Netroots Nation '11 is over. I enjoyed reading the "I am here" diaries and looking at some of the photo albums from the event. Had some fun tracking the reaction of the Blogosphere and New Media to the event, too. And now we see what may be the ultimate fallout (other than the inspiration-put-to-work results) from it. Van Jones may be suing Fox News. Delicious!
All this Progressive activity put me in mind of several political essays on a variety of topics that I've read over the years. I enjoy reading political essays -- they put one in touch with the mind of another person like no other literary form does. So, I wondered if other R&BLers might like this variety of shorter nonfiction as much as I.
What might be your favorite all-time political essay? I venture that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s great exercise in persuasion, "Letter from Birmingham Jail" might be a much shared favorite. It's one of mine. I have others, and I'll share them if you'll. . .
Please turn the page.
Perhaps I should categorize them:
Government
"The Origin of Civil Society" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- Rousseau believed that liberty was the paramount value; he was a careful thinker and distinguished between political freedom and moral freedom, natural law and civil law. He was so reasonable yet he was influenced by the Romantics, a movement in reaction to the Enlightenment. Like Thoreau, he found inspiration in nature and idyllic settings. He was one of the Philosophes, who counted among their membership such lights as Montesquieu, Diderot, and Voltaire. "The Origin of Civil Society" was written in 1762 as part of a never finished longer work.
It is to Rousseau we owe our gratitude for the idea that no separation should exist between justice and utility, for the idea of civic duty -- the delight in being a man of public affairs, for the argument against "might makes right," that the consent of the governed to be governed is a requirement of all governments, for the core value of "one man, one vote," for the precept of equality under the law, and for the core question concerning democratic government. . .
. . .the self-preservation of each single man derives primarily from his own strength and from his own freedom. How, then, can he limit these without, at the same time, doing himself an injury and neglecting that care which it is his duty to devote to his own concerns? [And he answers. . .]
Some form of association must be found as a result of which the whole strength of the community will be enlisted for the protection of the person and property of each constituent member, in such a way that each, when united to his fellows, renders obedience to his own will, and remains free as he was before."
Each individual, known as
citizen contributes his "person and his powers which he wields under the supreme direction of the general will. . .forming an indivisible part of the whole. . .and [they] share the sovereign authority as
subjects in so far as they owe obedience to the laws of the state." Thus he gives us the concept of the Social Contract.
What a thorough Progressive!
Justice
"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau -- Nothing gets my blood stirring like Thoreau's stance of truth to the abuse of power. He wrote this essay after the Walden experience that ended in September 1847. He was a thorough (pun!) Romantic, a Transcendentalist along with Emerson. It surprises me to think this essay was published a year after The Communist Manifesto.
The one central idea of "Civil Disobedience" is that the dutiful citizen recognizes the imperative to disobey unjust laws. Dan Choi is certainly that kind of dutiful citizen. Thoreau lived what he believed: he refused to comply with MA civil authorities in returning slaves; he refused to pay the poll tax to support the Mexican War, for which he went to jail. So many of the great Civil Disobedients have followed in his footsteps to imprisonment since then. Gandhi, King, Mandela, Choi, and others. Today's Civil Disobedients are often whistle-blowers.
In Thoreau here is a man who wrestles with his conscience as it wrestles with his government, who steps forward when the opportunity to do right in the face of wrong presents itself, who breaks Rousseau's Social Contract when the sovereign power seeks to exceed its limits. But Thoreau is no anarchist -- he's a moralist who believes that the moral quality of government depends upon the moral actions of the governed. Here is what he has to say about the expedient, as opposed to the Civil Disobedient.
Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield it their allegiance and support, are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform.
And why civil disobedience in the face of injustice is the prime duty of the good citizen:
Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary and does not consist wholly with anything which was. It not only divides states and churches; as it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine.
Our greatest sin as citizens of a free and democratic government is to obey unjust laws. It takes no stretch to see the direct link from Thoreau to King and to the others mentioned above. Thoreau demands that we criticize our government, to be part of it but capable of stepping outside of it and judging it objectively.
Now that's a Progressive tenet!
How We Think about Nature
At first glance, this topic hardly seems political, but may be the ultimate political topic. The fact is, human beings know of only one place where they can live and thrive and that is planet Earth. Our foundations for thinking about the injuries of our own causing that we have inflicted on our Home ultimately will guide and determine the solutions and innovations that make our continued existence on Earth possible. While the nature of those solutions must be scientific, the determinant of them -- putting thought into action -- will be political. That is why I think our most basic duty is to eradicate wrong thinking about Nature. Someone long ago felt the same way and wrote this essay:
"The Four Idols" by Francis Bacon -- No, he's not the father of the scientific method. It's probably better to think of him as he who was to Aristotle as Aristotle was to the Sophists. Distilled, Bacon, arguably, could be said to take the stand that "He who would enter the Kingdom of Science, like the Kingdom of Heaven, must come as a little child."
