I really don't intend to be argumentative, chunk. I enjoy the discussion. I do, however, get frustrated with your idiosyncratic definition of "the left", and any insistence on purity in that regard. It is very much akin to the ideological purity tests administered by the radical right. Over time the conservative voices on ReaderRant have left or fell silent, with the exception of Ma Rep. I miss the discussions and contrarians.

I think the vast majority of posters here identify as "left", but probably don't conform to the rigid definition you prefer. Occasionally I like to hold up the mirror, is all. The majority of "the left" writ large would also fail. I'm not sure Marx himself would pass muster. Do you think he would? After all, his work is premised on the existence of capitalism and his seminal volume entitled "Capital".