Necessity of utopian vision

From Redbadbear:

Futuristic novels and other art forms certainly have their place.  Unfortunately, those of dire predictions seem, so far, to have the accuracy edge.  On the other hand, we must always hold, in my opinion, to the Positive -- the Utopian -- vision.  A pragmatic approach, morally grounded, is crucial in organizing and fighting -- but the Utopian dimension is absolutely critical as well.  Here is an older post of mine on that.

On Thomas More:  A very fine film, A Man for All Seasons -- the 1966 version -- is very well worth seeing.  It still makes the rounds.  Whether you "believe in God", or not, the film says a great deal about individual Vision and Courage. (H)

UTOPIA AND MOVEMENT AND ORGANIZING: OVER THE MOUNTAINS YONDER [HUNTER GRAY  MAY 4, 2002]

Note by Hunter Bear:

Early morning thoughts stimulated at ASDnet and Idaho:

The search for Utopia -- no matter how fanciful it may seem to the tired and
the cynical and those of "smart" clever tongue -- is, along with an activist
and effective recognition of the on-going class struggle, an integral
dimension of any viable and vital social justice Movement.  To correlate
"utopianism" with inevitable war and repression -- as a few have on
ASDnet -- strikes me as not only grievously wrong but a key component of the
rationale/retreat from a bona fide democratic socialist perspective, and,
indeed, often from any militancy at all, into the pallid and frequently
militaristic and hardly civil libertarian box-canyon/dead end world of the
Tony Blairs and Bill Clintons and Al Gores, their predecessors and their
successors.

Socialism is the public ownership and operation of the means of production
and distribution -- and it also carries the very strong promise of the old,
time-honoured tribal communalism in an essentially industrial context.  And
all of that is something that's far, far above simply pork-chops and
pie-cards.

A Movement -- a great transcendent, surging wave for which people will
fight, and, if necessary die -- is a Flow that draws from -- and
stimulates -- meaningful local efforts.  A Humanistic Movement scatters its
sparks and seeds to the very Four Directions and those, fueled by the winds
of a religiosity grounded on the thrust for an infinitely and profoundly
radical "better world,"  in turn spark and fuel a myriad of new grassroots
rivulets that make up the stubbornly ever-persistent River of Change in the
Save the World Business.

It has always struck me that, in addition to the necessary and enduring
attributes of integrity and courage and commitment, any really effective
social justice organizer seeks to get grassroots people  together -- and
does;  develops on-going and democratic local leadership; deals solidly with
grievances and individual/family concerns; works with the people to achieve
basic organizational goals and  develop new ones.

And very, very fundamentally --  that genuinely flint-sharp and
fire-building social justice organizer builds a sense of the New World To
Come Over The Mountains Yonder and how all of that relates to the shorter
term steps and how those relate to it.

What we still refer to as "The Labor Movement" was neither initiated nor
fueled, say, in the virulently hostile 1910s and 1930s,  by people who were
searching solely for short-term relief.  People did not risk their very
lives in the Southern Civil Rights Movement for a cup of coffee or a job at
a cash register.

The promise of The Internationale, and the assurance in   "We can bring to
birth the new world from the ashes of the old" of Solidarity Forever, and
the dream of the "Beloved Community" were -- and very much still are -- the
Utopian Vision that continues to shine with enduring and compelling
brightness in the hearts and minds of always struggling Humanity no matter
how many mountain ranges and canyons and swamps loom between us and It.

Hunter Gray  [ Hunter Bear ]
www.hunterbear.org  ( social justice )
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´


HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq / 
St. Francis Abenaki / St. Regis Mohawk 
Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO

Check out our massive social justice website
www.hunterbear.org  The site is dedicated to our
one-half Bobcat, Cloudy Gray, and to Sky Gray:
http://hunterbear.org/cloudy_gray.htm
.
See my  new expanded/updated "Organizer's Book," 
JACKSON MISSISSIPPI -- with a new substantial 
introduction by me. And this book is also an activist's
how-to manual:  http://hunterbear.org/jackson.htm   

And see the related http://crmvet.org/comm/hunter1.htm 
and also "Fifty Years: Remembering Medgar Evers" :          
 http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/3876

See the Stormy Adoption of an Indian Child [My Father]:
http://hunterbear.org/James%20and%20Salter%20and%20Dad.htm
(Many photos.)

Our very substantial page on effective community organizing
techniques: http://hunterbear.org/my_combined_community_organizing.htm