I was a radical when I left my former life and culture wholesale rather than try and reform Islam. At a certain point, a system or a culture is simply broken and cannot be fixed. If it is possibly fixable, it might end up taking a lifetime and I wanted my rights and freedoms immediately. And because it involved moving to a different country, rather than time-traveling to a better time in the future, I had the choice to be radical. I left.
I felt that America had fundamentally the right idea embodied in the constitution and bill of rights. I figured the system that was in place was more or less along the right lines and working within it was fine. Fundamental change was not needed, but minor fixes were still necessary in several areas. And by the way, I had already radically transformed my life. Could I please just have a job and make a living now?
My first clue that things were breaking down should have been the welfare recipients with whom I worked in my first job. They got about half what I made and I couldn’t afford an apartment or healthcare on what I was making — and they were expected to survive. With children. The fact that they were barely literate and their kids already had major problems with delinquency — pre-teens — should have given me another clue.
With 8 years of Bush, things are well on their way to going completely to hell. The middle class was already half-obliterated and struggling to survive before the recession set in. Now, we have no way to recover from the recession. Everyone who is not ultra-rich is going to be a pauper and let me repeat, with the means of production not in our hands, we have no way to recover.
The system is officially broken. There will be a sea change, because people have started to lose their homes and their jobs. That’s when everyone wakes up — it takes desperation for a democracy’s subjects to finally take notice of what their leaders have done to them.
I tend now to mostly be cynical and realistic. I’m mostly not interested in revolutions because I’ve seen great oppression without seeing the people rise up. “The People” are frequently uninspiring sheep. I’m not impressed with anti-reformist radicalism because I need to live in the here and now and in the real world. Unfortunately, I can’t simply escape to some other country that has it better. America’s problems are not unique to America, what with globalization.
But I read this and I nod my head (mostly) in agreement.
The difference between me and the writer is, I don’t think it has to be one or the other. The non-profits and government institutions that get (to an extent) co-opted by state and corporate interests nevertheless are necessary, even if you call them a band-aid. I’m beginning to think — and Larry’s played a huge part in bringing me to this place — that it’s important to recognize the deeper problems with the System, but that need not involve boycotting the System.
But yes, the System fucks things up, fucks people over. It’s not optimized for justice or equality — it’s optimized for corporate interests. You can make the System, after much hard work and begging, adopt small changes that accumulate to resemble progress. But real change? Who knows?
Until Real Change has a chance of happening because of me blogging about it, people need help and the best channels to provide that help are not revolutionary. Unfortunately.
Fortunately, though, I am starry-eyed enough to believe in the power of an individual making a difference in other individuals’ lives. Watch Born Into Brothels to see what I mean by that. It’s the story of a white woman photographer who lives for years in a red light district in Calcutta and teaches the children of prostitutes about photography. She trusts them all with cameras, she holds regular classes, she organizes an exhibit, she gets the kids into schools, and she gets a talented kid to travel to Amsterdam in recognition of his work. It’s the most moving, inspiring, heartbreaking documentary I’ve ever seen. There are more ways of being radical than sneering at reform.
And sometimes, it’s enough to radically seek your own happiness while doing what you can to positively touch others’ lives.
At the end of the day, words are often just words.
[Lest I be misunderstood, the above is not meant as a dig at anyone and powerful words can change lives too.]
Filed under: Miscellanea
