Welcome to the forum Travis. Please keep your messages coming. I live two blocks south of Lake Street and don't want to see it turned into a hideous mall like Block E. When I first moved to Minneapolis thirteen years ago practically all of Lake Street was a crime-infested dive. But thanks to all the new small businesses, many of them established by immigrants, by the way, Lake Street is not only safe, but one of the coolest spots in the nation, certainly more interesting than Greenwich Village which lost all its soul and charm due to gentrification . . . As for our local politicians' resistance to federal mediation, ongoing corruption and indifference, no matter who occupies public office, is a fact of political life. The new guard is rarely better than the old guard, and in this case it might even be worse. To everyone in this forum concerned about police brutality, freeway expansion, corporate give always, the shutting down of our libraries and the criminalization of homelessness, let me recommend Saul Alinsky's <RULES FOR RADICALS>, I just bought a copy for myself last Saturday in Uptown ($2.95, front bargain table of Magers and Quinn). As I see it, there needs to be more collaboration and alliances among various pressure groups in Minneapolis. According to Alinsky, single-issues groups are not nearly as effective as mult-issue alliances. Also, he mentions that the strategy and tactics of pressure groups must change according to circumstances and conditions. It's a great book and I could kick myself for not reading it years ago. What seems to make Alinsky so unique among radicals is that despite a very pragmatic sensibility (he was well aware of the limits of human nature and altruism), he rarely compromised his agenda and goals. ----------------------------------------------------Peter Schmitz CARAG
There ought to be behind the door of every happy, contented man some one with a hammer continually reminding him with a tap that there are unhappy people; that however happy he may be, life will show him her laws sooner or later, trouble will come for him--disease, poverty, losses, and no one will see or hear, just as now when he neither sees nor hears others------Anton Chekhov, "Gooseberries" TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
