In honour of yesterday:
I think it's about time for a new version of the Internationale. The clip above struck me for how it represents the 'has been' side of the current state of left politics. With notable exceptions, left wing politics remains on the outer in our public discourse. For most people, left means some of the pictures you see in the video above: frankly, this is all very kitsch and not at all imminent to our present predicament. It's a simulacrum of politics that appeals to people passing through the rebellious phases of life.
This is a sad predicament, for only the left is able to ask some of the most urgent questions facing us right now. After all, what's the point of freedom when we live in times characterized by social atomisation and global climate change? The two are symptomatic of our underlying inability to address the really big issues that go in to living together.
And now for something a little more sublime:
"In beautiful May, when the buds sprang, love sprang up in my heart: in beautiful May, when the birds all sang, I told you my suffering and longing."
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