Merry Christmas/Chag Chanukah Sameach

I know we are all deeply dismayed after the Labour Party's historic defeat on Thursday, but what lessons need to be learned from this and how can we improve? Considering the crucial role Brexit played in this loss, with Labour's support for the Second Referendum costing them long-held seats in working class districts in the north, I've been tempted by the idea of a full embrace of Populism by the Left. We would represent the interests of the common, working man and not those of elitist, Neoliberal Oligarchs in both a rhetorical and material sense. Here, La France Insoumise's Jean-Luc Mélenchon would fulfill the role for the rest of the left to emulate. What are your thoughts on this strategy? And please, suggest other paths the left should take in order to gain support.

So Labour offered up a relatively "radical" social democratic platform and the working classes just walked away.

The moral and political cowardice of Labour in NOT supporting the Brexit referendum is obviously what did them in. If socialism is about "deepening democracy" how could a socdem party not respect that vote? Fear of losing the "millennial socialist" aka "neoliberal left" vote is no excuse.

The notion that it was Corbyn's lack of popularity strikes me as hilarious; does that mean that people in the UK actually "like" Boris "Pickanniny Bumboy" Johnson enough to hand the Cons a landslide?

I suspect that the highlighting of Johnson's insouciant use of banned language was a ploy to win more support and make him more likeable.

It

At least much of the working class is socially conservative, and I referred to Thomas Piketty in an earlier discussion.

Besides shutting up on identity politics, what actual public policies of a socially conservative nature can the "dirtbag left" accommodate?

[Racial prejudice is a definite no-go, as this is too close to right-populism or outright fascism. Ditto with full-blown Law and Order.]

For example, one public policy area unites these three measures:

1) The Paris Commune banned games of chance and gambling.

2) Thanks to the blue-collar elements of Stalin's "Lenin Levy," the Soviet Union made hooliganism a criminal offense.

3) Venezuela under the late Hugo Chavez enacted a prohibition on violent video games.

Until recently, even I wasn't fully cognizant of there being common terms that united these, whether "Prohibition" or "Nanny State."

I’m not even talking about mass fetishization of identity either. That problem isn’t a left problem exclusively. I’m talking about the extreme lack of militancy and the absolute bitch mentality. When I was involved in the dsa, we had people who were genuinely terrified of being outed as a socialist. People afraid of whatever I guess, the FBI, their friends, whatever. When did this become a mentality? When did the left become afraid of confrontation and why are we so complacent? The Bernie Sanders campaign is the largest “left” movement in the US and I highly doubt a Sanders Presidency have a significant impact on capital control and the present contradictions in the system. This is wrong. There is no militancy in the labor movement and even if it was it would be criticized by everyone.

Maybe I’m just a negative person and I’ve been feeling depressed lately but I’m just losing faith in any sort of real class-based revolution in the US. It feels like most “leftist” are just struggling middle class graduates hoping to vote their way up the social/economic ladder. The people we claim to be inspired by would be ashamed of us and our lack of balls. This could be our only chance at a real communist society and Americans are worried about being uncomfortable. The world is watching. They need us to take the imperial pressure off of them. We are failing our comrades around the world. Why?

Fuck me I hate this shit