Yeah, and one of the reasons we couldn't see then what we can now see more clearly is, of course, the blunting effect of the USSR & then China--at least for feminists then, it seemed reasonable to say, socialism is the highest form of male supremacy (and they did mean *highest* form), a pox on both your houses. Of course, that was back when there were two houses, before the House of Bush.
So we had some breathing space but didn't really understand where it came from--either the international or domestic sources. Here I disagree with you slightly, Chuck, a lot of that breathing space (and the terms of debate) were generated in the '30s and during the war--Social Security, union rights, wage gains. I'd say, even for my father's generation (b. 1921) the gains of the '30s were either taken for granted or red-baited out of memory--not the victory over fascism in Europe, but the domestic gains. There was a sense that the U.S., in some permanent way, was a democracy, flawed, of course, but that capitalist democracy could exist and reform, and could be, for many, not that bad. So, the U.S. capitalist democracy drag act is over and I hope it's not surprise we're learning from the revelation--if we don't get stuck and can't admit our illusions.
Chuck continues:
>The most important lesson to pass on is simply that you have to
>understand revolting against the system is a lifetime work and you
>will have to figure out how to live and revolt at the same time. Be
>prepared to pay in real time, with real blood, sweat and tears, along
>with committing disastrous mistakes and wildly bad judgments cause
>the evil Empire ain't gonna roll over and make friends. Nobody will
>come out of it clean.
Say amen. That's the unvarying experience, that you can't see the next valley 'til you get to the top of the immediate hill, but our day to day lives are all about pretending we always knew everything and covering up error so we don't get fired, rather than discussing and analyzing our mistakes. Every error is a reflection of a character flaw or lack of intelligence rather than a step in the learning process. Dropping the pretense when we turn to political work is damned hard.
>
> 1 lb dried black beans
> 1 lb smoked bacon ends
> 3-4 red onions
> 1/2 stalk celery
> 4-5 jalapenos fresh
> 2-3 cups red wine
> 1/4 cup soy sauce (for salt)
> 1/2 clove garlic
> 1/4 cup hand ground cumin seeds
> 1 tbls hand ground ground black pepper
> 2-3 tbls Grandmas chili power
Sounds great. I'll skip my beloved xtianos y morros and try it. But shouldn't that be half a cup of garlic?
Jenny Brown