"Has the old battle cry “The personal is political” been taken too far or pe...

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"Has the old battle cry “The personal is political” been taken too far or perhaps, too literally?..."

via guerrilla mama on 1/12/10

"Has the old battle cry "The personal is political" been taken too far or perhaps, too literally? More importantly, have our politics descended into a form of narcissism, of trying to purify ourselves so that we can look down our oh-so-enlightened noses at everyone else? When our identity as "one of the good ones" becomes more important than reaching others, organizing suffers. It creates hierarchies instead of breaking them down. It creates that kind of elitism that makes people so angry—because they're right, we are looking down on them. It becomes a kind of affirmation of who we are and why we're different and better. Greenwashing is only the latest example of this trend and the most obnoxiously consumerist. Spend more money on your eco-friendly recycled paper towels—that are still paper towels, disposable and wasteful—or your 100% certified organic clothing that makes sure to declare it splashily across the front. Drive your Prius. Shop at (union-busting) Whole Foods and buy your Fair Trade coffee at (union-busting) Starbucks. But don't spend one second realizing that you cannot buy your way out of the climate crisis one Burt's Bees product at a time and God forbid don't think about redefining your relationship to commodities at all. Make yourself feel better."

- GlobalComment » The weird elitism of "the personal is political" saps our strength

 

 

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