The New Left

The New Left, as it is often known, is Left Wing Politics past about 1965. By that time, the Stalinist tendencies and autocratic rule of the "Old Left", a.k.a. the USSR and China, had created something just as opressive as right-wing capitalism. Eventually, new radicals and revolutuionaries began speaking out against the both the capitalist right and the socialist left, ushering in a revitalized Left-Wing inspired by revolutionary socialists like Che Guevara, anarchists and feminists like Emma Goldman, radical artists and writers like Allen Ginsberg, and even social democrats and civil rights leaders like MLK and Malcom X. This "New Left" opened up ideas of the socialist commune, green movements, and open-mindedness in general. While creating movements like the hippies, the New Left also ushered in new, younger Leftist politicians that provided an alternative to the cold, oppressive Marxist policies of many communist states. The New Left movement proved disasterous to the communist parties of America, and the USSR lost much of its support among American radicals. However, New Leftists, such as Noam Chomsky and E. P. Thompson, have opened up modern radical and left-wing politics for the 21st century and beyond.