But we keep on, not simply because it's right, but because it matters. Because the narratives, speeches, essays, polemics, marches, rallies, etc. help keep us solidaristic now -- they remind us why we're here.
<snip>
...when I was in high school, the stories political protest, kept alive by teachers who'd been involved in 60s protests, meant that I knew there was another way -- if only an inkling of knowledge of what had been and what could be. And while they were griping, those teachers, about the apathy of youth that followed the glorious 60s and early 70s, lo! there were people taking up struggles that blossomed in the 80s. Smaller, but still there. And while they were bitching in the early 90s about generation X, so apathetic they were claimed to be, lo! there were people taking up struggles that blossomed in the late 90s.
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Yes. Precisely.
I'm now beginning to understand where things are breaking down - that is, how the argument divides.
Some of us believe 'the left' must devote every action, every discussion, every breath towards practical, immediate reforms at the least and ideally, some progressive flavor of revolution.
Anything that falls short of this austere standard - such as protests closer to dance parties than traditional marches or onlist discussions about obscure philosophical points - is seen as slacking off, a retreat from political seriousness into isolation from 'real people' and their real problems.
It's an understandable position; we face terrifying problems, astoundingly serious stuff. People are dying.
Attention must be paid.
Still, as Bitch says, there are two things that don't fit together at the moment: the world we dream of and the world we can conceivably make with the social, political and cultural tools visibly at hand.
I'm confident that in time, perhaps even within the lifetimes of some of us on this list, the situation will change and there'll be new opportunities. The alert, the clever and the ready will seize on these chances and make the most of them.
In the meantime we do what we can. This is what's behind surefire debate generators such as Doug's grudging acceptance of elite 'leadership' on climate change remediation. Problems must be addressed. We don't have the political clout or the tank divisions to get it done 'our way' so compromise is inescapable.
These unavoidably narrow circumstances *increase* the importance of the solidarity building events and practices Bitch is talking about.
.d.