Old wine in old wineskins
Please note: the religious references here are to illustrate the issue, not promote religion.
Jesus’ parable of the wineskins is instructive. John the Baptist was a town crier who warned the complacent Jews of something new. He represented the prophets they venerated but misrepresented. He spoke of someone who wasn’t merely going to challenge the status quo but turn it upside down and they weren’t prepared. The Pharisees reluctantly accepted John (they’d have had a riot on their hands otherwise). They were less inclined to tolerate Jesus.
John’s disciples asked Jesus why his disciples didn’t fast as they did. His answer came down to the difference between challenging the old and embracing the new which could be summed up as: you can’t dig yourself out of a hole or as Einstein put it (and I paraphrase), don’t whittle away at your square peg to fit the round hole. Jesus’ example was wineskins and in the case of the current presidential elections I think this an appropriate metaphor.
Basically, John’s disciples followed the religious customs with integrity while Jesus’ disciples challenged those customs at their root. So Jesus spoke of old and new wineskins, that the old wineskins were fine as containers for the wine in them but would simply split if re-used. In other words they worked in their day but couldn’t be re-purposed.
For some, in 2016, Trump tasted like new wine. He rejected NAFTA and TPP, and the globalism that had robbed rural Americans of their jobs and communities, he pledged to end the incredibly expensive regime change wars and to get money out of politics. They overlooked his misogyny and racism because at least he’d make their lives better. But he was new wine and old wineskin bundled into one, a contradiction within himself, with no integrity and thoroughly unable to govern. Biden, on the other hand is old wine in an old wineskin. As a president (if he is finally pronounced president elect) he will largely be irrelevant.
…they got their Labour Party back. It didn’t matter that their party had been humiliated so long as they regained control.
The sad truth is that while the challenges of the 21st century have given rise to progressive movements, the neoliberal political structures have been shored up by old and new movers and shakers which has made progress impossible. Even where progressives have wrested power they have been brutally (literally and metaphorically) crushed. All talk of the future in the mainstream is so hackneyed and rehashed, anyone with genuine aspiration is completely turned off. At a time when its vital that politics be vibrant and fresh, political discourse is moribund and stale. When we need to hit the accelerator, our foot is on the brake.
Neoliberal wreckers
In 2015 new wine was poured into the British Labour Party in the form of Jeremy Corbyn. He brought with him hundreds of thousands of new members but he failed to renew the wineskin. Its conceivable that he could have brought Labour to power in 2017 but even if he had there’s every chance his premiership would have been wrecked by those outside and inside the Labour Party. Indeed the party machine was wedded to self interested neoliberalism and it wasn’t until 2018 (when Labour MP’s had already successfully poisoned the well) that internal workings were effectively challenged. In 2019 the old guard got what they wanted; they got their Labour Party back. It didn’t matter that their party had been humiliated so long as they regained control.
In the case of the Democratic Party of America, the new wine of 2008 turned out to be soda pop. The Bernie phenomenon which inspired progressives like AOC, fired up the grass roots of the party but had little to no effect on the party as a whole. In fact the new saviour who gave us all hope in the summer of 2008 was instrumental in destroying the hopes of progressives in 2016 and 2020, pulling the rug from under the Bernie campaign both times. He didn’t even endorse Joe Biden till late in the race yet within two days leading up to Super Tuesday he buried Bernie and resurrected Joe. Biden wasn’t even the choice for the Democratic establishment but he’ll serve their purposes.
In the UK we have our own Trump in the form of Boris Johnson though its widely rumoured he’ll be jettisoned in the new year to be replaced by someone more shiny. Labour is stuck with a grey, uninspiring, centrist figure who seems determined to crush the left, with little opposition. The chaos engulfing both the USA and the UK gives the media on both sides of the pond plenty to talk about and report on but the politics is likely to be deadly dull leaving the public to wring their hands of politicians. This is an establishment wet dream.
It doesn’t matter that everything is collapsing around our ears and that those elected to sort out the mess are only moderately more favourable than serial killers. It doesn’t matter if the billionaires and those who do their bidding are despised so long as it doesn’t hit their bottom line. That’s why they’re selling us the old wine and wineskins. It’s where we can have most impact.