August Bebel was a writer, philosopher and even a politician in the late 19th Century and start of the 20th. He famously said, "Anti-Semitism is the socialism of fools," because he recognized that anti-Semites had a world view that explained "everything." It was also a dig at the more "enthusiastic" socialists of the time, though Bebel was a socialist himself--and wrote a lovely book called "Woman and Socialism," of which I happen to own a copy in its original translated title, "Women Under Socialism." (note the beautiful cover)
For years, I said to Clintonites that if we do not take care of the economic security of vast swaths of the nation, we will end up with fascists and racists telling those who are suffering what "the answer" is. But all the Clintonites would do is scream at me, "Abortion! The Supreme Court!" And I mostly went along, which is why I am so angry at their tone-deafness in the face of this populist moment.
Well, now the Clintonites, who permeate the halls and executive suites of corporate media, have the consequence I worried about 25 years ago. And yes, Bernie woulda won because even among those men shouting about Jews, there were some who would have gone to their better values. And that would have been all Bernie needed. None of those torch-bearing marching men supported Hillary Clinton for what may ultimately be irrational reasons that are better explained through the lens of the Salem Witch Trials which were primarily based upon the fear of an intelligent woman, as opposed to our modern and sometimes limiting sensibilities of what it means to be sexist--for Sarah Palin would have gotten a lot of their votes...
Bebel's quote from nearly 110 years ago is now sadly relevant today. We are retreating into an atavism that is spawning all sorts of other isms that are not very nice. At least as the late Michael Harrington wrote, the socialist aesthetic tells us we need to not only be in solidarity with each other, but most importantly kinder to each other. That was the essence of Bebel's book, too, I may add. And at least, too, today's socialists should be more humble as we move forward because the 20th Century saw what happened when the most "enthusiastic" socialists took over governments in places like Russia and China. I say this as well to the "new" atheists. A little humility can go a long way...
