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   David Arochosays:

   On the analysis of the Obama campaign and the wishful thinking support from so-called progressives the article is unmatched. Perhaps because it mirros my own thoughts on the subject, it feels like a breath of fresh air. I also agree that mapping out a viable strategy is the primary task which faces anyone who opposes the current system of exploitation and extinction which has flourished since way before Tecumseh. Sadly, I find myself disappointed at the strategies suggested. Ricardo is to be commended for at least pointing the way to analyze the situation. He would do well to apply his analysis to the Green party and its current ticket in the same way he applies it to the Obama campaign. I would be curious a to why he dismisses a strategy of abstention for the election as a possible strategy. After all, choosing to say “no” to the electoral masquerade is something many Americans would understand, and making the case publicly that electoral politics is not a viable means to effect real change may better serve the people’s charter which Ricardo champions than backing a party which has shown itself to be woefully out of tune with the aspirations and frustrations of the average citizen. The fact that he recognizes that the Greens are no likely even to garner 5% of the vote should alert Ricardo to the flaw in this strategy; he acknowledges that even getting this small margin would simply achieve getting it public money to carry out more and bigger electoral campaigns. The analogy with 1932 in Germany falls short of the mark because that junction occured already in 2001 with the aftermath coup which was carried out in response to 9-11. The fact that Bush and company was able to circumvent all opposition and garnered the support of democrats and republicans, not to mention 70% of the population, bears witness to my assertion. Those who manage power are now in the process of consolidating that coup and backing its authority with military and police action, as Ricardo recognizes. What is needed today is not a strategy for responding to the election, which is only a month away, but a long-term strategy to bring about change from the ground up. I don’t fault Ricardo for falling short of the mark on this attempt, as no one else has cracked that connundrum. I suggest that such a strategy rethink the concepts of democracy, government and nationalism, must dispense with the electoral process and politics as we know it, and define new standards for balancing the needs of the majority with the rights of the minority. Quite a tall order in itself, the task is further complicated by the fact that we are running out of time as a species to resolve these issues.

   PostedOctober 8, 2008, 9:20 am