Slinkerwink posted a great diary this morning that was hijacked and trashed by a person many of us look up to. The Field is a well known celebrity organizer who took Slinkerwink to task for what he considered a misstatement of who Howard Zinn was and what he stood for. Unlike The Field, I did not know, march with or get arrested with HZ and so will not venture an opinion other than to say that I admire him very much.
I saw a lot of value and truth in what SW had to say and I think she said it well. She was arguing for bold progressive action and pointing out correctly that what we get instead is anemic incrementalism and suggesting that we should not be satisfied with same. No truer words were ever spoken and nothing could be more pertinent to our present circumstances.
TF said that you can only admire someone by doing what they did. Many ppl pointed out the fallacy of that statement in the comment thread. Admiration and emulation are two different things.
Now I value organizing and I value TF’s many accomplishments, but this whole ‘you must do as I do or your actions are meaningless’ meme rubs me the wrong way. We each contribute in the ways that suit us best. Not everyone can be a great organizer any more than everyone can be a great writer or anything else. We should each contribute the best way we can. ‘You are no Howard Zinn’ should be an insult to no one. TF is not Howard Zinn either.
Complaining is not organizing. No, but complaining is important nonetheless. After all we’ve been through, who would suggest that we should shut up and take our punishment quietly? I believe that we have not complained nearly enough and that if we had maybe we would have avoided some of the madness we’ve seen. I’m always amazed when bloggers opine that blogging is meaningless – just a bunch of ‘poutrage.’ Bloggers who actually believe that should stop fucking blogging.
Do we have anything to complain about? YES! Should we dare mention it? OH FUCK YEAH!
The long view has always been important. It is important still. But anyone who thinks the long view holds much hope for us in the present circumstance needs to wake the fuck up. We don’t have unlimited time to accomplish progressive goals. It’s not like the polar ice caps aren’t melting.
So don’t be satisfied with this shoddy incrementalism which does nothing but cheat us out of a reasonable future while preserving and protecting the status quo. And don’t be shouted down by people who think it’s all about them.