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My friend Paul Schechter has granted me permission to copy and paste, without much commentary, his reply to an email solicitation he received from the Green Party of the United States. The message features the photo and words of perennial candidate Howie Hawkins of Syracuse NY. The only commentary I will offer is a bit of context: Paul is one of the co-founders of Houston Access to Urban Sustainability, a co-operative housing initiative in which I was involved for three years. He now lives in Madison WI, where he grew up, but he maintains a connection with the two HAUS houses: ownership. (He says he would very much like to sell the houses to the co-op, but this has proven more difficult than anticipated. Anybody want to help HAUS Project with a down payment?) The main thrust of the GPUS message is that Democrats in Congress will get their paws on the Green New Deal and water it down. This watering down is already in progress, according to some reports, and progressive Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Washington is actively pursuing this Green New Deal Lite. So the Greens would like to make sure that the program on which they ran in 2012 and 2016 remains intact. I don't agree with everything Schechter says here, but I also don't feel the need to rehash discussions we've had before. With only light editing and without further yada-yada, take it away, Paul! Howie, This piece was intended to be brief, but...uhm...sorry, it ain't.
Hanging out on the left wing has never been easy. You see the world differently from your neighbors because your media intake is not limited to the major corporate networks; you actually read and understand books with big words; you spout Chomsky-esque inconvenient truths that make middle-class lifestyles seem inherently immoral. As a result, the mainstream world tends to ignore you, belittle you, cast doubt on your sanity, or find less savory ways to neutralize you. Sure, liberal-to-progressive ideology enjoys periods of vogue, when pop culture co-opts lefty issues and talking points, and when lefty males are society's rock stars, getting laid without much effort. Then comes the inevitable backlash from the hung-up wealthy men who are missing out on all the fun. This is my big-picture way of introducing this reflection on Perry "PDiddie" Dorrell's fairly comprehensive Brains and Eggs post on the ongoing crisis du jour at Pacifica radio. As I write, I'm nodding along with his headline about "a microcosm of Left's dysfunction in Texas." Such dysfunction is certainly not limited to Texas, but considering the size of this state, one doesn't need a magnifying glass to see its effects. |
Blogging Sporadically since 2014Here you will find political campaign-related entries, as well as some about my literature, Houston underground arts, peace & justice, urban cycling, soccer, alt-religion, and other topics. Categories
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