In the print edition of the latest Harper's, Terry Eagleton describes the radical, liberating thought behind the "art for art's sake" movement of the 19th century:
Art was play, not labor, and it held out a promise of emancipation to the wage slaves of the first industrial capitalist nation in history. The work of art obeyed no law but its own and could therefore be seen as a model of human autonomy. It had no reason or purpose beyond its own self-delight; and in a utilitarian age that judged things in terms of their practical functions, this glorious uselessness carried some subversive implications.
From William Blake to Oscar Wilde, art was an image of what men and women could become in changed political conditions. They, too, could be gloriously pointless; in fact, this was the whole point of human existence, which the gray-bearded champions of the work ethic had never understood. Human beings resembled works of art in being ends in themselves. Art of art's sake was not a retreat from politics; it was a politics all its own.
This article really hit home for me back on Sunday night, as I was returning from my first days of non-holiday related vacation since, well, since Open Left was founded two years ago. Why is it that progressive activists, who still seek to transform society in many of the same liberating ways sought by Blake, Wollstonescraft, Shelley or Wilde, are willing to live such utterly shitty existences to bring about said change? That is, why are our lives entirely dedicated to bringing about progressive political change, instead of actually experiencing the liberating progressive lifestyles we seek?
A lot of you know exactly what I am talking about. Working conditions for most people who make a living in progressive politics completely suck. Weekends don't exist. Vacations don't exist. 60+ hour workweeks are common, if not the norm. You don't make enough money to save up for a house, much less pay off student debt or save for retirement. Job security doesn't exist. For many, health care doesn't exist. Someone is always willing to work harder than you feel like you can possibly manage. Whether you are a blogger, a staffer for PIRG, working for Grassroots Campaigns, an SEIU organizer, or a campaign staffer, you have basically no life outside of work. And, even if you did, you couldn't afford that life anyway.
In September of 2007, one weekend I went to the Jersey Shore with a few friends in progressive politics. During the trip, someone said "oh--so this is what a vacation is like!" Sadly, someone else responded, "no--this is what a weekend is like." It was funny because it was so painful.
I'm not saying that people in progressive politics have it worse than people in any other profession. Certainly, there are many worse jobs someone could have than being a professional political activist, and undoubtedly there are tens of millions of Americans facing similar, or worse, problems of work exhaustion despite continued financial difficulty. What I am saying is that progressive political professionals are doing a pretty lousy job of demonstrating a better way to live. If we are working to make the country more like our organizations, then we seriously must be stopped. We are not ourselves living the progressive ideal, or really anything close to it.
I can't help but shake the feeling that the lifestyle created by the low-pay, few benefits and long-hours of progressive political organizations is actually part of the problem in our society, not the solution. We are operating like base cogs in an enormous utilitarian machine, not living up to the ideal that human beings are ends unto themselves and should be given ample time to live as such. It makes me think of David's great recent post "Existential Question: What The F%$@! Are We Doing?" Josh Marshall also had a must-read recent post relevant to this subject, and President Obama gave a good response when asked if he ever regretted running for President. Even so, there seems to be a big contradiction between what progressive activists are trying to achieve, and how we are actually living. Our lifestyles and workplaces seem to be part of the problem we are trying to fix. If haven't even liberated ourselves, how can we help liberate anyone else? |
