[lbo-talk] Re: What Does It Take to Get 5% of Americans to Act like French Protesters?

BklynMagus magcomm at ix.netcom.com
Tue Apr 4 07:12:16 PDT 2006


Dear List:

Yoshie asks:


> So, the question is, what does it take to get 2.5-5% of
Americans to get mad as hell and _act like French protesters_ (as opposed to demonstrate every six months or so, without shutting down a single city)?

Possibly a more commutarian sense of self as opposed to the hyperindividualization of American culture?

A sense of (Jamesian) pluralism (which I am all for) may in some ways mitigate against mass action. For me, the large problem is cultuvating both a healthy sense of pluralism and a healthy recognition of shared values.

Pluralism run rampant results in hyperindividualization.

Unexamined, blindly accepted shared values lead to bigotry and parochialism.

I think balancing both is one of the challenges we face.

Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister



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