***** The protest model marks a sharp break with a long tradition of political engagement. Radical politics has generally taken as its explicit objective not influencing actors within government, but replacing them with those who would take control of state power for the purpose of implementing a comprehensive populist, egalitarian agenda. That means, to be blunt, building a party, and competing and winning in elections.
<http://prorev.com/whyiran.htm> *****
I agree with you that the protest model, aka "activistism," must be replaced with party-building. The party has to act like a party between elections, too, though, functioning as the main organizer of actions on all relevant fronts, including the cultural front.
>Furthermore there is a trap which is very easy for us to fall into
>which I'll get at in this way: I compose music. That's what I like
>to do and also some of this music, particularly recently, is
>political.
>See for example
>
>http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/08/14/at_harvard_the_finances_are_falling/
>
>or
>
>http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/compinc_12_9_03.php
>
>Now, I would very much like to believe that the form of activism
>which I "enjoy" participating in is the most effective form of
>activism in which I engage. Unfortunately, it is not true. The fact
>is activism expressed through my music is probably completely
>useless from an organizing standpoint, maybe even negatively
>effective. I have entertained delusions along these lines in the
>past, unfortunately, but I'm over them now.
>
>This, I think, gets to the nub of our disagreement. In my opinion,
>its really important that we have a serious discussion as to the
>effectiveness of different types of organizing and strategies. I
>simply don't agree with you (or Dellinger) that all are equally
>effective. And, while I don't agree with their solution, the HFP
>cadre make very much the same point in their "activistism" piece.
_Once_ we seriously begin to build a mass political party and start to have some successes in doing so, artists and intellectuals who are party members and sympathizers can contribute to the growth of the party a great deal by doing what they enjoy doing -- writing, composing, or whatever -- on the cultural front, recruiting other artists and intellectuals to the party and events (like concerts, exhibitions, dance parties, etc.) and organizations (like composers' collectives, leagues of photographers, etc.) that it sponsors, teaching arts to youths at camps and summer schools that the party organizes, etc. That's what political parties on the left -- be they Communist, Socialist, Social Democratic, Green, or whatever -- _do_ in almost all other nations except the United States. -- Yoshie
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