Frustrations...Which Need To Be Acted Upon (By Yours Truly, Plus You)

Can we just nationalize, audit, restructure, and sell off the lamed banks already--and in the meantime, convert the Fed to an honest-to-gosh publicly-owned and regulated agency, rather than the "private-public" (ie, private profit, public debt) bankers' cartel it currently is?

And bring the troops back home from IraqiPakAfghanistan, possibly replaced by school builders, microfinance lenders, and constitutional law advisors? To be repeated as appropriate in Cuba, Poland, Thailand, and the other 130 foreign nations we currently garrison. Something smaller than a $500 billion-1 trillion "defense" budget might be nice, too.

And how about recognizing the full extent to which our economy and society could be "re-greened"--not just adding solar, wind, etc, to the grid, but actually decentralizing the grid itself; bringing back the day of worthwhile travel by train and bus; maximizing the local, organic, sustainable, even do-it-yourself aspect of feeding ourselves; and otherwise creating more sustainable, equitable, indeed elegant human ecosystems.

Just a few thoughts, a few priorities. I am woefully inactive in actually accomplishing any of these priorities; I simply offer them as food for thought.

We Need An Overarching Vision For Change

One problem I keep having with progressive, left-wing activists--and I mean real progressives, not milquetoast, frequently corporate-sponsored "moderates" affiliated with the Democratic Party--is the lack of an overarching, compelling vision and program of how to truly reform and remake our society, and the world, into something more just, harmonious, sustainable, and just plain inspiring. Or, even if they do have such a vision, intellectually or in some manifesto, it is sung largely to the choir and hidden away within "the movement", without being implemented in a systematic fashion across the board, across the whole breadth of social policies and public issues: global relations, education, health care, ecological balance, etc.

Lefties are great at opposing particular evils and policies. A war on Iraq, a war on Afghanistan, global warming, executive greed, left-baiting media--ooh, are we ever so good at making our protest signs, holding our rallies, and decrying "corporate this" and "militaristic that". And we can totally skewer individual nefarious actors and organizations, the Rush Limbaughs and Reverend Phelpses and Carlyle Groups of the world, endlessly enraging and enthralling our fellow thinkers while the rest of society largely ignores us.

And so, too, do we push for progress in a piecemeal fashion: universal health care, a carbon cap or tax, immigration reform. Save the Rainforest. Free Tibet. Worthy causes, all; but does any of this sound too, too familiar?

Now of course, we do sometimes string together any number of these issues. This seems to occur most frequently at protests, where a demonstration against the war in Iraq can draw hanger-on causes ranging from Free Palestine, to Legalize Hemp. Or at various "people's conferences", where all sorts of activists and thinkers talk about their pet issues or projects, and the affair concludes with a proud commitment to "social justice for the whole world". This feels good, and represents the right sentiments; but I'm afraid a coherent, compelling grand vision, much less a strategy, it makes not.

What is needed is an overarching plan for how to change and ultimately save the world, and effective, coordinated steps to implement this on all levels, from the local to the global, and in all arenas, from personal choices to political movements and government policy. I think we on the Left have been afraid of embracing, and broadcasting, just such all-encompassing hope and vision for far too long now. I mean, we do realize all the different issues stem from some basic, fundamental problems in the relationships, attitudes and structures of our societies, right? From the late 1960's until very recently, the Right has been tremendously successful in promoting its own grand strategy--moralizing nationalism and "free enterprise" to the masses, massive corporate-military expansion and plunder in the corridors of power. With a faltering economy; a clear energy-cum-climate crisis; and a semi-open and progressive President in the White House, what time but now for us to push forward our own grand agenda, a newer, post-industrial New Deal?

I'd like to help contribute to just such a vision and platform. My personal proposal is for an overall "Green" transformation of our society, how we live and produce and relate. (I mean, just read the name of this blog.)

