On 2011-08-13, at 10:58 AM, Carrol Cox wrote:
> On 8/13/2011 8:16 AM, Marv Gandall wrote:
>>
>> On 2011-08-12, at 10:40 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>>
>> The most effective organizers I have met in unions, political parties, antiwar and solidarity organizations, and small revolutionary left groups have been patient, tolerant of differences, not easily agitated, amiable, and devoid of any trace of egotism.
>
> Sounds right. But the contrast at issue is not between good and bad organizers; it is betwen organizers, good or bad, and bleacher bums: those who sit on the sidelines and issue profound statements about what those poor ignorant organizers out there ought to do.
I haven't noticed anyone telling you what you ought to be doing with your small circle in Bloomington, but you can correct me if this is not so.
It's true that most people on this list are not emulating your activity in their own communities, but they may be contributing to publications or involved in other political pursuits which they consider to be equally valid, or, probably like most, may be simply be wanting to enhance their political understanding and exchange opinions with like-minded others online. This last is not particularly exceptional in the wake of the historic demise of the labour and socialist movement and marginalization of the far left over the past three decades.
In any case, the best organizers, since you introduced the issue, accept that people at widely varying levels of political consciousness and commitment are attracted to causes, and have welcomed whatever contribution each is willing to make. They may encourage them to deepen their involvement, but they don't badger and insult them if they are reluctant to do so. There are always wiseacres who think they know more than anyone else in the group, but they're are easily dismissed and not worth getting too excited about.
I would think that you more than anyone would want to pay special attention to these rules of conduct, since you must surely see this list as another venue for organizing, as someone who professes to be not interested in only interpreting the world in various ways but in changing it.