Leftists should unite now

December 2003

Leftists can no more afford the luxury of internal rifts and conflicts. Fundamentalism, capitalism and fascism are on the rise and leftists must realize that the time has come to confront such encroaching dangers.

Leftists have always found reasons for their disagreements including differences in the interpretation of Marxism and division over the political rhetoric.

These divisions in the rank and file of the left have led to the mushrooming of several leftist groups, all carrying similar ideological and political perspectives with minor differences, that came at times to the point of confrontation.

Several leftists also have the tendency of behaving as the sole agents for leftism. That is to say that while these militants take pride of their leftist ideology, they tend to accuse other leftists of embracing what they described as rightist methods and ideas.

Accusations and counter accusation led to catastrophic consequences on the left at large and the cycle ought to stop.

This call might seem to several leftists as a political maneuver. As a matter of fact it is not. Leftists should stop their introvert behavior and open up to other groups and start recruitment.

Who is leftist and who is not? Leftism is not a religion and has no heavenly scripture. A leftist is a person who endorses human beliefs and gives them greater value than material consideration.

How these people choose to express their activism should be left to the individuals themselves. There is no clear cut Black and White recipe for how to be a leftist. It is all about believing in the importance of class struggle, the importance of economics in shaping politics and the need of stressing human values at the expense of all other values.

Most importantly, the relation between leftists and non-leftists should be tolerant and subject to constant dialogue. There is no need for tension and counter-tension, unless the left intends to prove that it is fond of fighting, never an advocate of peace.

Once unity is achieved, then leftists can talk about changing the world and confronting imperialism and all of its might. Even then, there is no reason to war, unless Ghandi is so much out of fashion.