…there is no such thing as a neutral market: in every particular situation, market configurations are always related by political decisions. The true dilemma is thus not “Should the state intervene?” but “What kind of state intervention is necessary?” […] There is a real possibility that the main victim of the ongoing crisis will not be capitalism but the Left itself, insofar as its inability to offer a viable global alternative was again made visible to everyone. It was the Left which was effectively caught out. It is as if recent events were staged with a calculated risk in order to demonstrate that, even at a time of shattering crisis, there is no viable alternative to capitalism. “Thamzing” is a Tibetan word from the time of the Cultural Revolution, with ominous reverberations for liberals: it means a “struggle session,” a collective public hearing and criticism of an individual who is aggressively questioned in order to bring about his political re-education through the confession of his or her mistakes and sustained self-criticism. Perhaps today’s Left needs one long “thamzing” session?