A Welcome Message - Audience and Message
One of the most important decisions when creating a news or educational work -- a blog, a pamphlet, a book, a podcast, a youtube channel -- is to decide who the audience is going to be and what you want to tell them, which requires that you know why your message is even worth spreading in the first place.
This blog is no exception. The "why" is fairly straight-forward -- with growing poverty, growing racism, sexism, and xenophobia, and a several ecological crises looming on the near horizon, we must create cultural and institutional change and develop a new world where we can all live in peace with each other and with nature. We need a world free of pollution and climate change, free of war and poverty, free of racism and sexism, that encourages every single person to be the best they can be and develop their own interests, hobbies, and lifestyle. In a word, a world where we can all be happy.
Exactly what to say about the topic depends heavily on who I'm talking to. Different people come from different backgrounds, and come to the table with different knowledge and unique experiences. I don't want to presume lack of knowledge or downplay personal experience and "explain" too much, but at the same time I want to be inclusive of those seeking to learn more or hear other perspectives. Finding the right balance is part of identifying the who.
Given the nature of social media, I do not expect to be immediately in front of people who don't already consider themselves "progressive" or have never heard about socialism at least a little bit. While education is a vital part of any movement, this platform seems the incorrect one for the deep one-on-one conversation necessary for grassroots organizing -- that is the place for local activism and organizing, and even publishing and distributing pamphlets and newsletters to the general public.
Instead, I see this blog project as an educational blog primarily for other left-leaning activists. I hope to present a different perspective than is often seen, even from other leftist sources: a strongly eco-socialist point of view. To be clear, in this blog I speak only for my own view of where the American "left" needs to go and what "eco-socialism" means (or should mean), and do not claim it represents any particular organization or political party. However, I'll point out when my ideas have been influenced by those organizations when possible in case you'd like to learn more about them directly.
The term "eco-socialist" is somewhat vague and draws ideas from a number of viewpoints: classical socialism and anarchism (such as classic thinkers like Marx and Kropotkin), as well as the more modern civil rights, feminist, environmentalist, and anti-war movements. In particular, I draw heavily from the ideas of Bookchin's "social ecology" which attempts to provide a modern perspective that integrates much of the above views into a single framework. I might more accurately call myself a "social ecologist" but the term "eco-socialist" in my view overlaps greatly and is more clearly understood by the general public ("social ecology" sounds more a like a branch of science than a philosophy). I will use the two terms somewhat interchangeably in an effort to bring Bookchin's ideas more into the public discussion as the word "socialism" becomes more widespread and less scary to the general population. To make it clear though -- I don't treat Bookchin or any author as an "authority" or "gospel". Good ideas are good ideas, and any ideas should be thoughtfully questioned and analyzed; it is my goal to learn from these works for a strong, modern platform suited for today's conditions which are already very different from even 50 years ago thanks to internet, globalization, and more, never mind 100+ years ago when many socialist works were first written.
Synthesizing all of these ideas together, eco-socialism seeks a society based on freedom, equality, and justice, that governs itself democratically, works diplomatically for peace and mutual cooperation with its neighbors, and builds an economy and lifestyle that is sustainable and lives in harmony with nature. Since we prioritize freedom and individual liberty, we want to "decentralize" decision making as much as possible by letting communities directly make important decisions instead of handing down decisions from a state or federal government -- as such, I might sometimes refer to my view as "libertarian eco-socialism" to raise the decentralization strategy distinction that isn't always found in other socialist viewpoints.
So who is this blog for? I anticipate most readers of this blog to be those seeking an eco-socialist perspective on current events and news, whether they call themselves "progressive", "democratic socialist", or any other related term. Many will be politically active or even activist organizers themselves, but this isn't required -- just an open-mind and willingness to challenge ideas and ask questions (I don't necessarily know everything either!). I won't assume too much familiarity with terms and concepts, especially outside of traditional socialism, so that it can remain accessible to new folks -- but I'll try to keep that content clearly separate so long-time activists can more easily skim and skip to interesting parts.
While traditional socialist thought is typically a bit more known, anarchist and green thought is less so. Therefore, in addition to current events, I also expect regular "book reviews" or other educational material addressing the history of the movement and where it must go next.
I don't want to spread myself too thin so initially posts will be a bit irregular; however, I hope to build up to at least one post a week. I might lean a little heavier on educational material at first as I gather my thoughts and create an archive of reference material for future use, but in the near future expect to alternate regularly between historical education and current events posts.
