Subterranean Homesick Blues (Politics as Usual)

My professor haughtily asks the question directly to me, he stretches his arms, sits down in his chair and stares, he places his arms behind his head, like a sunbather resting on the beach, it's a stance of sheer cockiness...This man. I'd be lying if I said I didn't chuckle at his attitude, this professor of comparative politics has been a thorn in my side since classes started, and despite my "A" on my midterm, he's still testing me.

I blink, I'm fully aware I'm about to pull an academic sucker punch. It's the sentence that stops everything, a theory most social scientists accept as true, it is the alpha and omega of theory. We'd been studying media Americanization in Europe and he'd asked if the shift the author wrote about was real. I blinked and told him, "Technically no, I mean media is a social construct, it only has meaning if we give it meaning, technically there is no difference in culture either, everything is all in our heads." I felt bad for doing it, it was a smart ass answer, but he looked at me and said something like my answer was "more sophisticated" than he expected, so I felt my smartassery was justified.

I haven't written about this particular struggle in Milano yet, the one between political cultures and ideologies, because it's such a touchy subject. It's been an interesting experience to be sure. I'm inexperienced in dealing with those of a different political vein because in California and Western Washington, Republicans are often pressured into silence. Here, the political composition of the program differs sharply from the political culture of Europe and the one at home. It has been a surprising source of cultural exchange. I'm legitimately grateful for some of the conversations I've had here, with Italians and Americans, and for the clashes with my professor. I'm not going to lie, I fought tooth and nail to get out of this class. He criticized the constitution really cavalierly once and I almost went into cardiac arrest.

Nevertheless, being here and hearing open discussions of the benefits of Marxism is fascinating. I like that here, revolution isn't a taboo, it's an expected cycle of social change. I'm drawn to the radical naturally, but I like it more in a theoretical sense. I find myself becoming ever more practical, it's something that scares me a little, but it makes sense, I'm getting old.

It's been interesting to see the Occupy Wall Street movement from over here, it's so amazing seeing the world taking action again. Obviously it's more complex than that, violence is erupting, which is tragic and terrible, but I admire when groups use their voices and make the government listen. I think the exchange is a beautiful thing when it's done properly and I'm proud that people care enough to say something.

The other day, I happened to walk through a protest near the Duomo here in Milan,it was in solidarity with the US Occupy Protests. I walked around it hearing Bob Dylan blaring in my ears, sometimes backtalk is a beautiful thing.

In any case, I don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows. Enjoy the song. I love Bob Dylan.