> On the connection between issues like unemployment and relationship
> problems:
>
> Tackling the political/economic issues certainly does require common
> action. But that action requires a solid left movement, which we all
> know doesn't exist at this point. (One of my main reasons for joining
> the list was the hope that someone would explain to me how we can do it
> -- I'm still hoping.) The logic of collective action, Prisoners'
> Dilemma-type situations, etc., make it clear that, when the system puts
> pressure on people, the pay-offs to individuals to sell each other out
> become very tempting. So, in sum, it's awfully tough to generate
> solidarity.
>
> That being the case, when unemployment hits an individual family, it's
> pretty much the equivalent of being hit by lightening, or a flash flood,
> or a tornado -- almost like a force of nature. Some
> marriages/partnerships are strong and nurturing, and help the partners
> get through. Others become worse, and domestic violence and/or break-ups
> result.
>
> On the other side of the coin, it's obvious that being wealthy doesn't
> guarantee a strong marriage or partnership. In fact, in some ways wealth
> can be more harmful to relationships than helpful.
>
> So it would clearly would be grossly reductionistic to argue that
> economic problems are directly causative of relationship problems -- not
> that anyone on this list would be unsophisticated enough to hold that view.
>
> Feminist practice and history does suggest ways in which communities
> larger than the nuclear family can be supportive, but so does working
> class history in general. Consider, for example, the rent parties and
> rent strikes of the Great Depression. Reading or hearing about stories
> like those makes it shockingly clear how deprived of solidarity
> contemporary U.S. society is. Hopefully we can reclaim some of that lost
> history.
We are our own little islands for a lot of our days, yet those of us who have or have had children in school, and live in the suburbs know that parents band together for their children so that they can have little league, by building and cleaning parks, or come together so their children can put on plays by gathering together to make costumes or scenery. Churches or scouts also supply occasions for enjoying solidarity through their fund-raising activities like pancake breakfasts or fish fries or campouts. There are family reunions to attend or organize which also provide a wonderful opportunity to express solidarity of one sort or another. I usually go to two a year and at one we all wear the same T-shirts.
Then they are political opportunities, like working on campaigns, or demonstrations which provide unbeatable camaraderie and solidarity. For instance, marching against the war in Iraq through downtown Chicago was exhilarating. Going to a MeetUp for Howard Dean was very satisfying.
Also, I think during disasters we have great opportunities to become close to our neighbors, like when we were snowed in and everyone shoveled the street, because the plows never came, or during a tornado warning when all the neighbors in our building met together under the stairs on the first floor. The kids brought their sleeping bags and we just visited like it was a regular party, all the while listening for the sound of the wind to change. Also during floods, neighbors help bail out each others flooded basements.
I spent many years in the military which provided numerous occasions for solidarity, because we were often a unit of people away from our base dependent on each other for work and emotional support, for everything.
The idea of rent parties is perhaps passé because much of that work has been taken up by numerous agencies, non government and government, which supply emergency help for those in need. Also, for a true solidarity experience, almost everyone must be in the same boat, and I don't think, at least yet, we have reached the point where people are in as much need as they were during the depression. We have so much of everything.
Perhaps, I am overly optimistic about the human race, but so far, my experience has been, when people find themselves all in the same boat they do pull together, as they did during the depression. I think, however, it's much harder when a few persons are singled out as the ones in need to feel solidarity with them, and perhaps we as a people could work harder on that. -joan
> Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
> ______________________________
> If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders
> of giants.-- Isaac Newton
> If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing
> on my shoulders.-- Hal Abelson, MIT professor
>
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