Monday, December 15, 2003

Time to get back to the Blog I have ceased updating this blog far too long, as I have thrown my energies into organizing for Dean.  But, now I feel that there is such a rich discussion going on in the blog community about politics (see the discussion on Daily Kos) that I feel the two things should go together, i.e. organizing for Dean, and writing the blog.   So here goes.  I started this blog in 2002 because I wanted to write about the nexus of local organizing and the big political ideas.  For example, I wanted to write about what it took for ordinary people, busy in my community with families, jobs, and all the other interests and demands on relatively affluent Americans, to accept politics as important in their lives again.  At the time, I thought the impending war in Iraq was the catalyst.    Suddenly, we who had thought our leaders were rational and reasoned found ourselves captive to what seemed like mad delusions—political fantasies as dangerous and deranged as anything imagined by George Orwell.  How could we not rise up and begin organizing, fighting back, devoting time to changing our common future.   Well, some of us did, to some extent, but not enough to stop the war or to convince a majority of Americans how dangerous and undemocratic George Bush was.  Now, the campaign of Howard Dean has captured much of this energy, with the slogan “take our country back.”    I know that a common defense against political involvement is cynicism.  The idea is that either one is too powerless to effect change or that change is not possible, so why bother.  But the single feeling I took out of my experience opposing the Vietnam war, in the civil rights movement, and as a supporter of the women’s movement, was that we are powerful, change is possible, and when we organize together, we can achieve anything.   It is this optimism, plus power that has always attracted me to people like Marx and Mao.  In essence, they were fighters as well as philosophers, and although they made mistakes, they also believed in the future, believed in the power of people to effect change, and they devoted themselves to bringing it about.   This idea did not die with the death of “communism”, which was always flawed and doomed to the extent that it stifled people’s natural creativity and freedom.   So, I am back on the blog.  I want to write about how politics, which today is a dirty word in America, is as important to our community as love, sex, power and money.  The Greeks, organized in their small polis, knew that the discussions and decisions that affected the community were important to every citizen—and they put a huge value on the responsibility and duties of political obligations.  Also, they knew the weakness of ordinary citizens for tyrants, who would promise to make life and politics easier for everyone, in return for surrendering power.   Well, we still face that devil’s bargain, and too many of our fellows will accept a tyranny if it is offered with comfort, safety, and ease.    So, I am back at the blog, back at the beginning.  I have always enjoyed the radical nature of the American revolution, and feel a direct connection to those who would throw off the yoke of the tyrant.  So, once again, the quote from Captain John Parker from 229 years ago is relevant.  "Stand your ground. Don't fire until fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." 9:27:58 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2004 Toby Sackton. Last update: 1/18/2004; 8:50:49 AM.