Re: [Marxism] French Companies Have Newfound Freedom … to Fire

[Dan via Marxism]

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The French working class, or should I say the French unions, are faced 
with what the US and UK unions faced in the 1980s. There had been a 30 
year "gap".


But now comes the time of reckoning. And unfortunately, French unions 
can not withstand the power of international capital.


We went on strike for four days,but that didn't change the outcome. I, 
and my union comrades, are now quite sure that unless unions grow in 
membership, nothing can stop the current government. But French politics 
come into play: The NPA really does its best, but Mélenchon's party is 
dominant.




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Re: [Marxism] To the Author of "3 years later" (and none the wiser!)

[Dan via Marxism]

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 Here we go again. Es muss sein.Es muss sein.
Anyways.
Charlie Hebdo was not racist. The proof is that, from 1996 to 2002, I 
would read every issue on Wednesday when it came out, at lunch time. My 
colleagues, and the waitresses, would look askance at me, but I would 
ostensibly open it up and display the front page, which would invariably 
be quite "offensive" (i.e anti-catholic).
Since I read every issue in the 1990s and 2000s, I don't need to look up 
an article in 'thecommunists.net" to know what the content of Charlie 
Hebdo was.
I humbly put forward the idea that the fact that all the editors of this 
left-wing paper were MURDERED (lined up and shot) because they had 
anti-religious ideas does NOT mean they were racist.
You know, just because some extreme fringe radical islamist murders you 
for drawing a cartoon that is critical of muslims does NOT MEAN you are 
actually a racist?
Oh, and by the way, I have actually sheltered migrants in my home over 
the last three years. And I've been a proud member of my union.
Much better than doing nothing I would say. How are things going for you 
in Austria?



Ich bin nicht sicher aber wenn Sie etwas Schönes zu sagen haben, 
schreiben Sie mir bitte direkt.

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[Marxism] French Companies Have Newfound Freedom … to Fire

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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PARIS — The announcements came in a steady drumbeat. Around 1,300 job cuts
at France’s biggest automaker. At least 2,500 at France’s largest
supermarket chain. Over 200 sought at a major clothing retailer. And
thousands more are on the way.

Just weeks after France’s labor overhaul went into effect, companies are
readily taking advantage of new rules that make it easier to hire and fire.
But the other changes, those designed to help cushion the blow like
retraining programs, haven’t been put into place yet, leaving workers
vulnerable to a coming wave of downsizing.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/france-labor-jobs.html
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[Marxism] Boycott Turkey

[Dan via Marxism]

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Well of course, we all support the YPG/YPJ. And beyond that, the KCK. 
Which includes the PKK. That goes wihout saying.
Radical unions,the world over, have sent criticized the Turkish 
intervention in Afrin.

Now, let's be as constructive as possible.
And that means BOYCOTTING TOURISM IN TURKEY.


What can WE do to hurt the Turkish economy?
There is already such a campaign in place. Supporting it would really 
hit the Turkish economy where it is the most vulnerable.

So no tourism and no textiles from Turkey!

Comrades, share any information that can help us
boycott Turkey effectively !
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[Marxism] To the Author of "3 years later" (and none the wiser!)

[RKOB via Marxism]

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I think this contribution summarizes in a nutshell the bankruptcy of 
petty-bourgeois French "secularist leftism". No wonder that they are 
isolated from the migrant masses in the banlieues and focus to their 
universities!


Such people are defending the disgusting and racist magazine "Charlie 
Hebdo", sympathize with the idea that "/French leftists (until the 
2010s) refused to let someone wearing a cross or a hijab speak at a 
meeting/", etc..


For those interested in the character of the racist magazine "Charlie 
Hebdo", I refer readers to a collection of articles here 
https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/europe/articles-on-paris-attacks/


This article might be particular relevant: 
https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/europe/racist-charlie-hebdo/


All this confusion of " religion" in France or the USA without 
differentiating the institutions of the ruling class like the Catholic 
Church or other Christian churches and the Muslims, who are an racist 
oppressed minority both in France and the USA - what does this have to 
do with a materialist method?!


