Ah,...........
...I suppose that I should post this here, where it will be more widely read. This is in response to this post by Parker.
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=13820363&nc=2
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I have been trying to think of it as well, but I am conflicted.
There is no doubt that G'Nick's words are worthy of nothing but contempt... also, they reveal yet again the growing hardcore-kid ideology whose existence is constantly denied. Do you know what I mean by denied? This is an important concept for me.
I'm not sure where the conflict is coming from. Maybe it all goes back to my feelings on the subject of staying/leaving? I know, it stinks of complacency, but in my perfect world none of my friends would ever leave me, I would just keep on getting more and more and improving our relationships. Now, I'm not saying that you are/would be leaving ME as such, although my use of the word betrays my weakness in that area.
...What I refer to is people dear to me leaving the places that I frequent. When I lived in a small town, I saw very clearly how these places STAYED dominated by reactionary groups (rich families, Tories, etc etc) because of the flight of anyone remotely progressive. It saddened me. Small towns don't HAVE to be backwards and hate-filled. They SHOULDN'T be. They ARE because people leave them in great numbers and those who thrive on complacency and 'stability', (hierarchy and power?) these people stay behind and clean up (in the sense of winning the lottery).
Um, in my opinion, one of the greatest weapons of the forces of social reaction (tm) is that people RUN AWAY when they attack.
This is not a condemnation of you, or any specific people, but rather of a certain trend. I see this trend, on a grander scale, as being responsible for the lack of solid progressive movements in Canada and the so-called first world. Would-be radicals (such as ourselves?) RUN from any group that grows beyond infancy or irrelevancy for reasons of ideology. As if X large progressive group is not radical enough because that's how it IS, rather than because no radicals are willing to join it?
I think what this all boils down to is a Plea *not* to leave, not because I see it as cowardice of flight in any way (I can totally see why you would want to), but because it will be another nail in the coffin of progressive HC and a great blow to our way of life. Perhaps all of this seems rather ... like it is telling you what to do. Of course I don't want to come off like that. By all means, do what you will and I will support you. Please get back to me with your thoughts on the subject (not just parker, but anyone).
I will have to develop these ideas more coherently for the next issue of my Zine, perhaps.
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=13820363&nc=2
_____
I have been trying to think of it as well, but I am conflicted.
There is no doubt that G'Nick's words are worthy of nothing but contempt... also, they reveal yet again the growing hardcore-kid ideology whose existence is constantly denied. Do you know what I mean by denied? This is an important concept for me.
I'm not sure where the conflict is coming from. Maybe it all goes back to my feelings on the subject of staying/leaving? I know, it stinks of complacency, but in my perfect world none of my friends would ever leave me, I would just keep on getting more and more and improving our relationships. Now, I'm not saying that you are/would be leaving ME as such, although my use of the word betrays my weakness in that area.
...What I refer to is people dear to me leaving the places that I frequent. When I lived in a small town, I saw very clearly how these places STAYED dominated by reactionary groups (rich families, Tories, etc etc) because of the flight of anyone remotely progressive. It saddened me. Small towns don't HAVE to be backwards and hate-filled. They SHOULDN'T be. They ARE because people leave them in great numbers and those who thrive on complacency and 'stability', (hierarchy and power?) these people stay behind and clean up (in the sense of winning the lottery).
Um, in my opinion, one of the greatest weapons of the forces of social reaction (tm) is that people RUN AWAY when they attack.
This is not a condemnation of you, or any specific people, but rather of a certain trend. I see this trend, on a grander scale, as being responsible for the lack of solid progressive movements in Canada and the so-called first world. Would-be radicals (such as ourselves?) RUN from any group that grows beyond infancy or irrelevancy for reasons of ideology. As if X large progressive group is not radical enough because that's how it IS, rather than because no radicals are willing to join it?
I think what this all boils down to is a Plea *not* to leave, not because I see it as cowardice of flight in any way (I can totally see why you would want to), but because it will be another nail in the coffin of progressive HC and a great blow to our way of life. Perhaps all of this seems rather ... like it is telling you what to do. Of course I don't want to come off like that. By all means, do what you will and I will support you. Please get back to me with your thoughts on the subject (not just parker, but anyone).
I will have to develop these ideas more coherently for the next issue of my Zine, perhaps.