SIGN OF THE TIMES

Actor Jim Carrey wants us to say yes to socialism.

IT IS A sign of the times, at least in the United States, when a Hollywood A-list actor goes on an nationally-syndicated talk show and flies the red flag for socialism. But that's exactly what Jim Carrey did on The Bill Maher Show last week.

"We have to say yes to socialism -- to the word and everything. We have to stop apologising." Carrey told Maher, amidst cheers and applause from the audience.

Celebrating the successful primary campaigns of candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Carrey referred to his own Canadian childhood:

"I grew up in Canada, okay, we have socialised medicine. And I'm here to tell you that this bullshit line that you get on all of the political shows from people is that it's a failure - the system is a failure in Canada. It is not a failure, and I never waited for anything in my life. I chose my own doctors. My mother never paid for a prescription - it was fantastic. And I just got back from Vancouver, and I keep hearing, "Canadians are so nice - Canadians are so nice." They can be nice because they have health care - because they have a government that cares about them that doesn't say, "Sink or fucking swim, pal, or you live in a box."

We might debate what Carrey means by socialism, but that doesn't mean that the term is vague and evasive. There are some core beliefs; social (as opposed to private) control of the means of production and a greater democratic input by ordinary people into a political system historically  dominated by the corporate lobbyists. 

There is something resonating within American society when someone like Jim Carrey should even mention socialism in a country where, by the 1950s, it was widely seen as being antithetical to the American way of life. It wasn't long ago when Hollywood actors were being blacklisted by the film industry because of  their left wing beliefs.

Today it is an entirely different story. A Gallup poll in August revealed that 57 percent of Democrats polled said they viewed socialism positively but only 47 percent said the same of capitalism, down from 56 percent in 2016. Meanwhile organisations like the Democratic Socialists of America are reporting record memberships.

A little like New Zealand, the United States doesn't have an established socialist history to lend guidance to what socialism might look like in twenty-first century America. But given the widespread antipathy felt for capitalism we do know that some mere policy tweaks will no longer be acceptable. That road can only lead to the business-friendly politics of a Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, and nothing changes.

It's unfortunate and, yes, a disgrace  that the New Zealand left isn't saying yes to socialism. In fact it is a term  barely mentioned among the majority of those who like to describe themselves as being of the left. In truth the use of terms like 'progressive' or 'centre left' invariably means support for the right wing Labour Party and, in too many cases, a hostility to socialist politics of any description. That much of the New Zealand left, after three decades of neoliberalism, continues to rationalise its support for a party that continues to be a champion of that very neoliberalism sums up just how reactionary New Zealand 'progressives' often are.