Act Locally

I decided to go to a fund raiser for a couple of Democrats running for local state House races on Friday night. The candidates are long time liberal acquaintances of mine and I knew it would be interesting because of the now powerful Tea Party influence and the national dour mood of Dems suckered by Obama and the spill and all the meager reforms.Alterman finally called the Pres a "big disappointment" in the Nation and blamed a "broken system" without actually naming it.

I promised my wife I would hold the anti-capitalist rhetoric to a minimum but what was fascinating was the fact that I didn't have to say a word, cynicism with Kubuki politics was everywhere and the subject of socialist overhaul came up on it's own. There was, to start with, a very small turnout and no young people at all and in fact people seemed EMBARRASSED to even be there making and listening to the same tired old pitches for "change". I don't think anybody can say "change" now without feeling that twinge and the begging for money seemed particularly self-conscious. Hearing Hillary Clinton bitch-scold Chavez "to restore private property and return to a free market", progressives can only drink more micro-beers and look uncomfortable.

Last weekend I went to a Cool Water Hula on the rim of the Berkley Pit in Butte Mt. A ten year anniversary of the first "hula",it drew over a hundred progressive environmentalist dancers but guess what? Ten years later the pit is still filling with toxic sludge, water around the planet is still being polluted at a catastrophic rate and there are no "politics" within liberal democratic capitalism with which an agent can affect any positive change. Amidst the sad speeches about "mourning the devastation" and appealing to a positive spiritual energy, no one had any idea about how to change anything. So they do a stupid dance and get back in their fuel efficient cars to go back to their organic gardens and progressive fund raisers, discouraged, disoriented and conflicted.

I wish someone had just said the one word that might begin opening a process for environmental justice ( and emancipation) but the language has been removed, their vocabulary deleted.