On 8/8/2011 9:37 PM, Doug Henwood wrote: > > On Aug 8, 2011, at 10:22 PM, David B. Shemano wrote: > >> His viewpoint is not nonsensical. You can see his version of "freedom" in >> action in any kindergarten class. Which is consistent with a common >> critique of certain types of leftists, that they simply do not want to grow >> up. > > You say that as if "growing up," whatever that means exactly, is an unmixed > blessing. > > Doug
;-) Debates with D.B.S. on this list are classical illustrations how real clashes of perspective cannot be affected by argument. That is one reason left organizers don't need anti-conservative arguments. We do need arguments not to change anyone's mind but to give comfort to new people attracted to the struggle. And those "arguments" can presuppose a reader/audience eager to have their new politics 'feel' more solid. In an event held yesterday, we introduced quite a few people from vaguely left groups to each other, and from the chat after the formal presentations it was obvious that quite a few of them would be serious leftists before too long. No one was in the least interested in seeing Fox News or the TP refuted. They had all gone past that. But they were all pretty focused on their own particular little patch. Some, like the Transition people, will never move from their utopian conviction that if enough individuals switch to 'renewable" energy the world will be saved.* But others were energized by getting a glimpse of how their work might link to other activities. Carrol * Their chief figures seem to have had an almost religious conversion to The Way. Nevertheless, they do help in some ways to build a movement. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