Part of what I enjoy so much about this essay is Bacon's rhetorical style that relies on enumeration, so appealing to the mind that is scientifically bent! Clearly, and in turn, he defines his Four Idols (think of false gods) "worshiped" by wrong thinkers. Another part of what I like about this essay is that the fallacies or reason Bacon identifies are precious to many politicians, from which affliction much of our woe derives.
Idols of the Tribe -- errors of thought that we have simply because we are people; we impute more order and regularity to the world than it actually contains (its corollary -- conspiracy theory); we ignore evidence that conflicts with our preconceptions; we believe what accords with our wishes; we trust our senses for information that should come from experiment.
Idols of the Cave -- fixations due to the limitations of one's special background; education, conversation with others, books one reads, unthinking adherence to authority. We shape our ideas around our expertise; we have a partiality to a particular age and its judgments; we are inclined to focus on minute aspects of a thing while ignoring the whole, or the greater picture.
Idols of the Marketplace -- In Bacon's view, these idols are the most troublesome. The misuse of words and abuse of definitions, ill-defined words; cheapening of language, vagueness, the tendency of words to oversimplify what they represent, equivocation, euphemism, false dichotomy, and ambiguity.
Idols of Theater -- false ideas from misconceptions, passe philosophies. These idols tend to narrow scope and understanding. Wrong methodologies for investigating the world often result from adherence to outmoded thinking. The idea, "It was good enough for my father, it's good enough for me." Any impediment to objective observation.
Bacon was a highly political animal, active in the Elizabethan court the first half of his life. He had powerful political friends, such as Robert Devereux, rumored to be QEI's favorite, and even, lover. Another of his bosom buddies was George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham (he figures in The Three Musketeers), who later proved to be an unfaithful friend when Bacon's published science collided with prevailing opinion and Villiers took over some of Bacon's choice property when Bacon was banished from court! [He later thought better (could he have read this essay?) and helped restore his old friend's reputation.] Bacon was attacked when Novum Organum was published in 1620, a book that sought to replace Aristotle's pervasive influence in re deductive reasoning with the system of inductive reasoning.
The pain of being a Progressive is always with us!
Announcements
Pros and Cons has been discontinued. Alexi Hershey is caught up in a trans-continental move and other life pressures that make writing diaries impossible. Hopefully, when her life settle down, she and her series will return.
Fear not, I have a "Birth Announcement"! An innovative series by Cabbage Rabbit titled, The Illustrated Imagination is about to begin. Time slot TBA. If you're a fan of graphic novels, then you'll want to follow this series. Welcome to our new Editor!
Won't someone please write a regular series about Mysteries? This could easily be set up as a revolving Contributor series, thus the labor could be distributed among many. We have a lot of vocal lovers of murder and mayhem who practically write diaries about their favorite mystery writers and novels in comments to the What-I'm-Reading diaries around here. Let's organize you into an exciting regular weekly feature!
NOTE: To our Editors and Contributors who queue "found" diaries and write their own occasional R&BLer diaries -- please be sure to add the tags "Readers & Book Lovers" and "R&BLers" to them once they're published to the Group. The tags should appear exactly as written here. I mention this because, aside from their omission, I'm seeing a lot of creative variation in spelling and punctuation, which only adds tag superfluity and mess. Thank you for your care.
Editors Note Those of you who generously take space in your regular series to republish the schedule below, please note the changes; some omissions and movement from the schedule to the comments below it have been made. If you feel more comfortable to have the new code and wording e-mailed to you than editing your current code and wording, please let me know and I'll oblige. Thank you!
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM |
Science, Math, and Statistics Books |
plf515 |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
8:00 PM |
My Favorite Books & Authors |
billssha |
TUE |
8:00 AM |
Calvacade of Words |
aravir |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
THU |
10:00 PM |
The Illustrated Imagination:Graphic Novels |
Cabbage Rabbit |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
FRI |
9:00 PM (every 3rd week) |
A Book, Its Movie, and a Glass of Wine |
mdmslle |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
NOTE: Though not part of R&BLers Weekly Magazine Series, please look for "Indigo Kalliope: Poems From the Left" by various authors republished here every WED NOON by
aravir. Also look for "The Mad Logophile" by
Purple Priestess that appears intermittently, when the spirit moves her.
Other than that, nothing's happening.