http://www.bookpod.org/home/ http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_42 This is brilliant. Fascinating. I think a lot of people (even people one wouldn't expect) can relate to feeling like they are growing up as "outsiders" in this culture that seeks to accommodate so much diversity of beliefs and backgrounds. I found it intriguing that on the one hand he recognizes the similarity between the Socialist utopian vision and the Christian afterlife, that he also seemed to speak of leaving the party as if leaving a "cult" and yet still felt himself holding onto the vision or even the hope or aspiration that a socialist future might arise. Most compelling!! This really resonated for me. It is refreshing to be able to attend to such moments of self reflection and candor. Grazie Barbara! Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:22:36 -0500 Catherine http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_42 http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_39 I would be curious to see what he would say if he went to live in a socialist country for a few years. I wonder if it would live up to his expectations or not. Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:33:46 -0500 Max Hockley http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_39 http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_37 This is fascinating stuff. This part really struck a cord with me: "So, I think what that says or what that does for someone like my mom is, then, she doesn't really have to make too much of an effort to change her life in order to be able to buy her son a skateboard, which is really what she should have been focusing her time on. The skateboard becomes an excellent metaphor for so many times when we waste our time lamenting when we could invest our time in the achieving of a goal. www.surviveyourlayoff.com Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:33:59 -0500 Melanie Saladino http://www.bookpod.org/growing-up-in-the-socialist-workers-party/#PageComment_37