The Obama Syndrome

I have no animosity towards people who supported and voted for President Obama. This prevailing logic of supporting the lesser-than-two-evils, fitting for an era of diminished expectations, is the most important political resource of the Democratic Party and the typical cop-out for its “progressive” supporters. What will finally deliver a deathblow to the logic of lesser evil-ism? What’s the tipping point for disillusioned progressives? If giving trillions to Wall Street or assassinating American citizens without due process isn’t extreme enough, then what is? Maybe we’ll find out in Obama’s second term. For those who don’t want to wait that long, a brief conversation with Tariq Ali should do the trick. Tariq Ali is a prolific author, journalist, novelist, historian, and veteran activist. His most recent book is The Obama Syndrome.

Can you describe what you mean by the Obama Syndrome?

A political disease. An ailment that afflicts even the most intelligent politicians—those desperate to enter the White house whatever the financial and political price they have to pay. Politics these days is little more than concentrated economics. No alternatives to the neo-liberal system are permitted except the State is encouraged to bail out the very rich and the rich. The Obama syndrome is a sensational demonstration of this fact—a mixed-race president and his black family enter the White House. The symbolism is important, but symbols often disappear rapidly as the rigors of everyday life and politics intervene. Then people see that politicians—whatever their race or gender—must be judged on the basis of what they do.

What’s the role of mainstream progressives in perpetuating the messianic delusion of President Obama?

They’re desperate. They like to think “anyone but Bush” and when the anyone, give or take a few token measures, essentially carries on like his predecessor, many mainstream progressives go into denial mode. They blind themselves to the reality. When Jeffrey Sachs criticizes Obama’s new budget from the “left” then the self-styled progressives look very stupid.

What’s your take on the logic of lesser evilism, the kneejerk response for defending one’s allegiance to Obama and the Democrats in general? What does this say about Americans’ political imagination?

The traditional politicians of the United States are bereft of imagination or vision. An alternative political approach is desperately needed in the United States and, I must add, in Europe and other parts of the world. Living in a hollowed-out democracy where the form is preserved and much else is becoming rotten is depressing. We live under the dictatorship of capital. At times it is necessary to vote against the incumbent of whatever party simply to register anger. But America needs a new political movement/organization, call it what you will, to challenge the logic of capital and its wars.

What has been its effect on the chances for social change in the U.S.?

Bad. Very bad. To get trapped in the dilemma as to whether Obama will fight better wars and torture people more “humanely” than Romney or some other Republican is foolish. When you accept the battleground of the center you get lost.

Some would argue Obama can get away with more than a Republican president because of his PR skills and the middle-class liberal propensity for hypocrisy and self-deception. It seems inconceivable that Bush and Cheney could have passed NDAA or claimed the right to assassinate American citizens without massive popular outcry. What do you think?

This is certainly the case. One can even imagine Senator Obama jumping up and down in manufactured rage denouncing these assaults on the Constitution.

How does Occupy fit into this picture? Do you agree that Obama and the Democrats are the biggest threat to the movement in terms of being co-opted and channeling that energy back into electoral politics?

The Occupy movement is important precisely because it grew out of disenchantment with Obama. I’ve been arguing that a vital next step must be a Charter for Democratic and Social Rights that can be used to build strong bases against mainstream politics in every city. This means an agreed, minimum political program whose aim is to include rather than exclude people.

It seems that a massive coordinated departure from the arena of partisan electoral politics and into the arena of movement politics is the most obvious course of action for dismantling America’s two-party duopoly. What do you think about this?

I agree totally, but movement politics on its own can disappear like a whirlwind does. A foundation for something that lasts must be laid now.

What’s the cure for the Obama Syndrome? Is it much different from what’s needed to restore meaning to the American political system itself?

No. The two objectives are, in fact, the same.

Z

Collin Harris is a freelance writer and activist based in Portland, Oregon. He is launching MOSS Media in 2012, a grassroots media project using movements, music, and media to expand the boundaries of cultural possibility in the 21st century. 

Collin Harris is a freelance writer and activist based in Portland, Oregon. He is launching MOSS Media in 2012, a grassroots media project using movements, music, and media to expand the boundaries of cultural possibility in the 21st century.