Max Sawicky summed up the basic argument, qua social democracy as,
>The issue isn't whether I or anyone else "likes" social democracy...
>The issue is how good stuff happens and how shit happens.<<
And Jim Devine replied,
> The basic argument here is whether [A] positive social change
>happens because grassroots agitation ... or [B] whether such agitation
>bolsters or fuels the political initiatives of ... social-democrats
>who hold public office, staff the public sector, work in the media,
>or do advocacy.
I'm afraid both sides beg the question of what is "good stuff" and/or
"positive social change" and focus on the secondary issue of how it happens.
In some ways, this relates back to the discussion of utopianism and the
aphorism (Yogi Berra?) that if you don't know where you're going, it doesn't
matter how fast you're travelling.
I'm reminded of Betty Friedan's chapter title hook, "the problem that has no
name". Do we really, really all know more or less what we mean when we say
progressive social change? Is it more or less our present lives with a few
of the discomforts and dangers eliminated? Or is it something completely
different?
>BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1997
>
>Job pressure is driving many workers to perform unethical or illegal
>activities in the workplace, according to a survey released by the
>American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters & Chartered Financial
>Consultants. Nearly half (48 percent) of the 1,324 responding workers
>said they had committed one or more unethical or illegal acts in the
>past year because of job pressure, according to the survey
>...Balancing work and family was the leading cause of pressure cited
>by respondents (52 percent), followed by poor internal communication,
>work hours/work load, and poor leadership. Unethical actions
>employees admitted to included "cutting corners on quality control"
>(cited by 16 percent of respondents, covering up incidents, abusing or
>lying about sick days, lying to or deceiving customers, etc.
>...(Daily Labor Report, page A-4).
Regards,
Tom Walker
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