Bill Mitchell — There is a true oppositional Left forming and gaining political traction

Bill sees some "green shoots" politically. 

My theory is this. The younger voters have no life experience with old Labour (pre Thatcher). So all the bad things that New Labour-ites and the Tories might have said about Corbyn’s Labour would have had no meaning to them.

What do they care about the Winter of Discontent, Harold Wilson’s exchange rate crises, the bullying trade unions and all the rest of the narratives that are wheeled out to degrade the image of Labour – especially Corbyn’s ‘blast from the past’ policies (as depicted by the Tories and Blairites)?

What young people are searching for is hope for the future. And they have determined that neo-liberalism is not a source of optimism for the future.

Neo-liberalism and austerity has blighted their educational opportunities, undermined the health system, created chaose in the privatised transport system.

It is mean and nasty.

Moreover, while the mainstream media put out daily bile attacks about Corbyn, the young people don’t really buy or read the newspapers anymore.

The young people, increasingly connected by social media, and that is making all the Murdoch and Guardian-type hysterics irrelevant.

Conclusion

The British election, and to some extent, the French election shows that there is a new oppositional Left forming – finally.

The challenge for the left is monetary, financial and economic competence. This has been the big weakness that has resulted in leftist governments underperforming and failing to deliver on their promises.

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
There is a true oppositional Left forming and gaining political traction
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia