Left: The Church

My son had a significant accident about a week ago. He was released from the hospital, but something horrible happened where he had to go back for surgery. This last 10ish days has led me to re-think how I want to talk about the political economy, and our life together. Will you lament with me?

It's story time! I got some stories about the non-profit / fundraising world, and the cynical game of "loving rich people" for their money. I mention prostitution, both real and figurative, and the bad advice I've gotten (that the ones who gave it still follow). Do you want to change the system from within or quit? I'll talk about option C, and expand on this idea in my upcoming episode.

What's possible? So often these conversations around politics lead to "well it's always been this way, and it always will be." What if that wasn't the case? What if we could imagine something better together? Now that the system is starting to break under the stress of multiple crises, more and more people are starting to notice -- the system is illegitimate, and always has been. Let's start to talk about how to move in a more social and Democratic direction.

What have I seen work well in talking with others about socialism, communism, class struggle? Talking about "it" without calling it socialism, communism, and so on. Trying to find a shared struggle, or awareness of our struggle against our masters and rulers. What are your ideas? What have you seen work well? Readers, please respond with your ideas as well.

Our leaders narrow down our conversations to the most specific, narrow, and pre-prescribed topics. For example, the pastor who says "we aren't going to talk about politics, we're only going to talk about Jesus" is choosing to ignore 98% of how we relate to each other. It's endemic in politics, too. Democrats and Republicans have agreed that ending wars, medicare for all, free college, and more are "off the table." So what do we do as regular people who want to bring those ideas to the forefront? How do we take power?