From: Marty Jezer <mjez@sover.net>
Subject: Re: Rudd & Weathermen & Selling Out (multiple responses)
Agreed that writing for the listserv is not like writing a thesis and
we often use words loosely. But "selling out" in the context of the
sixties (and earlier) is a serious charge, not just in politics but
also in the arts. It means giving up ones principles in exchange for
lucre or power (at least the illusion thereof). Very few peace, civil
rights or new left activists sold out --but it is a serious charge. As
for the arts, e.g., jazz musicians who have found big audiences are
often accused of "selling out" simply because their music is
popular. (Wynton Marsalis is currently being accused in some circles
of selling out). In sixties politics, people who chose pragmatic
rather than ideologically pure political strategies also had to deal
with that charge, Sam Brown, for example (who was NEVER a SDS leader
much less a Weatherperson like Mark Rudd) was accused of selling out
when he joined the Carter Administration.
Rudd has renounced the politics of his Weather days. Those few who
held on to or who still advocate Weather ideas accuse him of selling
out. I believe, as do many, that his self-criticism and analysis of
Weather movement flaws, were serius, gutsy, and on the whole right.
Marty Jezer
DEMOCRACY, NOT HYPOCRISY
PRIVACY IS PRIMARY
STOP THE REPUBLICAN COUP D'ETAT
Author:
Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words (Basic Books)
Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel (Rutgers University Press)
The Dark Ages: Life in the USA, 1945-1960 (South End Press)
Rachel Carson [American Women of Achievement Series] (Chelsea House)
Check out my web page (under construction) at http://www.sover.net/~mjez
___________________________________
[2]
From: Ron Jacobs <rjacobs@zoo.uvm.edu>
Subject: Re: Rudd & Weathermen & Selling Out (multiple responses)
One of the reasons Rudd disappeared from Weather when he did was
because he was asked to. He remained in touch with the movement and
Weather, however.
Sam Brown became a Democrat.
-Ron jacobs