on the edge of the cliff on the right points to you and says you're far left, well you are. To them. But in the perspective of things...

[Recursion]

28. If you take a historical reading of the notion of "left", the majority is leftist

The "left" came from the seating arrangement in (some historian please correct me if I'm wrong) Louis XIV's chamber of deputies; the aristocrats sat to the King's right and the bourgeoisie and petit-bourgeoisie sat to his left. From someone in the chamber facing the king, the aristocrats were to the left and the bourgeoisie to the right, sort of like how the canton of our flag is to your left as you look at the flag but to the flag's right, right being the place of honor.

Note that in our two chambers, the Democrats, as the senior party, sit in the place the aristocrats sat in Louis' chamber; we're only "leftist" from the point of view of the CSPAN cameras.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. Over here! nt.

[Donna Zen]

21. The center....where is it?

The center is determined by the spectrum of thought. When the DLC chopped off the left-wing and told us to STFU, their ideas did not fall into the center, because without the left the center ended up where the right used to be. Those who already positioned to the right moved further to the right as they aimed to differentiate their policies. That's why we live in a right-wing bat-shit crazy militaristic imperial country.

Try it. Fold a string in half. Now cut it in what is the middle. Okay, now where's the center?

[Recursion]

26. Remember: a conservative was a liberal until yesterday nt

[Tom Joad]

27. another definition-- When George W. Bush's poll ratings was nearly 80% approval

they were out protesting Bush's upcoming plans to invade other countries. That's the "far left".

[sampsonblk]

29. Excellent. I am far left. Answer this question:

Why can't either one of our candidates stand at a podium and repeat what you just said? Just one candidate. It doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

[MiniMe]

30. According to Bill-O, we are

[upi402]

31. Weekends, public schools, and we can go take a pee while at work

Thank UNIONS and not pro-business conservatism.

[Greyhound]

32. You can simply add; every single improvement in the life of average people

in recorded history.

[lostinacause]

33. The far left is reference dependent. A group of people at the end of the political spectrum in a

certain area. As such they typically don't represent the general will of the population. This makes it difficult, but not impossible, for far left leaders to get elected just as it is difficult for far right leaders to get elected. With this being said centrists, especially in American, are labeled as being indecisive and having weak beliefs. This means that it is necessary that a centrist or left-centrist candidate must express a fairly well defined set of beliefs to avoid the pitfalls of such labels.

I personally believe that an electable candidate with the strongest view on policies should be the fist choice. The left right spectrum is less important then having a leader who will make good and responsible choices. We have seen incompetence at all levels of government. A particularly good example would be New Orleans where all levels of governments, spanning a fairly large range of the political spectrum, showed considerable incompetence for the general welfare of the population. We should work to elect someone who will excel at the position in question, not someone who fits with our individual litmus test on policy issues.

[nealmhughes]

34. I would vote for Chavez if he could run in the US. Like Kathy Griffin: "I am so far left I am a

Sandinista."

[Jade Fox]

35. You are exactly right.....

So-called "extremists" put an issue on the map so the so-called rational folks can talk about it (and then take credit for making it an issue) and thus change eventually happens.

Proud to be on the far left. :patriot: