My friend Marco Cremona, who is now active in the newly formed Democratic Party, posted this on Facebook today:
"The only political party that you may agree with on everything is the one you set up for yourself. But even then, you may find that you sometimes disagree (and good that you do)."
I fully agree.
In this regard, I note that some activists and opinionists who are not involved in political parties like to tell political parties (big and small) what to do and also to criticize various aspects of decision and non-decision making. The social media is an ideal forum for this purpose. In itself, this is a healthy exercise.
I think that the basic premise of such critique should be to recognize that politics is not only based on beliefs, but also on loyalties, networks, character traits, persuasion, the art of compromise, tactics and the social science of strategy building.
Parties are made up of their members, and of the interaction between democratic processes and dominant forces/discourses.
Armchair nihilists and/or political absolutists do not enhance dialogic democracy and the construction of hegemonic formations. They simply refuse to play by the rules which recognize the other.
