Words of Encouragement.

• Position: A gathering of socialists includes many young people - Brief Article

The order came from above: "Inspire, please." The courteous approach concealed a certain desperation. For those not in the know, let me explain that we who write for the progressive, radical movement have our specialties. Some write depressing stuff. Others write humorous pieces. Still others concentrate on trashing their fellow leftwingers. It seems that there was an opening this month for someone to inspire, and I got the short straw.

Not an easy job, considering that the U.S. government (I was about to say "we," in Dan Rather style, but decided that my interests and those of the White House do not coincide) had just finished dropping thousands of cluster bombs on Yugoslavia. And yet my editor says: "Inspire, please."

OK, let me have a go at it. I've just returned from London, where I was invited to speak to a gathering of socialists who assemble every year around the topic of "Marxism." I confess that what enticed me was their promise to do a performance of Marx in Soho--my one-person play, in which Marx appears in the present, saying, with a laugh (yes, Marx really said this to someone who annoyed him): "I'm not a Marxist!"

Well, to get away from promoting my play, I expected to find a few hundred aging, solemn leftists who---against the general consensus across the political spectrum that Marxism is dead--insist on the importance of the old Moor and the validity of the socialist ideal.

I had the numbers wrong. Not hundreds, but 6,000 were there, mostly from the United Kingdom, though many came from other European countries, and some came from the United States. I also had the ages wrong. They were almost all young people, from early twenties to early thirties. And I had the temperament wrong. They were lively, exuberant, fun-loving people.

Maybe you won't agree, but I found this inspiring. Or, to use less extravagant language--encouraging. Six thousand people assembled in one place who believe in socialism. Six thousand people denouncing the United States and Britain for bombing Yugoslavia. Six thousand people taking the British Labour Party to task for Blairing forth its belief in the wonders of the market and the miracle of bombing.

Now comes the difficult part. The gathering was sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party or, as some on the left would caustically call them, "the Trots." And about half of the 6,000 seemed to be trying to sell the party newspaper, Socialist Worker, to the other half. (Actually, I'm told the SWP in...