Suppose I created a website that consisted essentially of an Excel spreadsheet into which any one visiting the site could enter data. The fields would be "State" [with the option of entering "national"], "City or Town," "zipcode." "URL," "Phone Contact," and maybe "Brief Description." I would invite readers of this blog, and any one they are in contact with, to go to the site and enter any progressive organization's data that they wished. Periodically, I would sort the spreadsheet by state [I do know how to do that!], so that all the organizations in Kansas, say, would appear together. At the top of the spreadsheet would be the national organizations. I would regularly push the website URL on this blog, and encourage people to check it out and find organizations near them that they would like to be involved with.
Would that be useful? Would it make sense? Or would it just be makework for me? My guess is this would be cheap to create, and might even piggyback on an existing format.
I am just struggling here, folks, looking for something, anything, to do.
An open document that anyone can access and edit is inviting trouble. Soon, word will get round to nefarious types, the site will be overrun, and your data will be corrupted.
ReplyDeleteI think if you create a spreadsheet with Google docs (to which you have access through your gmail) you can limit access to people with cretain email addresses, so you could get people to email you if they would like to be allowed to view and edit the spreadsheet
ReplyDeleteSigh, things have gotten more complicated since the non-slave men congregated in the Agora to listen to Socrates. Obviously this needs thought.
ReplyDeleteYou've said that in any political movement, people should do what they know and do best.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see, you have an exceptional grasp of Marxist philosophy, you write and lecture very well, and what's more, you follow the news closely. Sometimes one runs into Marxists who are so immersed in the contradictions of the dialectic that they don't seem to read the newspapers, but that's not your case.
Why not try to combine your knowledge of Marxism and your political savvy by a series of ongoing lectures on Trump and Trumpism? You can do them in your library as you did with the lectures on Ideological Critique and I think that you could reach a lot of people, including many young people that way.l
Hmm. Interesting idea. Let me think about it.
ReplyDeleteThere are thousands of people in the U.S. left who can put together a website, but there are very few people in the U.S. who combine your knowledge of Marxism and your political common sense and who express themselves well. In the U.S. very few people have read Marx, as you know. In other societies knowledge of Marxism is more common among those involved in left politics, but only someone who lives in the U.S. can grapple with the weird mixture of popular culture (which is manufactured
ReplyDeletein Hollywood, not folk culture), class and ethnic interests, idealism, prejudices, the cult of the personality and visceral resentments which constitutes U.S. politics.
Excellent point s. wallerstein - more lectures please, Prof.!
DeleteI second S. Wallerstein's idea.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader, first time commenter. I heartily endorse s. wallerstein's point as well. Keep up the good work, Professor Wolff!
ReplyDeleteAnother reader, first-time commenter. I would also be very interested in these lectures. Reliable sources of information and analysis will be especially critical in the coming months and years.
ReplyDeleteThe PizzaGate story you linked to earlier this week was a frightening sign of the strength and power of misinformation -- it's like a kind of information smog. Thanks so much for injecting a blast of clean fresh air, and please keep it up!
ks