This from our ally Hunter Gray.
Just a few thoughts on Iowa -- and Beyond:
When I sacked in last night, I felt considerably better about the national -- and even global -- future than I have for a hell of a long time.
It wasn't too long ago, historically speaking, that people like many of us had to fight to survive at a Woolworth lunch counter.
We see the tremendous influx of young people into the Obama -- and, to a substantial extent, into the Edwards bailiwick as well -- as a damn realistic harbinger of a better future and an ultimate promise of an even better one.
In the late 1950s, many veteran left radicals were discouraged. Those of us, vastly younger and just "taking the trail," were far more hopeful and actively zealous. Even in Arizona, we were engaged in the more socially conscious dimensions of Labor, we organized a highly successful campus-wide food strike and dorm betterment campaign at Arizona State, and were moving to challenge compulsory ROTC. And we pushed in our far corner for human rights.
And comparable things were certainly going on in lots of other local places.
Nationally, the Civil Rights Movement was, with deliberate speed, picking up momentum -- just as there has been, in this difficult epoch, much anti-war movement.
JFK's election was never seen by many of us as any great millenium. But, fueled by many younger people and others of similar inclination, it reflected the profound discontent and frustration that had festered in the "dismal '50s." The election of '60 ushered in a rapidly growing atmosphere of Realistic Hope.
Movement picked up -- and up -- and People Wanted More -- and More. They pushed and More came.
It's always been my experience that, when folks start winning on good and tangible fronts, they shoot higher -- and higher. The Kennedys et al.[and the System in general] were pressured from the grassroots For More -- and More. And a fair amount of More did indeed come.
There is always a place for Us Radicals -- especially if we try to avoid the intricate theology of ideological nit-picking and its consequent schisms and falling-away and, even more fundamentally, alienation from the grassroots.
Whether times are lean or times are flush, it's up to Us to keep the Vision high. Whatever happens in 2008 and beyond, we all have our jobs to do -- as we, via our hearts and minds, see fit:
Organize -- That remains Genesis. Always and Forever.
Just a few thoughts on a rather cold and windy Idaho mountain morn -- where the arising and inevitable Sun shines just under the eastern horizon.
Yours, Hunter [Hunter Bear]
See also the video at http://www.sacramentopa.blogspot.com
1 comment:
As a 25 year-old, relatively young voter, Obama definitely inspires me. He inspires a lot of my friends too. The first presidential election that I remember was that of Bush Sr. In all the years that I've followed or been exposed to politics, never has a politician actually inspired me to imagine the possibilities of a more unified nation (and world). If this country elects Barack Obama as the next president of the United States, I'm certain that we will experience a positive cultural revolution - one that fosters unity, transcending the divisions among race, age, class, gender. Perhaps it's naive to have such hope, but the only other option is despair. I choose hope. Go OBAMA! - Tremayne, blogger @ globalsoulpower.com.
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