I definitely agree with Chuck on this one. We need more of the fail, but fail better school of folks like Luxemburg, rather than an organizational Platonism. I rather like her quote in response to Lenin. "Historically, the errors committed by a truly revolutionary movement are infinitely more fruitful than the infallibility of the cleverest Central Committee." On the other hand, I do wish that young activists would read more theoretical material. Not to get them to come up with the "correct" solution, but so perhaps they can start asking more interesting questions about those 'messy dynamic' actions and challenging their own assumptions. I know that my reading allowed me to think about the anti-globalization actions that I was involved in in a more productive light. (It goes without saying that the actions helped me understand the work of folks like Foucault a great deal more as well.)
robert wood
> I didn't argue that people should just do *anything* without having some
> goals. Part of putting your ideas into practice involves having some
> goals and a plan on how to reach those goals. I'm not arguing for action
> for the sake of action any more than people here are arguing for theory
> for the sake of theory.
>
> In my experience, radicals way too often wait to do action until
> everything is organized perfectly. This is just anal and foolish.
> Successful action may sometimes involve a perfect plan, but more often
> than not its a messy dynamic that involves trying things, seeing how
> they work, trying something else, evaluating the results and continuing
> on towards a goal or a process.
>
> Chuck
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