At this rate....

Its now been, what, over one year since I've last entered anything onto this blog. I think I'm destined not to be very active with it, however, I will try to post periodically.

In the last month, much has been written about The Euston Manifesto, a statement of democratic left politics written by Norm Geras and several other authors, who have been much distressed over the last several years about the increasingly anti-democratic nature of much of the political left, particularly the anti-war movement. The manifesto has been much discussed and debated in the blogosphere (much of this debate is linked to here).

The manifesto has been much reviled by the usual suspects in the hard left, particularly supporters of the British Socialist Worker's Party and the RESPECT coalition. Of course, attacks coming from these quarters only make the manifesto look better from my point of view.

I generally am reluctant to support online petitions and manifestos, even when I agree with them, as they are typically the ultimate in empty gestures, having absolutely zero political impact and in most cases, not even read by anybody except for the signatories. The Euston Manifesto does seem to have some legs to it however (even if I'm not sure how large its impact will actually be), and I decided to sign. I left a mini-manifesto of my own with my signature:

"I have long described my politics as "anti-authoritarian" or "left libertarian". The point of any progressive movement worth supporting is to take traditional liberal rights and freedoms as a starting point and extend them further; to make "individual liberty" available to all, not just those few who's access to wealth and democratic freedoms insulate them from the injustices that are a daily part of life for all too many. Of course, there has always been an authoritarian Left, but since 1989, rather than declining, a kind of fuzzy authoritarianism has metastasized among progressives of all stripes. I'm increasingly told that "collective rights" must counterbalance individual rights, that it is "racist" to criticize religions and political movements in cultures other than my own, and that the worldview and politics that come from my own experience and perspective are merely expressions of "white privilege". I'm told that my views really belong somewhere on the Right; however, the "all the freedom you can buy" ethic of "libertarianism" and the imperialism and hostility to human rights of "neoconservatism" in no way represent my values. I sign this manifesto in a hope to help carve out political space for a libertarian and democratic Left."

While I have no idea how much the Euston Manifesto will catch on outside the blogosphere (or outside of the hothouse of British left/liberal politics), I do think it has potential for solidifying a new political orientation and for distinguishing two very different strains of "left" politics – one based in liberal and democratic values and one that, in its quest to radically purge itself of hegemonic Western values, has become essentially anti-democratic, and in some cases even outright authoritarian. (Though it should be noted that many of the Marxist-Leninist groups who form the backbone of the latter tendency have always been essentially anti-democratic and authoritarian.)

While the hard left critique of the manifesto and the political tendency it comes out of has been essentially variations on, "You're with us or with Bush", the rejection of such polarization and political flatlining is essential. I could care less whether, at the end of the day, Eustonites get to be called "Left" or not – adherence to principles is far more important than adherence to a mere label. What matters is to demonstrate that a democratic, liberal, and humanist politics independent of both hyper-capitalism and neoconservatism, on one hand, and neo-Marxism and extreme multiculturalism on the other, is both possible and desirable.