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Journal freejung's Journal: Don't Mourn, Organize 26

Journal by freejung
This message is for the left. For you guys on the right, go buy yourself a drink or something. You've earned it. You've done well, and I congratulate you. May you live in interesting times. ("Would you rather die than betray your Emperor? This is not a trick question." -- Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times")

Ah, the bitter taste of defeat. I know it well, which is perhaps why I seem to be taking it better than some of my comrades. I live in a very blue county in a blue state, and everyone was walking around today looking like it was the end of the world. I can understand and relate to this, and to some extent I feel the same way, but in my travels I have learned how to handle setbacks, and I want to send out some words of encouragement to all my fellow commie hippie freaks out there.

To properly deal with defeat, one must have what in Aikido is called "Takemusu Aiki," the Warrior Spirit in Harmony with Universal Love. Please understand, when I use the word "warrior," I am talking about a spiritual warrior, one who wages peace, not war. I am talking about a warrior in the sense of Carlos Castaneda, who said:

"The spirit of the warrior is not geared toward indulging and complaining, nor is it geared toward winning or losing. The spirit of the warrior is geared toward struggle, and every struggle is his [sic] last battle on earth. Because it is his last battle on earth, the warrior's spirit flows free and clear, and as he wages his battle, knowing that his intent is pure, the warrior laughs and laughs."

To the warrior, you see, there is no victory or defeat. There is no hatred of the "enemy," there is no bitterness, there is no remorse or recrimination or fear or regret. There is only the struggle, and the struggle continues. So don't mourn. Organize.

Here are some basic principles:

  • Love your enemy. Have compassion for everyone out there who voted for Bush -- they are only doing what, from their point of view and in their understanding of the world, is best for our country. Obviously we disagree about that, and we must continue to struggle against their ideology, but we must do it from a space of love and the desire to protect everyone involved.
  • Politics is not about elections. It is about organization. The elections are at best an afterthought, at worst a charade designed to distract you from real politics. Don't think too much about them. Work instead to change the values of our culture, to help people, to promote what you believe is right. If we do this, eventually the election results will follow.
  • Remember that we have made enormous progress. Think of where the culture of this country was 100 years ago. Think of where it was 50 years ago. Think of where it was two years ago. We've come a long way, and that is reason for hope.
  • Remember that this progress was made by enormous, intense, sustained popular struggle. People didn't just wake up one day and decide women should have the right to vote, for example. There was long, dedicated, organized struggle by a small but committed minority which eventually shifted the values of the entire culture. We can continue to do the same thing, but we must realize that it will be hard work, and be prepared for that.
  • Form local organizations. Get your friends together. Don't worry so much at first about what to do, just get together, you will find that there is plenty that needs doing.
  • Join existing popular organizations. I wanted to get this out in a hurry to articulate the basic idea, but I'll put out a list of what I consider to be good progressive organizations later, if you want to know of some. But we all know of some, and for whatever reason, many of us haven't joined them. Why? Do we consider ourselves "independent," are we reluctant to be "joiners?" Nobody is an island, and we cannot do this alone. We can only make progress if we join together. That will sometimes mean making common cause with people with whom you disagree about some things. Get over it. Think of the big picture.
  • Reframe the debate. George Lakoff of the Rockridge Institute has a lot of good things to say about this. Don't get sucked into using the language and ideological structure of the right. Use our own language, our own ideas, our own worldview, to frame the issues that matter to us. Think in terms of a nurturing parent model.
  • Think strategically. Lakoff has some things to say about this too. He says that the major real strategic initiative that the left has is alternative energy. This is a strategic initiative because it's not just an energy issue, it's a foreign policy issue, an environmental issue, a health issue, a third world development issue, an economic issue, all rolled into one. Promoting alternative energy is perhaps the best thing we can possibly do, the best cause around which to rally. And it is very hard to disagree with -- even the Emperor is all for hydrogen power, though he seems to think it's a source of energy rather than a battery.
  • Forget about the Democrats. They are corporate puppets, they don't represent us and they never did. Did you really think electing Kerry would magically fix things, end oppression and war and empire and destruction of the environment in one fell swoop? Of course you didn't. You just thought he might not be quite as bad. Well, he probably wouldn't, but if Kerry had won, we would still have essentially the same job ahead of us. The Democrats will never do it for us. We have to do it for ourselves.