Can anyone imagine the Bolsheviks not allowing a Muslim woman to speak 
at a meeting because she wears a hijab?! Yes, the Stalinists did so, but 
not the Bolsheviks in the time of Lenin and Trotsky!


Such leftists like this author are a shame and only discredit the whole 
idea of Marxism and Communism! As a communist and atheist revolutionary 
since 36 years (and not an American citizen, by the way) I can only say 
that any Marxist must make sure not to be associated with such 
social-imperialist nonsense!



Am 27.01.2018 um 04:14 schrieb Dan via Marxism:

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Hi,


I am a French/Irish Council Communist, and I last sent a message to 
this list three years ago, in January 2015, after the Charlie Hebdo 
Massacre. I was angry then.



Americans had never heard of Charlie Hebdo. French people had known 
about this satirical paper for 40 years. It had always been very, very 
left of centre, since the 1970s in fact, but for the purposes of 
post-modern minority politics has been falsely described as "racist". 
Cabu, the cartoonist, had drawn countless cartoons against the French 
war in Algeria in the 1960s, Bernard had presented Marxist theory in 
an implacable and yet accessible way to the public, Charb had been an 
unfailing help in the unions' struggle against the anti-unionist 
policies of the 1990s and 2000s. They were shot dead at their office 
in January 2015. And yet, they had criticized Mohamad and been shot 
dead for this, and to add insult to injury, the American left had spat 
on their graves and labelled them, without any knowledge of who they 
were, "racists" and "islamophobic bigots". I had been a regular reader 
of Charlie HEbdo from the 1990s onwards, despite my pious parents' 
disapproval (Charlie Hebdo was very anti-religious and especially 
anti-Catholic: I remember specifically the Charlie Hebdo issue showing 
a female Pope in the 1990s). To put it in a nutshell, I was so 
disgusted that I resolved not to talk to American leftists until three 
full years had passed, so sure was I, that religious intolerance would 
soon prove to be such a big issue that simply pandering to it would be 
seen as silly.



Well, three years have passed. ISIS appeared and disappeared. The 
American working class, and the French working class, have continued 
to be hit. The wolves are at the door. In both countries, union 
membership has decreased to less than 10% and the result has been that 
the ruling class has been able to rule the roost.



As for what American leftists have contributed, all I can see is the 
global spread of minority politics.



In Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, young activists assure me that they are 
"vegan" ("nous sommes vegan"). This new word "vegan" comes directly 
from the American,  ignoring the older French term for someone who 
eschews ALL animal products "végétalien" as opposed to "vég;etarien" 
(vegetarian). In PAris, there are meetings of "black men" in one room, 
"black women" in another room, "racialized men" ("hommes racilialisés" 
an incredible-sounding new word) in a third room, "racialized women" 
in a fourth room,"white women" in a fourth, etc..   All things 
American are exported as commodities, and American leftist fads, from 
hippies to post-modernism are such commodities. Don't get 

[Marxism] 3 years later

[Dan via Marxism]

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Hi,


I am a French/Irish Council Communist, and I last sent a message to this 
list three years ago, in January 2015, after the Charlie Hebdo Massacre. 
I was angry then.



