"The leftists I know are all engaged and committed to fighting back. They’re not cowering doomsday preppers. They are working hard and showing more ambition than anyone else in politics. It’s the liberals and centrists who are the pessimistic, unimaginative ones who think we must take baby steps and that nothing good is possible. In fact, I think the excess negativity on the left here is Guastella’s. He is telling us we’re all a bunch of failures unworthy of the great Karl Marx. (“Are there any intellectuals of the Left today whose insights and commitment to humanity’s long-term horizon rival those of Karl Marx or Karl Polanyi?”)
But look, I believe in solidarity. I don’t want a rift with Guastella and Jacobin here, because I have immense respect for Jacobin and warm, comradely feelings toward them. I don’t feel Guastella is being fair to me or to Melonio, Taylor, Klein, or Steffen, but the important point is that we all agree, actually. He writes that “without a flag staked in the future — a clear vision of the world we want for our children and theirs — we lose track of where we want to go.” Well you don’t have to tell me, Dustin. I write things like that all the time. So let’s not bicker, eh? There’s no need to write articles in Jacobin castigating fellow leftists as “unserious, misanthropic, and bound to lose.” Just join with us as we build the glorious socialist future together. Solidarity forever!"
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/excuse-me-but-i-am-a-utopian
