STRANGE TIMES

To contact us, write to: kerrycraig (at) gmail (dot) com

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Basically we’re interested in discussing what it means to be progressive and left-wing in the 21st century.

In our view, most of what passes as “left” these days is just not left at all.

We see this blog as a meeting point for people who are unhappy with what is currently regarded as “left” and would like to engage in serious discussion about it.
The list of points (below) reflects our general stance. It’s a work in progress, full of holes and gappy places…

We very much welcome people who want to argue with the views expressed below as well as help with filling in the gaps.

• the war in Iraq: the left has always fought against fascism. We therefore supported the overthrow of the fascist Baath Party in Iraq. The United States currently has no choice but to drain the swamps and support the democratization of the Middle East. We are glad about that!
• Palestine: As a consequence of its new drain the swamps policy, the Bush administration has become the first ever US administration to acknowledge the need for a Palestinian state.
• philosophy, Marx, Engels, Hegel, dialectical materialism : in order to change the world we need to understand it. This requires us to look beneath the surface appearance of things.
• developments in technology and science : a central part of progress consists of increasing human control over nature. We are excited by the future and reject the widespread culture of pessimism and fear.
• globalization: globalization is the engine of development in the third world – and development is the answer to world poverty. We wish it was happening faster.
• green politics: We reject green ideology because it opposes rapid development, fears change and romanticises pre-industrial life. In practice, “sustainable development” sustains only poverty, malnutrition and death.
• capitalism: On the one hand capitalism is vastly superior to tribalism, feudalism and fascism. The achievements of advanced capitalism really are quite spectacular. Nevertheless it holds back development and progress because it is based on wage slavery and is therefore incapable of fully unleashing human potential. So from the perspective of the past it is progressive – but from the perspective of the future it is reactionary and deserves to perish!

CONTACT US?