The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Leftists Should Reexamine Causes, Priorities, and Fundamentals

Last Saturday, Burlington witnessed another chapter in the spectacle of activism when politically illiterate collegians, cheered on by group fervor and a handful of equally misinformed adults, descended on City Hall Park to protest war in Iraq. The theme of this exposed everything wrong with the so-called anti-war movement. This rally was neither about aiding the poor Iraqis nor about urging consideration of timely questions that should be asked before military action.

This protest, which united the forces of environmentalism, ‘social justice,’ feminism, Marxism and the usual array of leftist causes, was not about pacifism but about anti-Americanism.

The hate America crowd at this school is an exercise in contradiction. Self-identified Marxists manage to foot $30,000 tuition bills. People who voted for Nader continue to press the candidacy of Al Gore long after Democrats have abandoned the cause. Environmentalists drive wrecks that spew far more toxins in the air than the SUVs they demonize. The sad part is that the cause of anti-globalization, moderated and separated from the amalgamated ‘struggle,’ offers important criticisms embedded in angry rhetoric. Nobody listens to Che Guevara shirt-wearing youths recite pre-fabricated arguments and label Bush, Cheney and Ashcroft the real Axis of Evil.

The problem with so many of these slogan-tossing disciples of leftism is that deny that the opinions they spout as fact are dismissed out of hand by the rest of America. Note an anti-IMF march in New York last fall that was pelted by union labor working at a construction site. These crusaders for the working class are shunned by the people whose cause they claim to advance. Falling back on Marxist rhetoric of ‘false consciousness’ ignores the fact that the majority of blue-collar organized labor in this country is patriotic, shuns Marxism and loathes its self-proclaimed champions.

Feminism faces a similar contradiction. Feminism has become less about standing up for women than attacking men. Therefore, even pro-choice women who support campaigns against domestic violence and date rape refuse to identify themselves as feminists. Why? Crusades spearheaded by NOW are overshadowed by the questionable stands and political leftism that characterize contemporary feminism.

The most important example of ivory tower isolation is the anti-war Movement. The tendency to see opponents of war as fresh minions for corporate villification has backfired. The traditional anti-American litany isolates skeptics whose concerns have nothing to do with the Great Satan doctrine. Rather than join hands with the 60s holdovers, campus communists and cause of the weekers, many have acceded to the eventuality of military action. As with other leftist battles, the anti-Americanism of the protesters inhibits posing necessary questions. By engendering a consensus (55-75% depending on polls) that may not exist and opposition not repeated from the Marx-Engels Reader or the Socialist Worker, the far left is helping to stifle the very dissent it seeks to encourage.

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Leftists Should Reexamine Causes, Priorities, and Fundamentals