[lbo-talk] values and social change - WAS Re: Hamid Dabashi on Iran

[Miles Jackson]

SA wrote:
> The Eastern European communist parties controlled not just a fiercely 
> cohesive state but every media outlet, labor union, youth 
> organization, civic association, etc., in society - for 50 years. Yet 
> they were unable to impose to their values sufficiently to maintain 
> their system. Meanwhile the American Revolution created a notoriously 
> weak and fractured state with virtually zero direct control over 
> organized society, yet its leaders were wildly successful in 
> imprinting the stated values of their revolution on much of US society 
> for 200+ years and counting. How's that?
>
> SA

Thanks--you're making my point for me!  Even though the American 
Revolution was initially supported by a minority of the population in 
the colonies, the political success of the militants eventually created 
a society in which their minority viewpoint became widely held.  The 
social change comes first, and then most people eventually adjust their 
values and attitudes to adapt to the new social arrangements.  See also 
the Suffragist movement, the Civil Rights movement, etc., etc. 

Miles