On Sat, 28 Feb 2004, mike larkin wrote:
> Reluctantly, I have to conclude that Single Issue-ism
> is a huge problem, outside of a core of fiercely
> dedicated but hopelessly overworked activists (yes,
> that's a compliment to you, Yoshie), many of them from
> the ISO and other "sects" the rest of us like to
> denounce from home. So, yes, mea culpa.
Absolutely. People wonder how ANSWER got so big in anti-war demonstrations. They did so by getting off of their asses and organizing starting from day one. If the DLC Democrats and liberals had been out organizing from day one, ANSWER would never have gotten so big. They decided to sit on their hands and see what was happening, and then tut-tut'ing as back seat drivers how the people actually setting things up were doing things. We could have Nation columnists like David Corn go on the O'Reilly report and tell the world that the anti-war marches were all secretly controlled by communists. I was alive in the 1960's, but I wonder if this is how it was like back then. I suspect it was.
The WWP is out agitating and organizing right now, I don't know where these other people are, but liberals and DLC types seem to appear from wherever they come from when things get rolling and start criticizing and back street driving and so forth. I can tell you what WWP has been doing in terms of solidarity that has been requested in the past few months from workers in Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti and so forth. Can someone tell me who has been doing more organizing, agitation and education regarding Colombia's situation in New York than the WWP in the last year? I can't.
This seems to be a case of criticizing anyone out there organizing. See, if you sit on your ass and do nothing, no one can criticize you. If some "better" organization comes around and starts out-organizing the WWP with regards to their various causes, I'll probably hook up with them. Until them, I'll stick with the doers, not the whiners.
To paraphrase Joe Hill, don't whine - organize.
-- Lance