Political power, leftist corporations and a new communitarianism

(This is an updated version of a diary that appeared today on DKOS)

In case this is news to anyone, political power is not a function of being able to convince others using reason to follow a particular path. Political power may flow from elections and democratic institutions but, as we are currently constituted in the United States, this is not the case. We have a President that can still do pretty much as he pleases whether he has an 80% or 20% approval ratings and whether or not his party has a majority in Congress. There are reasons for this that come down to this: as a practical matter if you can control what is “real”, i.e., control information you can rule in today’s environment. Information is controlled not through banning alternate views but rather by the ability to endlessly repeat one view. The blogosphere can present all kinds of contrary information, but if cannot repeat with the automatic weapons of propaganda that the mass media use to make even the most aburd ideas into truth. This happened, in its most obvious way, by endlessly associating Saddam with Al-qaeda and WMDs even though most experts knew very well there was no truth to either claim. But because the propaganda organs endlessly repeated it became “true” for most people during the time the campaign was underway and remains true for many people even after the officials admitted that those associations were false.

Most people identify themselves tribally. For example, the gist of Thomas Frank’s book What’s the Matter with Kansas is that people are willing to forgo all kinds of personal advantages in favor of tribal identification. Conservatives often oppose environmentalists because of tribal reasons not practical and reasonable reasons-i.e. Environmentalists are “kooks” and not “like us” therefore whatever their position is I will believe the opposite. The same is true for leftists though less so because leftists are attracted to ideas and the world of ideas has intellectual rules that go beyond mere assertion. With that in mind the best thing to do is to gather in the tribe and support each other rather than try to convince others to join our tribe (it won’t happen to any large degree anyway). What would encourage others to join our tribe is to show others that we are strong, vibrant, happy and prosperous (without excesses of the rich).

The way to create this gathering of  the tribe or tribes (we cannot fit easily into one mold) we need to create a cooperative movement. I see no other political opening for the left given current conditions. 

Corporations are at a competitive advantage over individuals and communities as currently constituted. So in order to play on a level field we need to organize ourselves into some cooperative-style corporations (with all the legal protections therein) with a view towards providing education, employment, housing, health-care and cooperative buying clubs and so on for members.  By having real “boots-on-the-ground” political power we can influence policy in the same way as corporations and dedicated groups like AIPAC or Cuban-Americans and many other groups that organize for common goals can. Moveon is a step in the right direction but lacks the ability to insure consistent loyalty to itself since it does not really tie us together economically and culturally. A cooperative system like I envision would instantly be able to boycott companies and organizations that threaten our well-being. We could instantly carry out political threats to withhold political funding to candidates and so on.

The reason why my suggestion may not fly and hasn’t flown is because:

1. We are still in thrall to the notion that in a liberal-democracy we are a government of laws and democratic institutions which thus allow the individual who follows the rules to thrive. I suggest that this is not true mainly because of the gradual but inexorable corruption that naturally occurs when power is removed from local communities into institutions very far from personal life.
2. We are even more in thrall of consumer culture where individual choice trumps all social responsibility except where dictated by increasingly draconian laws that reward the rich and penalize everyone else. As long as the middle-class has sufficient choices in the marketplace it will go along with any conceivable atrocity or police-state that will guarantee the status-quo.
   3)Leftists consider themselves “above” tribalism and see themselves usually as globalists. Most of the left seems to believe that if “the people” would just listen and hear them out they would be convinced by the leftist analysis of society, i.e., we should be decent towards those less fortunate than ourselves, encourage diversity, and avoid rather than encourage war through diplomacy and international cooperation. Leftists want to “help” others who don’t in any way share their values, for example and then wonder why they turn against them.
3. I think we lack the virtues it takes to build community: courage, trust, a spirit of adventure. We need to transition gradually to a way of life that puts community rather than self at the center of public life. Paradoxically this would allow our interior life to blossom by removing the domination of ego.

The right has the numbers, the guns, the audacity, the spirit of adventure and yes, the courage to fulfill its agenda. It has been able to capture the imagination of the majority of Americans because it is intensely tribal, quick to blame others and ever ready to create “enemies” that rally people around slogans and flags. The left, by its very nature, cannot do the same but it can be creative and courageous if it can get out of the business of spreading merely “ideas” or memes which while useful do very little to change the balance of power.

We all need to educate ourselves on the foundation of power. The foundation is always community based, with tribal loyalties in play. If we want a strong opposition movement that lasts we need to build alternative institutions. I propose these alternative institutions to be the American corporation which has proven itself to be the best vehicle to achieve and maintain power and influence in this society. If you are not allied with such an entity you are not even in the game-you can cheer of jeer from the sidelines but unless you are part of an organization that has economic and therefore political power you are left to the kindness of strangers. Frankly, we need to start taking care of each other.