Some Unsolicited Advice for the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutionaries

Back in the mid-1970's, outlaw political philosopher and historian Murray Bookchin advocated that Americans embrace what he called the "third American dream."

Bookchin's third American dream differed from two others (i.e., the dream of rugged individualism and the immigrant dream of endless opportunity) by stressing "community, decentralisation, self-sufficiency, mutual aid and face-to-face democracy" (Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism, 1974).

Bookchin's arguments were overwhelmingly ignored and, as one might have predicted, American political culture continues to be dominated by the powerful mythos that underlies the first two American dreams mentioned. And some of us in these United States wonder why, in election after election, the majority of those who actually bother to show up at the polls consistently vote against their own economic self-interest.

Among the American electorate, the dream of rugged individualism fuels an irrational fear of "socialism" (which I would define quite loosely as the conviction that sharing is part of good citizenship). The dream of endless opportunity encourages many members of the middle class to look the other way while Wall Street buys and sells our elected representatives. They look the other way because honest-to-God-decent middle class folk in this country actually believe that, one day, they too will own a Congressman, and then their troubles will be over. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration but, I would suggest, it is less of an exaggeration than it ought to be.

From what I've been able to glean of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt thus far, community, decentralisation, self-sufficiency, mutual aid and face-to-face democracy are already in operation on the ground. Congratulations! If the American people are unwilling or unable to embrace the "third American dream," there is absolutely no reason in the world why Tunisians and Egyptians cannot claim it for themselves.

I have no doubt that, even as I write these words, the enemies of community, decentralisation, self-sufficiency, mutual aid and face-to-face democracy are on the ground in Tunis and Cairo and several other important cities around the Arab world and are conferring among themselves how best to prevent Bookchin's third American dream from being realized anywhere on the planet.

My advice is this: do not listen to them. And when you, the Tunisian and Egyptian people, are firmly in power in your respective countries, arrest these criminals, cancel their visas, and deport them to their countries of origin.

In the meantime, stay true to your revolutionary instincts and values. Fear only those who would advise you differently.