But it’s hard to see clearly when you’re standing in a shit storm. The list is overwhelming. Poor people are getting poorer and everybody is working harder for less. Black people are getting jailed. Corporations run the world. Democracy is on the ropes. The rich are winning. The planet is in peril. The war is a meat grinder. No one can find the off switch. And so forth.

No wonder people just want to watch TV and shop. Who wants to look at that?

One good strategy for getting through a very dark night is to find a few fixed points of light and set your attention there. Increase the power of organized labor and organize the unorganized. Seek fairness in how the costs of necessary services are shared and how much profit can be made at the expense of

others. Defend the environment from corporate rape. Build democratic institutions. Make access to resources like education and health care more widespread.

As the 2008 Presidential elections starts to heat up, I am again struck by how little is being said. The elephant in the room is class. Qui bono — who benefits? It’s the one question no one’s allowed to ask.