Wednesday, January 18, 2006
SDS is Back
Paul Buhle, founding member of a new organization of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), writes here on the rationale or justification for the group's revival, suggesting that the core reasons for its first incarnation remain, such as: the Empire's overreach; the failure of the mainstream liberals or Democrats to function as an attractive alternative to the conservatives; and the need for students and others to organize into a radical, idealistic movement that can challenge the pretensions of the ruling class. It is a story that might have made Rothbard happy, but, in any case, it is reported to be an organization that welcomes libertarians, and it may be hoped that left-libertarians in particular will reach out, for the betterment of both (for lack of a better term) the anti-statist, 'traditional' left and left-libertarians.
The original organization's famous Port Huron statement may, perhaps, leave something to be desired--for instance, in its rhetorical focus on democracy rather than on the goals of the anti-statist left--peace and freedom and justice--but, it remains nonetheless an inspiring document, as it criticizes the stultifying air of the present-day university system and, too, the unselfconscious apathy of the majority with respect to the injustices of the world; and as it calls for a fulfillment of mankind's capacity to love and to reason and to create and maintain peace; and in its apparent esteem for local solutions; etc.
Regardless, though, of the original(?) New Left's charter documents, designs, and successfulness, today we may seek to rebuild a coalition of those who truly seek freedom and peace and justice. A cursory glance at the essays on the SDS's website shows that, even if in nothing else, the anti-state 'traditional' left and left-libertarians should find a way to unite for so-called civil rights (at least mostly) and international peace.
My apologies to my reader(s) if I stand guilty of having raised too high my hopes.
I end with Tom Hayden's words:
"Some would have us believe that Americans feel contentment amidst prosperity--but might it not better be called a glaze above deeply felt anxieties about their role in the new world? And if these anxieties produce a developed indifference to human affairs, do they not as well produce a yearning to believe that there is an alternative to the present, that something can be done to change circumstances in the school, the workplaces, the bureaucracies, the government? It is to this latter yearning, at once the spark and engine of change, that we direct our present appeal."
(Thanks to Roderick Long and Brad Spangler for a link.)
The original organization's famous Port Huron statement may, perhaps, leave something to be desired--for instance, in its rhetorical focus on democracy rather than on the goals of the anti-statist left--peace and freedom and justice--but, it remains nonetheless an inspiring document, as it criticizes the stultifying air of the present-day university system and, too, the unselfconscious apathy of the majority with respect to the injustices of the world; and as it calls for a fulfillment of mankind's capacity to love and to reason and to create and maintain peace; and in its apparent esteem for local solutions; etc.
Regardless, though, of the original(?) New Left's charter documents, designs, and successfulness, today we may seek to rebuild a coalition of those who truly seek freedom and peace and justice. A cursory glance at the essays on the SDS's website shows that, even if in nothing else, the anti-state 'traditional' left and left-libertarians should find a way to unite for so-called civil rights (at least mostly) and international peace.
My apologies to my reader(s) if I stand guilty of having raised too high my hopes.
I end with Tom Hayden's words:
"Some would have us believe that Americans feel contentment amidst prosperity--but might it not better be called a glaze above deeply felt anxieties about their role in the new world? And if these anxieties produce a developed indifference to human affairs, do they not as well produce a yearning to believe that there is an alternative to the present, that something can be done to change circumstances in the school, the workplaces, the bureaucracies, the government? It is to this latter yearning, at once the spark and engine of change, that we direct our present appeal."
(Thanks to Roderick Long and Brad Spangler for a link.)
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