[IndyMedia Bombay] mailing list.

[Keith Hart]

Dear Sanjay,

You have written several posts in the last couple of days without reply.
The last message cries out for a response. I write as someone rather
removed from your situation but engaged with it in my own way. I am sure
you have thought of this, but it is worth airing again. The chances of yo=
ur
saving a species or stopping a nuclear war are quite remote, but they are=

'objectively' important. The chances of your making your mother's or a
colleague's life more tolerable in some small way are quite high, but
society will not count this 'objectively' important. I believe that
politics is best practised close to home, in our everyday working lives, =
by
taking seriously decisions that we often pass over as insignificant.
Sometimes, if you take a stand on something mundane, it may lead you to
other people who have also confronted the same problem in their own way a=
nd
from that you may find yourself in a social movement. The difference is
that your association with it will have grown out of your own immediate
circumstances.It will be that more grounded. Too many people think that
they have to join a grand cause in order to lend significance to their
political decisions.  The reason why most people appear not to 'care' is
that they can't see the relevance of these big decisions to their own
lives. Perhaps helping them to do so would be an essential first step.

An apochryphal story. A sociologist is interviewing married couples to fi=
nd
out about decision-making in the family. One coupel announces jointly tha=
t
it is the husband who takes the important decisions. Some hypothetical
questions. 'You are contemplating moving house. Who decides what
neighbourhood and what type of house you should move to?' 'Oh I would',
says the wife; 'yes, she would', says the husband. 'OK , your child is
doing badly at school and you think of changing schools. Who would take t=
he
lead in that decision?' 'I would', says the wife, 'yes, she would', says
the husband. 'Excuse me, sir/madam, I thought you agreed that you, sir,
took the important decisions.' 'Oh, I do', he says, 'I decide if Israel
should build settlements on the West Bank or China should be admitted to
the Security Council of the UN -- the important decisions.'

Keith Hart