> That experience showed me how much the constant buzz in the political
> background influences how we all think, even when we believe that we are
> immune to it. I certainly agree that the "red" states (whenever I hear
> that term the irony of calling conservative areas "Red" hits me) need
> the kind of "evangelizing" Chuck is talking about, and that there are a
> lot of people living in them who will respond. Good luck in your
> efforts, Chuck.
Thanks!
> I also marvel at how different many things are now from those days --
> what we wouldn't have given for the Internet and Michael Moore! Then,
> about the only source of alternative information you had was the local
> library, and you had to be lucky enough that the local patriots hadn't
> gone through it and "cleansed" it.
The Internet has made a world of difference. When I hear young activists getting sour on the Internet as an activism tool, I start scolding them. I tell them stories about being an activist before the Internet, when I would spend hours putting up flyers in public places for events, only to have flyers torn down and few people show up. The Internet has greatly magnified our voices and it's excellent that we have seized the opportunity. Michael Moore shows what can be done when people start making ambitious media, instead of just bitching about media consolidation.
Direct action gets the goods.
The local public library is an institution in sad shape. Many libraries pay their staff poorly, have shitty budgets, and waste money on thing like multiple copies of Harry Potter and business centers. On the other hand, John Aschcroft and Co. have given us a silver lining in that library workers are more politicized now than anytime in past 30 years. I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 with 2300 librarians and they booed and hissed loudly whenever Ashcroft's face hit the screen. This radicalization of library workers has created an opening on many issues, which means that I'm planning to do more activism within my profession. I'm going to urge more folks to become librarians and I'll be networking with other radical librarians. One more sign of the changes afoot in my profession is that ALA last month finally adopted a clause on social responsibilities as a core value.
Chuck0