Americans had never heard of Charlie Hebdo. French people had known 
about this satirical paper for 40 years. It had always been very, very 
left of centre, since the 1970s in fact, but for the purposes of 
post-modern minority politics has been falsely described as "racist". 
Cabu, the cartoonist, had drawn countless cartoons against the French 
war in Algeria in the 1960s, Bernard had presented Marxist theory in an 
implacable and yet accessible way to the public, Charb had been an 
unfailing help in the unions' struggle against the anti-unionist 
policies of the 1990s and 2000s. They were shot dead at their office in 
January 2015. And yet, they had criticized Mohamad and been shot dead 
for this, and to add insult to injury, the American left had spat on 
their graves and labelled them, without any knowledge of who they were, 
"racists" and "islamophobic bigots". I had been a regular reader of 
Charlie HEbdo from the 1990s onwards, despite my pious parents' 
disapproval (Charlie Hebdo was very anti-religious and especially 
anti-Catholic: I remember specifically the Charlie Hebdo issue showing a 
female Pope in the 1990s). To put it in a nutshell, I was so disgusted 
that I resolved not to talk to American leftists until three full years 
had passed, so sure was I, that religious intolerance would soon prove 
to be such a big issue that simply pandering to it would be seen as silly.



Well, three years have passed. ISIS appeared and disappeared. The 
American working class, and the French working class, have continued to 
be hit. The wolves are at the door. In both countries, union membership 
has decreased to less than 10% and the result has been that the ruling 
class has been able to rule the roost.



As for what American leftists have contributed, all I can see is the 
global spread of minority politics.



In Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, young activists assure me that they are 
"vegan" ("nous sommes vegan"). This new word "vegan" comes directly from 
the American,  ignoring the older French term for someone who eschews 
ALL animal products "végétalien" as opposed to "vég;etarien" 
(vegetarian). In PAris, there are meetings of "black men" in one room, 
"black women" in another room, "racialized men" ("hommes racilialisés" 
an incredible-sounding new word) in a third room, "racialized women" in 
a fourth room,"white women" in a fourth, etc..   All things American are 
exported as commodities, and American leftist fads, from hippies to 
post-modernism are such commodities. Don't get me wrong, I approve of US 
anti-authoritarianism, but it tends to become grossly distorted when 
tediously reproduced abroad. (“le capitalisme est l”oeuvre de l’homme 
blanc hétérosexuel orthopsy chque qui cherche à dominer la nature qui 
lui est étrangère par la régulation, etc., etc.”)



Whereas the working class is simply comprised of all those who make the 
world go round and add surplus value to the pockets of the entrepreneurs 
( a growing, and growing and growing share) , all Americans leftists 
have been able to contribute is a muddled critique of "europeo-centric 
enlightenment and gender roles". Not a dent in the money flow of the 
ruling class, contrary to what unions were able to win in the 
1940s-1970s period in France and the US.



This post-modernism is, paradoxically, the result of the American 
absorption in the 1970s-1990s of French philosophy (Foucault, Deleuze, 
Derrida, Lyotard). And why is it paradoxical? Because the French 
theoreticians were deeply influenced by Marx, going back to 
Hegelian/Young MArx (critique of work and alienation) dialectics to 
undermine the ossified hold of the CP on French leftist politics. But 
Americans, as usual, got the idea that "all meta-narratives are 
suspect", which brought in the good ol’ American idea of "e pluribus unum"



Specifically what was DELIBERATELY lost was the idea of CLASS. Which was 
to be expected, given that in the 1960s and 1970s, when said French 
theorists were active, it seemed as though the working class had been 
wholly integrated into “the system”. Only by refusing to conform was 
there any hope of “seeing difference become irreducible” (Derrida).



That was in the 1970s. I  stand by Marx and the dialectical method. 
Which means I am a revolutionary unionist. And my standpoint has been 
vindicated by events. If unions represent a small minority of the 
workforce, capital will run the show. That’s all there is to it. Small 
unions = big capital. Simple.

Re: [Marxism] [Critical-Syria] Re: Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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Here is the text of the statement by the Afrin canton Democratic Autonomous 
Administration:

https://anfenglish.com/rojava/statement-from-afrin-canton-democratic-autonomous-administration-24464/

The statement indicates that Afrin relies primarily on its own defence forces:

"We confirm once again that we will resist these barbaric attacks against Afrin 
and stand against Turkey's attempts to invade the Afrin region".

