> I have a hard time visualizing anything truly socially constructive
> or progressive being derived from fear, unless it's only progressive
> or constructive for a subset of the society as a whole.
>
> The fear of starvation, poverty and unemployment during the depression
> wasn't what drove people to organize around "radical" causes...
Doug Henwood:
>But the left used to be about hope, optimism, the future.
-------------------------
Both these elements - a desperate impulse to escape from intolerable
conditions, coupled with hope the future will be better - are present in
every movement for social change, including those which arose during the
Depression. If forced to choose between the two, I'd say the first is a more
powerful incentive than the second. If conditions are merely a daily grind,
but not experienced as "intolerable", as is the case today, the resulting
mood is one of resignation and cynicism, the least fertile soil for
cultivating optimism, confidence, and combativity - as so many thwarted left
groups and activists have found to their dismay. I'm afraid things will have
to get worse before they meet the left's definition of "better" - or,
alternatively in such circumstances, before they get even worse (fascism).
MG