Fear and Its Role in 60 Years of Political Activism: Mark Satin

Mark Satin, author-activist R. Michael Fisher, Host, FearTalks series

I recommend anyone interested in the domain of political activism, visionary leadership, and American political movements, that you check out FearTalk #22, that I recently did with Mark Satin. We explore diverse topics, including the impact of anger/fear and its downfall for many activist movements. Mark shares his new book (excerpts):

"Up From Socialism" (recently published by Bomardier Books, 2023). Go to the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv-tFgxRXUQ

[Note: Nov. 30, 2023: I have been reading Mark's book now for a few days. In the video talk above he said at one point that he searched his word.doc file of the ms. for "fear" and/or related terms and said there were 30+ uses in the book. Well, I can tell you there are way more than that. I'm see 40-50 uses in the first 35 pp. of the book, when one does a basic fearanalysis. Indeed, what is this new book about but "fear" and organizing in the political domain. Now, what is good fear and what isn't? A larger set of questions arises...].

Recently Mark told me that his book has yet had a serious book review, and I would love to see someone write one. Maybe I will some day. That aside, Mark (pers. comm. May 9, 2024) wrote a summary pitch of his book, which I think is right on and tells of why I think his book is so important:

"Given the current hyper-polarized political climate, the book's 'insider' description and critique of the radical activism of the last 60 years--and its call for activists on all sides to work together to create a fresh political perspective that meet's everyone's core interests--could not be more timely."

As I read these words of Mark Satin, I go through thoughts of thinking he is incredibly naive(?) at his late stage of life, softening, or he is delusional (ha ha). Then, I think, that's the truth. He's also aligning with my truth(ing) re: activism that I have taught for over 45 years. And, like with Mark, it is near impossible to have the activists listen. That's a problem. So, the challenge is, the Marks of this world, like myself, have to come up with better and better ways to convince activists there is a more ethical collectivist aim that we ought to be committed to as well as our specific biased (favorite) positions to take and how we treat our opponents. Yes, we need to heal. But we (activists) also need to do our fearwork. That latter, I am slowly convincing Mark is the case, and the fear education is complex but worth doing.

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R.Michael Fisher May 10, 2024 at 8:40am

Recently Mark told me that his book has yet had a serious book review, and I would love to see someone write one. Maybe I will some day. That aside, Mark (pers. comm. May 9, 2024) wrote a summary pitch of his book, which I think is right on and tells of why I think his book is so important:

"Given the current hyper-polarized political climate, the book's 'insider' description and critique of the radical activism of the last 60 years--and its call for activists on all sides to work together to create a fresh political perspective that meet's everyone's core interests--could not be more timely."

As I read these words of Mark Satin, I go through thoughts of thinking he is incredibly naive(?) at his late stage of life, softening, or he is delusional (ha ha). Then, I think, that's the truth. He's also aligning with my truth(ing) re: activism that I have taught for over 45 years. And, like with Mark, it is near impossible to have the activists listen. That's a problem. So, the challenge is, the Marks of this world, like myself, have to come up with better and better ways to convince activists there is a more ethical collectivist aim that we ought to be committed to as well as our specific biased (favorite) positions to take and how we treat our opponents. Yes, we need to heal. But we (activists) also need to do our fearwork. That latter, I am slowly convincing Mark is the case, and the fear education is complex but worth doing.

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