The good folks at Left Business Observer recently decided to start an online forum called Why Fucking Bother? And wouldn’t you know it, my answer was selected to launch the discussion!
The “terms of reference” are interesting. In case you can’t be bothered to click through to them, here they are..
One of us (DH) has had a rather hard time of it lately writing Left Business Observer and doing just about anything else political. Frankly, it seems kind of hopeless.
Here we are, amidst the worst economic crisis in 80 years and the political mobilization is mostly on the far right. Other countries are having Springs or Tent Cities or just old-fashioned riots, and we have loons parading around with teabags on their heads.
As an antidote to despair, we’re asking people we like and admire to contribute to a series called “Why Fucking Bother?” We would be grateful for anywhere from 1 to 750 words that address this question. We think it would get a lot of attention—and it might help catalyze something good. Or at least keep LBO‘s editor from throwing in the towel and retiring to the life of a detached aesthete.