Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology
So, I’ve taken part in a ton of activist groups in Iowa City over the last 15 years. A couple of months ago, I wrote some reflections on the good and bad of Iowa City activism. I kept most of that rather local to Iowa City. In this post, I’d like to extend this to broader lessons.
With that in mind, here are 4 lessons from local activism!
Some of you who know me might know I spent the last three years serving on the Iowa City Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC). And I’ve been the chair of HCDC since July 2021. As I finish up my 3-year term, I wanted to write a bit about all that and about housing in Iowa City (and elsewhere!).
The short version: HCDC does great work on community problems, but it’s not built for solutions to deep or structural problems.
Hi all – just posting briefly to wish readers a Happy Juneteenth!
For anyone not aware, the U.S. government just last year recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It commemorates the ending of legal slavery in the U.S. While the official day is June 19 (i.e., yesterday), many workplaces take off the following Monday or preceding Friday when it falls on a weekend. In line with that, my workplace gave everyone the day off today.
After a month full of Silicon Valley and sci-fi, I moved on to a much wider variety of topics. On this month’s reading list, I’ve got everything from sci-fi to food politics to regular politics to TV shows.
Some thoughts to follow, and I hope everyone enjoys!
So, here’s one of the biggest challenges on the left that I’ve been thinking about lately. We start with the core of a good idea. The idea even works well in specific situations. But then we turn that idea into some kind of Iron Law, trying to apply it way beyond its limits. The result? It doesn’t work so well any longer! I think we see this problem a lot with appeals to the notion of ‘lived experience.’
What’s going on here? What’s wrong with the appeal to lived experience?
© 2024 Base and Superstructure
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
