The question: If America needs specifically political heroes, and specifically political solutions in the present crisis, why, aside from our general lack of historical memory, are we looking to FDR and the New Deal as a model, rather than say, Potato Patch Pingree? “Who?” you ask. . .
Before I answer, do me a favor: Set aside all the easy responses to the rather vague proposals of the Obama administration, and all the visceral responses to governmentalist bullshit which sometimes stop us from digging into problems, take a minute to read Kevin Carson’s most recent C4SS column, and then ask yourself whether there are perhaps some more-or-less “shovel ready” projects out there, in our neighborhoods, if of a rather different sort than we would expect the Cockroach Caucuses to come up with. It seems likely that the rather worse-for-wear practical elements in the US government are simply not in a condition to take on administer Works Progress Administration or National Recovery Act; so what could be done – perhaps just if the government could get out of our way and let us do it – to recover our nation and progress a little? As anarchists, mutualists, agorists, left-libertarians, etc., a key part of what we stand for is supposed to be a DIY ethic, counter-economics and counter-institutions – practical stuff, ultimately.
