Eubulides wrote:
>
>
> And of course, they became active without any substantive transformation of
> their attitudes or values; they are either born that way or they fall like manna
> on their neurons.
I think the answer is actually a flat Yes to this question. They do become active on the basis of existing attitudes, which begin to change only as the activity in which they find themselves imposes on them the need for a better explanation than their initial attitudes provide. I certainly began political activity without any change of attitude, merely responding to new openings in the world around me. It was a year or two before I begin to realize that the activity I found myself involved in required a more comprehensive theoretical basis. Your either/or is simply silly. I don't pretend to understand the exact ways in which this process operates. I just know the fact.
Carrol