One really scary thing about a time of Crisis, such as we’ve entered, is that not only does the Political Thesis of the last generation break down, but so does its Anti-Thesis.
I’ve been joking around about Joe Lieberman missing this Clue, but what I forgot, or ignored, is that the Netroots might forget it as well.
The biggest problem with the Netroots, in terms of its belief structure, is that it is united mainly by opposition to the existing Thesis. That is, it’s an Anti-Thesis movement. It is just as at-sea with the present Crisis as the Thesis movement is. The Huffington Post, Eschaton, Talking Points Memo, even DailyKos, have nothing really useful to say.
Just like a generational Thesis, an Anti-Thesis also breaks down in a time of crisis. The best example of this was in the 1850s, when the Anti-Thesis Whig Party completely disintegrated in the face of events, with the Republicans founded as a true anti-slavery party in 1854.
But in all cases there was something like a New Thesis movement bubbling up. The Progressive movement (which Teddy Roosevelt wound up representing), the Liberal movement and the New Right all said, at their heart, that the old debates were worthless, and that only new thinking could solve the new problems of their new days.
It is this central idea that the Netroots have not grasped. Markos Moulitsas has been messing around with it in his call for Libertarian Democrats, but most in the Netroots have just ignored the point.
And this has become very striking in the reaction (or lack of it) to what is happening now in Lebanon. To both the Thesis and the Anti-Thesis, loyalty to Israel is a given. So, too, is the importance of Israel. It’s a democracy, it’s capitalist, yadda yadda yadda.
But in terms of open source politics, in terms of saving the planet from global warming, in terms of the issues and concerns that must motivate a New Thesis, Israel is largely irrelevant.
The hunger for this New Thesis is, I feel, to be found in the gut
reactions of Americans in the street to what is going on. Most don’t
care.
Americans are right not to care. The great task before us is to break
our own slavery to oil, and to the Oil Power. This need does not change
regardless of what happens in Israel or Lebanon or even Iraq.
It’s the replacement of oil we need to get on with, and we desperately need, right now, leaders who will state that.
Whoever does can do more than win the Presidency in 2008. Whoever does wins the future.
America is ready for the New Thesis. Americans are hungering for it.
I’ve laid it out. Who, with a bigger megaphone, will state it?
Where Israel Is Taking Us
Billmon has the best analysis of the Israeli situation right now if you want something quick and well-thought in a couple of posts. If you want something slow and stupid, there are a number of other sites that will go unlinked.
I couldn’t agree more with your observation, particularly as it applies to addressing our nation’s evolving Public Network infrastrutcure need for updating/upgrading to support the next 2 to 4 generations of Americans as our grandfathers did for us.
If the continued post-divestiture Baby Bell executive rape and pillage of our Public Network System is the Thesis, then their current legislative opposition, be it Net Neutrality or any other catchy campaign fund-raising Buzz issue, is the Anti-Thesis. Be it Oil or Telecom, everyone is “at sea” in a chaotic state of clueless flux. This may be caused by the fact that neither political party nor the Public is truely focused on the common Public Utiltity & Convenience goal that will lead us to a “synthesis”.
Our problem is not just a lack of Political Leadership, but also a lack of Corporate Leadership. 2 to 4 generations ago, it took Theodore Vail and Kingsbury’s Commitment to provide us with the best Public Telephone Network in the World for the last hundred years.
This new goal for digital everything delivered to your mobile/home/office for the “next hundred” years, should be envisioned as a regulated equal access/globally interconnected/common carrier Public Utility benevolent monopoly “netricity” provider.
I couldn’t agree more with your observation, particularly as it applies to addressing our nation’s evolving Public Network infrastrutcure need for updating/upgrading to support the next 2 to 4 generations of Americans as our grandfathers did for us.
If the continued post-divestiture Baby Bell executive rape and pillage of our Public Network System is the Thesis, then their current legislative opposition, be it Net Neutrality or any other catchy campaign fund-raising Buzz issue, is the Anti-Thesis. Be it Oil or Telecom, everyone is “at sea” in a chaotic state of clueless flux. This may be caused by the fact that neither political party nor the Public is truely focused on the common Public Utiltity & Convenience goal that will lead us to a “synthesis”.
Our problem is not just a lack of Political Leadership, but also a lack of Corporate Leadership. 2 to 4 generations ago, it took Theodore Vail and Kingsbury’s Commitment to provide us with the best Public Telephone Network in the World for the last hundred years.
This new goal for digital everything delivered to your mobile/home/office for the “next hundred” years, should be envisioned as a regulated equal access/globally interconnected/common carrier Public Utility benevolent monopoly “netricity” provider.