Thinking Forward

The mockery associated with being "leftist" is a hindrance upon any movement that should be considered open minded, liberal, and understanding, and while the primal pack like moves of the conservative right are dictating the continued move towards a future embedded in the problems that are associated with the nation state, I wonder if ever the concept of "the left" will evolve to encompass a movement of growth and effective use of the modern tools that are at our disposal.

I, personally, now strive to work with non profit, government programs, and social service endeavours using my knowledge of branding, marketing, consumption, and materialism to effect positive change and growth within these institutions whose basic principles lie in the aid and growth of community (www.atypical.ca). I truly believe that capitalism need not be the root of all evil, and that a balance in how we consume and what we consume for can be met. If the thought of working for yourself by working for others were a more widely accepted ambition I feel as though the fundamentals of a "leftward" thinking society would somehow take on a more serious and powerful role in the decision making of global powers. I wanted to take inspiration from a mandate that I read in Adbusters Big Ideas issue for 2006, but after reading it over and over I think it is best that I just reproduce the message in its entirity.

Here is the excerpt from January's Adbusters that I reference these thoughts from:

How come there are so many right-wing thrashers having a great rollickinig time mocking the left, all the while setting forth their grandiose visions for the future of humanity? Where are our thrashers, our storytellers, our media heroes? What even happened to our ability to take down the easy targets, the unqualified screw-ups, the backroom villains - never mind the big-time players with the bottomless pockets? Its time to admit that our whiny, reactive, complaint-based activism has not worked since the Soviet Union crumbled 15 long years ago. That the only way forward, the only way to construct a compelling alternative, is to abandon the old left - to jump over its dead body - and forge a new kind of activism, one that is forward-thinking inspirational, and that rests on a breathtakingly new set of ideas.

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Friday, February 10, 2006