Forum Post: Marcuse and The Left
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 2, 2011, 12:35 p.m. EST by miosmio
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Capitalism had seized control of the inner desires and feelings of their workers and were manipulating it at will. It was summed up in a slogan - There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads. He must be Destroyed.
This meant, Marcuse said, that you couldn't look to the workers to start the revolution - instead it would be led by three groups on the margins.
Number one were the alienated black underclass. Because capitalists didn't bother to manipulate their desires
Number two were the exploited workers of the third world. Ditto.
And number three were the students in the west. Because they had the power to see through the false consciousness.
It's called F.E.A.R.
this was said during the 60's. since then, The Left gradually lost hope, until they began to see the fight as already lost. this is the power of capitalist manipulation of the desires of even the people who oppose it. will it happen the same way 50 years later?
No, it won't because the "Left" remains a chaotic, disfunctional mess of a coalition comprised of groups with widely varying interests.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you want to view it, at this point the left in this country really only works as an opposition party and to provide social conscience. Not even they're really happy when they're not operating in an opposition role. It's hard to make the transition from being built from the gound up as anti-establishment to being the establishment. When they do end up being in power they're like kids in a candy store and try to do too much too fast and end up frustrated with their own lack of progress when throttled by practical realities and the public (as seen in Clinton and Obama's first terms).
Maybe one day once we get past the left-overs from the Viet Nam era it will get back to more of a moderate mainstream base but I'm not sure that I see that given the fairly "radical" directions now.
You should correct number 3 to say "Because the students have no experience and no understanding in the world, so they can be conned into believing anything".
Since when do third world people have any right to do anything in America btw?
the world isn't america, even if you're not capable of conceiving this. and young people have the energy and naiveté to dream of a better place than what "the experienced" have put in place for them.
I was young once. The problem with being young, is having no experience in dealing with problems, or having the foresight to avoid making mistakes. Dreaming is all well and good. Change takes action.
then I, as a young and inexperienced decision-maker, ask of the people who lived more to at least start the discussions on what should be done to make this world worth living in, at least for the children to come, if not for us. i think the problem with older people is that they are incapable of admitting that their beliefs are wrong, incapable of taking fault for the way things are.
I would agree with you about the elder generation. They don't want to pay for their mistakes. However, supporting an idea without fully understanding how difficult that is, and not understanding the major mistakes that can be made is foolhardy. The entire OWS movement is indicative of this, and people who are wholeheartedly supporting it, are playing into the hands of some very radical people. People have been happy with our Republic for a very long time. The enemy is corruption in Washington. Period. The OWS organizers aren't against corruption, they want a completely different country. Essentially communism. Young people do not recognize they are being played. America is great, we have just let Washington have too much power, and that is what needs to be corrected.
the problem is not only present in the US. corruption is present wherever power is centralized. this is the radical change that is needed: nobody should be lead by people they don't know personally. and my view is that the worst thing you can do with power is to give it to people that want it. we are already connected without the need for representatives. i want to be able to choose communism if i wish to, without suppressing your right to choose (and have) whatever you think is good. we are not all the same, and that's the beauty of it.
that was the original intention of most of the founders. Their ideas of centralized power was a tough thing for many to accept, but they had no idea what it would evolve into. None of the founders, would ever support what we have today. People need to support a repeal of the 17th Amendment and support the 10th Amendment laws passed in some states. It is too bad those states have not acted upon those laws like they should. They want to with the unfunded mandates, but the states are in a pickle if they deny federal dollars.
we only lack imagination to solve the money problem. we have all the tech we need. there is no need for money as long as we manage to empower everyone with energetic autonomy. and this is possible for a long time. i make use of my "dreamer" nature.
sorry for being unable to respond to the Amendment arguments. i lack knowledge.