Bernd Riexinger on "Die Linke Helps"

  1. Die Neue Zeit
    Die Neue Zeit
    Jacobin published an article by Bernd Riexinger, What Die Linke Should Do. What caught my attention was this milestone within the development of the party:

    A politics that is palpable in localities, in workplaces, neighborhoods, and families, and that generates hope for change: we find many examples of a solidary politics of the everyday in our organization, such as actions supporting strikes and renters’ struggles, as well as the many initiatives to offer everyday community support under the banner of “Die Linke helps,” but they have not yet grown into a new political culture in our party.
    The left of Die Linke should help, not hinder, the growth of these initiatives of everyday community support. Food banks come to mind as a possible initiative to consider. In recent European left experience, the term "solidarity networks" come to mind. There is a more important reason for promoting such growth: Die Linke must adopt the pre-WWI SPD model of the "alternative culture" (cultural societies, recreational clubs, etc.) in order to spend time speaking with people instead of to them, and in order to invite others to get active themselves.