This is the reformist motto: “Yes, things are bad, but it’s not too late!”
Hope can be transformative, but can also trap us in dialectical struggle. 
Something will always be bad, and whatever it is at a given moment is what will receive the attention of the elite. And what is the steady reply? We’ve got to […]

As soon as we take for granted that there are better and worse ways of doing things, we create a hierarchy that implies perfection at the top. I’ve written that “modern society has a predilection for centralization;” modernity obsesses over perfection by collecting what are perceived as the best ways to do things into what is […]

Sandy Witkow and John Greenberg are doing something incredible: they’re offering vernacular election coverage. I remember hearing them talk about their plans months ago when I was still living in Chicago and thinking too good to be true, not gonna happen. But they were serious, and they have worked hard to bring you the Pilsen Interactive […]

Here’s a problem: reformists end up playing by oppressor’s rules, forming factions, and marginalizing minorities; revolutionaries become zealots who need to convert an army before they get anything done.
Here’s the underlying problem: change is slow, because people change slowly. Reformists want change that requires the consent of the very people responsible for why things are […]

Fall is here and all those TV shows I had forgotten about enjoying are starting again. Looking for jobs can’t take up all the time in a day, so I find myself streaming pop culture into my house from Hulu.
The third season of Heroes premiered last night. Heroes is to X-Men what John Legend is […]

Here’s a fun little exercise: try to think of female movie and TV characters whose gender is an afterthought. Characters who matter-of-factly defy gender boundaries, whose sexuality is not a focus, who will be praised as “strong” rather than “strong for a female character.”
It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. We spent […]

Wikipedia is frequently snubbed for its anonymous, user-edited content. The argument is this: you don’t know who’s writing the articles you are reading, so you cannot trust them. This is offered in direct contrast to institutional sources like textbooks, academic journals, and proprietary encyclopedias.
What I find interesting about this discussion is the ommission of the […]

I want to continue to expound Abandonist political theory as introduced in this post. In particular I want to develop my statement that the abandonist renegotiates power through circumvention, not through competition.
Reformists cooperate. Revolutionaries compete. Abandonists circumvent.
But cooperate with what? Compete with what? Circumvent what?
The answer is institution–and this is tricky to define, but I […]

Tsze-lu asked,
“If the Duke of Wei made you an advisor,
what would you address as the very first priority?”
Confucius replied,
“The most important thing
is to use the correct words.”
“What?” Tsze-lu replied.
“That’s your first priority? The right words?”
Confucius said,
“You really are simple, Yu.
The Sage keeps his mouth shut
when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about!
“If we don’t […]

Modern society has a predilection for centralization–the consolidation of resources. This has clear roots in Enlightenment thinking: use natural science to discover and build on the best ways to do things, and ultimately strive toward perfection. This crippling singularity does not reflect the complexity of the human experience.
There is no best form of government. There […]