Political free riders

[joanna bujes]

At 08:35 AM 01/24/2002 -0500, Yoshie wrote:
>'m no supporter of what is called "participatory economy" as
>explained by Albert & Hahnel, but the more people "opt out" of
>politics in general, the less democratic a society becomes.  Before
>we may create a society beyond alienated labor (be it in a Marxist or
>subjective sense of "alienation"), we have to overcome the political
>free rider problem.  By political free riders I mean those who want
>to enjoy fruits of political participation (e.g., union organizing,
>feminist organizing, environmentalist organizing, anti-war
>organizing, etc.) without spending time, energy, etc. on political
>work to produce such fruits.

Well, OK, Yoshie, but there's more than a whiff of self-righteous 
intolerance here. The fact is that political work is some of the hardest 
work I've ever witnessed or done. The only thing I can compare it to is 
raising children. It's 24/7 and mostly thankless. In addition, it takes 
place in a culture (U.S.) where politics is a dirty word and where people 
are relentlessly conditioned into passivity and persuaded that they are 
"individuals." (ho, ho, ho!)

I think it's more honest to admit how hard it is and to address the reality 
of these difficulties.

Joanna B.