The resurgence of the left and revival of the Black subject
Idealism and humanism appear to be making their way back to global politics. Amidst the current chaos and disorder of a world that is out of joints, a world that
Idealism and humanism appear to be making their way back to global politics. Amidst the current chaos and disorder of a world that is out of joints, a world that has lost its stabilizing polarities, something seems to be astir. The old left is staging a comeback. Or let us put it with some caveat, the old left never really left but merely went into prolonged hibernation as a result of inclement weather, like a polar bear bludgeoned into catatonic stupor by adverse climatological condition. Defeated, demoralized, and derided as a spent force, hoisted by the petard of its own internal contradictions and astonishing success, the left, or whatever remains of it, is slogging its way back to the centre of global attention.
When all is said, it would appear that human civilization is propelled into self-actualization by a countervailing set of ideals which serves as the stabilizing bedrock of human progress. For a moment, a set of ideas about what is good for humanity and desirable for nations that wish to make progress, politically, economically and spiritually, gain ascendancy and the upper hand, sending their rivals and competitors into the cooler of outworn and outdated fashions of human progress. But just when we think it is all over and that certain ideals about the order of civilization are set in marble, the defeated and demoralized rally, like a snake that has cast off its slough, and begin to slog their way back into contention, forcing their appeal on us at the altar of innate rationality and human wisdom.
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The concoctions, confections and concatenations that mark the endgame is usually an improvement on the original. From the start of human civilization, armies of ideas clash unendingly and relentlessly in a bid to remake and remold the world, often eventuating in actual physical wars. The resulting compulsory conflation is hardly recognizable by the original contenders. But that is the way of history and of the world. The Heraclitan dictum is always handy: You cannot step into the same river twice. Those who initiated the internationalization of slavery and provided ideological and spiritual rationalization for the pernicious practice were also the ones who came back to tell the world how abhorrent and abominable the whole institution was when the project had become unsustainable politically, economically and spiritually.
But by then, slavery had taken on a life of its own in North America, Central America, South America and in Africa, leaving the world with a new set of contradictions to grapple with. It was German intellectuals, historians, sociologists and philosophers who pioneered the idea of a lebensraum or living space for a special and God-ordained people and gave it traction in their writings. After two global wars in which Germany was reduced to rubble, all is now quiet on the Prussian front and Germany is a model country: progressive, democratic, inclusively governed and tolerant of immigration and with a high degree of racial integration. Good and noble institutions make good and noble people.