What job? The job of changing the values of our culture. Once upon a time, the values of our culture were such that slavery was considered OK. That changed, and it was no accident, it changed because of mass organized popular struggle, and it was long hard work. Same thing with women's rights, civil rights, and indeed democracy itself (not that we have a real democracy, but it's closer than what we had 500 years ago, that's for sure). We can continue to shift the values of our culture toward compassion, equality, real freedom, love for the earth, and so on. That is our real work, and this election changes that not one tiny bit.

The struggle continues.

love and blessings,

Eli

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Don't Mourn, Organize More

Don't Mourn, Organize

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    • except that they are likely to push the x down to where it is severely regressive. I'm not sure it would be better than the current system, in that case. Besides, it's safe to assume they have their own budget plans.

      I'm not talking about proposing legislation, at least on a national level, or any other part of what masquerades as the political process. I'm talking about old-fashioned grass-roots organizing to help people, to promote good causes, and to raise the consciousness of the people.

      • Any negative x (i.e., less than the median) is regressive. Karl Rove is already on record as supporting a progressive income tax. It's just been getting less progressive.

        What makes you think that it's safe to assume they have budget plans?

        • What makes you think that it's safe to assume they have budget plans?

          I'm pretty sure they have plans to spend the budget. :-/

          • That's true. I thought he meant plans to keep the budget from spiraling out of control, and I've not seen any yet. I'm guessing that if they do exist, the're on a slip of paper in Karl Rove's red windbraker that he tucked under a seat in Marine One back in April 2001.
            • 'Plans' in plural? Everyone knows Bush has just one plan and he'll execute it, no matter what. That's what he thinks resolute and steadfast means. Or maybe that's just what Karl told him it means...

              Speaking of Karl, I hear that between his norwegian ancestry still being pissed off about the Swedish/Norwegian union we imposed on them a hundred years ago and Usama's mention of Sweden in the video recently, we're probably next in line for invasion. No oil nor WMD, but I guess Powell's love for old Volvos and

    • Having the bottom bracket be 0%, as in Sweden

      Eh? Care to explain that bit to a confused Swede? I'm not sure what you're getting at here, unless it's strictly our national tax[1] as opposed to our regional taxes you're talking about. Sweden isn't organized the way the US is so it's difficult to compare the systems.

      But I do agree that you'll need to shift your taxation burdens a bit, as do we.[2]

      [1] Only those with declared incomes over a certain limit pay any national tax at all, the state of Sweden g

      • Having the bottom bracket be 0%, as in Sweden

        Eh? Care to explain that bit to a confused Swede? I'm not sure what you're getting at here, unless it's strictly our national tax[1] as opposed to our regional taxes you're talking about. Sweden isn't organized the way the US is so it's difficult to compare the systems.

        Yes, your national tax:

        [1] Only those with declared incomes over a certain limit pay any national tax at all....

        I have been told the same is true for Stockholm's regional taxes (other than

        • I have been told the same is true for Stockholm's regional taxes (other than the V.A.T.)

          I just double-checked the regional tax brackets and around Stockholm, they vary between 32.20% to 34.10% (split roughly 1/3-2/3 between healthcare (1/3) and the rest (2/3) (local roads, schooling, the rest)). The "high" national tax bracket is just 2%, BTW. I'm not sure what your informant is getting at, as even the dole and meager pensions are taxed.

          If you were to convert your income tax to fuel tax with added clea

          • That's a total of $4.3 billion or just under 2% of our GNP ($238.3 billion).

