Don't Knock Over the Wine
We are "locked out" of many places and minds. Get past the labels...at least.
My thoughts on an issue that troubles me.
People tend to label themselves, and others. I try not to, but directly or indirectly I suppose I do. We call ourselves or are called “liberal,” “conservative,” “non-partisan,” “libertarian,” “socialist,” “Democrat,” or “Republican.” And there are many more, i.e. historical theorists and theories may be used as identities, such as Marxists, or Capitalists or Jeffersonians. Yes, and you may be a “tree hugger,” or a “fellow traveler,” or a “gun lover,” or a “militarist.”
OK, I made my point. We do bear, or bear with, labels. I simply want to suggest that the labels people wear shouldn’t interfere with our listening to them and enjoying the value, or humor, of what they have to say. Useful insights come from everyone. We have already, mostly, reached the conclusion that ethnicity, social class, skin color or religion should not be a barrier to communication. In the same way and for many of the same reasons, neither should ideologic labels. David Harvey calls himself a Marxist geographer, or is called that by others. I’ve been reading him and I find his insights thought provoking, even useful for clarifying what I had found unclear. He is well read in the 19th century sociological writing of some of the foremost minds of the century. Some of Marx’s analysis he rejects; some he applies to current social and economic matters. I repeat I find him worth reading. So would I recommend Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom.
Channeling my inner Andy Rooney, I rant: I dislike labels and prefer that I not be called names, or by names. I actually prefer sticks and stones, well almost. In a world of names that land on us like flies at an open area restaurant, better to ignore, as a friend, David Newell, tells me, than spend the entire meal swatting at things and knocking over a glass of good wine—and listen to the person with a fly on his shirt or an American flag on his lapel.