Should left be redefined?

On the eve of the split of the Lebanese Communist Party into two parties, and at the time tens of splinter leftist groups are born every day, left should undergo some revisionist scrutiny.

While leftists do their revision, it would be best for all to drop their claims of possessing the ultimate truth. Left is based on ideology, Marxism, which sustains a broad spectrum of schools.

The first lesson the left teaches its pupils is relativity: there is no absolute truth. The second lesson is openness. Leftism has never been a rigid ideology or a faith.

Broadly speaking, leftism seeks equality, social justice and freedom. These are the end. Instead, leftists are now confused between the means and the end. Which one is leftism? Certainly it should be the second one.

In light of this confusion, leftism has become reactionist in that it rarely takes the initiative to do some constructive work.

Examine the following terminologies: Leftism is anti-capitalism, anti-globalization, anti-occupation and anti-imperialism, among several other anti concepts.

Leftists should wake up. They should cease to base their existence on the initiative of others. The world is X and we want to turn it into Y, what should we do?

By knowing where we stand and then identifying our goal, leftists should figure out what are the means missing, to be combined with the already existing ones, to reach the end result.

By doing so, leftists might find several means that are currently being employed and can be used for the struggle toward a more humane world, without having to fundamentally destroy everything on the hope of building on their ruins.