Tree-house time.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Leftists and liberalism - Editorial

The great poet Adrienne Rich writes in one of her poems about the need to "build a tree house without a tree." That's the dilemma of the left just now. We need to build a mass leftwing movement in this country even when it seems impossible.

In this particular moment of reactionary politics, it has fallen to us on the left to defend much of what used to be called liberalism--the basic welfare state, the idea that we as a nation have a responsibility for the least among us, and the' notion that the government should serve some function other than rolling out the carpet for rampaging capitalism. Since liberals are stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits, we on the left are forced to do their job.

It's an important, even vital job. If the Republicans succeed, they will cause great suffering in this country--to children, to the poor, to immigrants, to women on welfare, to women who need abortions, to gays and lesbians, to African-Americans, to consumers, to the economy, and to the environment.

I've never believed in "the worse, the better" theory. It strikes me as immoral, because for millions of people it will be "the worse, the worse." I can only hope that before the casualties mount, the American people will come to their senses and revoke the Contract on America.

But in the meantime, the left needs to do more than carry liberalism's portfolio because part of the crisis of liberal politics today has been brought on by the limits of liberalism itself. Liberalism accepts the free market as the ruling principle of our society. It assumes that corporations, with only a modest restraint here or there, will operate in the best interests of society. And it presumes that the selling of one's labor is the most rational way to organize work.

Today we are reaping the whirlwind of traditional liberalism. The market does not act in any magical or munificent way. It is incapable of meeting the needs of people; indeed, it tramples on them, as it befouls the environment and squeezes every drop of profit out of the hired help.

We need to go beyond liberalism and start thinking about breaking away from the cash economy, which should no longer be the whip and spur of our lives. We should insist on a shorter work week at higher pay, so that we can all have more time to pursue happiness instead of the next pay check. And we need to start talking about a guaranteed job or a guaranteed livable income for every American so that no one has to fear the next lay-off and so that...