This goes back over a year. I mostly missed it, but did hear about it. After having heard Dore on and off for a few years, I had a good idea where he was coming from. I was, and am, critical of these “left-right unity” efforts when people try to unite with people close to fascism. WSWS gets into it.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/29/dore-j29.html
Whether he is aware of it or not, Dore’s statements calling for a “top-bottom” and not a “left-right” outlook are rooted in early 20th century fascist ideology. Basing themselves on the slogan “neither left nor right,” fascists called for the unity of the entire national “people” in direct opposition to the socialist struggle of the property-less working class (“the left”) against the property-owning big capitalists (“the right”). Despite its faux-populist language, fascism was ultimately a political tool of the capitalist class to mobilize the enraged petty-bourgeoisie against the socialist workers’ movement.
“Petty bourgeoisie” is Marxian jargon for small property owners, small business owners, and technical experts and managers who make a relatively high salary.
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More from the story:
Under the pressure of recent events, the worst traits of petty-bourgeois radicalism, especially its American variant, come to dominate: nationalism, anti-communism, subjectivism, individualism and deep pessimism.
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