I don't believe that choices always rise to the level of consciousness every day, but we can all remember many times -- mostly concerning small matters -- when we consciously refrain from standing up for our own rights and protecting our own dignity -- let alone others' rights and dignity -- because reactions from employers and others may take away what we enjoy. We just "let them pass," but they don't really pass -- they rankle.
Then, there are times when a lot more than small matters are at stake. E.g, "a worker is fired or discriminated against every 23 minutes in this country for exercising their freedom of association" (at <http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/humanrights_clone_3>). And when you go on strike and especially if the strike drags on, there comes a question: to quit or not to quit, to scab or not to scab.
Electoral politics also presents the same dilemma: if you vote to the left of the Democratic Party, you increase the chance of Republican hegemony.
And so on, and so forth.
Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com, Tue Jan 18 12:15:56 PST 2005:
>Thanks! I hadn't realized all that!!
I brought up the obvious because you seem to have forgotten about it. You say that "there seems to be a kind of leftist who's suspicious of pleasure, who exudes a Calvinist lust for suffering, because it's somehow ennobling" (<http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20050117/001121.html>). All leftists, even the leftists who enjoy the cushiest of lives, made a choice of sacrificing at least some of the security, comfort, and pleasure they and their families in the present could enjoy for the sake of the ultimate goal of security, comfort, and pleasure for all in the future (which may or may not come about). We shouldn't lie to people by making it sound as if we could have all security, comfort, and pleasure we want for ourselves and our families right now while doing what we could and should to achieve the ultimate goal of security, comfort, and pleasure for all in the future (which may or may not come about). We have to be honest about the trade-off that we propose, while clarifying the nature of the trade-off that capital imposes on us by passing it off as a "you-can-have-it-all" choice. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * "Proud of Britain": <http://www.proudofbritain.net/ > and <http://www.proud-of-britain.org.uk/>