But the Afrin administration would also like help from the Syrian state, and 
tries to shame the Assad regime into providing it:

"We expect the Syrian state to fulfill its responsibilities and protect Afrin 
and its own borders from Turkey.  We remind Syria of its responsibility that it 
has not fulfilled despite having made an official statement on the matter...".

It is unclear from this statement what sort of help the Afrin administration 
wants.  To me, the most obvious thing would be for Syria to warn Turkey that 
its aircraft entering Syrian airspace to attack Afrin will be shot down.

Given that Assad has a deal with Erdogan whereby Turkey can invade Afrin while 
Assad has a free hand in Idlib, the prospects of Assad helping Afrin are not 
good.  But perhaps the Afrin administration think it is worth a try.

Chris Slee


From: Marxism  on behalf of Louis Proyect 
via Marxism 
Sent: Saturday, 27 January 2018 8:47:10 AM
To: Chris Slee
Subject: Re: [Marxism] [Critical-Syria] Re: Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds 
call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

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On 1/26/18 4:37 PM, Nick Fredman via Marxism wrote:
> The veracity of this report, is a bit unclear. Note previous reports of
> secret deals to hand over Manbij and Raqqa to the regime have proved to be
> completely false.

Yes, we understand that the PYD is opposed to anybody taking Afrin away
from their control but the issue seems to be it urging Assad to repel
the Turks. After all, the Kurds have shown themselves extremely capable
of applying realpolitik to their strategic interests.
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Re: [Marxism] [Critical-Syria] Re: Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 1/26/18 4:37 PM, Nick Fredman via Marxism wrote:

The veracity of this report, is a bit unclear. Note previous reports of
secret deals to hand over Manbij and Raqqa to the regime have proved to be
completely false.


Yes, we understand that the PYD is opposed to anybody taking Afrin away 
from their control but the issue seems to be it urging Assad to repel 
the Turks. After all, the Kurds have shown themselves extremely capable 
of applying realpolitik to their strategic interests.

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Re: [Marxism] [Critical-Syria] Re: Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[Nick Fredman via Marxism]

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The veracity of this report, is a bit unclear. Note previous reports of
secret deals to hand over Manbij and Raqqa to the regime have proved to be
completely false.

‘Aldar Khalil, a member of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM),
an umbrella organization made up of six political parties and civil society
institutions, including the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the leading
Kurdish party in northern Syria, told reporters they will defend Afrin and
will never hand it to the Syrian regime.

‘“Russians told us we would be safe and far from the Turkish attacks if we
leave Afrin for the Syrian regime, but we totally refuse that, and we will
defend it,” he said.

‘Additionally, Bahjat Abdo, a senior commander in the Syrian Kurdish
People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Head of Defense Authority in Afrin,
said in an earlier exclusive interview with Kurdistan 24 that they would
never allow the Syrian regime to return to Afrin.

‘“We drove the Syrian regime out of Afrin five years ago, and it is
impossible to allow them back,” he said.’

Full <
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/fbc1518b-a259-4b8d-9433-ebc0ed802ca4>



