Pete Seeger again

I have been grieving the loss of Pete Seeger and celebrating his life and ours--all of those he sung to.

John Nichols wrote a wonderful piece in the Nation. But it was one of the comments to that piece that really said it for me.

GemmaSeymour 

• 2 days ago

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The older I get, the more I get Pete Seeger. Never did better walk this Earth, and if you don't understand why, then I suggest that you have become trapped by your own arguments, unable to see beyond the boundaries your rhetoric has defined.

I believe in the equal dignity of all the living, a principle which demands equal respect for, and equal protection under the law of, the natural, common, inherent, and unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and an equal share in the gifts of Nature, which were never created by the hand of any individual. That is the only kind of patriotism worth having.

Our culture has devolved into abject neoliberal productivist selfishness, elevating self-interest, market worthiness, and acquisitiveness above all. Self-interest is only the lowest form of morality, a foundation, not a goal, upon which we build higher morality. As we form legitimate government powers based upon the sacrifice of certain rights of the people in order to protect others, so do we form higher morality based on the sacrifice of personal self-interest for the greater good of the group, the family, the community, the nation, and all of humanity.

We can choose to pretend that the United States of America is a shining beacon to the world, or we can choose to fulfill the grand dreams of our forebears. My committment to my country can best be described in the words of one of the greatest Americans in history, the Republican Senator from Missouri, Carl Schurz, who in his address on the floor of Senate in 1872 spoke these powerful words, much mangled by those seeking self-serving, jingoistic pablum: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right, and if wrong, to be made right."


Also I've been listening to some of Pete Seeger's songs. Here is one I was not familiar with. Such a great epitaph to a great artist, man, and patriot.

My Rainbow Race

One blue sky above us, one ocean lapping all our shore

One earth so green and round, who could ask for more?

And because I love you I'll give it one more try

To show my rainbow race, it's too soon to die

Some folks want to be like an ostrich

Bury their heads in the sand

Some hope that plastic dreams

Can unclench all those greedy hands

Some hope to take the easy way

Poisons, bombs, they think we need 'em

Don't you know you can't kill all the unbelievers?

There's no shortcut to freedom

Go tell, go tell all the little children

Tell all the mothers and fathers too

Now's our last chance to learn to share

What's been given to me and you

One blue sky above us, one ocean lapping all our shore

One earth so green and round, who could ask for more?

And because I love you I'll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race, it's too soon to die

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Art and Revolution

Pete Seeger just died. He was a true hero of mine and a revolutionary and, as my son Aaron just reminded me, a true revolutionary because a compassionate revolutionary.

The event prompts me to add one more chapter to my little book The Next Revolution. I dealt with Religion and Revolution, Science, Ethics, Economics, Violence and Revolution. What about Art?

Art is the expression of a culture back to the culture. Like science, philosophy, religion, myth, and language itself, it is the search for and impression of meaning--the meaning of the universe, the meaning of humanity, the meaning of us. It takes life to a higher stage. By re-presenting and examining life, it make life worth living. It creates value.

The human capacity, the one that defines us most of all, is the capacity to imagine, to make images and use them to make sense of our surroundings and of us. It is a capacity that cannot be achieved, exercised, or developed alone. It requires our association with others, our ability to get under each other's skin, to agitate one another, to make us not passive spectators or followers but actors and leaders.

Diego Rivera did that with his painting, Albert Camus with his novels, Eugene O'Neill with his drama, Amiri Baraka with his poetry, Amy Goodman with her journalism, Judith Helfand with her environmental filmmaking, Martin Luther King with his sermons, Riana Eisler with her theology, and Pete Seeger with his songs. But of course, the counter-revolutionaries, absolutists and reactionaries, also express on radio, TV, newspaper, books, music, and drama. and often express well usually supported by well-healed patrons who have every interest in keeping things as they are or even turning back the clock a bit.

The role of art in revolution should not be underestimated. That is why oppressive regimes try to counter or control it through censorship, banishment, or worse. Art destabilizes, it causes people to think, it agitates. Yet at the same time art, like science and religion, seeks to find and create patterns in the chaos of life.

The "Beautiful" was classically defined as "what, when seen, pleases the observer." But that definition begged the question of why it pleases. Evolutionary psychology and neuroscience attempts to answer this by pointing out the brain's ability to name, to use symbols and models or images, to find and create patterns in the chaos of the universe. That is why one of the marks of a good scientific theory is its "elegance." It is also why artists are so fascinated with form.

The true revolutionary is both shaking up the present forms and presenting new ones often by rearranging the old. Good organizers know that organizing starts with disorganizing. Societies, nations, the world are already organized; but they are now organized to benefit some by exploiting others. That's what the organizer has to help the people to see. And art is her invaluable tool. Art with compassion. Art that brings people to sing along. Pete Seeger's kind of art.

Labor organizing

The new American revolutionary realizes that the working poor need to be organized not just at their working site, but at their living place. The progressive labor organizations recognize that unions should be engaged with broad based community organizations fighting for social, economic, and environmental justice through local publics.