Thank you for visiting and reading -- let's get started.
This blog is no exception. The "why" is fairly straight-forward -- with growing poverty, growing racism, sexism, and xenophobia, and a several ecological crises looming on the near horizon, we must create cultural and institutional change and develop a new world where we can all live in peace with each other and with nature. We need a world free of pollution and climate change, free of war and poverty, free of racism and sexism, that encourages every single person to be the best they can be and develop their own interests, hobbies, and lifestyle. In a word, a world where we can all be happy.
Exactly what to say about the topic depends heavily on who I'm talking to. Different people come from different backgrounds, and come to the table with different knowledge and unique experiences. I don't want to presume lack of knowledge or downplay personal experience and "explain" too much, but at the same time I want to be inclusive of those seeking to learn more or hear other perspectives. Finding the right balance is part of identifying the who.
Given the nature of social media, I do not expect to be immediately in front of people who don't already consider themselves "progressive" or have never heard about socialism at least a little bit. While education is a vital part of any movement, this platform seems the incorrect one for the deep one-on-one conversation necessary for grassroots organizing -- that is the place for local activism and organizing, and even publishing and distributing pamphlets and newsletters to the general public.
Instead, I see this blog project as an educational blog primarily for other left-leaning activists. I hope to present a different perspective than is often seen, even from other leftist sources: a strongly eco-socialist point of view. To be clear, in this blog I speak only for my own view of where the American "left" needs to go and what "eco-socialism" means (or should mean), and do not claim it represents any particular organization or political party. However, I'll point out when my ideas have been influenced by those organizations when possible in case you'd like to learn more about them directly.
The term "eco-socialist" is somewhat vague and draws ideas from a number of viewpoints: classical socialism and anarchism (such as classic thinkers like Marx and Kropotkin), as well as the more modern civil rights, feminist, environmentalist, and anti-war movements. In particular, I draw heavily from the ideas of Bookchin's "social ecology" which attempts to provide a modern perspective that integrates much of the above views into a single framework. I might more accurately call myself a "social ecologist" but the term "eco-socialist" in my view overlaps greatly and is more clearly understood by the general public ("social ecology" sounds more a like a branch of science than a philosophy). I will use the two terms somewhat interchangeably in an effort to bring Bookchin's ideas more into the public discussion as the word "socialism" becomes more widespread and less scary to the general population. To make it clear though -- I don't treat Bookchin or any author as an "authority" or "gospel". Good ideas are good ideas, and any ideas should be thoughtfully questioned and analyzed; it is my goal to learn from these works for a strong, modern platform suited for today's conditions which are already very different from even 50 years ago thanks to internet, globalization, and more, never mind 100+ years ago when many socialist works were first written.
Synthesizing all of these ideas together, eco-socialism seeks a society based on freedom, equality, and justice, that governs itself democratically, works diplomatically for peace and mutual cooperation with its neighbors, and builds an economy and lifestyle that is sustainable and lives in harmony with nature. Since we prioritize freedom and individual liberty, we want to "decentralize" decision making as much as possible by letting communities directly make important decisions instead of handing down decisions from a state or federal government -- as such, I might sometimes refer to my view as "libertarian eco-socialism" to raise the decentralization strategy distinction that isn't always found in other socialist viewpoints.
So who is this blog for? I anticipate most readers of this blog to be those seeking an eco-socialist perspective on current events and news, whether they call themselves "progressive", "democratic socialist", or any other related term. Many will be politically active or even activist organizers themselves, but this isn't required -- just an open-mind and willingness to challenge ideas and ask questions (I don't necessarily know everything either!). I won't assume too much familiarity with terms and concepts, especially outside of traditional socialism, so that it can remain accessible to new folks -- but I'll try to keep that content clearly separate so long-time activists can more easily skim and skip to interesting parts.
While traditional socialist thought is typically a bit more known, anarchist and green thought is less so. Therefore, in addition to current events, I also expect regular "book reviews" or other educational material addressing the history of the movement and where it must go next.
I don't want to spread myself too thin so initially posts will be a bit irregular; however, I hope to build up to at least one post a week. I might lean a little heavier on educational material at first as I gather my thoughts and create an archive of reference material for future use, but in the near future expect to alternate regularly between historical education and current events posts.
Thank you for visiting and reading -- let's get started.
Comments
Post a Comment