On Sat, 27 Jan 2018 at 1:02 am, mkaradjis . via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> "A blow to Trump"?? What has Juan been smoking? Trump has made clear
> he wants Assad to survive; and the US is allied to the SDF. So since
> the US didn't want to confront NATO member Turkey in Afrin, I'm sure
> Trump will be good with this.
>
> Of course, this is yet another reason the participation by some rebels
> in Turkey's attack on Afrin is a very bad thing. But then again, the
> regime is also extremely unlikely to actually heed the call, I think
> the regime is quite happy to see rebels and Kurds kill each other.
>
> As for the PYD calling for Assad to "protect Syrian sovereignty", yes
> it's a laugh, but at least we can say they are doing it under
> pressure. I wonder what excuse for Noam Chomsky and a dozen or so
> other left celebrities calling on such famous non-violators of Syrian
> sovereignty as ... Iran, Russia and the US ... to "protect Syria's
> sovereignty"!! One wonders why they didn't call on that other famous
> non-violator of Syrian sovereignty, Israel, to join in as well.
>
> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 11:58 PM, Andrew Pollack 
> wrote:
> > I've seen this Ocalanite statement in various posts and tweets and was
> > waiting, before commenting, to be sure it's not a forgery.
> >
> > It's one thing to project a non-state, non-national, cross-border entity.
> > It's another to do so as an excuse to not fight for national
> > self-determination. And it's yet another thing for the leaders of such an
> > entity to call explicitly for Assad to protect Syrian national
> sovereignty
> > (the statement explicitly says Assad has a duty to do so!).
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 7:39 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism
> >  wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> "There's a sucker born every minute."
> >>
> >> P.T. Barnum
> >>
> >> https://www.juancole.com/2018/01/trump-syrian-turkey.html
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "Critical Syria" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> > email to critical-syria+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> > To post to this group, send email to critical-sy...@googlegroups.com.
> > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/critical-syria.
> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
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[Marxism] A potted history of strikes and striking in NZ

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/01/27/strikes-and-striking-in-new-zealand-a-brief-history/
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Re: [Marxism] Blanc: The Rosa Luxemburg Myth: A Critique of Luxemburg’s Politics in Poland (1893–1919)

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 1/26/18 12:40 PM, DW via Marxism wrote:

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$30 to read it from Historical Materialism.


http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/1569206x-12341548


The Rosa Luxemburg Myth: A Critique of Luxemburg’s Politics in Poland
(1893–1919)


Written by Eric Blanc, who is now in NYU's sociology department along 
with other geniuses like Vivek Chibber and various ISO members where 
they get trained in Political Marxism. How this department ended up 
becoming a beacon for Marxists is an enduring mystery. The chairman was 
subbed to Marxmail a while back.


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[Marxism] Blanc: The Rosa Luxemburg Myth: A Critique of Luxemburg’s Politics in Poland (1893–1919)

[DW via Marxism]

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$30 to read it from Historical Materialism.


http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/1569206x-12341548


The Rosa Luxemburg Myth: A Critique of Luxemburg’s Politics in Poland
(1893–1919)

ABSTRACT:
This article challenges widespread uncritical portrayals of Rosa Luxemburg.
By examining the politics and practices of Luxemburg and her SDKPiL party
in Poland, I show that their commitment to proletarian emancipation was
undermined by sectarian and doctrinaire tendencies that contributed to the
defeat of Poland’s workers’ revolutions in 1905 and 1918–19. A critical
analysis of their approaches to the national question, the Polish Socialist
Party, German Social Democracy, and the role of the revolutionary party,
undermines the prevailing romanticisation of Luxemburg. I argue that the
Polish Socialist Party, Luxemburg’s main political rival, posed a viable
Marxist alternative for Poland’s revolutionary movement.
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[Marxism] Review: ‘The Confidence Man’ Finds Trump’s Business Image Was Made for TV

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times, Jan. 26, 2018
Review: ‘The Confidence Man’ Finds Trump’s Business Image Was Made for TV
By JAMES PONIEWOZIK

Donald J. Trump’s boardroom in “The Apprentice” was like something out 
of a movie. Specifically, “Network.”


In the Netflix documentary “The Confidence Man,” two “Apprentice” 
producers say they found the actual Trump Organization offices too dated 
and dowdy for TV. So they built a set in Trump Tower, modeled on the 
darkened lair where the mogul, Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), dresses down 
the rebellious newsman Howard Beale (Peter Finch), howling, “The world 
is a business!”


That’s what reality TV does: It set-designs locations (a “Survivor” 
island, a “Bachelor” love nest) to look more convincing, more in line 
with our mental cartoons than the real thing.


