US socialist historian Lance Selfa asks, “Is America a right-wing country?”

His answer: Not really.

Selfa proposes, and I agree, that today’s pseudo-populist right is a marketing gimmick devised and/or exploited by big corporate funders. The object: To channel some traditionalists’ fear of social change into a rage against “government,” which would lead to weaker governance all around, especially toward corporate regulation/taxation.

A deeper look, Selfa argues, would see a nation steadily adopting more progressive views on health care reform, gay rights, race/gender issues, et al.

So why do leftists buy into the far right fringe’s claims to universal popularity—when they KNOW those dorks are LYING about everything else?

I’ve always guessed it’s because defeatism can be so comfortable. It’s so easy to just retreat into your boho tribes and exchange sneers against Evil Mainstream America.

Actually persuading people to your point of view is harder.

Actually organizing a movement is harder.

Actually organizing a movement for positive change, instead of merely protesting, is harder still.

But we saw in ’08 that it could be done.

Our task, in this midterm election and beyond, is not to retrieve that spirit but to move beyond it, to make working for change an everyday thing. To evolve from an ecstatic affair with activism into a marriage.