Oh my god it's been forever
Years since I last thought about this thing. And I found it by googling for another old blog a friend of mine used to run, and just to see if it might have been up. And I land here...how...fitting.
You know, lately I've been feeling that I need an outlet for a lot of things, and blogging, despite becoming totally passe, is a great way to get things out. Everyone's got their tumblrs and their twitters and I'm not sure I'm really that soundbitey.
I ramble. A lot.
There's a lot of thoughts bouncing around my head right now. There was this article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/whatever-happened-to-the-american-left.html?pagewanted=1, talking about the American Left. And two thoughts hit me on this - first, the American Left is there, down in the square, getting maced by NYPD for doing nothing other than protesting about things that would only serve to benefit the NYPD by encouraging a more stable world. But you know, that's passe, and ridiculous, and silly, that we'd make the sort of connection that less economically unequal societies are safer (and I wonder why! at least I'm sure this more or less applies to developed countries, but I'd wager to a degree it applies to less developed nations as well, particularly because it strikes me as engendering a situation where people would have to cooperate more and hence be less likely to be all stabby with each other).
The second was from this bit from Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, which addresses the other part to the question of "whither the american left?" http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/welcome-to-the-police-state-nyc-cops-mace-peaceful-protestors-against-wall-street.html (listen, after awhile, i'll figure out how to do these linky things again. it's html right? yeah, i'll learn it later). So here's where the American Left has gone - swallowed by the corporate overlords who have structured society in such a way that there are millions of us who would love to go to, for example, the Wall Street protests, but really can't afford to do so. We can't afford to lose our jobs protesting the society that fucks us all over (except, you know, the Koch brothers, those assholes). Now realistically, I could take a vacation, head up there, and protest with these folks. And yeah, that'd be standing by my principles. But what happens if I get arrested? What happens if I lose my job because of it? What do I do - move back in with Mom and Dad? Because that's really the alternative.
Now, maybe I don't get arrested, and maybe I don't lose my job, and maybe it makes a difference. But you see, the risk that's there is too great, because there isn't much of a social safety net left to catch me. The American Left put it there, and keeps fighting for it, but where's the help for it? It's not in the media, really, because they're wage slaves, to borrow Yves' phrasing, just like I am (albeit with undoubtedly more in the bank, but probably with more debts), and they can't really afford to lose their job for telling truth to power.
And can the union guys help me? Well maybe, except that they're really in the same space, and protesting as something like OccupyWallSt is a little too outside of the mainstream for their union to support (after all, these guys are in it almost as much as Wall St is - they're another cog in the system, and have a lot at stake as well). I can go on pulling out examples of the classic left who have too much to lose by doing what needs to be done to keep us safe from the Kochs of the world.
But do you want to know where the American Left is? I see so little mention of this - those protestors on WallSt (and really, they were forced off of WallSt, because, you know, safety hazard or something...regardless of that right to peaceably assemble, and all that)...they were fed by people who donated to them. They were sheltered in tents, bought for them, by the wage slave american left, who can't afford to lose their jobs, but care deeply about the torturous path this country is on, and want to support those who can go out there and represent a portion of what needs to be fixed.
So you want the story of where the American Left is? Look at those donators, find them, talk to them. They're the ones who will tell you what they feel inside, the pulling, between immediate responsibilities to loved ones like remaining employed, and ultimate responsibilities to loved ones, which means fixing this horribly broken system.
Yeah, I just needed to get that out. Feels good to write that rambly stuff out. Maybe I'll go and clean it up later, but hey...solid enough, right?
You know, lately I've been feeling that I need an outlet for a lot of things, and blogging, despite becoming totally passe, is a great way to get things out. Everyone's got their tumblrs and their twitters and I'm not sure I'm really that soundbitey.
I ramble. A lot.
There's a lot of thoughts bouncing around my head right now. There was this article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/whatever-happened-to-the-american-left.html?pagewanted=1, talking about the American Left. And two thoughts hit me on this - first, the American Left is there, down in the square, getting maced by NYPD for doing nothing other than protesting about things that would only serve to benefit the NYPD by encouraging a more stable world. But you know, that's passe, and ridiculous, and silly, that we'd make the sort of connection that less economically unequal societies are safer (and I wonder why! at least I'm sure this more or less applies to developed countries, but I'd wager to a degree it applies to less developed nations as well, particularly because it strikes me as engendering a situation where people would have to cooperate more and hence be less likely to be all stabby with each other).
The second was from this bit from Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, which addresses the other part to the question of "whither the american left?" http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/welcome-to-the-police-state-nyc-cops-mace-peaceful-protestors-against-wall-street.html (listen, after awhile, i'll figure out how to do these linky things again. it's html right? yeah, i'll learn it later). So here's where the American Left has gone - swallowed by the corporate overlords who have structured society in such a way that there are millions of us who would love to go to, for example, the Wall Street protests, but really can't afford to do so. We can't afford to lose our jobs protesting the society that fucks us all over (except, you know, the Koch brothers, those assholes). Now realistically, I could take a vacation, head up there, and protest with these folks. And yeah, that'd be standing by my principles. But what happens if I get arrested? What happens if I lose my job because of it? What do I do - move back in with Mom and Dad? Because that's really the alternative.
Now, maybe I don't get arrested, and maybe I don't lose my job, and maybe it makes a difference. But you see, the risk that's there is too great, because there isn't much of a social safety net left to catch me. The American Left put it there, and keeps fighting for it, but where's the help for it? It's not in the media, really, because they're wage slaves, to borrow Yves' phrasing, just like I am (albeit with undoubtedly more in the bank, but probably with more debts), and they can't really afford to lose their job for telling truth to power.
And can the union guys help me? Well maybe, except that they're really in the same space, and protesting as something like OccupyWallSt is a little too outside of the mainstream for their union to support (after all, these guys are in it almost as much as Wall St is - they're another cog in the system, and have a lot at stake as well). I can go on pulling out examples of the classic left who have too much to lose by doing what needs to be done to keep us safe from the Kochs of the world.
But do you want to know where the American Left is? I see so little mention of this - those protestors on WallSt (and really, they were forced off of WallSt, because, you know, safety hazard or something...regardless of that right to peaceably assemble, and all that)...they were fed by people who donated to them. They were sheltered in tents, bought for them, by the wage slave american left, who can't afford to lose their jobs, but care deeply about the torturous path this country is on, and want to support those who can go out there and represent a portion of what needs to be fixed.
So you want the story of where the American Left is? Look at those donators, find them, talk to them. They're the ones who will tell you what they feel inside, the pulling, between immediate responsibilities to loved ones like remaining employed, and ultimate responsibilities to loved ones, which means fixing this horribly broken system.
Yeah, I just needed to get that out. Feels good to write that rambly stuff out. Maybe I'll go and clean it up later, but hey...solid enough, right?
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