“The Confidence Man,” a swift, brutal overview of Mr. Trump’s business 
career, argues that he had been doing the same thing with his image for 
decades: He wasn’t a business titan so much as he played one on TV.


The film, directed by Fisher Stevens (“Bright Lights”), is the last 
episode of a six-part anthology, “Dirty Money,” from the filmmaker Alex 
Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), arriving Friday. The 
installments range from an infuriating look at payday lending to an 
offbeat story about Canadian maple syrup cartels.


The common thread is the abuse of trust. And “The Confidence Man” argues 
that the problem goes all the way to the top.


Mr. Stevens’s narrative starts with Trump Tower, the gleaming metonym 
Mr. Trump hung his name on in brass letters. The splashy project landed 
him on talk shows and magazine covers as the photogenic shorthand for 
Reagan-age materialism.


That served his other big 1980s construction effort — his media image, 
for which he poured the foundation in the New York tabloids. The gossip 
columnist A. J. Benza recalls Mr. Trump as a regular source, offering 
juicy tips with only one condition: that he be referred to in print as a 
billionaire.


TV reports picked up on the description and embellished it, and Mr. 
Trump smiled and let them.


“The Confidence Man” interviews old friends, like the music mogul 
Russell Simmons, and associates like Barbara Res, the executive in 
charge of the Trump Tower construction, who remember his mythmaking 
bemusedly. Compared with real estate families like the Zeckendorfs, Ms. 
Res says, “Who was Trump? He was nobody.”


Maybe Mr. Trump wasn’t the biggest developer. But he was the most 
visible, and he banked on people taking one for the other. (A later ad 
for Trump University declared, “Donald Trump is, without question, the 
world’s most famous businessman” — trusting the audience to read that as 
“most successful.”)


Banks threw money at his celebrity, and he spent it on high-visibility 
purchases: an airline, the Plaza Hotel, a football team, casinos.


When it all went bad by the early ’90s, fame was his guarantor. His 
creditors, who needed the Trump brand to survive in order to get paid 
back, put him on an allowance to keep up a glitzy front.


Mr. Trump, the film argues, has thrived by finding partners — in 
finance, reality TV, politics — who were as invested as he was in 
propping up his image.


Mr. Trump’s self-inflation has been covered before. In the 2005 book 
“TrumpNation” the former New York Times reporter Tim O’Brien, who 
figures heavily in this documentary, concluded that Mr. Trump was worth 
mere hundreds of millions, not billions. (Mr. Trump sued him for libel, 
unsuccessfully.) But “The Confidence Man” is useful for how it separates 
out the business thread from the recent tangle of “How we got Trump” 
analyses.


When Mr. Trump’s business became licensing his name to others, he 
essentially turned into a mascot. He showed up on sitcoms and did 
fast-food ads with his ex-wife Ivana and Grimace from McDonald’s. He was 
his own Col. Sanders, personifying the herbs and spices — glitter, 
ambition — that “TRUMP” in big brass letters stood for.


That made him a perfect host for “The Apprentice,” whose premise was 
that Mr. Trump was a legendary businessman and desirable boss.


TV fame opened up other opportunities, and the last half of “The 
Confidence Man” detours into dark intimations about Mr. Trump’s 
partnerships with businessmen from former Soviet republics and his 
alleged self-enrichment as president. It also re-examines the fraud 
case, later settled, against Trump University that his opponents tried 
to make stick to him in the 2016 campaign.


But the film’s larger case is against the reasoning that helped elect 
him: He was the most famous businessman, therefore he was the best 
businessman, 

[Marxism] Tomorrow's demonstrations against Turkish invasion

[Jeff via Marxism]

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Despite some reservations, I'll be attending the demonstration in 
Amsterdam tomorrow protesting the invasion of Afrin. I understand there 
will also be demonstrations in numerous other cities, and in particular 
a very large turnout is expected (according to the authorities) in 
Cologne. I should also mention that the Turkish community here largely 
supports Erdogan and they have been trying to get tomorrow's 
demonstration banned (pointing to "the terrorist PKK"), and there is a 
very real fear of them causing violence at the event.


