Good points all! I agree with you about the "weak version" of the claim. If the ideological or symbolic argument consumes the characters and story, the Six Deadly Words draw closer: "I don't care about these people." No one has to make agitprop obviously, I'm not saying that, but if you're TRYING to make agitprop, and what you do is tell a bad story with no compelling characters, well, you've just made bad agitprop, congratulations I guess?
I'm reminded of a point from Michael Walzer's Political Action: you have to be careful when you are trying to do civic organizing, because at some point the True Believers will show up with the wild fire in their eyes, and they will do infinite work for you at the price of alienating everyone you want and need to organize to succeed.
Good points all! I agree with you about the "weak version" of the claim. If the ideological or symbolic argument consumes the characters and story, the Six Deadly Words draw closer: "I don't care about these people." No one has to make agitprop obviously, I'm not saying that, but if you're TRYING to make agitprop, and what you do is tell a bad story with no compelling characters, well, you've just made bad agitprop, congratulations I guess?
I'm reminded of a point from Michael Walzer's Political Action: you have to be careful when you are trying to do civic organizing, because at some point the True Believers will show up with the wild fire in their eyes, and they will do infinite work for you at the price of alienating everyone you want and need to organize to succeed.