Not An Alternative

Quoting Stephen Duncombe

The dreams of Reverend Billy and Subcomandante Marcos move past the real: they are absurd, irrational, and seemingly impossible. In brief, they remain dreams. It is no coincidence that Reverend Billy has become well known among young progressive activists in the United States in recent years, nor that Subcommandante Marcos has inspired dissenters worldwide, for what they articulate in their fanciful musings resonates with the political experience of this generation of activists: when it is impossible to think of an alternative, then maybe the solution is to think about the impossible. As their Parisian forebears wrote on the walls of their city in 1968: Soyons realists, demondons l’impossible! Be realistic, demand the impossible!