this is my first diary. i've read dailykos for some time now, but have yet to commit my thoughts to electronic words. this is a diary, in the more traditional, personal, sense of the term, where i hope to better develop my thoughts and solicit comments from whoever may read my sometimes incoherent, rambling... thoughts.
conservativism, whatever its manifestation, social, religious, political, is winning. think about it. where is the media today, compared to 30 years ago? where is the youth of today, compared to the youth of 30 years ago? what big ideas, overarching theories of polity, family, society, world, are most prevalent today? enough of the rhetoricisms. the point is, despite progressive advancements, and the dailykos community is certainly one of them, we are playing catch-up to conservative policies, ideas, feelings. it didn't used to be this way. the great debates 30 years prior were predominantly progressive in nature. even terrorism was progressive. now, the dominant ideology espouses wholesale privatization, and the subjugation of nearly everything to efficient market mechanisms. the dominant ideology of the day articulates an aristocratic vision, grounded in the myth of meritocracy. the dominant ideology of the day masks as common sense, as supporting the natural order of things, i.e., the superiority of men over women, god over man, might over powerlessness. this may not make sense, i've had quite a bit of mr. shaw's finest...
let us take a breather. i am concerned more with the evolution of ideas, the flow of sentiments, the, as deleuze and guattari would say, micropolitics. we need to build effective counter-structures, media, political, community, etc... to the conservative machine, but we need to do more, we need to change how people think, to shift the discourse of this country. framing, and full respect to george lakoff, i've read and enjoyed several of his books, will not do it alone. nor will communities like dailykos. we need to alter the political currents, to alter the evolution of ideas.
terrorism rightly occupies a privileged position in american political discourse. but just who are these terrorists? conservatives. osama bin laden, abu musab al-zarqawi, timothy mcveigh, eric rudolph, palestinian suicide bombers, abortion clinic bombers, etc... they are all political and religious conservatives. think back to the terrorists of 30 years ago. the symbionese liberation front, the weathermen, etc... they were
left-wing radicals. this point isn't about nostalgia, there is no need to romanticize the days when the left-wing used terroristic tactics. i do not, and i imagine that most of you do not, support terrorism, whatever its political aims. the point is to use terrorism as an emblematic instance of conservative domination in the political and religious realm.
perhaps most frightening of all is the increase of conservative groups on college campuses. that must sound silly. the point is that the generation that is one step out of power is increasingly conservative, ideological, and determined to win. many of these groups are financed and run by inside-the-beltway conservative organizations. irrelevant. the ideas of modern-day conservativism continue to spread unabated. they need to be countered, to be overcome.
in addition to developing talking points, frames, etc... we need to talk to people about our values and our ideas. talk to your apolitical and conservative friends, participate in more community activities that will allow you to speak with, understand, empathize with, those who may disagree with you. still participate in dailykos, in fundraising, in socializing with like-minded people, but we need to remove ourselves from progressive echo chambers once-in-a-while to communicate our values, ideas, to a larger audience, to the entire polity.
this is long enough. my ideas are poorly articulated. but please, post your comments, where do we go from here?