At a book club meeting at the AFL-CIO yesterday, I heard from two of the contributors (Scott Paul and Harold Meyerson) of the new book Remaking of America, published by the Alliance for American Manufacturing which is pushing for a focus on manufacturing in the US and setting forth national policies that might accomplish more manufacturing jobs. They discussed the 11% decline in wages despite the increase in worker productivity, the off-shoring of jobs, the trade deficit, the misguided immigration policy, and the corporate use of profits and surplus cash to buy back stock rather than invest in R&D or workers. And they indicated how this is leading to general economic decline for the country as well as the greater disparity among rich and poor. They compared this shareholder capitalism to the stakeholder capitalism of Germany which includes worker input through councils and participation in boards.

But my ears especially perked up when Meyerson discussed the new demographics where the cities and where most of US residents live have elected progressive, usually Democratic mayors, which have become the locus of a shift of power from a national government that has been stymied by polarization. Recognizing this suggests a new organizing strategy for labor organizations by focusing energy and resources on local organizing in urban areas which will then influence state and national policies. A good example of this is the fight for raising the minimal wage to a living wage. But the same could be applied to training and incentives to immigrants, coordination instead of competition for locating companies, training and housing for workers, smart growth planning linking jobs, housing, and transportation, energy practices that keep down costs and maintain independence, and pressure on corporations to contribute more to their communities and their residents.

Most labor leaders would preach the same, but whether their practice will meet their rhetoric needs to be tested. The AFL-CIO has unions with locals, many participating in local Labor Councils, and has developed a worker center strategy that seems to be compatible with such a practice, but does not seem to be well implemented.

Since a number of us associated with organizing networks in various urban regions are discussing with the White House Council on Strong Cities and Strong Communities (SC2) the establishing of Local Resource Networks through "quarterbacking" community-based organizations, it seems to me that perhaps labor should be brought into the strategy. One payoff for labor would be the development of their worker centers. I will be contacting the Secretary/Treasurer of the AFL-CIO here in DC to see if they might be amendable and partners in our strategy.

Hope in Revolution

The character of the revolutionary is hope. Hope is an orientation to the future. Hope is the vision of new possibility in the here and now.

Liberation theologians teach that the God of revolutionaries is Future--that the divine nature is to be future. It is a Future which beckons us to leave the land of oppression and co-create a new place where victims become victors and the objects of history become the subjects of history. Like prophets they say: leave the land of oppression whether it is the rule of pharaohs and dictators, the necessity to scavenge to live, or the compulsion to stay stuck in victimhood.

Since creation is the divine activity in the world, those who co-create the future as a place of possibilities and a space of freedom are indeed embodying the divine act and so make Future present in the world, here and now. Such an act is not an onerous work but a joyful labour.

But here is where some roads might diverge. Some revolutionaries of an absolute mind fabricate the future in their own image. They have an ideology. They possess a blueprint of the future. They claim a special revelation of the will of God. In other words, they close possibilities by their ideas. And since the future is closed, set, already there, it is no longer open, emerging, teeming with possibilities, a matter of experimentation. It is no longer future at all. Already known as the right plan, it is executed by might, even violence--an armageddon, a dictatorship of the proletariat, a purge.

But the hope that liberation theologians are teaching is very different. It is connected to faith, which is an assertion into, not a dissolution of, tradition. It is an acceptance of the past to let it go. It is a seeing into the possibilities of the forms and institutions and teachings of the past rather than getting mired there and needing to destroy them. To be hopeful is to be faithful. It is to accept the past, the world as it is, the human condition and nature, in order to challenge it to achieve their possibilities. That is why liberation is not an act of hate, but of love. It is an engagement with what has become; it is a connection to all who are here and an affirmation that we all have a future together.

Faith, hope, and love--temporal dimensions of the same creative activity of building places of freedom where people can actualize their potential, search for infinity, desire to know everything, and achieve personal and public happiness.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," said Samuel Johnson. And we know what he meant. How some of those who claim to be patriots who wear flag lapels and condemn flag burning, who say "love America or leave it" to protesters, who jail and kill prophets, who attack anyone who questions the military budget or does not support a war are some of the greatest scoundrels especially when they are personally gaining votes or revenue by their stance. The patriot scoundrel refuses to acknowledge and learn from his nation's sins.

Conversely many who would criticize some of the oppressive acts of their nation, who might even go to prison because of their opposition, are some of the greatest patriots. True patriots, persons who love their country, have great hopes, but are not blind to its past transgressions. They confess them with contrition. They ask forgiveness and accept the penance of consequences for these transgressions. They commit themselves to sin no more and work hard to make their country more just to their own citizens and to others around the world.

The progressive republican is attempting to reconstruct the Republic by renewing traditional values; not by restoring some nostalgic utopia image of the past, but by exploring the possibilities for freedom and justice in the present institutions, no matter how they got here.

The traditional values of the United States of America are articulated in two formulas: the Declaration of Independence "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the pledge of allegiance "one nation under God" and "with liberty and justice for all." These express the heritage that guides republicans into the future.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enunciate the most fundamental of rights for all citizens. Each refers to a distinct dimension of human existence: economic, cultural, and political.

