The Independants...."Radical Capitalists"?

[Hexen]

One thing I've been wondering lately...Is the "Independent" parties such as the (right wing) libertarians, the greens, etc really just "radical capitalists" that simply want to replace the current system of capitalism with their own?

Well what is the Marxist analysis of the Independent parties especially in the US?

[Sea]

They don't even want to replace the 'current system of capitalism'. They just want to be further up in its hierarchy.

[Rafiq]

No. They're reactionaries. You cannot "replace capitalism" with capitalism. A revolution requires a social revolution. There can be no libertarian social revolution, ergo they are not radicals. They are petite bourgeois, and the petite bourgeoisie is incapable of attaining state power simply because their existence as a class relies on the relationship between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. It's why libertarianism is not even a *rational* ideology in the sense that it can have an attainable ends, unlike fascism it demands a political system that does not take into account the interests of the bourgeoisie, which rely on a strong state to sustain them.

[Remus Bleys]

The marxist analysis is probably that they are a bunch of petty-bourgeois that filled the proletariat with a shit ideology.

[Red Commissar]

It's confusing to use the term "independent" because the term in of itself only refers to political affiliation, not an umbrella of political views. So it doesn't really make sense to refer to oneself as an independent, while holding membership in a party, even if it's a minor one. The Libertarian Party and Greens have for the most part managed to get themselves registered in many elections so its candidates can run as Libertarians rather than getting thrown in with other independents and write-ins (excepting of course some municipal elections which are non-partisan).

In the US some have taken to referring to "independents" as some sort of ideological grouping rather than simply people who don't hold membership in any party or generally support one in an election. They've tried to come off as holier-than-thou centrists, using euphemisms like 'purple politics' (ie a mix of Democratic and Republican, Blue and Red) as a descriptor.

What would be the Marxist description of such small parties? It would really depend on their position. Some are genuinely motivated but there is a class motivation behind it. Libertarian and Green parties both for instance both have many members tend to come from more affluent areas and thus might share a more inclusive and open view of society, but have different conceptions of how capitalism should work which for what ever reason they can't get aired in the major parties.