Thinking about political action

In my previous post, I raised the question of what to do about the increasingly violent American police and border guards.

And the discussion somewhat turned to the possibility of libertarians being a good choice to work on this, followed rapidly by a discussion of how awful libertarians are.

I will note that what I actually asked about what rhetorical strategies have a historical record of working. If no one has an opinion, fine.

Anyway, I've started reading Bury the Chains, a history of British abolitionism. It looks to be a good bit stranger than fiction.

Before abolitionism, three fourths of the human race was in servitude-- this includes Russian serfs in the count. It took about a century to abolish slavery-- and even though the results were incomplete, it's still a tremendous accomplishment.

Abolitionism started with a dozen people.

There is no noticeable faction in the US is strongly invested in improving the justice system. There's been some progress in exonerating innocent people, but not much in improving procedures so as not to convict them.

There are aspects of Republican, Democratic, progressive, independent, and libertarian thought which are highly compatible with working towards a sane justice system. I'm inclined to think that Obama would go along with a popular movement, but I don't think he's going to stick his neck our for that issue.

Thinking about political action

In my previous post, I raised the question of what to do about the increasingly violent American police and border guards.

And the discussion somewhat turned to the possibility of libertarians being a good choice to work on this, followed rapidly by a discussion of how awful libertarians are.

I will note that what I actually asked about what rhetorical strategies have a historical record of working. If no one has an opinion, fine.

Anyway, I've started reading Bury the Chains, a history of British abolitionism. It looks to be a good bit stranger than fiction.

Before abolitionism, three fourths of the human race was in servitude-- this includes Russian serfs in the count. It took about a century to abolish slavery-- and even though the results were incomplete, it's still a tremendous accomplishment.

Abolitionism started with a dozen people.

There is no noticeable faction in the US is strongly invested in improving the justice system. There's been some progress in exonerating innocent people, but not much in improving procedures so as not to convict them.

There are aspects of Republican, Democratic, progressive, independent, and libertarian thought which are highly compatible with working towards a sane justice system. I'm inclined to think that Obama would go along with a popular movement, but I don't think he's going to stick his neck our for that issue.

Where Garrison Keillor belongs

Over at Alas, a Blog, there was a link to Garrison Keillor being obnoxious:

Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that's their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite "Silent Night." If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn "Silent Night" and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write "Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we'll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah"? No, we didn't.

Christmas is a Christian holiday - if you're not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falalaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but don't mess with the Messiah.

Even though the Alas poster mentioned pogroms as sort of a joke in his article's title, I wasn't feeling especially threatened, partly because I think "White Christmas" is boring and there are any number of Christian Christmas carols which have better tunes.

If I look at the logic of what Keillor is saying, it's a good bit nastier than being cranky about secular Christmas music. He's attacking the way people behave when different groups live with each other-- they influence each other. They chose (on a group level-- individuals get a chance to have an effect, but it's the big groups that make the customs) what satisfies them. Jews wrote some Christmas music, but it's pretty much Christians who decided what would be a default part of the season.

And while I'm being cranky, when's the last time a Christian Christmas song got added to the canon? The Little Drummer Boy goes back to the 50s, and it was a translation. Somebody isn't working on developing their own customs.

Everyone's allowed to complain (though that doesn't seem very Minnesotan), but no one gets to be in charge. And speaking of Minnesotan, what happened to that Minnesotan nice? Buzz off, indeed.

I'm still not feeling especially threatened, though I very much hope acceptable discourse doesn't move in Keillor's direction. Also, he may have been exaggerating for humorous effect, but I didn't get the impression he was kidding.

He's actually attacking Unitarianism as a religion.

In any case, in a well-ordered world, his column would be the first act of a heart-warming Christmas story about learning to enjoy living with other people, even if they do have some effect on your customs. Maybe even especially if they do have some effect on your customs.

So, Happy Holidays to all of you, and may none of you be in as much need of the rest of a heart-warming story line as Keillor is.

Where Garrison Keillor belongs

Over at Alas, a Blog, there was a link to Garrison Keillor being obnoxious:

Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that's their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite "Silent Night." If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn "Silent Night" and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write "Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we'll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah"? No, we didn't.

Christmas is a Christian holiday - if you're not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falalaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but don't mess with the Messiah.

Even though the Alas poster mentioned pogroms as sort of a joke in his article's title, I wasn't feeling especially threatened, partly because I think "White Christmas" is boring and there are any number of Christian Christmas carols which have better tunes.

If I look at the logic of what Keillor is saying, it's a good bit nastier than being cranky about secular Christmas music. He's attacking the way people behave when different groups live with each other-- they influence each other. They chose (on a group level-- individuals get a chance to have an effect, but it's the big groups that make the customs) what satisfies them. Jews wrote some Christmas music, but it's pretty much Christians who decided what would be a default part of the season.

And while I'm being cranky, when's the last time a Christian Christmas song got added to the canon? The Little Drummer Boy goes back to the 50s, and it was a translation. Somebody isn't working on developing their own customs.

Everyone's allowed to complain (though that doesn't seem very Minnesotan), but no one gets to be in charge. And speaking of Minnesotan, what happened to that Minnesotan nice? Buzz off, indeed.

I'm still not feeling especially threatened, though I very much hope acceptable discourse doesn't move in Keillor's direction. Also, he may have been exaggerating for humorous effect, but I didn't get the impression he was kidding.

He's actually attacking Unitarianism as a religion.

In any case, in a well-ordered world, his column would be the first act of a heart-warming Christmas story about learning to enjoy living with other people, even if they do have some effect on your customs. Maybe even especially if they do have some effect on your customs.

So, Happy Holidays to all of you, and may none of you be in as much need of the rest of a heart-warming story line as Keillor is.