So here's the rub: an authentic call for unity would force to the surface the long simmering conflict in the Democratic party, between the free market "Chicago School" corporatist faction, and the Progressive tradition, with its emphasis on public infrastructure and a rational regulation of commerce. The language of the Progressive movement is always right up front in today's Democratic politics, but then policy is cast in terms of market based solutions, as if there were no inherent conflict. It doesn't take much poking and prodding to uncover the very undemocratic influences of corporate interests on unregulated markets, and the futility of Progressive economic democracy under this model.
Although none of the Democratic Presidential contenders were all that far from their camp, Barak Obama has had the most backing from the Chicago School faction, and now Obama has reciprocated with the appointment of Milton Freidman disciple Austan Goolsbee as chief economic adviser. Are we bringing the Chicago School program in on a Democratic platform? How is that supposed to work?
Please don't take this an attack on Obama, but rather a call to arms to drive the Chicago School out of Democratic politics.
Naomi Klein on the Chicago School:
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