(
Cross-posted on TexasKOS.com)
Left Blogistan is wide open, and I like it that way. I also like the "communities" that form within it; from the giant metro-sites like Kos, to the cozy villages populated by a few eccentrics. And, although it is not incorrect to call them communities, cultural critics may be on to something when they criticize, their, well, "virtualness".
Yes, we well may be intensely engaged intellectually and even emotionally with our Blogistan communities. We learn in them, we laugh in them, and we are even moved to action in the reality-based communities we also inhabit because of them. But we cannot lose that very human, very satisfying, and very necessary experience of "Presence".
Mr. dks, our last baby, and I have spent quite a bit of time lately with the Van Os campaign, expecially for David Van Os' "filibusters". Another time, I'll tell y'all about David, his philosophy, his hopes for Texas, and his nuts and bolts campaign. All those things are important, but what I really hope to share with you right now is the magic of Presence in community that he sparks with his "filibusters".
David simply goes to public places and talks to whomever wants to talk with him. His friends come and go during this time, some staying longer than others, some just to grip and grin. David has an idea of the shape of the conversation beforehand, but he expects and creates real dialogue. It is almost a Socratic experience.
Imagine yourself just after sundown, sitting on the grass in front of the steps of the state capitol, and a country lawyer is talking about the state constitution. Soon, he asks a question of you, wanting to know what you think of a particular point, or wanting to know if you have a story about what he's discussing. You find, after a few second's thought, that you do have something to say, and you slowly begin to articulate an idea or experience, or even another question. Something very deep inside you begins to emerge, and you find that what you have to say in response, opens up a spring in others. You feel intensely engaged; learning, teaching, questioning. You are not there to score points, to show how smart or informed you are. You along with the 20 or so others and that country lawyer, are, you suddenly realize, practicing democracy. Then it hits you - Elliot Shapleigh is over there on the grass, listening, as is Maria Luisa Alvarado, a tourist from Pakistan, a capitol guard, a few students, a bag lady, and sundry assorted folks - they're all listening to you. And the warm, breezy dark is like a caress, the bottle of cold water somebody hands you is like the finest bourbon, you can smell newly-mown grass, and you remember that this is the real world you want to make better; protecting this for the future is why your Presence is so important to these others, yourself and our posterity.
I have been on many a religious retreat wherein many people have worked very hard to elicit from me this same level of hyper-awareness, hope, and Presence that came naturally, unobtrusively and authentically in those hours spent in conversation about democracy. I have begun to understand David Van Os' trust in the people of Texas. I see with my heart as well as my mind what violence has been done to our way of life by the consultants turning citizens into consumers of politics, rather than the producers of government we are supposed to be. But I am again hopeful that we can end that violence. Join me in hope.