> The old Communist Party, before it was destroyed, had some of the
> social networking you are talking about. You had the freakin meetings,
> but you also had dances, social centers, picnics, barbecues. A lot of
> playwrights and musicians got their start with CP help. Orson Wells
> and John Houston got their initial audiences via the vast CP network.
> My Mom remembers that when she lived in LA, the local CP had a
> baseball team the played against the Democrats and Republicans. But
> the U.S. CP is long dead, in spite of its zombie still walking around.
> And I know all the ways the CP sucked - ties to Moscow, lack of
> democracy, twisted ideology, extreme rigidity and inability to adapt.
> But the social network was real and powerful and often beautiful. A
> hell of lot of good people did a lot good things within the context of
> that party they could not have done on their own. We have drastically
> different times. Different times, different economic structure,
> different social structure, different technological structure. Still
> if you are looking for solutions, maybe you need to look back prior to
> the old New Left, and see if any of what the CP did in building that
> social network is replicable, without all baggage and bullshit.
Another good example. The old left in the U.S., talking here about the left of a century ago, had all kinds of social networking, counter-institutions, and so on.
People go to church to be around other people. It's not the religion aspect as much as it used to be.
I just don't get why the American left is just so fucking stupid about this. It's staring you right in the face.
And then we have folks attacking those of us who do GET this.
No social networking, no counter-institutions, no community-building = no political or social revolution.
Jesus christ, next time I run across some fucktard selling the "Little Red Songbook" and whining about "lifetsylism," I'm going to throw the fucking book at 'em for not getting it.
Chuck -------------------------- Bread and Roses Web Design serving small businesses, non-profits, artists and activists http://www.breadandrosesweb.com/