Jon Johanning wrote (among much) on March 29, 2004:
"While we're waiting for such a situation to arise, we shouldn't be sitting on our hands. There is plenty of work we can do to prepare for it.
(1) Work out a new theory and vision, borrowing where appropriate from Marx and other traditional socialists, but probably not calling it "socialism" for PR reasons. In my view, we desperately need a new overall vision we can present to ordinary people
(2) Work with the movements that are presently active, helping to create solid networks which will be the background for the new political parties that will become needed"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob:
Wow, Jon, I wonder how you find the time to write so much. You usually make a lot of sense to me. Disagreements on this list about the U.S. electoral system, voter apathy, third parties, the electorate's ideology, Republican and Democratic strategies, , etc. are usually kind of interesting and somewhat informing. But not much more stimulating than the better stuff on C-SPAN, cable news, and information lists I'm on. I certainly get an intellectual charge here from good posts on historical macro political economy and current economic correlations.
What I miss is concrete stuff on what should be done right now, whether by us on this list or someone else, viz your point, "we shouldn't be sitting on our hands." That's really a non-skeptical remark and it's appreciated. But needing a "new theory and vision" is problematic. Perhaps we need more energy and motivation to dust off extant theory and vision that's already been time-tested in social-political movements. I reckon all conceivable theory and vision wheels already have been invented. I'm impatient with intellectuals who shout out their findings that "new" qualitative conditions exist in political economy and therefore "new" ways must be found to organize and resist. That may serve to obfuscate, confuse, and immobilize those who would be doers.
Your most profound point may have been: (2) Work with the movements that are presently active, helping to create solid networks---." What a deep challenge! What a lot of theory and vision dusting off that requires! What a lot of work is needed! What dedication and sacrifice! What creativity! What resources! It all comes down to organize, organize, organize.
My personal preference is to dust off and improve the model that the Labor Party attempted in a half-hearted way in the 90s. The model drew mostly from union experience, but made some limited efforts to get inputs from the experience and perspectives of poverty, color-based, community, and other groups. The model never was institutionalized for reasons that I'm trying now to figure out, but there were some very interesting local-level experiments around the country that can be learned from. In these cases, the wheel never had to be reinvented, but it surely was in a state of disrepair.
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