[lbo-talk] Re: circles of activism

John Adams jadams01 at sprynet.com
Wed May 19 04:51:32 PDT 2004


On Tuesday, May 18, 2004, at 02:54 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:


> frank scott wrote:
>
>> "Take the proposal to change the basis of representation in the
>> Senate.
>> If we were powerful enough to do that there would be no need to do
>> that.
>>
>> I think this also applies to various proposals to control campaign
>> financing."
>>
>> but then it follows ( sagely scratching philosophic beard) that if we
>> were powerful enough to create a social revolution, we wouldn't need
>> one...huh?
>
> You're missing the complexities of Coxian thought. We organize,
> through door-to-door lobbying, only people who agree with us, using a
> list of demands that fit onto a single sheet of paper. When pressed on
> details, we say that's someone else's problem. Somehow this
> organization reaches critical mass, and we (whoever we "we" are) take
> power - exact mechanism of takeover and exercise of power TBA - with
> no idea what to do next. Simple yet compelling, eh?

I think you're missing the point. There are certain reforms--instant runoff voting comes to mind here--which presuppose that one has enough power to do something more significant than simply install the reform. Fool's gold for the masses.

All the best,

John a



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