To me, asking “what is politics?” is asking about what kind of society I want to live in, how that society might function, and how to get “there” from “here.”
I was thinking that maybe trying to answer these questions would be a way of bridging my very pragmatic orientation, transcritique’s desire for a more radical re-thinking of the political, and the different posts and comments on localism.
So, whether you’re interested in the local, the national or international, whether you’re a radical or a moderate, what’s your end goal? What’s do you think it's going to take to get there? Do we need a revolution? Better elected officials? Communal living and more free love?
I’ll post my own thoughts later.
2 comments:
What is revolution? Though I dropped the term in other comments, I truly think 'revolution' in terms of some sort of Communist 'overthrow' is not only problematic, but a farce - dare I say a commodity. I think there is revolution, read simply as 'change', within the democratic system, and it form sat the level of the local. Solidarity as well as neighborhood mobilization are the kernals of an inner-democratic paradigm shift. I think the revival of SDS, as well as similar groups, indicate this tendency to work the system from within is a larger sentiment, and one suspicious of the nonproductive anarchism of the Black Boc. But beyond these politically motivated associations, change begins with the politic - the individual, everyday bodies within the state.
Tied to a green outlook, I am increasingly certain that the community garden is the base level of democratic change - an activity that considers health, environment, education, economics, and political solidarity as mere functions of its being. It is a model that can be elaborated on, perhaps in a more full post.
I'd like to hear more on community gardens. The folks in my neighborhood are planting an orchard, which is slightly different than a garden because the material rewards are so far off in the future. Perhaps this demonstrates other values associated with these types of activities.
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