Grey Champions and the Election of 2016

[Bob Butler 54]

(05-08-2016, 02:29 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: As for Marxism-Leninism, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the economic forces that gave rise to it are passing away and as such a new ideology is necessary.  Note that the Class Struggle continues, it is just that it is transforming into a more atomized basis which is likely the result of the conditions of late capitalism and the development of the internet as a basis for global communication.

As such, while much of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is still very relevant, the left-right dynamic is breaking down and a new political order in the West is taking shape.  That order of course will be the division between cultural libertarians and cultural authoritarians.

I can agree with this.  The 'starting to come to the conclusion' part could be worded stronger.  

I note that Romney recently warned the American People about demagogues, with Trump and Sanders being examples of demagogues.  I'm definitely with you more than Romney.  Trump and Saunders are going after the Establishment.  Trump has had a stronger impact, nigh on destabilizing the Republicans.  However, he seems to me to be working a personality cult thing, using the abundant anger at the main line Republicans more than presenting a true alternate vision.  To me Saunders has a more coherent platform / values set, but he looks to be falling short.  Either way, we've got the Establishment Romney fighting a rearguard action against something or other.  The status quo is becoming more and more recognizable as bankrupt.

As for the core problem of capitalism, yes, I'd kind of like to see Marx's perspective or at least his terminology rehabilitated.  He identified the problems early and clearly.  Since then, implementation problems made his perspective anathema.  He identified the problems, but his results weren't ideal.  Thus, each generation has to identify the same problems using different verbiage.  Eisenhower spoke of the Military Industrial Complex.  The Hippies had trust issues with everyone over thirty.  The Occupy movement spoke of the one percent.  More recently it has become fashionable to speak of division of wealth.  To a great degree, all are railing against the same system of the wealthy, by the wealthy, for the wealthy.  Of all the various systems of verbiage and action attacking the problem, arguably Marx's followers were the most successful in attacking the capitalists (or whatever you want to call them) of their time.  Alas, they replaced them with something unsatisfactory.

The problem is not in identifying capitalism and democracy as practiced currently as flawed.  The problem is building an agreement on something better that can be implemented and that works.  Trump rouses a good deal of emotion.  Sanders talks better policy from my perspective.  Seems like both are apt to fall short.