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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jon Johanning wrote (among much) on March 29,
2004:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>"While we're waiting for such a situation to arise, we shouldn't be
<BR>sitting on our hands. There is plenty of work we can do to prepare for
<BR>it. </DIV>
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<DIV>(1) Work out a new theory and vision, borrowing where appropriate <BR>from
Marx and other traditional socialists, but probably not calling it
<BR>"socialism" for PR reasons. In my view, we desperately need a new
<BR>overall vision we can present to ordinary people </DIV>
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<DIV>(2) Work with the movements that are <BR>presently active, helping to
create solid networks which will be the <BR>background for the new political
parties that will become needed"</DIV>
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size=2>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bob:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
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