Has radicalism died down?

Question

America has skinheads, we have the KKK, we have renegade groups. Why do you think, with Bush's popularity is at it's lowest level, that an Anti-Bush group doesn't form?
P.S. I don't condone or participate in any of these.

Answer 1

No it has not. Groups that are radical are only more underground.

Answer 2

If I understand your question, I'd say all you have to do is look a little harder. There are all sorts of radical (left wing) groups that are out there.

If you mean, why aren't there any militant left wing groups (like the Weathermen, the Black Panthers, Rising Up Angry, Young Lords, etc.), there's a multitude of reasons.

Many contemporary radical thinkers - Noam Chomsky is an excellent example - discourage or repudiate as counterproductive the violent actions taken by many of the aforementioned organizations. That is not to say, however, that these individuals are pacifists, are opposed to direct action or are even opposed to violence in self-defense.

With respect to the radical groups of the 1960s, many of them fell apart due to internal conflicts and/or infiltration from government programs like COINTELPRO. This led to a decline of well organized radical groups through the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Today, probably the most powerful radical group in terms of sheer numbers is Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, better known as ANSWER. ANSWER was largely responsible for organizing the majority of large scale demonstrations held around the US immediately prior to the Iraq War.

But ANSWER poses some real problems for the left - namely, it refuses to condemn (and often defends) the regimes of Kim Jong-Il and Saddam Hussein. ANSWER was founded by the Workers World Party and Ramsey Clark, who once served as Attorney General under Lyndon Johnson. Clark was a friend of Hussein's and later, a member of his defense team. Clark has also been a defender of Slobodan Milosevic.

Most left wing intellectuals are quick to repudiate ANSWER for their defense of such brutal dictatorships yet give them begrudging credit for their skills at organizing the anti-war demonstrations. Many left wing journal editorials came out encouraging people to attend the rallies, but to keep their distance (both physically and intellectually) from ANSWER.

The true test of the left will be in organizing people of seemingly disparate interests who actually share the same goals. Speaking broadly, the radical organizations of the 1960s were much more unified and worked closely with other radical groups. But after the decline of these organizations, progressive groups became more isolated and saw their individual group's interests as being solely their own. Thus, many issues (especially of economic class) that were common to different communities were sidelined in favor of more immediate concerns.

For more information on these and other issues, I highly recommend Z magazine (www.zmag.org).

Answer 3

no it hasn't just look around, all the questions they have posted on here is about peoples race, and what for I have no clue.

Answer 4

no