Slogans, tags and catch phrases

Beware the beguiling slogan. Useful? Yes. But, catchy by design, they can mislead as well as inspire. It is wise to dissect them at first sight – especially when used with progressive intentions.

Example: Radical Futures uses: One Past. Many Futures. We Choose.

One past

In the abstract, this is completely true. But historical events can be interpreted in different ways. They can be unwittingly slanted or deliberately distorted. Ruling elites suppress crucial features of history. Progress requires rejection of the dominant narratives of capitalism. For example, billionaires claim credit for all the benefits of modernity, while accepting no responsibility for its problems.

The reverse is closer to historical reality.

We choose

All national governments claim to serve the interests of their whole population. Most also claim  to be democracies. The reality is rather different. 

Based on national boundaries  and geographical constituencies, capitalist social democracies allow citizens to choose who makes legislation, but only within the system. No one ever voted for capitalism itself. And when capitalist minority rulers are threatened, they resort to authoritarian control.

Hence, openly Fascist regimes and military coups rule by naked violence. Countries like Russia and China claim to be peoples’ republics but are ruled by small cliques. They also use or threaten of violence, while their elected legislatures do little more than rubber-stamp decisions made at the top.

All countries are capitalist. But they differ in the proportion of national capital that is controlled by the state rather than individuals and corporations.

Capitalist social democracy (AKA the ‘West’) is, however, by far the cleverest and most effective form of control of the working majority. 

We do the work that gives all capital its value. We have the ultimate power to choose the future.

Many futures

The 1980s slogan, TINA (there is no alternative), helped neoliberal free-market dogma achieve global acceptance. In 1898, German doctor, Rosa Luxembourg, declared that humanity was faced with two alternative futures: socialism or barbarism.

Her prediction is now chillingly real. A quarter-way through the twenty-first century, imperialist bombing, refugees, corruption, global debt, austerity, mental distress, climatic instability and so on, amount to an epochal polycrisis. Barbarism is caused by minorities, yet suffered in various combinations by majorities.

Socialism is the word generally used for a world specifically designed to prevent these barbarities.

Conclusion: One Past. Many Futures. We Choose, is an aspiration, not a reality.

Other contenders for prominence, People before Profit, or Socialism from Below, are also inspirational.

Regressive slogans can be countered. Examples:

Not TINA but TARA (There are real alternatives)

Revolutions always end in violence.  This is, unfortunately, mostly true. But the full and honest reactionary position  would add: Because we’ll make sure of that!

You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time.

But you can’t fool all the people all of the time.

This popular one is very persuasive, but the first sentence is actually untrue.  Because,“there are some people, Who can’t be fooled any of the time!

9 September

DPS

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