> I think there are seeds, but finding and nurturing them is no easy
> matter. In Kurosawa's To Live, the Faustian protagonist has a very
> difficult time discovering what it would be "to live" and when he does
> manage this finds he has to draw on the whole of his new won strength
> and reason to figure out how to accomplish the reform that produces
> the moment to which he can say stay and then joyfully take his leave -
> swinging on a child's swing in a playground he and a group of women
> have managed to create out of a bit of ugly, polluted urban space.
> This represents what I would call "scientific socialism," i.e.
> rational optimism.
Thanks for the reference to one of my favorite films by my favorite director. Note especially that he is impelled by his awareness of his impending death to engage in a project that actually benefits someone.
The standard "leftist," by contrast, thinks that s/he will live forever (i.e., her/his personal mortality is of no significance) and that the highest purpose in life is to "do politics," i.e., attend boring meetings, give boring speeches, and write boring manifestos. The fact that only about 0.1% of the population enjoys that way of life guarantees the extreme marginality of these "political" groups.
Most leftists these days enthusiastically dis churches and religions, but consider what churches offer ordinary people: comfort and consolation in the darkest days of life, communities of support, and in not a few cases, actual food and clothing if you need it. By contrast, "politicos" offer mostly abstract bushwa. The old stereotypes have been reversed: it's the leftist radicals who offer "pie in the sky" -- Revolution with a capital "R" in the sweet by and by -- whereas many religious communities help people in need in the here and now.
Probably the Black Panthers were the last political group in this country that had practical help for people in need as a regular part of its program; of course, its fate would not encourage many of us to follow in its footsteps, but it's an idea to consider.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit, 'Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet; Nor ever ever shall, until that I die, For the longer I live the more fool am I. -- Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy (1684)