On Mar 30, 2011, at 12:38 PM, Michael Smith wrote:
>> "The current economic crisis only appears
>> to have deepened conservatism's hold on America's states."
>
> Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? When things are getting
> worse for you, the old days look pretty good, no?
Exactly. Crisis is often the opposite of radicalizing. - Doug
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This is generally correct, and I've argued so for a long time. But some qualification is called for.
_Most_ people hunker down in a crisis, especially a deep one. That is basic.
But not everyone. First of all, those already radical do tend to get more radical, and the (mostly false) belief that slumps radicalize energizes this core. It also makes some passive radicals respond to calls put out by the "core." That's more or less the logic behind "iskra" and Mao's version, "A little spark can start a prairie fire." And _sometimes_ (not always; perhaps not even most of the time) those who are radicalized and/or energized from the crisis can generate enough activity that the activity itself (if it's visible enough) begins to get a response from a broader range of working people.
So what is a false understanding of history can in various ways become a true understanding of a given conjunction.
Remember these early efforts NEVER achieve much. It's the activity, not the (on the whole small or non-existent achievements) that causes the growth.
Carrol