Hillbilly_Radical
1st December 2014, 01:49
Greetings to everyone. Late last night I had a great conversation on Omegle with an activist who is soon to head to Costa Rica to organize folks around Marxist ideas. S/he mentioned revleft and recommended that I sign up and meet folks. So I did.
I find myself becoming increasingly radical the older I become, the more I learn, and the more I witness. Unfortunately, I live in a part of the states that tends to be very conservative, where "communist" is hurled as an insult that instantly discredits the mildest ideas that are not completely aligned with Friedman-esque, free-market ideology, and where a concept like "anarchy" is only used (by both people on the left and right) to describe situations of pure chaos. In short, it is hard to connect with folks who are also interested in radical politics, let alone advance any sort of radical agenda. Perhaps ironically, I live in a part of the country where communities and people have paid dearly for their exposure to the naked, extractive nature of capitalism. It is a difficult place, but one with some potential for positive movement.
I come to radical politics through a number of different avenues. On a purely personal level, the stories of Utah Phillips, as compiled and edited by Ani DiFranco, have had an enormous impact on my life and have lead me to question and seek information on those parts of US and world history that are not commonly taught. His stories resonate with me and continue to serve as a guide and mirror for reflecting my personal behavior and how I engage in the world. Most of my work life has been in low wage jobs, and I've seen/experienced over and over how people at the bottom continually get screwed by the system, their contributions hardly ever acknowledged, their character consistently questioned for no other reason than that they're poor. This has created in me a strong distaste for hierarchy and all forms of so called "leadership," as well as a desire to work for radical change.
Am I an anarchist? A communist? Something altogether different or something in between? I don't really know. I tend not to care about labels, though I get that they matter for a lot of people and that a lot of folks have fought, gone to prison, been killed, or have otherwise put in a lot of work to clarify and understand ideological platforms that they identify with. I tend to appreciate the philosophical and economic analysis provided by Marx and folks associated with him, while the goals and outcomes of some strands of anarchism tend to resonate with me the most.
I am here on this site/in this community to listen, learn, and deepen/expand my understandings and knowledge of radical left politics and tactics. Thanks and I look forward to being in conversation with you all.
I find myself becoming increasingly radical the older I become, the more I learn, and the more I witness. Unfortunately, I live in a part of the states that tends to be very conservative, where "communist" is hurled as an insult that instantly discredits the mildest ideas that are not completely aligned with Friedman-esque, free-market ideology, and where a concept like "anarchy" is only used (by both people on the left and right) to describe situations of pure chaos. In short, it is hard to connect with folks who are also interested in radical politics, let alone advance any sort of radical agenda. Perhaps ironically, I live in a part of the country where communities and people have paid dearly for their exposure to the naked, extractive nature of capitalism. It is a difficult place, but one with some potential for positive movement.
I come to radical politics through a number of different avenues. On a purely personal level, the stories of Utah Phillips, as compiled and edited by Ani DiFranco, have had an enormous impact on my life and have lead me to question and seek information on those parts of US and world history that are not commonly taught. His stories resonate with me and continue to serve as a guide and mirror for reflecting my personal behavior and how I engage in the world. Most of my work life has been in low wage jobs, and I've seen/experienced over and over how people at the bottom continually get screwed by the system, their contributions hardly ever acknowledged, their character consistently questioned for no other reason than that they're poor. This has created in me a strong distaste for hierarchy and all forms of so called "leadership," as well as a desire to work for radical change.
Am I an anarchist? A communist? Something altogether different or something in between? I don't really know. I tend not to care about labels, though I get that they matter for a lot of people and that a lot of folks have fought, gone to prison, been killed, or have otherwise put in a lot of work to clarify and understand ideological platforms that they identify with. I tend to appreciate the philosophical and economic analysis provided by Marx and folks associated with him, while the goals and outcomes of some strands of anarchism tend to resonate with me the most.
I am here on this site/in this community to listen, learn, and deepen/expand my understandings and knowledge of radical left politics and tactics. Thanks and I look forward to being in conversation with you all.