Ultimately, we are all--all peoples, all institutions, all living things--connected in an interdependent web of relations. The best model for how we can all get along and live prosperously, happily, and freely together is ecology: You take what you need from the system (the economy, the environment), you contribute an equal or greater value back, and ideally you do this in concert with other beings, starting with your own species and local community and radiating outward to encompass the whole globe and biosphere. No hoarding far beyond your realistic needs, and denying an equitable share to others. No cutthroat competition to the point of annihilation, assimilation, or subjugation (a vital and continuing part of our evolution as human beings is our capacity for cooperation and even altruism). No stinginess with your contributions to the human and biological community, no denying your essential interdependence a la Ayn Rand: that you need others, and they need you. But instead, a socially-conscious effort to work together, to balance, in order to sustain and enhance quality resources and living conditions for all, as can be found--not universally, and not perfectly--in some indigenous societies, or even modern-day communes and intentional communities.

So there it is: a start. A vision in a very broad, vague sense, pre-crystallization and implementation. Now what's left is to add to it, to flesh out the details; to make the leap from cyberspace, into real space, into real strategies and actions and social and political movements. Perhaps you can come along, and help me in this quest...

A Note on Blogging Work Ethic

Well, having shamelessly promoted myself on Facebook, I now appear to have a few loyal fans of this blog. Excellent! I have drawn you into my trap, my pretties...

I find myself very, very busy these days. This is due to two, perhaps three major factors: 1. Teachers work long, hard hours, new teachers particularly so. 2. I'm trying to build an honest-to-gosh social life, perhaps the most complete so far in my 24 years on this Earth. 3. When not actively engaged in 1 or 2, I tend to be an awfully lazy, disorganized, downright slobby person.

So, fair warning that during the school year, I may not update this blog too often, or leave extensive, well-written posts. I know, I know, you are greatly disappointed and left in tears. But alas, I'm afraid it may just be so.

But wait! This news comes with a sliver of good hope as well! Teachers, as you know, teach during the school year...which means we have the summer more or less off...which means, between June and August, you can expect much more sewage pouring forth from my maddened cerebellum! Along with actual physical activism, hiking, camping, going to concerts, etc etc...

Stay tuned for more instructions, my minions.

Local Patriotism...

What would be a good term for patriotism, focused on the regional state, rather than the nation-state? "Statism" has obviously flawed connotations, if you're at all into poli sci--what's my alternative?

I ask, because I would consider myself a hearty patriot to the state of Colorado. Almost to the extent that, if there were ever any kind of civil war...and Colorado was by-and-large committed to a progressive, or at least humane path...while the Federal government was less so...then my loyalties would most definitely be in question...

Begin hating on this now.

Starting...

What is this? "Blog", you say? I don't know...sounds mighty foreign, maybe Russian, even...I'll have to think about it...

So, as I usually do, I'm joining this particular facet of the electronic communications bandwagon about 2-5 years after everyone else. Yay is me. Not sure how much I'll stick to this, but as someone I admire says, "blogging is good for the soul", and so I shall give it a try...

I am (as of April 2009) a 24-year old man, just starting out in this "real life" thing: two years out of a prestigious yet elitist college, teaching preschool, living in my beloved home state of Colorado, in funky downtown Denver. I'm also an ardent believer in social justice, alternative culture and politics, and historical change; trying to balance my aspirations to fullblown, idealist world-changing, with the desire to just take it easy and have fun, for the first time free of various emotional and logistical obstacles I've had in the past. Yep, I'm an undercover radical, a hippy/punk masquerading as a mainstream, upstanding, all-American, damn near small town young professional--or is that the other way around?...

Anyhoo. I'm gonna try to use this thing to vent my feelings and thoughts, well-formed and researched or otherwise, on a variety of subjects, such as: Why isn't the Obama administration responding to the obvious need for real, deep change and reform, in areas from sustainable agriculture, to community-based economics? Why do we seem to be making an only partial withdrawal from Iraq, only to meddle further in Afghan and Pakistani affairs, all while continuing to build up a military-intelligence-security-industrial complex which, altogethe, practically dwarfs that of the entire rest of the world? And why can't I find an actual girlfriend, after 3+ years of being single? LOL

So, yeah, that's me. Enjoy...