State of the Left

We’re witnessing something of a leftist consolidation. The hundredth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution came and went four years ago with little fanfare. It was an indication that Leninism is dead. In fact, last year two significant Leninist organizations folded (ISO and the Spartacist League).

It’s now all about DSA and Jacobin Magazine — social democratic, left-liberal, progressive, welfare statist, labor-oriented, soft socialist.

It’s old paradigm stuff. What’s new is represented by affinity caucuses within the Green Party — eco-socialist, communitarian, bioregionalist. Green politics remains marginal in the United States, but is becoming a real force in Europe.