The decline and fall of leftism

the long version

In a rare essay on political science, Wilson argues that most talk of social revolution is not a logical response to a perception of social injustice, but a personal sense of injury masquerading as social criticism. In part one, he outlines his own disenchantment with Socialism and, in parts two and three, studies the life and work of two socialist writers: Jack London and B. Traven. ‘Intellectually, I reject Socialism,’ Wilson concludes, ‘temperamentally, it can still tug at my sympathies. So I feel this essay...is an attempt to understand Socialism as much as to puncture its fallacies.’