[lbo-talk] Murray Bookchin on autonomy, consensus, democracy

123hop at comcast.net 123hop at comcast.net
Sat Oct 22 00:25:18 PDT 2011


Yes, it's very sad and politically problematic. But perhaps it's the case that the emptier people are made to feel, the more important it is for them to assert their "individuality."

A nation of exurbs and chain stores, teeming with individuals.

Joanna

----- Original Message ----- From: "Voyou" <voyou1 at gmail.com>

That reminds me, actually, of a caveat I should have mentioned in my reply to Doug. Most of my own experience of consensus decision making has been in Europe, and I think the US may well have a stronger tradition of individualist anti-majoritarianism (I'm currently a TA for an Intro American Politics class, and it's a struggle getting students to articulate _why_ it's a good thing that Wyoming has as many Senate seats as California - the assumption that "minority protection" in the form of equal representation for smaller states is a good thing, is very strong). So, even though I don't think Bookchin's theoretical arguments against consensus are very strong, there may be reasons why consensus is more likely to be interpreted in problematic ways in particular contexts.

--

"When placed in value-relation to the linen, the coat signifies more

than when out of that relation, just as many a man strutting about

in a gorgeous uniform counts for more than when in mufti."

-- Marx, _Capital_ Voyou Desoeuvre http://blog.voyou.org/

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