RYLA

This picture is a Columbia river sunset taken from Crown Point. I took a nice stroll up there with a group of awesome people that I was spending the week with at Camp Menucha. It was all part of Rotary District 5100's 2008 RYLA retreat. Last year I was a participant and this year I came back full-circle to work as a JC - the proud Junior Counselor of the mighty, mighty Green Color Group.

Wow! What an amazing week. The idea behind RYLA is leadership development but the approach is very holistic. We address everything from service work to business leadership to personal finance to family dynamics to living a balanced lifestyle.

The key for me though, as it was last year when I attended, was the relationship factor. It is incredible how quickly you bond with a group of people. In just one week I developed a depth of connection with some RYLAarians that rivals the relationships I've had with friends of several years. Much love to my RYLA family!!!

Kautsky

Kautsky
Originally uploaded by bataille_socialiste

The inspiration for the name of my blog - Karl Kautsky. More affectionately known as the "Renegade Kautsky."

For background on the topic, I offer you a brief history lesson: Karl was a very influential Marxist scholar and one of the preeminent authorities on the subject following the deaths of Marx and Engels. He received this title of the "renegade" following a spate with Vladimir Lenin. Lenin and Kautsky waged an intense debate over the meaning of Marx's phrase "the dictatorship of the proletariat." The interpretation of this phrase, I believe, has greatly shaped the history of the 20th century. Lenin believed in violent revolution and the complete destruction of the elitist bourgeois society (and thanks to these radical views we were gifted with the Cold War).

Kautsky took a more moderate approach. He advocated for non-violent means to usher in the age of revolution. He was berated for these views by Lenin. Lenin went as far as to describe Kautsky as a "bottomless pit of apostasy" and even entitled a book to further castigate Kautsky, "The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Renegade Kautsky."

In honor of Kautsky, I wear the badge of "renegade". For me, the title means to advocate for social change by non-violent means. Kautsky, rather than take up arms and violently oppress the masses, relied on reason and poetic verse. It's just too bad that Kautsky didn't win the day with his debate against Lenin, history could have unfolded a much different story.