> Subject: RE: SNET: I was a teenage communist
> "Nathan Newman" <nathan.newman at yale.edu> writes
> >On Behalf Of Michael Pugliese
> [snip] I sympathize with the writers disdain for the particular
> species of limosine faux revolutionary that occasionally stalked the campus
> (with the emphasis on faux). [end snip]
>
> I was also a teenage communist and have seen plenty of 'exposes' like the
> one listed. The reason they would appeal to anyone reading them is that they
> cash in on own goals found throughout the left - seeing the personal as
> political, lifestyle politics, disdain for working class people and a holier
> than thou attitude.
Steve writes: Again, I would caution against assuming that these attitudes are necessarily any more prevalent on the left than on the right or in the center. There are plenty of successful examples of student organizing done by lefties in the US. They couldn't be successful if led by students with no sensitivity to this perception of left activists or who had no strategy to convince people otherwise. The example I gave of my experience organizing against CIA recruitment in the 1980's is one example, of which there are plenty of others.
Sociological common sense tells us that among all groups of persons one will find different types of personalities. The left is assumed to have a greater propensity in this direction although no empirical evidence is ever offered for such claims. Some of the most insightful and sharp leftists are some of the nastiest and hypocritical persons I've met just as some of the most insightful and sharp lefties are some of the most sincere and humble persons I've ever met. I could say the same for other persons across the political spectrum.
However, once it comes to good organizing qualities, the picture has to change a bit. Good organizers tend to not meet the stereotypes that the right and liberals dish out to the public about lefties. Hence the need on the latters' part to frequently resort to stereotypes about the former. Everything else they've tried has failed. A classic sign of desparation...
Steve
>
> Graham Barnfield
> Fax. +44 (0)870 7345198
> Editor, Culture Matters CMCRC strand:
> http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/cri/
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