New Cities/New Soviets

October 14, 2004

Comfort and Security

The revolution will not be waged in the name of joy. Joy is only a byproduct, the irreducible of life. The place where joy grows is less flashy -- a comfortable chair, a warm meal, a safe place to stay.

A small measure of comfort and security is a life's pursuit, and still unnatainable by the majority. Under capitalism it cannot be any other way. Pinky points out that, despite neo-lib economics all-worship of the pleasure principle, it is the pain priciple that is the real driver of the world. The pleasure principle has a tenuous reality at best -- mostly, as you move up the "economic ladder" there is just an exchange of more comfort for less security.

So yes, do we fight for a world run by joy? But can this world be struggled for under the banner of joy? I doubt it. My joy and your joy are fickle things, and fleeting, often contradictory, and not easily lined up. Because this is the question. Power is a question of being lined up.

Posted by Sam at October 14, 2004 09:21 AM

very fine post
forces me to the point of confusion

i start out with a shared perception and conviction

and then feel clapped on both sides of the head

as the world smacks me
for buying into the silly simple story
of man
according to brother pain and sister pleasure

mustn't there be more then this + - - +

Posted by: pinky at October 14, 2004 04:30 PM

Pleasure and Pain... A simplistic coin flip.

What is pleasure?

- intimacy (without ledger books)
- social connectivity (with consequence)
- awareness (without ideology)
- gratification (without entropy)
- self-initiation (without death)
- motivation (without duty)
- self-recursivity (without boredom)
- intrigue (without delusion)
- passion to create (versus the duty to produce)

This is a fun exercise: define the dialectic of pleasure as a source for social change, relations, and motivation.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 14, 2004 08:34 PM

do you ever get the feeling some leftoids
have a xmas type list for come
their own favorite revolution

my revolution would have ....

like its alice's wonderland
they're lewis carroll
alice is the woikers
or maybe just koolees like themselves
or what ever
and yet heres the crux of the crock
they believe
there's gotta be "a real rabbit hole"
out there some where
waiting for em

Posted by: meat me at October 16, 2004 11:52 AM

a list of demands -- sure.

if you don't define what you want you'll usually end up with what you don't

Posted by: eric blair at October 18, 2004 12:18 PM

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