What can I do?
I can vote. I do.
I can give money to political candidates. I do.
I can work locally for candidates.
I do.
I can speak publicly, at least if the Web is considered public. I do.
What else can I do?
A Commentary on the Passing Scene by Robert Paul Wolff rwolff@afroam.umass.edu
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
WHAT CAN I DO?
This is not a rhetorical question. I mean it as a serious request for suggestions. There are perhaps sixty to seventy million adult American citizens, eligible to vote and by any reasonable definition of the terms racist xenophobes who deeply, angrily, hate the fact that America is becoming less White and are prepared to support a would be dictator who is hell bent on using the power of the presidency to destroy such legal and other protections as we have against fascism. I am an eighty-five year old well educated affluent man whose personal obligations place significant constraints on travel or other actions that take me from home.
What can I do?
I can vote. I do.
I can give money to political candidates. I do.
I can work locally for candidates.
I do.
I can speak publicly, at least if the Web is considered public. I do.
What else can I do?
What can I do?
I can vote. I do.
I can give money to political candidates. I do.
I can work locally for candidates.
I do.
I can speak publicly, at least if the Web is considered public. I do.
What else can I do?
Actually, the actions you outline above are more than sufficient. You are a model citizen, but no one is omnipotent.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a boycott of certain products which are produced by companies owned by rightwing political donors or which are advertised in rightwing media might be worthwhile.
You could do what Lenin did, retreat into a cabin, and read Hegel's Science of Logic?
ReplyDeleteKidding, as Wallerstein said, you're a model citizen who uses his economic and racial privileged responsibly. Keep up the already consummate work.
This is one of the very few times when Chris and I are in agreement.
ReplyDeleteThank you all. As my son, Tobias, says frequently on his FaceBook page, these are times when we must stand together and support one another.
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration for many of us.
ReplyDeleteIt's admirable how you have preserved a youthful sense of indignation in the face of injustice and commitment to radical social change.
I've grown more blasé and misanthropic as I've gotten older and so every new step towards fascism just confirms my already low opinion of my fellow human beings. I see that increasing misanthropy is fairly common among radicals in their old age and you don't play that game, which is to your credit.
My modest proposal... stop calling the 70 million "racist xenophobes". This reminds me of Hillary Clinton trying to be "smart funny" by declaring a huge segment of America to be "deplorables".
ReplyDeleteThese are mostly (roughly 90% I would guess) decent human beings suffering from an economic and political system bent on giving them "circuses" rather than "bread". They a fed nonsense like "they are coming for your jobs!" which reminds me of the 1950s when Americans were told that the "Commies are coming to take over!". Just another scare story. They kinda sorta believe this because it is repeated at all levels of the society.
You need to stop the nonsense about "racist xenophobes" and talk about what people want to hear: a better tomorrow, better communities, jobs, infrastructure, health care, education, better services, better regulation of greedy corporations, and bringing decency and optimism back to the scorched earth left by manipulative politicians hell bent on polarizing people into an Armageddon.
Instead of "make America great again", talk about "rebuild and revitalize our communities, give hope to people".
As a kid in the 1950s I was horror-struck by a few beggars in the street. I was assured these were "leftovers" from the hobos of the 1930s. I no longer live in the US, but I've seen your streets fill, first with the mentally ill because politicians sold the public on a phony "improvement" by shutting down state mental institutes with a promise to use chemicals and local clinics. They shut down the big mental hospitals, but they failed to deliver local services so the streets (and prisons) began to fill with the mentally ill as homeless people, beggars.
Then the politicians promised a "better economy" by globalization which created the vast "rust belt" as jobs were shipped to 3rd world countries. Again, more people were thrown out onto the streets.
Finally the American people bought the message of yet another politician promising "change" and "hope" who, in the face of new Great Recession, used vast amounts of taxpayer money to make the greedy corrupt banks "whole" again while turning his back as 20 million lost their jobs and 10 million lost their homes. Yet another wave of people thrown out onto the streets to be homeless and begging.
The fix? Tell people the truth! The politician lie. The people need to organize and take back their country. Stop listening to con men selling stories about fake threats like "immigrants" and "liberals" and "Mexican rapists". Tell people to start talking to each other, start telling the truth to each other about what has happened and why it happened, start telling people to organize locally and build up organization that will truly look after their interests. Tell the people to always distrust anybody in power, anybody with big money, anybody selling a "message". Don't preach. Talk. Take time to understand where people are coming from and try to break through the vast illusion they live under and/or the vast delusion they live under.
No one is born a racist xenophobe and there is no reason why a racist xenophobe can't be a decent human being (to use your phrase) otherwise in their life. We are all strange mixtures of virtues and defects.
ReplyDeleteI think that someone could have voted for Trump in 2016 without being a racist xenophobic, especially someone who does not follow the news closely, but after Trump's remarks about AOC and her fellow congresswomen it is difficult to imagine anyone supporting Trump who is not aware of his racist xenophobia. I'd say that anyone who votes for a racist xenophobe, in this case, Trump, is a racist xenophobe.
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ReplyDeleteYou could BRING BACK THE FRIDAY LISTS (from 2017)! Now is a prime time for it, get all of us (your fans) riled up and active before the election.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I suspect that given that we live in a society where the actions of most citizens don't matter much for politics, it's hard to feel like you're doing "enough". I have to tell myself this sometimes. If I lived in a small New England town in the early 1800's, I would be content to show up to town hall and voice my opinion. The fact that there are people listening and taking my opinion into consideration would make me feel like I've done my part. Maybe things don't go exactly my way, but at least we can collectively arrive at a compromise. If I feel really passionate about an issue, I could get some family and friends together and make a show of force.
ReplyDeleteBut given that most politicians try their hardest to ignore your opinions, and listen to others who have undue influence, it's hard not to feel impotent most of the time. You always feel like you should be doing more. Just like you always feel like you should be talking louder when you've lost your voice, even if you're trying much harder to talk than usual.