Richard Ziegler, Reclaiming the Canadian Left.(Book review)

Richard Ziegler, Reclaiming the Canadian Left (Ottawa: Baico Publishing Consultants 2007)

IN RECLAIMING the Canadian Left, Richard Ziegler excoriates the Canadian Left (defined broadly) for failing to put the goal of economic equality at the centre of its political agenda. ]-he book is heavy on denunciation and lacks the analytical subtlety that would be needed to capture the imagination and sympathies of even a thin slice of Left-wing activists and intellectuals. Nevertheless there is a moral imperative at the heart of Ziegler's argument that deserves more than a second thought.

The book's premise is that "the Canadian left has renounced even any semblance of economic equality as an objective." (6) In Ziegler's view it is not good enough to advocate for programs that would reduce economic inequality; rather a Left that is true to its political heritage must privilege a more-or-less pure vision of economic equality. The bulk of Reclaiming the Canadian Left addresses this question: "How is it that the Canadian left, formerly concerned with substantially reducing economic differences, has arrived at a point where it is largely indifferent to or even supportive of immense inequalities?" (8-9)

Richard Ziegler begins his answer to this question by pointing to four generic features of the political and ideological landscape of contemporary Canada. (9-11) He quickly shifts to a visceral denunciation of the Left's identification and involvement with movements that supposedly work against the promotion of economic equality.

The first villain of Richard Ziegler's narrative is the new social movements "primarily the women's, gay and lesbian and environmental." Ziegler is disdainful of these movements since "the majority of their members have no desire whatsoever for any substantial reduction of the wealth of the rich." He posits a zero-sum notion of political demands such that "the more attention a left-wing political party devotes to issues other than economic equality, the less that latter concern receives attention." The new social movements are depicted as "special interest groups" whose political agendas have successfully displaced the ideal of economic equality (19). These movements are further critiqued when they promote an understanding and appreciation of diversity since "the emphasis on diversity hinders redistribution as it is more difficult for people to share with others when differences with those others are stressed." (22) Finally, Ziegler blames the members of new social movements for creating a "climate of self-censorship and political correctness in today's left;" such is this purported climate that "the Canadian left is afraid to assert ... that the reduction of class differences should be the left's priority." (23)

The only new social movement for which Richard Ziegler has kind words is the environmental movement--he is supportive of the tendency in this movement that argues for negative economic growth and "the establishment of limits to income and wealth to ensure nobody's ecological footprint is excessive." (25, 91) This assessment is revealing of Ziegler's fundamental moral judgement: middle-and high-income wage earners are as much a part of the problem as the wealthy in Canadian society since they are earning more than what they need (41). Appreciating Richard Ziegler's moral stance allows us to understand why he condemns health care professionals for profiting "enormously from the illnesses of others," (27) and introduces the labour movement as the second villain in his story.

Reclaiming the Canadian Left argues that the contemporary Canadian labour movement pursues the material interests of workers who already have "superfluous income and wealth that should be subject to redistribution." (41-42) Therefore the labour movement "is essentially a supporter of great social stratification" (35) since it is unwilling "to examine whether the existing disparities of income in society are justified and are having a destructive effect on societal cohesion and to consider whether pay increases will further aggravate these inequalities." (36)

Richard Ziegler is particularly critical of public sector unionism. "The rise of the public sector unions," he writes, "has contributed to the gratuitous wealth of workers, as governments, unlike companies, cannot relocate to find a cheaper labour force and are often obliged to submit to wage demands." (43) This sentence echoes the common Right-wing critique of the 'monopoly' power of public sector unions. It is noteworthy that Ziegler fails to demonstrate how lower public sector wages in the current capitalist political economy (as opposed to an egalitarian utopia) would further the goal of economic equality. The author is also highly critical of the labour movement's campaign for pay equity which he calls "a reactionary policy" even though "it is undeniable that pay equity has resulted in a deserved pay increase of some work traditionally done by women." (37) Ziegler proves himself to be a purist in this section--a policy like pay equity that merely reduces income inequalities is "reactionary" since it does not provide a basis for a fully egalitarian incomes policy.

In the end Richard Ziegler invokes his zero-sum notion of political demands to explain the labour movement's negative influence on the Canadian Left: "the more attention the left accords Canadian workers .... the less time it devotes to the question of redistribution." (45) Unfortunately there is no appreciation in Ziegler's analysis of how the solidarity of the labour movement can be an important basis for the spread of an egalitarian ethos; how the power of the organized working class can be a potent force for social change; and how, in the course of collective struggle, working-class consciousness can rapidly morph from a narrow, material focus to a broad, political focus.

The third villain in Reclaiming the Canadian Left is the anti-poverty movement. Richard Ziegler argues that "the anti-poverty movement is anti-egalitarian" because it does not target wealth as the cause of poverty and does not call for most Canadians to become poorer. Given his purist logic (see above), any movement that fails to privilege the egalitarian ideal is by definition "reactionary." (56, 59) The anti-poverty movement has had a deleterious effect on the Canadian Left by "redirect[ing] thought away from the problem of wealth." (59) While Ziegler certainly makes a valid point in identifying wealth as the source of poverty, he fails to acknowledge that anti-poverty programs redistribute income and wealth even when they do not explicitly invoke an egalitarian ideal. It is instructive that in the decade of the 1990s the OECD countries with the lowest poverty rates were also countries with relatively small gaps in income share between the top 20 per cent and bottom 20 per cent of earners (as noted by Scott Sernau in Worlds Apart: Social Inequalities in a New Century).

In terms of existing Left-wing parties, Richard Ziegler denounces today's NDP as "merely another mainstream party dedicated to maintaining immense economic inequalities," dismisses the Scandinavian social democratic parties in a single sentence and terms radical Left groups "politically conservative" since they fail to meet his purist egalitarian standard. (64-63) To this point in his book, Ziegler has systematically rejected the Left-wing credentials of most of the movements and organizations that are traditionally found on the Left. Nevertheless he proceeds to propose the formation of a new Left-wing party that "would insist that all those in the wealthy countries possessing more than they need be required to share that surplus" (66) and campaign for a maximum 16 to 1 ratio between the income of the highest income world citizen and the lowest income world citizen. (66, 70) Given these party planks, my recommendation is to call such an organization the "Share the Wealth Party" or the "16 to 1 Party." My further suggestion is that Ziegler would do well to study the example of the Work Less Party of British Columbia (known for the slogan "Workers of the World Relax") to see how he might try to creatively promote his ideals.

Richard Ziegler's core moral belief is that "wealth is immoral" (87) and his possible agents of egalitarian social change are "those individuals who are able to transcend the multiple sources of their individual and collective identities ... and grasp what should be done.., the imperative of redistribution, even if it would monetarily diminish themselves." (90) Reclaiming the Canadian Left succeeds as a forthright moral argument for an egalitarian ideal. It fails because it posits no social theory of wealth; is purist and doctrinaire in its political delineations; uncritically adopts Right-wing rhetoric and commonsense in critiquing new social movements and the labour movement; and is utterly devoid of humour.

TOM LANGFORD

University of Calgary

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates