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Bruce Stallsmith's avatar

The first political work I did was leafleting houses for candidates my father supported when I was in 6th grade. He was a Republican precinct chair, and who ever he supported won in our precinct. It was basic ol' fashioned politics, a model that AOC used successfully lest anyone sneer at it. I'm certainly not a Republican now but there is a real lesson in trying to communicate directly with other people on various issues.

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Avram's avatar

I disagree slightly with your general definition of politics - you seem to describe political systems and institutions as well as the policies that certain politics produce. I believe politics better refers to struggles for power between actors which takes place within and outside of those systems (themselves products of past political struggles) and which produce various policies and other exercises of power. I still largely agree that politics takes place in different ways in many places not traditionally thought of as political fields, i.e. workplaces, neighborhoods, school systems etc. And only by accomplishing smaller scale actions can we hope to build the power and conditions necessary for larger, systemic change.

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