> IMHO, activistiss suffer from irrational exuberance - they get a free ride
> from time and they think that they moved a mountain.
Really? Who are you talking about? I don't know of any activist that fits this description. Most of us understand that there is no free ride. Activism involves lots of hard dangerous work. I have friends who are dealing with comrades who are facing long prison terms. I have one comrade who is nearing the end of his seven year term for his action during a protest in 1999. I have another activist friend who has over 20 arrests under her belt, who has risked her life, limb and health to effect social change.
Some armchair liberal calling us activistists is the least of our worries.
> In reality, it is the
> political elites that decided to implement social programs because it was
> increasingly difficult for them to fight the cold war with the vestiges of
> the 19th century slave society within the national borders. They co-opted
> social movements they saw instrumental to that purpose simply to gain
> legitimacy. If the "right" movements were not already available, they would
> have been created for that purpose. But if you think that the elite was
> seriously threatened by a bunch of rioting thugs - you must be dreaming.
> The US state faced far more serious challenges and emerged victorious from
> them, so there is no reason to believe that they succumbed to a few
> troublemakers.
An interesting take that is dovorced from reality. U.S. elites implement social changes to prevent more radical change from wiping them out. In the 1930s they supported the AFL-CIO and Roosevelt's New Deal in order to prevent a worker's revolution from taking place. Then they lucked out and got a war that helped them further destroy radical unions and people's movements.
> "Organizing" is a popular buzzword of the radical left, but what the fuck
> does this mean if not joining organizations instrumental to a particular
> political purpose. That means Moveon, Democrats, unions, and other liberal
> groups. But if you mean by that rioting and creating ruckus - that is
> pretty Orwellian indeed - war is peace, slavery is freedom, violent disorder
> is organization.
I think that people should be doing more rioting and creating a ruckus. What I can't understand is why Democrats aren't doing this RIGHT NOW. In any other country on the planet which was ruled by a leader like Bush, the opposition party would be organizing mass demonstrations in the streets.
Democrats Vow Not To Give Up Hopelessness http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45793
Chuck