The Left and the anti-right

There are those who believe that the left is one, just as the right is one, and I disagree with the aggregation of both. I believe the left is much more colorful than the right. Conservatism, whether christian fundamentalist, neo-liberal, pro-capitalist, anti-equality, ethnocentric, totalitarian, or not all the above but some, is more of the same. It is an alignment with the status quo, alignment with power, alignment with "necessary" injustice, with necessary violence to maintain this status quo, as being the cost of doing business. The left on the other hand can be many different things and in various levels and extents. As if the right is the center and the left are points radially away from it. Not even in the same sphere but at various distances from that center. And it is the task of this US Social Forum to enhance the communication of all those points so they can cooperate and assist each other. But what would the points be without their definition of that center and how well known and defined this center is. This is a major split in the left (in generic general form) of the need to define itself and/or the need to define its opposition. So I will make this distinction the theme of this post, which I may come back with more time available and fresh thoughts and edit, that the left can be self defining, and the left can be defined by its definition of the right and its aspects of opposition to. The question that comes to mind in relevance to this distinction is: Are the guerrilla warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq part of the left, for fighting the "right" or are they part of the right reforming its own identity? For every action there is a reaction, and for every murder there is an enemy of the emotionally tied others to the victim. For every terrorist killed there is a possibility of a guerrilla, and for every activist tortured there is an enemy of that torturing state. Are all those events and processes part of the left? So there may very well be a theoretical separation in the left, of those who have consciously chosen it as a source for better alternatives to social organization for the future and those who are opposing the right, but do not necessarily like to define themselves as advocating a new social order! ....more later..... Enjoy the videos while I'll be thinking for more to write on this issue!

Nathalie Cardone - Hasta Siempre & Che's life