Be Left 038; be right

Yesterday proved again that May Day celebrations worldwide have lost that revolutionary zing. But lacklustre working class festivals are no indicators of the health of the political Left. Left parties are in power across continents. From Bush-bashing Hugo Chavez of Venezuela to Bush buddy Tony Blair of Britain, a large number and an astonishing variety of politicians answer to the broad description of being Left-oriented. Latin America is seeing a sort of a Left revival. Some 300 million of its 520 million citizens are ruled by parties that can be described as Leftwing. Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua face elections between May and November, and in all three Left of Centre politicians are ahead in popularity. In Europe, one of the shadiest Rightwing politicians ever, Italy8217;s Silvio Berlusconi, has been replaced by a Centre-Left prime minister. In India, the Left are most likely to win Bengal and Kerala.

In some of these cases, the Left has won because of a protest vote, against, for example, real or perceived inequalities of a liberal economic regime. But wherever the Left has succeeded in becoming a party that can be voted in to govern, not merely to vent anger, Leftwing politicians have changed the definition of Left. In Latin America, Leftwing governments in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay are being pragmatic. In Europe, the difference between countries where the Left has changed, Britain, and where it hasn8217;t, France, is evident.

In fact, in Paris and Delhi, the Left needs a big makeover. Delhi8217;s Leftists can look at Buddhadeb and Paris8217; at Blair 8212; they will realise that it is possible for Leftwing parties to change so intelligently as to become almost unbeatable. The key thing is to acknowledge, first, that private economic incentives and public good are not mutually contradictory and, second, that equality of opportunities, not equality of outcomes, is the viable approach to fighting social stratification. To paraphrase Hugo Chavez, who obviously meant it differently, Leftwing politicians can be statesmen 8212; or Hugo Chavez.