[news] What is Left? Nihilism vs. Socialism

[Resist!ca]

This essay is originally from Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st Century by A! If socialism has been, at best, a corrective to the worst excesses of Capitalism then where else can we draw our inspiration from? If the mainstream of socialism (so called state socialism, communism, or social democracy) is solidly interested in the same progressive, economic assimilation as the dominant world then we could look to its rivals. If these rivals (libertarian and utopian socialists) have shown that they are co-optable or worse, that they are not capable of being effective in the time of crisis then where do we turn? If people couldn't effectively combat the system of the 19th century, when it was just becoming a worldwide system rationalizing everything, including its opposition, what hope do we have today long after the fact?

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2004/9/27/152738/336