Das Juvenal: Breaking out of the leftist funk

We argue history is moved forward by the contestation and agreement of different bio-social classes for social and biological reproduction without the risk of death; the medical and information revolution of the past 1000 years has resulted in the liberation of previously constrained bio-social classes, and changed the material conditions of life, with a consequent impact on the ideological grounds on which possession of the powers of government are fought; the key ideologies in contestation are environmental capitalism and market socialism, in opposition to the sclerotic and murderous force of extreme neo-liberal market fundamentalism, and these ideological battles are fought through the operating systems of capitalism and socialism, with a fairly steady common ground of human rights expressed in two ideas of liberty, namely the freedom from arbitrariness and the freedom to live a basic and dignified life, both championed in our most recent historical epochs in caricature by the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics, and its successor state, the Russian Federation, with Black, Female, Homosexual and Jewish bodies one of the key sites of inscription of the common agreement for the inviolability of the category of Human Being; particularly for the left, it is necessary to break out of the depressed position of being anti-systemic to campaign for political power on the basis of sustaining market socialism, and for the right to breakout of the nihilism of market fundamentalism to campaign on the basis of embedding environmental capitalism, with a common and centre objective of achieving ‘zero hunger’ for all human beings; the three singular places where this has most application is in knowing this – while most who are temperamentally on the left have accepted the market argument for many sectors – in particular, housing – it is palpably demonstrable that accepting the market does not obviate the need for the state to be the proper honest broker of last resort for citizens and denizens in crisis – be that immigrants, asylum seekers, redundant workers or the physically or mentally incapacitated – in this regard it means restraining the animal spirits of landlords for the choicest prey – there many principles of law to enforce a minimum social duty on landlords whilst still sustaining a private market in property as a store of value, and the left, (and here we addressing our own local context most especially) – should be much more robustly be making that argument; landlords can have their pick of who they let their second homes to, but it should really not be entirely up to them who they let the no frills and essential properties they have – afterall, even prisoners who commit the most heinous crimes are guaranteed a bed, a room, three square meals and security of tenure; it beggars belief that many of the most conscientous of citizens do not; renters of the world, unite indeed.

Advertisement