Archer.Todd at ic.gc.ca wrote:
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> Sorry it took me so long to get ba... [large clip]
I found it a bit difficult to be sure who was saying what in Todd's post, but since Kendall apparently replied at some length, I'll try to restate what seem to be the essentials, without attaching my remarks to any one post.
A couple basic principles.
1. No one gets credit for not being a schmuck. You don't beat your spouse. No credit. You haven't murdered a neighbor lately. No credit. You've done your full share of the housework. No credit. You haven't dumped a truckload of manure in your grandfather's front yard. No credit. As a waiter you haven't heavily peppered the meal of a black customer to show him what's what. No credit.
2. Progressive politics concern collective public action and contributions to such collective activity by individuals. You voted for Nader without advertising the fact loudly. No credit.
3. Moralism (the passing of judgments on individuals as individuals) is politically divisive.
4. What a person eats or what commodities he/she buys is a personal matter. They should not be subjected to personal pressure on these choices. Nor should people bring implicit pressure to bear by public announcements that for moral reasons they are not using microsoft or eating meat. No credit or discredit for consumption choices (including driving or not driving SUVs) - EXCEPT in the case of organized boycotts. In that case, merely honoring the boycott is like not shitting on your neighbor's lawn -- no credit. For political credit you have to engage in collective action to urge others to honor the boycott.
5. Kendall wrote: "I was specifically talking not about all workers or about society, but about progressive people who are already predisposed to self-regulating their consumptive practices based on their own moral reasoning."
And I was condemning as politically retrograde making such demands of progressives. Eventually I want millions of workers to be progressive. For progressives to adopt "consumptive practices based on their own moral reasoning" is therefore outrageous because it sets too high a barrier for entry into the progressive ranks. You can't be progressive because you aren't pure. Piss!
Apparently Kendall sees politics somewhat as the Catholic Church sees religion. Progressives correspond in politics to monks and nuns who take a vow of poverty, silence, etc.
Carrol