Yes, let's "break bead" with Nazi collaborators!* Democratic PR functions (brilliantly, as this letter demonstrates) as a rheostat--dissipating dissent and releasing it harmlessly as hot air. Let's instead (actually) break bread with those getting fucked over. Think one is more likely to come to something constructive in this manner (as always).
*Take a look at the typical Obamist (i.e., one who felt "moved" by the election result)-white, medium upper-middle class and liberal. The ones doing well out of the deal are the ones screaming for "pragmatism" (by that they mean, keeping the status quo intact) it's not the ones being laid-off or arbitrarily arrested and not the ones who have family members in the Third World disappeared and tortured by US-backed thugs. In other words, the Obamist will be probably the last one to expect help from...or nearly so. Furthermore, screams for pragmatism/realism are bullshit-people stand up and get shot in other countries. The worst that happens here if one speaks out is one might not get tenure...or something.
> Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:22:12 -0800
> From: ndrobinson at gmail.com
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: [lbo-talk] "Hope from People" call
>
> Curious what LBO folks think about this.
>
> http://hopefrompeople.com/
>
> An open letter to those seeking to build a world from below, in which
> many worlds are possible
>
> We call on all anarchists, horizontalists, autonomists,
> anti-capitalists, anti-authoritarians, and others organizing a world
> from below to bring our best creative spirits to the project of a
> "Celebrate People's History and Build Popular Power" bloc on January
> 20, 2009, in Washington, DC—or in your hometown, if you can't make it.
>
> As people striving toward a nonhierarchical society, yes, we can—and
> should—be rigorously critical of Barack Obama. It goes without saying
> that we want a world without presidents; we want worlds of our own
> constituting via directly democratic structures, not states. But not
> all heads of state are alike, and if we fail to recognize both the
> historical meaning and power of this particular moment, we will ensure
> our own irrelevance.
>
> We can—and should—also be in critical solidarity with people who have
> been violently marginalized, who see in the Obama campaign the
> possibility of their own agency. The inauguration affords a unique
> space for us to stand with a diverse group of activists inspired by
> Obama, many new to political organizing, even as we maintain our views
> on the limits of change from above.
>
> Perhaps, as people working to build a world from below without
> electoralism or statecraft, we also need to listen on January 20. It
> is neither the time nor the place to critique hope or excitement on
> the part of people who have engaged in grassroots struggles in so many
> ways and won a substantial victory. The inauguration marks a watershed
> event in the often cruel history of these United States, and the whole
> world will be watching, hoping that we've done just a little to
> grapple with the legacy of slavery, lynching, segregation,
> displacement, and racism in general, both of the personal and
> institutional varieties.
>
> There'll be a true rainbow coalition on the streets of DC, made up of
> exactly those people who the libertarian Left has always aligned
> itself with and always should: those who are not radicals but who have
> been exploited, oppressed, and relegated to powerlessness. So instead
> of breaking things, if we're serious about building visionary social
> movements, doing meaningful anti-racism work, and honoring those who
> have resisted and dreamed before us, we should break bread with those
> millions globally who will feel moved by Obama's inauguration—many of
> whom were also moved enough to participate politically (well beyond
> voting) for the first time in this election.
>
> With our bloc—using banners, photos, artwork, zines, theater pieces,
> posters, armbands, and other visual expressions—let's illustrate the
> many moments when people on this continent and across the world
> aspired to better approximations of freedom, via their own forms of
> collective organizations and mutual aid. Let's create and display
> images of social movements, cultures of resistance, and especially our
> experiments to institute the new society in the shell of the old: from
> popular assemblies to self-managed workplaces, from freedom schools to
> free clinics, from autonomous villages to reappropriated land, and
> much more. And let's remember all those many moments throughout
> history when we took to the streets, factories, schools, and
> neighborhoods; when we built movements ranging from abolition and
> civil rights to the American Indian Movement and the Black Panthers,
> from Zapatismo to Ya Basta!, from No One Is Illegal to anti-capitalist
> mobilizations, from Argentina's factory occupations to Oaxaca's
> federated assemblies; and when we reclaimed the commons and, in the
> process, ourselves.
>
> For if we aspire one day to live in a world without borders and
> prisons, without states or capitalism—or presidents for that matter—we
> must stand in solidarity on January 20 with those most impacted by
> hierarchy and institutional oppression. Then, in the days beyond,
> we'll join with millions of others in demanding fulfillment of, as
> Obama put it on election night, the possibility of change, as we
> support the growth of social movements toward a free and directly
> democratic society.
> Points of Unity:
>
> – We believe that human freedom and happiness would be best guaranteed
> by a society based on principles of self-organization, voluntary
> association, egalitarianism, and mutual aid. And thus, we reject all
> forms of social relations premised on systemic violence and hierarchy,
> such as the state, capitalism, and white supremacy.
>
> – On January 20, we will actively seek to cooperate with as well as
> support anyone who is working to create a more liberatory world, and
> in fact, to learn from them and each other.
>
> – We will gather as a bloc, unmasked and with open arms, respecting
> the celebratory spirit of the day—presence rather than protest—and
> will encourage others who want to honor social struggles from below to
> join us.
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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