Beyond the Choir is publishing a valuable series of articles getting at the root of human behavior and ways we are hard-wired for collective change. Below are four articles from Jonathan Smucker. Check em out.
In this series I explore how evolutionary theory might help to explain the origins and logic of collective action, and how it might inform the thinking and strategies of progressive change agents.
This is the landing page for the series. You can bookmark it and check back for new posts, which I’ll be linking to from this page.
All last week during the Egyptian uprising, many of us joked that Obama would take a firm stance asking Mubarak to immediately step down…at least 3 days after he steps down. While Egypitans and freedom-loving people around the world were rejoicing this weekend with an important and momentous battle won (and a long struggle still ahead), the U.S. government was saving face. Obama declared that it was a beautiful example of non-violent mass movement and moral force. He’s right, of course. But as the U.S. administration’s position constant shifts and turns may be confusing to the casual observer. Luckily Diary of a Walking Butterfly shares with us a translation of the U.S. State Dept’s position two weeks BEFORE people toppled their repressive U.S.-backed regime with nonviolent mass movements….
‘Oh what’s that? Sorry its hard to hear you with all these flags flapping in my ear.’ — David Cross
On another note, it has been fascinating to watch the political divides in the Right Wing in the previous week. Many conservatives were ready to see Mubarak go, and liked the idea of the military taking over. Many others (including Fox News) threw their hats in with the Islamophobes, creating a fantasy of an Islamic fundamentalist overthrow a-la-Iran. Glenn Beck’s conspiracy theories, as always, were the most entertaining – that U.S. Communists were forming an alliance with Middle Eastern “Islamic Terrorists,” and engineering a revolution in Egypt to create a haven and base-of-operations for the coming revolution in the U.S. While its fun to laugh at his lunacy, the political fracturing among the Right is important, and will likely increase with time. Another blog on that soon…
In this series I explore how evolutionary theory might help to explain the origins and logic of collective action, and how it might inform the thinking and strategies of progressive change agents. 
praxis makes perfect 