Life refers to the right to live and to have all the necessities for biological survival including nutrition, shelter, health, safety, and education. We as a nation pledge economic sufficiency. We pledge that no one will be denied these rights though we may differ as to how they will be provided to all.

Liberty refers to the right to enjoy the style of life and personal values that one chooses--as long as they do not infringe on others styles of living and personal values or deny others the necessities of life. We as a nation pledge cultural tolerance. We pledge to allow people to think, to read, to believe, to worship, to love, to entertain, to protect their household, to have private property, and to behave in private anyway that they want without interference from government.

The pursuit of happiness refers to the achievement of recognition, dignity, and respect. We as a nation pledge political power.  We pledge that all citizens have full and equal access to public space, have the right to associate, to speak in public, to organize for action, to influence policy, and to create political institutions. We pledge to continually reconstruct our society so that it is "just and free for all"--the words of the pledge of allegiance.

But consider "one nation under God." The "one nation" does not deny that we are a country with many tribes, clans, classes, cultures, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, languages, religions, belief systems, lifestyles, political parties, economic institutions, even many nations when we take into account native peoples. But it projects a hope that "e pluribus unum"--one from many, that people can listen and find common ground, that despite their differences they will engage with one another to ensure the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is the dream of a Republic that a nation is larger than the sum of its parts, that it has a character and therefore a "soul" or "spirit" that can transcend all differences. One nation was also a response to the civil war and expressed a hope that the nation could heal its divisions.

"Under God" Though a recent add on to the pledge of allegiance, we note that the founders used God language but, as men of the enlightenment, often meant Nature and the sum of the laws of Nature (Spinoza) or the Principle that got nature started and lets it work its way out (Deism). The people of the great evangelical awakenings and revival movements spoke of God as a supernatural spiritual entity above nature who acted like a parent with his children. In our postmodern age, "God," if used at all, is the process through which all consciousness and intelligence is converging or is the infinite point of ultimate convergence--a sort of Omega Point in Evolution. God is the be-coming one.

Even though "God" means something different in every religion and even within religions, it is certainly in the lexicon of the American Civil religion as demonstrated by how all presidents and candidates end their speeches with "God bless America." The positive in the use is the avoidance of deifying the nation which is under, but not divine. The negative is making the nation so exceptional that it is always right.

In any case, the Future is the unifying principle for the progressive republican, but a future that remembers its past and finds possibilities in the present.

New Year and Revolution

The New Year is the time to celebrate revolutions.

I finished my first draft of The Next Revolution (see previous blog) and sent it to some colleagues for review. My hope is to see it used to assist in the co-creation of more progressive revolutionaries.

In the meantime I am reading Ari Shavit's My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel. What a magnificent, moving narrative for all the concepts that I was trying to explain! I can see using this book as a text and my draft simply as a guide in a seminar on building a Progressive Republic.

All the stages from resistance to revolution are present. The progressive as well as the absolutist forms, the humorous, onerous, and ironic aspects, the demonic as well as the liberating consequences of revolution are so vividly and feelingly presented. And the continuation of history as a story of the oppressed liberating themselves by becoming oppressors. And the search for transcendence, for peace through justice, that motivates the violence and injustice of war.

From the top of the Mount, the gods or God or anyone who reflects must laugh at us mortals. And reading this book and seeing its parallels with the founding and continuation and triumph of my own country, has me laughing and weeping at the same time.

The rugged pioneers, resisting oppression in Europe, who inhabited the land under the protection of the British Empire. They took land or bought it from existing residents who did not want it and made it flower by working it with great intelligence and industry. They created small communes where everyone pitched in as they were able and everyone enjoyed the fruits of all.

These communities grew and more land was acquired. At times they had to protect their communities from hostile indigenous residents; but in general many of the indigenous residents prospered by the early settlers' industry as well. The communities came together and created a democratic nation, independent of Great Britain, with a constitution that guaranteed human and civil rights. They welcomed immigrants and became a place of refuge for those who had been persecuted or victims of war in Europe and elsewhere.

They had to further defend themselves from attacks of hostile nations and by indigenous residents to protect their borders and expand them as under the call of Divine Destiny. They developed new industries, powerful weapons, large new cities, great universities and cultural centers, and a strong economy. They developed a nuclear option and spread their influence beyond their borders often giving military aid to factions in other countries who would support them or topple governments who were hostile to them. They developed a civil religion based on their sacred scriptures and the interpretation of their tradition with various ways in which to participate in that religion. A significant faction developed a fundamentalist, evangelical, and absolutist interpretation that made them emissaries of divine will.

There was "blow back" by people who considered themselves oppressed by these actions in the form of massive demonstrations and then terrorist actions in vital centers. Concentration camps were built and torture permitted for the sake of security and self-defense.

Has the revolution, which brought about inclusive, public space where people would shed their victim status and fear to act positively for the good of all, been betrayed? Yes. Can it be redeemed? Only through a miracle. But not from outside. Not from some superpower. Not from a separate, distinct, supernatural God. The miracle will only come through new beginnings starting with the newly and recently born who can break the seemingly inevitable habits of their elders. The superpower within them acting together with new assumptions, new interpretations, and above all forgiveness and hope. The Next Revolution.