Joe,
I took your book Deer Hunting with Jesus with me on vacation and all I can say is "wow!" I finished it in two days and I just started all over from page one. I think the last time i did something like that is back when I was a regular reader of a guy named Doctor Seuss. You really hit a bunch of bells loudly and clearly. Even a few bells I never thought to think of.
Even though I'm a comfortable member of the American semi-professional class, I couldn't agree with you more that we liberals need to reach out earnestly and sincerely to our working class brothers and sisters. We all have much more in common with each other than we might see at first blush. I grew up in the '70s in the western reaches of the rust belt to lower-middle class parents trying to scrape a living exactly as the small business people you discuss. I know what you're saying.
I'm forty four years old and all I've ever done with my life is chase a goddam pay check. I'm getting sick to death of the pointlessness of it all and I want to make a change. Some days I think I should chuck it all and leave my country -- and I still might, but dammit, it's a great country and it's MY country and my fathers' country, with a great and noble tradition. Why the hell should we let a bunch of lowlife, filthy fascist criminals take it from the world? Other days I want to start a revolution right here in my backyard, even if we won't see results for a century. I want to do something that matters, not just chase another fucking dollar.
Anyway, thank you for the food for thought. I'm savoring its taste and looking for ways to put it to good use.
I hope some day we can drink a few glasses of bourbon to the realization of the changes all decent Americans would like to see. If you ever see yourself as a leader of a revolution and you need a foot soldier, please look me up.
In brotherhood,
George
Monroe, Connecticut
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George,
Well, I'm not much of a leader type -- artists and writers are too individuated to be good leaders. But there does seem to be something afoot in this country, doesn't there? Or is it our own small group reaffirming each other, yet remaining unheard by the millions? I dunno. But I do know there are at least as many people sick of the Empire's shit as there were in the Sixties. There's just no avenue for effective aggregation and expression that can lead to change right now, it seems. The American social machine has hardened since then.
Nevertheless, there is no denying that millions of us are tired of chasing after a paycheck through a meaningless landscape of pointless commodities. The most refreshing result of the book has been the number of folks who agree that brotherhood among Americans is not impossible. Beyond that, I am astounded at the number of people teaching in small colleges, in social work, and other similar fields who are taking real risks at work to effect change, after years of frustration. Some are dropping out of institutions so they can work more freely. One of my favorite academics (and I don't have many friends in academia) just quit a major university, and set out with no bankroll to figure out how he can do on-the-ground work toward change. Things like that give me heart some days.
Personally, I had to do both: get outside the country before it drove me to do something dangerous and stupid, plus find a way to create more good than harm, both in the world and in America. I don't know if it's working or not, but it feels a heck of a lot better to have at least a small part in positive change in the Third World, and to have a relatively free voice in my native country. It's a start.
In art and labor,
Joe