            And if I put my thinking cap back on... The total is for all ten years, the GNP is just one year. So make that 0.2% of our GNP. I haven't found anything on our total tax base, it seems our government don't want us to think about that. :-)

    • Completely agreed. My personal favortite version of this is an x of 90% and a y of 100% (90% of the country's earning power would be tax free- but income would be capped for the remaining 10% of the population) but that's more from a standpoint of Aristotle and Plato than anything real today.
      • Please be careful: if you set y to 100%, then you put a cap on incentives. That can't be right.

        A lower x could be considered more egalitarian, but an x below zero is regressive. The larger x is, the larger y must be. I have no reason to believe that Sweden's 10% is not about a local maxima. If we wanted x=+10% then our y might end up around 35% for a balanced budget with Medicare (and thus Social Security) fixed.

        "Classical" Marxist communism is a 100% property tax, making income taxation irrelivant

        • Please be careful: if you set y to 100%, then you put a cap on incentives. That can't be right.

          In any time of labor surplus (as ours most certainly is- see my recent JE on labor utilization rates) you most certainly DO want a cap on incentives- to prevent overachievers from overproducing and taking the jobs of others. No cap on incentive means no limit on production, and in addition to that, means excessive inflation when coupled with a minimum wage (since the rich can afford to outbid the poor on anyth

          • In any time of labor surplus (as ours most certainly is- see my recent JE on labor utilization rates) you most certainly DO want a cap on incentives- to prevent overachievers from overproducing and taking the jobs of others. No cap on incentive means no limit on production, and in addition to that, means excessive inflation when coupled with a minimum wage (since the rich can afford to outbid the poor on anything they want- thus prices rise infinitely).

            Okay, if we have a labor surplus, why can't I affor

            • Okay, if we have a labor surplus, why can't I afford an assistant?

              [SARCASM]Because you're way too law abiding for the times? I have no problem hiring help when I need it at $2/hr or less- just go to the "undocumented workers" pool. Just read the BOFH archives for tips. :-)[/SARCASM]

              Because um, according to you, um.

              Okay, you've made me think more than anyone in the last few weeks, as far as I can rememeber.

              Thanks for the complement. I do like making people think.

              There are lots of arguments abo
  • well said, yeah alot of people are bent over this one, but at least it wasn't a lawyer/judges decision this time through, hopefully their disappointment won't fade in a few weeks and they will continue to be involved politically/socially.
  • I couldn't agree more with your points. Onward, warriors.
  • It's now clear that we won't be changing things at the level of national leadership anytime soon, so we need to focus our energies elsewhere. One thing we know after Nov. 2nd is that a significant portion of the electorate is easily spun via wedge issues and disinformation. That needs to change. What I'm proposing is that people need to hit the streets in every city of this great nation to start waking people up to the Orwellian nature of what's been happening.

    I am assembling a group to start doing, for la
  • Very helpful. Thanks. Definitely need to avoid conservative framing at all costs.
  • The essence of Aiki lies in making the most of using the powers deriving from nature( rocks, air, water, etc ) or opponents ( basically humans, beasts, and so on ). And this is one of the most effective way for those who have not enough power to defeat opponents on their owns. "Takemusu Aiki " literally means "By Aiki, bamboo evaporates." Interesting...
    • Very interesting. I thought that Take meant something like "warrior spirit," musu meant something like "becoming," and Aiki is of course harmony with ki, which I have translated as "universal love" because O-Sensei once pointed out that ki, in addition to meaning something like "the force," also means love. I've never heard the "bamboo evaporates" translation. I like that.
  • I agree with most of what you wrote, but, please, don't cite Carlos Castenada [wikipedia.org]. That guy was just a snake oil salesman. I was a teenager when his first two books came out -- the ones that strongly encouraged experimentation with psycho-active drugs. I never found them very convincing.

    However I had a number of friends who were already experimenting with these drugs. And, I am afraid, his books had a big influence on them. His books provided them with encouragement in their search for truth through ph

    • I disagree with you completely about Carlos Castaneda, and I'm sorry to hear about your friends, but it is to be understood that the Warrior's Path is not without its risks and is not to be undertaken lightly. I think psychedelics can be useful tools, but they must be approached with caution and respect, and Castaneda didn't recommend otherwise.

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