>>Joy! What a concept! Of course there will be
>>plenty of Leftists that dont think that is
>>permissible as a subject of discussion. These
>>will be the same ones who dont like the slogan,
>>"A better world is possible". They dont like
>>either of these for the same reason: neither is
>>gloomy enough.
>Is it your happiness that induces in you a
>tendency to use stereotypes -- in this case about
>leftists -- in social judgment? :->
no one's said so, i realize, but joy, divorced from reality, makes you close to paul wolfowitz salivating over his comb, and/or population density maps of tehran. leftists are gloomy because of the injustice and reactionary expectations of a cowed populace in late "democratic" capitalism. the flipside is the reason for that gloom -- "another world is possible," and i'm guessing this turn of phrase is thrown around for reasons listing more towards joy, not gloom. thus, your boy ralph's 2000 campaign claiming to reflect "the politics of joy and justice" -- one of the finest rallying cries from the left i'd ever heard.
theory requires praxis to justify it, and a focus on justice as if that were an end in itself leads to an arid politics. leave that one to the red states, and let them enjoy their fragile victory. i'm convinced there'll be less gloom on the left in less than four years. mark my words...
===== ________________________________james keepnews
Even as a child, I could feel the rush of J.F.K.'s presidency racing forward, opening up a thrilling world of possibilities and modernity...We were confronting racial intolerance. We were paying any price and bearing any burden for freedom. We were respecting faith but keeping it out of politics. Our president was inspiring much of the world...W.'s presidency rushes backward, stifling possibilities, stirring intolerance, confusing church with state, blowing off the world, replacing science with religion, and facts with faith. We're entering another dark age, more creationist than cutting edge, more premodern than postmodern. Instead of leading America to an exciting new reality, the Bushies cocoon in a scary, paranoid, regressive reality. Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches.
-- Maureen Dowd, NY Times, Nov. 7, 2004
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