> what's at stake in that debate over whether
> ideas change first or not? i mean, what's at
> stake for you if people disagree and hold
> another position and, thus, do not join you
> in advancing the proposition that the path
> to social change is "minds changing minds"?
Believing that we cannot, or need not, make a conscious effort to change individual minds is tantamount to believing that we cannot, or need not, change society consciously.
Supposedly, society will evolve blindly, spontaneously -- hopefully for the better, although who can be sure of that. Supposedly, our minds simply trail, react to the automatic evolution of social conditions. No feedback in the other direction. Social conditions change individuals. Individuals are objects, not subjects. Individuals are absolutely powerless and can only accept their social conditions as given.
To me, this is the most dangerous belief in the left. The fact that people in the left try to rationalize it and present it as some sort of sophisticated theory of social life makes things even worse. In its politically consequences, it is suicidal. Of course, the concrete damage depends on how widespread the belief is. Let me note that, on this list, Miles is not the only person making the explicit argument that individual consciousness is irrelevant. Carrol frequently insists on that same point. Maybe people here don't take Miles' or Carrol's arguments seriously. I do, because I'm sure they are representative of collectively held views that translate into political paralysis, the acceptance of the status quo under the guise of profound understanding of the ways of the world.
I admit candidly that I'm in the business of helping people change their minds, so that people are in a better position to change their social conditions for good. Ultimately, to be frank, if one is not leading, or following, or stepping aside, then one is in the way. I said I'm in the business of helping people change their minds. I should add, first and foremost, of helping myself change my own mind. (That's what I call *learning*.) My own mind first, because it's the one I may have a bit of more influence on. That said, I don't think it's too naive to assume that, one way or another, we *all* are in that same business. Else, why would we be spending our precious energies in debates (or lurking) on these lists?