you missed my point entirely; possibly my faultkarlkorschNovember 3 2004, 15:57:04 UTC
I'm saying we should be creating reproductive health alternatives for women ourselves.....not waiting for the politicians to do it for us. As in, independent clinics, education about alternatives to surgical abortion, networking amongst sympathetic doctors who would be willing to provide illegal abortions if its ever banned, promoting contraception, midwives -- etc., etc., etc. -- sky and the imaginations of women faced with these situations, sympathetic males, etc., are the limits.
I'm NOT saying "oh we're fucked anyway so who cares who wins, once the revolution happens we will be fine". I'm saying that we're fucked one way with the right wing of the ruling class, and fucked another, slightly different way with the left wing of the ruling class, so we should reject BOTH of these fake alternatives and CREATE OUR OWN, NOW, NOT in the mythic future utopia.
Until the concepts of autonomy and DIY are understood to apply, and are applied, to more than just weekend meals, punk rock, and art, they'll not really mean much and people will continue to look for a Democrat to come save them -- which means being slaves.
Alot of people who want something better than Bush and Co. leave these ideas like "rights", "health care", "welfare", etc., uncriticized. We need to look at the possibly quite bad things that underly all this (that also underly war, commerce, etc.): all-powerful states "managing" people's lives, out of control technology (western medicine vs alternatives), relying on rulers to solve our problems instead of solving them ourselves, the "individual" being exalted at the expense of communities. People seem to think that if "The right people" got into power, we would all be living happy, healthy middle class lives, and eventually, so would the rest of the world. This leaves unquestioned that American lifestyles (medicine, or welfare, or abortion clinics included) are based on a totally unsustainable social system that is destroying the earth. Kerry CANNOT magically create more oil so that everyone in China can have heat in the winter.
I'm saying that to sit around waiting for the next Great White Father (or mother: Hillary???) to come save us and our health care and reproductive rights in 4 years (that is: to buy in to one of the fake alternatives) would be to waste our greatest potentials, which is to say "FUCK IT" not to life or a better world but to the MIRAGE of a better world offered by electoral politics, and do it ourselves. Looking for a Kerry to make things better or at least keep things from getting worse (even if he would, in the short term) is to piss away our strength, and to foster all kinds of illusions that are going to ultimately ruin our attempts to make things really better.
which means if you feel like you need to vote, go for it, but if you make that your only political interest or activity, or the center f your ideas on how to change things, I think you're barking up the wrong tree...
[and PS its not like I'M doing any of the things I'm talking about, so this is as much self-criticism as anything else.]
I'm NOT saying "oh we're fucked anyway so who cares who wins, once the revolution happens we will be fine". I'm saying that we're fucked one way with the right wing of the ruling class, and fucked another, slightly different way with the left wing of the ruling class, so we should reject BOTH of these fake alternatives and CREATE OUR OWN, NOW, NOT in the mythic future utopia.
Until the concepts of autonomy and DIY are understood to apply, and are applied, to more than just weekend meals, punk rock, and art, they'll not really mean much and people will continue to look for a Democrat to come save them -- which means being slaves.
Alot of people who want something better than Bush and Co. leave these ideas like "rights", "health care", "welfare", etc., uncriticized. We need to look at the possibly quite bad things that underly all this (that also underly war, commerce, etc.): all-powerful states "managing" people's lives, out of control technology (western medicine vs alternatives), relying on rulers to solve our problems instead of solving them ourselves, the "individual" being exalted at the expense of communities. People seem to think that if "The right people" got into power, we would all be living happy, healthy middle class lives, and eventually, so would the rest of the world. This leaves unquestioned that American lifestyles (medicine, or welfare, or abortion clinics included) are based on a totally unsustainable social system that is destroying the earth. Kerry CANNOT magically create more oil so that everyone in China can have heat in the winter.
I'm saying that to sit around waiting for the next Great White Father (or mother: Hillary???) to come save us and our health care and reproductive rights in 4 years (that is: to buy in to one of the fake alternatives) would be to waste our greatest potentials, which is to say "FUCK IT" not to life or a better world but to the MIRAGE of a better world offered by electoral politics, and do it ourselves. Looking for a Kerry to make things better or at least keep things from getting worse (even if he would, in the short term) is to piss away our strength, and to foster all kinds of illusions that are going to ultimately ruin our attempts to make things really better.
which means if you feel like you need to vote, go for it, but if you make that your only political interest or activity, or the center f your ideas on how to change things, I think you're barking up the wrong tree...
[and PS its not like I'M doing any of the things I'm talking about, so this is as much self-criticism as anything else.]
Reply
we agree
and i like yr ps.
Reply
Leave a comment