[lbo-talk] Punctuations

[info at pulpculture.org]

At 09:43 AM 6/8/2006, Carrol Cox wrote:
>On another list I came across the speculation (reworded here), "If Paine
>had written Common Sense in 1770 instead of 1776 it would have been dead
>on arrival."
>
>Somewhere John Adams remarks that the ideas behind the revolution
>developed in the 15 years after 1760.
>
>I have at various times on this list argued that (a) it is necessry to
>keep trying to organize, to kick up excitement, at all times, but the
>_success_ of such efforts is (almost completely) outside the control of
>the organizers. This has by some been called fatalism or various similar
>epithets. But that is clearly nonsense. Lenin's spark only works if
>there is tinder; tiner dries in complex historical ways which we cannot
>formulate in any exact way, and hence its presence or absence is never
>predictable, and it is not even recognizable in the present _except_
>through constant organizing efforts.
>
>So mass movements depend on constant efforts to create them in periods
>when _no conceivable_ efforts would in fact create them.

I'm never sure why you reject my approach to this issue. I see building 
social movements, organizing, figuring out ways to create alternative 
institutions as necessary, not simply so we can keep striking up a match, 
tossing it on the timber and hoping the conditions are right, but to 
actually create the infrastructure we'll need. I.e., one of the things 
people don't know how to do very well sometimes is work together in groups 
where they negotiate the rules by which they work together. They are used 
to relying on the rule of the market (individual choice is said to be such 
that an invisible hand will make things turn out all good in the end-- a 
simplified adam smith if you will) or by turning to the law or state to 
solve problems.

working in groups teaches us the importance of constructively dealing with 
conflict, listening, etc. we learn how to make persuasive arguments.

Or, we build practical networks. Eg., in my hometown, one of the reasons 
why we were successful against the siting of a radioactive waste dump was 
because the resistance movement relied on an established network of 
volunteers, activists, etc. etc. in what we call civil society. Church 
groups, Elks clubs, reading groups, quilting circles, farmers' 
cooperatives, ertc.

These groups had a way to communicate with one another. They had an ethos 
of commitment to the group and the greater good. They already knew how to 
put on an event for a large group. They knew who to contact for permits. 
They had publications. They had phone trees. Big things and small, there 
was an existing infrastructure that was in place when we needed to use it 
for the purposes of fomenting political consciousness-raising, 
communicating ideas, broadcasting meetings time. Hell, even having good 
places to meet is important. Oh, and people who are established speakers 
and writers, with the skills to communicate ideas effectively were already 
on tap.

So, to me, there's no need to tell anyone to keep on running on the 
treadmill with the hope that, one day, it will magically spread before us 
so we can race to our destination. Rather, we are creating the very tools 
we will need and which will become midwives to more effective organizations 
under the (much hoped for) revolutionary conditions.

Bitch | Lab
http://blog.pulpculture.org