“Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago.” --John Wesley
Last night was one of those amazing nights in your life. A week before getting married, speaking at an event of excited voters and volunteers who want to work hard getting better economic policy, fix the health care crisis. I got to be in a huge room full of people to watch probably the best political speech of my era.
In his intro video his wife said something like... "he is always trying to push people forward..."
Politics is difficult--power struggles, coalition building, compromise that will infuriate policy from the ivory tower, and basic biology (10% of our thought is conscious while 90% is unconscious--this makes things very complex when trying to navigate the above mentioned difficulties)
Its time to move on from the A Speculative Fiction Blog... I will be moving www.JimNichols4.com to a new blog I will be starting: Jim Nichols which will contain my writings and other efforts to bring policy to the forefront of the debate... Context on working within the two party system; of which politicians, which policies, should be stopped; and which should be promoted and supported.
I didn't get home till 11:30 last night... I was then on the phone with a reporter--after having been up since 1:30am that morning I sometimes worry how well I can articulate ideas without getting intellectually sloppy. I was in bed by midnight and back up at 1:30am. Despite how tired I was, I couldn't have felt better when I got up this morning.
My life has so much meaning and so much happiness and love in it. For so long in my life I could never get to a place that would end the anguish and rage. My mind can perpetuate bad and make it worse... grow hobgoblins from minor mistakes or slip ups from those around me.
When I got off of work about 8:30am this morning I had a phone call from a man in Henry that wanted to get involved in helping increase the education and awareness of democrats on policy. It was a wonderful conversation I had with him. One of my passionate beliefs in my efforts to reform the Democratic Party is that we are terribly inarticulate when it comes to policy.
The impacts of the inability to respond to attack ads, smear campaigns, inaccurate and manipulative data... means that the intimidation works to keep people silent. I learned that no matter how much I tried to argue policy in the run up to the war. The attacks on me personally were very effective in undermining my ability to communicate with those who were honestly trying to make a careful informed decision.
I learned from that that I'm going to fight within the Democratic party to make sure that we are a well organized and are running quality candidates. I also learned that I will no longer let conservatives attack anyone who is trying to fight to improve the lives of neighbors down the street, on the other side of the country, or on the other side of the world.
MLK Jr. said, "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." And that is something I have finally understood. I'm trying to push and prod those who should be rolling up their sleeves to keep political power out of the hands of those who "do not know"
"Now, I don't believe John McCain doesn't care whats going on in the lives of Americans; I just think he does not know." --Barack Obama
That floored me. In a single phrase, Obama was able to articulate in the manner of MLK or Gandhi that the opposition is wrong and we will never stop until we have made such ideas null and void.
Its a way of saying things that stays true to Ghandi's nonviolence of the mind that we all must nurture.
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.That single phrase has inspired me to stop holding back and as Henry Rollins said once in a spoken word--you got to cut the shit.
I'm in... I'm all in. I don't know where it goes and what the path will lead. But I know that to accomplish my goal of helping organize and lead a strong community of people who want to improve our lives--all of our lives. Therefore I have to let go of some of that which is me, some of the decoration and novelty that helped cut me out of the stone. But its a time and place that is no longer called for, and is no longer me, or who I want to be.
Like my other blogs... I will just let it die rather than delete it... I will leave it up but stop promoting it or linking to it. I have said things here that I will look back and smile on for the rest of my life. I've also made mistakes, said unfortunate things, and have shown the struggles and scars of rising up above the world you somehow find yourself in.
I am working with a cohort within the reality based community to create a blog on the upcoming general assembly session as well as continue to pull from the best blogs and articles that can be found online... and throw my two cents in. More attention needs to be brought to the state level... and blogger are just the ones to do it since the local press needs some market competition to keep them honest!
But its now to say goodbye to A Speculative Fiction. In a week I'll be starting the next step in my journey and will be marrying the love of my life--who believed in me long before I did.
I want to say thank you to my readers, the emails, and comments. Its been fun and hopefully fruitful for others, because it has been a huge part of me. But now its time to move on from the "personal blog" form into something more professional. There is nothing wrong with blog as an outlet to describe life, share ideas, and just good old fashion ramble.
But I have a goal of bring a writer, giving good political analysis on the economy, foreign policy, and other important issues. To increase my ability to become more and more productive and more and more skilled in my commentary, I have to remove some of the fluff which may entertain me on good days, and drag me down to the gutter of the blogosphere on worse days.
There is only so much time and my time writing should go predominately to writing at a level that respect the intelligence of my readers and myself.
I will certainly update this last post with any activities or directions that these new steps in my life are taking. But I just wanted to say so long to A Speculative Fiction... the problems that need to be address are neither fiction nor speculation. I didn't know where I was heading with this blog. But it got me to where I needed to be and it was a fun ride.
Please drop me a line at Jim.Nichols@gmail.com
For now I'll leave you with the single greatest statement on why conservative policy makers just don't get it...
In Washington, they call this the "Ownership Society," but what it really means is that you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck, you're on your own. No health care? The market will fix it. You're on your own. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. You are on your own.Those of us who have been given gifts have an obligation to give back. We must stand up and fight for those who can't fight for themselves, protect what makes us great, and empower our communities to thrive rather than perpetuate self-destructive decline...
And now... for posterity's state. One more angry sigh...
We don't care if we're destroyed. We'll never capitulate. We'll take the whole fucking world down, down with us in flames. Just a speculative fiction. No cause for alarm. We got a good 15 years left till the United We Stand murals on West Broadway finally fade and we wave good-bye to such sad, childish refrains. Replaced with other stupid lullabies like "you can have my guns when you pry them from my cold dead hands". Just a speculative fiction. No cause for alarm. --Propagandhi "A Speculative Fiction"
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Jim Nichols
A Speculative Fiction
www.JimNichols4.com
1 comment:
Well said and well done. You sir, are a phoenix.
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