(no subject)

[gfish]

While I spent last week fretting over what was wrong, The Stranger came up with some answers. I really like it. I really like it. Urbanism as a political identity. It has a strong base, it reflects the realities of the demographics, it focuses on important things, it's self-perpetuating (a platform of improving city infrastructure to lure more people to the cities is brilliant), it has strong rhetorical potential. And it doesn't mean snivelling over to the right. Until someone comes up with something better, I'm going with this.

Comments

[socialistboy.livejournal.com]

i thought it sucked. not only do i live in backwards hickville, but i hate cities. they're fine for you, but i don't want to live in any place as big as seattle, or chicago. i miss out on a lot of "culture" living where i do, not many art shows, not many concerts, not amazing spakers... etc. but i live the slower pace of life, the fact that i can get to any edge of town in five minutes. to give up on this area of the country would have to mean going vegan, this is the feed corn and soybean capital of the nation. and, more importantly, we need help. poor progressives who live around these parts can't afford to go anywhere, and even if we did, most of us "working poor" are unskilled anyway. we'd just wind up in the same poverty we're in now, where we can get a part time job getting you coffee but not pay the rent. anyway, this is a braindead morning rant, i can give you a better argument later if you want. DON'T FUCKING ABANDON ME. :)

[gfish.livejournal.com]

The abandonment part isn't what I'm impressed by. If I were to rewrite this as a real manifesto, there is a lot I would drop. (Most of the spiteful negative comments. While I understand the anger that prompts, and think that the left deserves a couple weeks of grousing like that, it doesn't help in the long wrong.) What I like is that it provides a real framework that talks to the real core of the party. The Dems have tried to be everything to everybody for so long, we could really use a solid focus. I like the idea of the Dems not acting ashamed of their core for once. Properly done, I think it has the rhetorical capability to counteract the 'true america' bullshit that the GOP gets away with. Neither is any more true than the other, and I want a party that's willing to stand up and say so.