creating new ideas

when asked for a description of myself on here, i put 'just a person trying to break with old ideas' - that begs the question - what can we do to create 'new ideas' regarding the way society should be run?

one thing that has become very apparent to me is that there are a couple of ways that people can really learn about the way the society around them works - one is the inefficient path, the one that i took - the one that really takes a certain personality type for any kind of results.

that is, to look at the world and to just study as much as you can about what's going on, making sure to include viewpoints that contradict the status quo - after all if you're unsatisfied with the status quo in society it makes sense to look at alternative viewpoints, right?

but i really don't think this path is for most people. it's for the fanatics - or half-a-fanatics - like me, who don't just settle for turning on the evening news, absorbing what they see, spending a bit of time with the family, and going to bed. but i really don't think that describes most people. so, that being the case, how can we expose people to new, visionary ideas?

the answer is all around us. under class society, people adopt many contradictory viewpoints - someone who's quite progressive when it comes to understanding the need to push for a safer workplace might also hold some regressive views too - for example they could be racist.
so how can we resolve these contradictions, and win people over to a different outlook?

most people aren't carrying out their own personal research project. but they do absorb the ideas around them. on one hand there are the ideas perpetuated by class society - ideas such as:

i'm not smart enough to make these decisions, let's leave it to the boss

i'm having trouble making ends meet, but if i work hard enough everything will be ok

i'm broke, but if i had some money, everything will be ok

that person over there who looks different from me is trying to take my job and make my life worse

women's interests and men's interests are by their very nature, in conflict with one another

etc etc etc...

but there's also the teacher of experience - that often contradicts these 'old ideas' and this experience can teach us:

the boss is so far removed from my situation that he has no idea what needs to be done

i work and work, but i never get ahead, i just have less time to spend with family and a higher level of stress

i've got some money, but it hasn't made me any happier 'cause i know the neighbor's kids go to bed hungry

that person over there who looks different from me is someone i work with and we really need to stand together if our interests are threatened

men and women both benefit if we fight for safer communities free from violence and a greater say in what happens to all of us

etc etc etc...

so how do we resolve these contradictions? push people away from the former ideas and to a greater understanding of the latter? well, plenty of people come to understand the latter ideas all by themselves - but how do they come to these understandings? by working with one another, by simply interacting with one another. but that's how individuals come to understand them. how can we work so that wider groups within society do too - groups that have much more potential to create positive change than individuals? here's where the need for organization comes in. if we believe in creating a future based upon values of solidarity, social justice, equality, etc etc, then we must organize to actively engage people in struggle - the greatest teacher of all - in their communities, in their workplaces - so that they can be won over to the idea that change is actually possible with numbers, and so their individual contributions to this desired change can help us all further our goals. in short:

ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE!