[lbo-talk] Activism

kelley at pulpculture.org kelley at pulpculture.org
Tue Feb 10 15:03:12 PST 2004


At 03:09 PM 2/10/2004, John Halle wrote:
>Very revealing post this one: the usual apathy about "licking envelopes",
>forming alliances among disparate groups (some of whom might not-God
>forbid-be intimately familiar with the works of Gramsci!), participating
>in governance etc. is replaced by contempt and ridicule.

no, it was a reaction to your claim that we do nothing and lack of political participation is, apparently, solely the result of the individual's selfish, apathetic decision-making. i'm actually the kind of person who enjoys doing the grunt work since it can fit more easily into my schedule. i think it's bizarre that you assume jon does nothing. why should you assume that? and even if he does, maybe he's put in his time and would like a break. maybe he's taking care of an ill partner or child or who knows what he or anyone else here might be doing.

further, i don't see why anyone should be expected to get involved in third party politics if they are doing other things they think are important: e.g., union organizing, fighting police violence, clinic defense, etc. i've often been involved in some form of either union organizing or clinic defense (I'm from Terry Randall country), the only time in my life when I would have had time to also work on third party politics is when I was married raising a kid, working part time, and going to school full time.

kelley



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