| |
New
Living Diary
Index
New participatory
democracy
Taming the Corporations
My Welsh socialism
My New
Socialist Settlement
Globalise the left!
Bevan re-visited
|
|
|
item0076C 1064, 1065
1064
16 February 2005
Jacques'
crystal ball
I enjoy the sheer intelligence, as well
as the political perception, of Martin Jacques. Writing in
The Guardian, he casts his mind forward to the period after the
Tories return to power on an ultra-right, racist, nationalist agenda.
New Labour will inevitably run out of steam, he argues, succombing to
sheer philosophical vacuity.
But what would Labour
do then? The Party's traditional springs of political
energy would have run dry, in the process of outbidding the Tories for the
centre-right ground. The renewed Tories would be even nastier that
Labour, where Labour had been trying to compete with them. Where
could Labour re-group?
Jacques does not suggest an answer.
But I know precisely what
Labour should do.
There are stretches of clear pink water, upon which the Labour Party
could and should set sail, and there are favourable political breezes of
which Labour could take advantage.
Where are they to be found?
 Labour
must first abandon the logic and the language of collectivism.
Labour should craft a political philosophy which honours the individuality
of each human being, which accords secondary status to all "groupism" -
nationality, tribalism, religion. "Fraternity" should be re-defined
to focus on the brotherhood of man, acknowledging the common humanity of
all as individuals. The trade union movement is already moving to
the assertion and enforcement of individual workers' rights, and have
abandoned much of its earlier collectivism; EU union practice is similarly
driven. This re-definition would provide a common platform,
re-connecting labour with its traditional power-base.
There
is no more powerful force that the drive of each individual to
self-realisation and fulfilment: we all experience a sense of
individuality, of personal uniqueness.
Labour must be on the right side of that perception.
"Class" reasoning, however persuasive it may have been, must
be set aside, as must all forms of groupism, particularly nationalism and
religious extremism The greatest horrors experienced by mankind have
been the result of abandoning that sense of common
individual
humanity, of treating humans "in other categories" as less than human,
objects, Untermenschen.
This
philosophy generates a fierce commitment to countering the abuse of power,
wherever it arises - in Government, in the corporate sector, in personal
and commercial power relationships. The
new individualism
necessarily means asserting the humanity of the weak and underprivileged,
which will remain the right positioning for Labour. In the corporate
sector would forge another plank in the renewed links with the trade
unions.
The
same perceptions underpin an entirely appropriate concern with law and
order generally, for it is indeed the weakest who suffer most from
law-and-order failures. Labour has already embarked upon that road,
but unconvincingly. Labour should, without hesitation, shift its
position to become the Party of human rights, civil rights, freedom of
information, openness and transparency. These are all express
assertions of our individual common humanity. Labour would be able
to develop its law-and-order position, as a Party more sensitive to
individual injustice than the Tories.
Public
services should be re-defined as the vehicle by which individuals receive
just and equal treatment. The
new individualism
would generate a more coherent framework for educational and health
reforms, as well as the reform of pensions and unemployment benefits.
Changes are already underway which are consistent with this individualism
- the availability of individual career advisers, within the Employment
Service. That has been a success, and is a straw in the wind, to
indicate the potential fruits of a more individualist stance. Some
of the language of "choice", although much exaggerated and politically
overblown, also represents a move in an individualist direction.
"Choice" is only one possible means to the end of self-realisation and
fulfilment.
This
political position would necessarily generate new perceptions of
immigration and asylum, without preventing politicians acknowledging the
need to allay popular fears and alarums. It would illuminate our
terror legislation: it would be more consistent with the position of the
judges, throughout Europe and the States, than the posture of the present
Government, which has moved too far to the Right, in pursuit of electoral
success. With the future Tories occupying that extreme Right
position, Labour (if it moved quickly and convincingly, during a third
term) could develop a new individualist
position.
Other
consequences would follow. Many LibDems, tired of
minority failure, would rally to the Labour colours, hastening the next
swing of the political pendulum. Internationally, such a posture
would win many allies, and would make a major contribution to the
emergence of an egalitarian world order. Labour, both Blair and
Brown, have already demonstrated their understanding of this international
dimension, and Labour's new individualism
would be consistent with that.
- But we must make a start.
What do you think? Drop me a
line
<
Back to Home Page
1065
---------
2005
Moh
the Newcastle E
What do you think? Drop me a
line
<
Back to Home Page
|
|