My maternal grandfather Robert O’Dowd was an Irish 1st generation American who was a card carrying member of the Communist Party back in the day when it was a romantic movement. When the farm in Michigan went bust he went into town to join the rank and file in the booming auto industry. He became embroiled in the embryonic Labour Movement and fought for the rights of workers to be members of a union.
Though inspirational it was to be his undoing. He helped organise and lead various strikes and routinely got his head stoved in by government goon squads. He died of a brain haemorrhage years later in his favourite bar. He wasn’t yet 40.
My maternal great grandmother Elizabeth Broom was a colourful Englishwoman from Devon who owned and ran a speakeasy during the Prohibition which included girls upstairs as an optional extra.
And my great great uncle on my dad's side of the family, Jesus Garcia, is a folk hero in Mexico who was a train engineer when a dynamite laden train caught fire in the middle of the town of Nacozari, Sonora. He drove the train out towards the mines away from the heavily populated town center and blew up with the train! A folk song "Maquina 501" tells the story in a bit more detail. That was November 1907 so this year is the centenary party which I’m hoping to get to.
I always find it confounding when I hear people say "I leave the politics to the politicians"........that in itself is an act of disengagement, surely?
Yep. That old apathy chestnut again. There’s no point whinging about stuff that you can ostensibly affect change about if you don’t make your feelings known to the people in power who are supposed to be there to represent and implement our ideas and opinions. Bitching and complaining can be great fun but pretty ineffectual unless it spawns great literature or art or is backed up with calls and letters and voting with your feet on polling day. Unless of course you are a member of the Anarchist Party whose motto is “Don’t Vote"! Because whoever you vote for The Government always gets in.”
Naomi Klein has written a book called No Logo, in an attempt to de-mystify and critique globalisation and capitalism. She makes clear the complete lack of unbranded public space, ie gigs, art exhibitions, murals - multinationals have crept into patronising all these events and use them as a tool to enhance a brand culture for themselves. What's your view on this?
Article comments
1 - Rob
Nice post. I recently blogged about how you can extend the Open Source ethos to not only software but also politics and even food and drink! There's a tenuous link between how do Naomi Kleins no-brand, no-logo cola, chicken curry, and beer affect globalisation.