First off I don't agree there has been political stasis for decades. Over the last 30 years across Europe the links between the type of parties fomally committed to radical social change have eroded or been broken. As a consequence without that anchor the social democratic parties have drifted further and further to the right; what they would call the 'centre ground' where ever that happens to be. 'Family, faith, flag', is the type of brand Blue Labour would like the party to rally round, for example.
In the meantime the ground abandoned by the left has been filled by far-right in a host of countries accross Europe. With more to come. Even in Britian, the BNP went from 7,000 votes in the General Election in 1992 to the best part of a million in just over 15 years. Whatever else it might be called, stalemate, dosen't cut it.
And while the pace may well accelerate, the notion that economic collapse will somehow save the Left from itself is a chimera. For decades have avoided doing the necessary spade work in working class areas, pinning all their hopes on a quick fix, like you've described. And everytime it has come to the battle significantly less well prepared, less organised, than the previous occassion. Each time it has lost, the sense of cohesion has suffered significantly. A quarter of century after the end of the Miner's Strike, there is actually no sign anywhere of a visible Left anywhere. Even former totems, such Galloway, Sheridan, Hatton and Scargill, many of them little better than carnival hucksters, no longer even register in the public arena. While I agree that the pace may be stepped up, I see no grounds for optimism.
