[lbo-talk] The White "Workers" in Amerika

Leigh Meyers leigh_m at sbcglobal.net
Fri Dec 31 12:14:53 PST 2004


In an ----- Original Message ----- From: Carrol Cox To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 10:59 AM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] The White "Workers" in Amerika

Carrol Cox quotes Leigh Meyers (ever so succinctly):


>
> I'm annoyed by people who drive gas guzzlers no matter what their
> ethnic backround is.
>

[The annoyance is contagious, and Carrol Cox catches it:]

I'm annoyed at people who sit on the sidelines and snarl at the terrain* without building actions and movements that offer a visible alternative to the joys of individual consumption. Until such a movement emerges, Three Cheers for the drives of SUVs (though I personally wouldn't be caught dead driving one).

Carrol

"Terrain" = the total culture of the u.s. working class, i.e. the total culture of somewhere between 80% and 90+% of the population. ~~~~~~~~~

A> Sitting on the sidelines and not driving one is taking action.

(I'll leave it to the theorist to build one, I might utilize it if it works...)

B> I'm having a wonderful time when I ride my bike (because I am!)

That makes it a visible alternative at a very real and human level.

C> I don't snarl at SUVs or the people who drive them, but sometimes

I exclaim publicly: "Look at the SIZE of that thing... Who needs *that*

when you can buy a five dollar boner pill?"

D> Honestly, are you waiting for a subtle shift in some jury rigged

statistic to tell us when the time is ripe for a "movement"?

What kind of movement are we waiting for? Panic move?

E> Go ahead, Cheer 'em on... Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

I've got better ideas, but it requires actually doing something. Even if that "something" is doing nothing!

(Help! Is there a zen buddist in the house?)

"...and if 2 people, two people walked in, sang a bar of alice's restaurant and walked out? They'd think they was both faggots and they wouldn't take either of them.

But if 3 people did it... three people a day, walkin in, singing a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out? they'd think it was a "movement".

And indeed it was...

Leigh Meyers leigh_m at sbcglobal.net

-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.299 / Virus Database: 265.6.7 - Release Date: 12/30/2004



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list