One keen analyst wrote recently,
“With a few exceptions—mainly in the labor movement although this shouldn’t be exaggerated — progressives are not embedded enough in large organizations of working class that are membership-driven and tap into the energy and creativity of those who are exploited and oppressed. But for building durable power, there is no substitute for a political culture where radicals who are embedded in the workplaces, neighborhoods, and cultural and religious institutions of working-class life act as catalysts to unleash the energy, combativity, and all-around political leadership potential of their co-workers, neighbors, and others with whom they share the same conditions of life.”
This strikes me as good advice. One has to hope that progressive and left activists heed it.
Written by
Sam Webb
I'm a long-time socialist and activist, but new to the blogging world. I hope to bring a different perspective on politics, sports, culture, and Marxism. Besides blogging, I also leave plenty of time for swimming, hiking, ESPN, music, reading, drinking good beer, and, not least, my family and friends. I wish I could play basketball, but my knees ruled out that possibility long ago.
While I currently reside in New York, my politically formative years were spent in Portland, Me. and Detroit during the 1970s and 1980s. I graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia (where I played basketball) and received a MA in economics from the University of Connecticut.
I was the national chairperson of the Communist Party, USA from 2000 until 2014 when I stepped down at the convention. In 2016 I resigned from the Communist Party two years later. We were no longer on the same page.
