>The ruling class own the means of ideological production (like the mass
>media), whereas we don't. We have small presses, leaflets, and meetings in
>church basements, not because we think "small is beautiful," but because we
>simply do not have the same resources at hand. That is why we cannot
>employ the same means as the bourgeoisie.
No but you have to know how they work, and how to fight them. The bourgeoisie have a theory and practice of mass political psychology, but Carrol's radical particularism makes it impossible to come up with a countertheory.
Small presses are fine - how could I say otherwise. Leaflets too. Meetings in church basements can be deadly. None of these are big enough, which is why we need livelier unions so badly.
I was talking with Nation editor Betsy Reed last night. Betsy's husband is going to work for the AFL-CIO in Stamford, Conn., in a coalition they set up with a bunch of community organizers. I thought that sounded interesting and imaginative, and I said to her that one problem with the Ace Cockburn/Jeff St Clair line about organized labor is that it's too single-minded, it doesn't appreciate how contradictory it is right now. She corrected me saying it underestimates how contested so many issues are within U.S. unions and their Federation. It doesn't help the good guys when radical journalists pretty much ignore their existence.
Doug