There isn't an American left in mainstream politics. If you mean the american left parties, then they have all been uniformly anti war, but thet are tiny and no one listens to them; even the shit CPUSA national org has had a strong anti nato anti ukraine war line. The only time you see Americans in general organize in significant numbers for an anti war position is when it actively involves American citizens fighting and dying. Talking about the "American left" as a coherent entity is like talking about fucking unicorns.
There was so much hope in the old sub as people like AOC and Sanders were trying to win. They hadn't seen it before. Every "left" politician in the US bends the knee to the point of giving up on even the milquetoast slightly-left things they said when they were new.
I should have known better lol. I knew all about George Bush stealing the election, COINTELPRO and all that shit. But man, when Bernie starting pulling real numbers and getting results right out of the gate (which would have carried any other candidate to victory off pure media attention alone) I could feel the hopium. Normal people I knew in real life were talking about nonprofit healthcare and shit because every candidate was forced to ape Bernie's position on it.
I think if sanders had won we might have seen something. Like I don't think the world would have shifted overnight, but that kind if success for a left wing movement might have given some coherence to the real energy that was there and the desperate desire for change that everyone still feels. Unfortunately getting owned by the dems really just scattered anything that might have been. I don't think an electoral strategy is possible anymore, it is too discredited by sanders loss; assuming electoralism was ever really viable to begin with, a sentiment I am partial to thinking it wasn't really.
There isn't an American left in mainstream politics. If you mean the american left parties, then they have all been uniformly anti war, but thet are tiny and no one listens to them; even the shit CPUSA national org has had a strong anti nato anti ukraine war line. The only time you see Americans in general organize in significant numbers for an anti war position is when it actively involves American citizens fighting and dying. Talking about the "American left" as a coherent entity is like talking about fucking unicorns.
There was so much hope in the old sub as people like AOC and Sanders were trying to win. They hadn't seen it before. Every "left" politician in the US bends the knee to the point of giving up on even the milquetoast slightly-left things they said when they were new.
I should have known better lol. I knew all about George Bush stealing the election, COINTELPRO and all that shit. But man, when Bernie starting pulling real numbers and getting results right out of the gate (which would have carried any other candidate to victory off pure media attention alone) I could feel the hopium. Normal people I knew in real life were talking about nonprofit healthcare and shit because every candidate was forced to ape Bernie's position on it.
I think if sanders had won we might have seen something. Like I don't think the world would have shifted overnight, but that kind if success for a left wing movement might have given some coherence to the real energy that was there and the desperate desire for change that everyone still feels. Unfortunately getting owned by the dems really just scattered anything that might have been. I don't think an electoral strategy is possible anymore, it is too discredited by sanders loss; assuming electoralism was ever really viable to begin with, a sentiment I am partial to thinking it wasn't really.
i used scare quotes for a reason and agree with your point
Fair enough, and my apologies for calling you out. I guess I am just tired of endless pessimism and your post was unlucky enough to trigger me.