For awhile I'd thought you hadn't responded back - then I saw your post on your wall/page/whatever the fuck it's called. Oops. You intend to teach? That's awesome, so do I. Still have a ways to go before I can, though. I was working for a time this summer, delivering flowers for a local florist shop (I'd had the job before, but due to a series of unfortunate events I was let go). The work itself isn't very consistent, as there are no flowers to deliver on some days and loads to do on others. Of course you're a worker! You're selling your labor power, man. That makes it count...right?
"In between degrees" - what does that mean, exactly? I take it you've completed one and are about to start working towards the next? What are you doing for work? Must admit I'm a little bored myself. I'm back home for the summer, though I return to uni at the end of the month. Kind of looking forward to it, not much happens here and there's been a lot of exciting things going on in the Bay Area (BART strike and all that). Can't wait to throw myself back into the thick of things.
Hey, i'm alright thanks, bit bored at the moment - in between degrees and only doing very part-time work right now. How're you doing? Things OK across the pond?
You know, I haven't really spoken to you all that much lately. How goes things? What are you up to?
That sounds really interesting, actually. Let me know how that turns out. I've been good...could be better. Not been faring so well academically, but things are starting to look up. Been busy organizing on campus (bit frustrating at times, but then when isn't it?). When we talked last you mentioned you were trying to figure things out politically - how goes that? Any progress?
Hey bro, good man. So busy these days, though good news is that my dissertation project is leaning towards a Marxist investigation of the peasantry as the revolutionary 'class' of late-medieval England. Fascinating, and hopefully relevant for Marxist historiography! Will keep you updated! How you been? Sorry it's been so long!
Hey man, how goes it? Haven't spoken to you in a while...
All my instincts tell me to be virulently anti-party, not quite to the extent of anarchists (mainly because I do believe in some sort of transitional period between capitalism and communism..), but i'm then struggling with the question of organisation. I understand both sides of the argument but, to be honest, i'm just struggling in my own mind to grasp what I really believe. And I do have quite a democracy fetish in terms of local councils. To be honest, I don't have any doubts about that, I just get a bit sick of the anti-council current that seems to run on this website, and the Leninists and Liberals IRL who seem to have no understanding of Socialist theory beyond a vague opposition to Capitalism and some ideas on Trotsky, Stalin etc. Tbh that's why i'm so inactive at the moment and have been for nigh on a year: the group I was involved in at university essentially become an SWP front group under the 'right to work' campaign and drowned.
Any idea where you think you might stand on the issues you brought up? Where do you find yourself leaning (or is it a large gray area)? It might not be immediately applicable or relevant, but I'd argue that the more theoretically sophisticated the left is the more capable it will be in presenting an actual alternative to people. How do you think it relates to the Economics thread?
I'm a double-major in English and History, with the intent of going into teaching. And yeah, 50-100 contacts is a pretty great way to start off the semester - the question is how we engage these people in a way that encourages them to delve further into their interests regarding socialism, while also encouraging them to join the ISO (or at the very least getting more involved in activism, developing their theoretical understanding, and refining their opposition to capitalism). If they don't join, we'll at least have a sizable number of supporters along our periphery, which is also great. We're also getting the attention of a number of progressive coalitions and groups on campus, which'll give us an opening in terms of providing a socialist alternative and perspective to the liberal idealism currently predominating a lot of student (and off-campus) organizations.
