----- Original Message ----- From: "Luke Benjamin Weiger" <lweiger at umich.edu> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 11:06 AM Subject: Re: Fwd: green dysfunctionality and left disengagement
>
> > From: John Halle <john.halle at SNET.Net>
> > Subject: green dysfunctionality and left disengagement
> >
> > Except for the fact that he's making an exceedingly soft-headed move
> > running in a race where he will be lucky if he gets 1.5% of the vote,
>
> Why's that? Isn't the race for Texas governor a perfect oppurtunity for
> lefties to vote their conscience?
>
> >It is a tautology
>
> I would substitute "self-fulfilling prophecy."
>
> >--the Green Party sucks because
> >it has no power so I won't help build it, ensuring that it will never gain
> >power.
>
> How about this similar formulation: "The Democratic party sucks because
> it's too far rightward so I won't attempt to drag it leftward, ensuring that
> will never be a party of the left"? Both Alan's point and mine are empty until
> one of us demonstrates that our calls to action could bring about the ends
> we suggest would follow.
================
Haven't you learned from Wojtek that redescriptions of social phenomena are ultimately impotent in motivating collective action? :-)
Ian