How the Left Can Win

How the Left Can Win

by the N3 Coalition

Bush's November 3rd victory has created a crisis of self-examination in the left. There are deep schisms in the progressive community. Schisms in national coalitions like ANSWER and UFPJ. Schisms in the Green Party. A seething battle of resentment between anti-voting and pro-voting progressives. And an abysmal chasm between the ABB'ers and the Naderites.

We must begin to heal if we are to move forward in the cold reality of a Bush second term. But how are we to do this? Those of us who stuck to our core principals and refused to collaborate with the Democratic party have been tarred and feathered. Those of us who put our principals aside to work in common cause with Democrats have been rewarded by a crushing defeat. Never before has the left been so fragmented by sectarianism.

If we are to become a real threat to the Republican's power lock on the government we must become smarter. We must play the game better than Karl Rove himself. In short, we must dissimilate to seize power.

Much was made by the ABB'ers of the marriage of convenience between Ralph Nader and Lenora Fulani and Fred Newman of the Independence Party. True, the Newmanites are somewhat of a cult. But their knowledge of how the electoral game is played put Nader on the ballot in New York state. We on the left would do well to take some lessons from the Newmanites.

We at N3 have spent much time examining the techniques of the New Alliance/Independence Party and we have found them to be the ideal tool for movement building. In particular we find Fred Newman's Short-Term Psychological Therapy a positive way to unite diverse groups while brightening their social outlook and making them fit for the hard work of radical activism. This brilliant form of therapy made it possible for disparate figures such as Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, Lyndon LaRouche, and Ralph Nader to work together in an alliance that pieced together the fragments of sectarian libertarianism into one big tent.

How can the left bridge the chasm between the blue states and the red? How can progressive ideals reach the hearts and minds of the 48% of America that identify itself as Christian fundamentalists?

The answer is right in front of us. Through Dr. Fulani and Fred Newman's social therapy we will be able to penetrate the red states in the form of bible-study classes. The progressive left must reach out to the youth of heartland America in order to educate them to the possibility of revolution change. And we must do so through Jesus.

We must assemble cells of revolutionary youth in the coastal cities of the blue state and send them into the American heartland. Through a deft blend of Newmanite social therapy and bible-study we will nurture the future revolutionaries of the American South and Midwest. This is not vanguardism by another name. A revolutionary program can be found in the teachings of Jesus. It is clearly found in the liberation theology movement and in the Christian anarchism of the Catholic Workers. We must not turn up our noses at ideologies that we consider to be reactionary. If we do so we will lose the race forever.

When the cells have been established in the American heartland and our social therapy and bible study groups have blended into a covert program of revolutionary change we must make our next move into the churches. Through the churches the N3 Coalition plans to re-seize the base of United States government. We do not believe this is a cynical goal. The Republican party is no more concerned with Christian values than the left in its current manifestation. They use the evangelicals as electoral puppets to insure their lock on government positions. But when our program of Karl Marx, Guy Debord, and Jesus takes hold of American religious life then our moment will have arrived.

How will cell members who are LGBT or pro-choice survive the tough work ahead in the red states? They will have to put their identity politics aside while we capture the good will of Christian America. It may take decades but what is sex and the right to an abortion when another world is possible?

Imagine a future when progressives have control again over the machinery of this great country. N3 envisions an America where anti-statist anarchists build bridges with anti-government right libertarians. Instead of a capitalist driven occupation of Iraq, N3 looks forward to an Iraqi Autonomous Zone (IAZ) of worker cooperatives with free social therapy for all. Evangelical Christianity would be the official religion of the IAZ only because the strength of our alliance depends on it. But Islam, homosexuality, freedom of gender expression, and abortion would be tolerated eventually when the IAZ becomes institutionalized in the region.

The left can win only if we pool our resources and our beliefs into one powerful force. Alone we will perish in this new dark age. Together we can make a difference. By healing the schisms between ourselves we can reach out to build bridges with the other America. And by reaching out we will gain a strength in numbers that will forge a new America of progressive values and Christian evangelism that will be a beacon unto the entire world.

In solidarity,

The N3 Coalition (NYC)