The coming Glorious Revolution

[Gordon Fitch]

Brad Mayer:
> ...
> But are you aware that the American, more than anyone else on this earth,
> is _sorely_ in need of precisely an emphasis on the social and collective,
> rather than the individual?  There is _too much_ _mindless_ individualism
> here in the USA, and it deeply affects American leftists as well - it is
> why they have the most basic problems, such as a failure to grasp the
> significance of political organization. They really do believe they can do
> whatever the fuck they want - just like Uncle Sam does in the world at large.
> ...

Individualism is not the work of capitalism and liberalism,
which treat most persons as disindividuated members of worker,
consumer, voter and other political/economic groups.  While
_mindless_ individualism is an oxymoron, individualism (which
requires some kind of mind so that the individual can
differentiate itself from the mass) would probably be a good
thing; in any case, its large-scale appearance would at
least be an interesting change.

I don't know about other leftists, but I have given a lot of
thought to political organization and other aspects of praxis.
The problem I encounter is not that people are off doing things
on their disorganized own; it's that they're not doing anything.
They can't even vote individualistically.  Lately I've reflected
that this may be the result of a large number of our fellow-
citizens having sat in front of television sets with their 
mouths hanging open since around 1950.

Perhaps things are different in Russia.