Friends, I added a final section to the previous chapter, "Envisioning a transformational movement". here it is, rkm -------------------------------------------------------- draft version 3.13 * Transformation: the means are the ends With the possible exception of Cuba, no victorious revolution has ever succeeded in escaping from hierarchy and elite rule. There are many reasons for this, and we could analyze them from many perspectives. I'd like to offer one particular perspective, because I think it gets down to the root of the problem. I suggest that every revolution has been based on this sequential model: Achieve victory; create new political arrangements; transform culture This model seems to make a great deal of sense. If we want our new culture to be of the partnership variety, for example, we certainly need to change our political arrangements first. Right? And before we can do that, we must have the power to do so, which means we need to achieve victory. How could there be any other way? Yet, sensible and inevitable as the model may seem to be, it has consistently failed to deliver the goods. The flaw in the model, I suggest, arises from we might call "cultural momentum." If victory is achieved within the dominator paradigm, and if the new political arrangements are designed by people still embedded in that paradigm, then the old political arrangements are likely to be re-invented -- albeit under optimistic new labels. The dominator culture served to support the dominator systems, and from that cultural perspective we can expect similar systems to emerge again. We could also look at the flaw this way: if you've never lived in a democratic society, then you are unlikely to understand the dynamics of such a society, and hence you are unlikely to know what political arrangements might support those dynamics. Finally, we could look at the flaw in terms of means and ends. The old question -- Do the ends justify the means? -- refers to the compromises, the outrages, that have sometimes been committed in the pursuit of a "glorious revolution." The choice of such reprehensible means arises naturally out of the old, dominator culture. The culture of the revolutionary movement itself becomes a dominator culture. What could we expect from such a movement other than a new dominator society? The truth is that the means always become the ends. Our own transformational movement, based on harmonization and community empowerment, reverses the traditional sequence. It follows this model: Transform culture; create new political arrangements; achieve victory Harmonization is the appropriate culture for a partnership society, and the primary activity of the movement is the spreading of the new culture from community to community. Each community retains its autonomy within the movement and operates internally on a harmonized, inclusive, democratic basis. As empowered communities learn to work together, harmonizing their concerns and activities, they are creating the political arrangements that are appropriate to a democratic, partnership society. When victory comes, the new culture and political arrangements are already in place: cultural momentum is on our side; we have already lived under the new culture; the means were the same as the ends from the very beginning. -- ============================================================ If you find this material useful, you might want to check out our website (http://cyberjournal.org) or try out our low-traffic, moderated email list by sending a message to: •••@••.••• You are encouraged to forward any material from the lists or the website, provided it is for non-commercial use and you include the source and this disclaimer. Richard Moore (rkm) Wexford, Ireland "Escaping The Matrix - Global Transformation: WHY WE NEED IT, AND HOW WE CAN ACHIEVE IT ", somewhat current draft: http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/rkmGlblTrans.html _____________________________ "...the Patriot Act followed 9-11 as smoothly as the suspension of the Weimar constitution followed the Reichstag fire." - Srdja Trifkovic There is not a problem with the system. The system is the problem. Faith in ourselves - not gods, ideologies, leaders, or programs. _____________________________ cj list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=cj newslog list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=newslog _____________________________ Informative links: http://www.indymedia.org/ http://www.globalresearch.ca/ http://www.MiddleEast.org http://www.rachel.org http://www.truthout.org http://www.williambowles.info/monthly_index/ http://www.zmag.org http://www.co-intelligence.org ============================================================
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