A Response to Tigrenoche: Some notes on localism.

A Response to Tigrenoche: Some notes on localism.

The discussion about choice and no choice, two party or no party, pragmatism or idealism, is ultimately not much fun. All of TN’s (Tigrenoche) arguments are more or less irrefutable. Clearly the democrats are a better option than the republicans and there is a significant difference between the two on a number of levels. It is almost as clear that actively seeking to change the democratic party is a better option than non-participation and griping. And yet this argument brings no satisfaction. It leaves me feeling bad about being old and selling out. Both of these sensations are more or less irrational. I am old and I’ve never really had anything to sell. But I think that we can both acknowledge the truth of TN’s argument and also accept that political activism has an aesthetic dimension. (I originally wrote this before transcritique’s comments. I like his references to Benjamin, as the “aestheticization of politics” has usually been used as a sort of critique. The discussion that follow can be seen as sort of a recuperation of aesthetics – an argument that regardless of their political significance, aesthetics are impossible to ignore.)

I stumbled across an anarchist book fair in Golden Gate Park last weekend. A powerful and clear aesthetic that offers the participant a chance to feel good. Many of the items for sale were obviously image oriented. Clothing patches with drawings of beets and kale. Everyone in layers of black. Nikki McClure calendars for sale in the main hall. There is part of me that wants to scoff at such obvious fashion among anarchists. But at some level I think it feels good to be active in this environment. To combine activism with a feeling of in-group avant garde. I’ve always wanted to be an anarchist (or at least a hippie), but I’ve never had much interest in being a democrat.

There is an important conflict between the aesthetic and political dimensions of activism that I think can be solved by focusing on the local. A third party or an avant garde has no ability to impact national level politics. The best that one can do is become involved in the Democratic party, but this has absolutely no appeal. Involvement in local politics brings the chance to have a voice and operate in a manner closer to one’s choosing. The anarchist is able to effect change at multiple levels while also living a lifestyle that creates a powerful and desirable identity.

I think the contrast between the local and the national may be well illustrated through the career of ZZ Top. If we were sitting around my living room drinking cans of Hamm’s right now I would probably play the first couple of tracks off of Tres Hombres and pass around some of the album covers. “Waitin’ For the Bus,” smoothly segues into “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” (I will attempt to post these tracks in the comments section later – although others should feel free to do this for me.) This is Top’s third album and some say the best. The album features an amazing centerfold of a TexMex feast. Back before the beards ZZ Top played fucked up Texas blues. Texas was essential to their sound and image. Their next album came out in ’74 and represented a slight transition although the long beards were still yet to come. Fandango is a live album and the sleeve features a photo captioned “ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas Sized Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance and BBQ, With 80,000 Friends.” Texas was still essential to ZZ Top, but Texas was becoming an image. Some of the live stuff is amazing and certainly ranks up there with some of the other amazing stuff that was coming out in ’74, but ZZ Top was changing. A few years later they were playing on a Texas shaped stage and bringing lives buzzards and longhorns with them on tour. By 1980 they had the long beards and popular tune with a chorus of “I’m Bad. I’m Nationwide.” The Texas blues band uses the symbol of the local as a tool to transcend. Soon Texas was forgotten for the spectacle of fur covered guitars and long beards. I love the song Sleeping Bag and I think there are some beautiful things about their transformation, but on some level I think it demonstrates the strange interplay that exists between the local and national (macro) within politics.

Obama demonstrated some progressive ideals while he was in Illinois. He uses these ideals and accomplishments as symbols of progressive credibility in order to advance to the national level. The transformation occurs and spectacle takes the place of policy.

The local provides a concrete space where images and actions may be melded. It is a space where we can act and feel good about it. We should not deny our vanity and need for constructing identities. We simply need to find a context in which identity and action are united.