Our goals

 

A good starting point for this essay is the recent election. Many of my acquaintances were shocked or distraught by the result. They had expected Sen. Kerry to win, but at the last minute the Senator did not. Now, two months later, people are beginning to accept the results, but they are very unhappy about it.

On the other hand, I wasn't surprised by a result which closely followed my prediction. That doesn't mean I supported or voted for the Great White Bandit. In fact, I think it is a disaster the voters actually left that criminal and his gang in charge of the government. Despite my personal rejection of that man, I predicted he would win - any which way he could - all along. That prediction was based on the likely casting of votes in the Electoral College, and the clearly increasing hold conservatives have on the Southern and rural Mountain States.

My practical political position, in the face of an increasingly hostile and threatening yahoo America, was and is to hold onto bastions of liberality. I saw 2004 as a year of defense - holding the line - against stupidity, conformity and backward squalor. For that reason, I backed Dr Howard Dean early in the Presidential race. I thought he might win, but, more importantly, he would preserve the Democratic party for liberals - those who still believe in the virtues of the New Deal and Welfare State, Civil Rights and a peaceable foreign policy. For me, the most important goal of the Presidential campaign was not to lose it all.

Sadly, most Democrats and elected Democratic officials continued to suffer the illusion that they could win a national election. They picked a half-hearted candidate who conceded the major issue of the campaign, Iraq, to his conservative opponent. Democrats were unable to present a clear program for governing America, because they tried to compromise the issues with their arch enemies. Those who ran Democratic election campaigns believed they could make liberal policies palatable to dyed-in-the-wool Southern conservatives. All they succeeded in doing is confusing what the Democratic party stands for, which is why neo-Republicans are now seeking appointment to the top offices of the Democratic party.

I disavowed the Democratic party when it jilted Dr Dean last March, 2004. It was clear to me what would happen after that.

Now, this statement of editorial policy is actually not about elections, Democrats and Republicans. What I intend to show is that insufficient attention to the principles on which issues and candidates stand led to failure and disaster. The worst aspect of the 2004 election is exactly that the parties threw all principle to the winds. That will have unknown, probably severe, consequences for many years to come.

My policy is that the Left and Free and California Expert Software websites are aimed at understanding the reasons and principles which underlie action. It is not enough to jump aboard the ship Good Cause; we must know why and what for. Especially in the political sphere, it is crucially important to adjust ends and means.

I am, and always have been, a man of the Left. That's because, as I understand it, the Left represents the people, the many. The Right has always represented the few. While both political philosophies can claim deep foundations, it seems to me the Right rests on quicksand of arrogant privilege. The Left stands on solid Earth, if only because those without shoes must.