Saturday, December 29, 2007

Toward a more active activism

I meant to link to this thought-provoking piece by our good friend, Adolph Reed, Jr., in The Progressive a month ago, but better late than never:

Sitting This One Out

By Adolph L. Reed Jr.
November 2007 Issue

OK, HERE WE ARE AGAIN, a year out from a Presidential election, and we’re all supposed to be figuring out which of the Democrats has the best chance to win—determined mainly by the standard of raising the most money—and subordinating all our substantive political concerns to the objective of getting him or her elected. This time, I’m not going to acquiesce in the fiction that the Presidential charade has any credibility whatsoever. I’m not paying any attention to the horse race coverage—that mass-mediated positioning in the battle for superficial product differentiation.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Sitting out the primaries is a good idea in this case, and I will be doing so myself. Mostly because I have no allegiance to either of those parties, and feel that the candidate they will field will not be a compatible one for me.

Until the United States can either field multiple viable political parties or abolish them and force candidates to run on their own recognizance, I doubt I will be voting for a major party candidate. Unless they really can convince me they're the best for the job.

Anonymous said...

But the key, of course, is to define "the job," and that will happen only if the kind of organizational strength that librarians like you demonstrated when opposing Patriot Act provisions becomes a part of what Adolph calls the "cultivating one-on-one relationships with people who have standing and influence in their neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, families, and organizations . . . [in order to link the things people are truly] concerned [with] a broader political vision and program."

We (and I'm pointing at myself as well) have got to do a much better job getting the people around us to see politics in a different way.

Anonymous said...

Adolf completely nails it.

-- Kate