The call to the demonstration (English version below) is problematic in 
several ways but that doesn't detract from the importance of standing 
with an oppressed nation under attack, regardless of their own past 
actions. The posts on this list have been valuable in laying out those 
contradictions. I am particularly perturbed that they (quite justly) are 
calling for a no-fly zone over Northern Syria whereas when the same call 
has been made to protect those areas against bombing by Assad these 
folks denounced it as a ploy to involve the imperialists in a "war on 
Syria." Now they are calling on the Netherlands and NATO (I didn't read 
any appeal to the international working class!) to come save the Kurds. 
But although these contradictions supply plenty of fodder for discussion 
among ourselves, we need to put the immediate defense of the victims 
first and resist the temptation to "get even" or say "I told you so."


- Jeff



National demonstration: Stop the attacks on Afrin.

The dictatorial regime of Erdogan in Turkey has started a military 
campaign attacking the north Syrian region better known as Rojava. 
Rojava has been a beacon of hope since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 
2012. While the rest of Syria finds itself in an ever worsening violent 
spiral, Rojava has established a secure and democratic area, providing 
safety for the predominantly Kurdish population as well as millions of 
refugees from other Syrian areas.


It was the Women’s – and People’s Defense Units of Rojava who defeated 
ISIS! It was the province of Afrin that took in millions of refugees 
drom the close by city of Aleppo. The world cheered as they defeated 
ISIS, as they liberated Kobani, Manbij, Raqqa….


Will the world remain silent now that Erdogan’s regime is bombing and 
killing these innocent people in their own homes? Will you remain silent 
as refugee children on the run from ISIS die from NATO partner Turkey’s 
bombs? Will you remain silent when the women who liberated the enslaved 
Yazidi girls from the chains of monsters are bombed by the regime of the 
dictator who thinks women “should not smile in public”??


We demand the immediate end of the attacks on Afrin and Rojava!
We demand that the international community secure the airspace above 
Rojava and Afrin against such attacks!
We demand that the Netherlands – member of the NATO and the UN Security 
Council – does EVERYTHING in its power to stop these attacks!

An attack on Rojava is an attack on humanity.

Solidarity is our only strength!

Come to the national protest 27 Januari in Amsterdam to raise your voice 
for Afrin and Rojava!!!


27 January 2018
14:00
CITY HALL OF AMSTERDAM (AMSTEL 1)


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[Marxism] Fwd: Act and Punishment | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On August 22, 2012, my first article on CounterPunch appeared. Defending 
Pussy Riot against those on the left who supported the arrest of the 
three punk rockers who had been jailed for singing (or yowling) “Mother 
of God, chase Putin away” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, my 
article began:


"Given the sharp divide on the left between those who consider the BRIC 
(Brazil, Russia, India, and China) governments to be the first line of 
defense against Western imperialism and those who take the sides of the 
victims of such governments even when the U.S. State Department takes up 
their cause as well, it should not come as a surprise that the Pussy 
Riot trial has become a litmus test. Support for Pussy Riot is a sign 
that you are catching Christopher Hitchens flu or worse."


That was the first in a series of 243 articles appearing under my name 
at CounterPunch that comes full circle today with a review of “Act and 
Punishment”, a 2015 documentary on Pussy Riot that can now be rented on 
Amazon.


full: https://louisproyect.org/2018/01/26/act-and-punishment/
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[Marxism] Fwd: The shitty new communist futurism – ENTITLE blog – a collaborative writing project on Political Ecology

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Editors’ note: This is the first in a series of ENTITLE blog articles 
that critically engage with the ongoing discussions about “eco-modernist 
socialism” and “communist futurism”, projected in Jacobin magazine’s 
climate change issue ‘Earth, Wind, and Fire.’  Our series continues the 
debate with critical insights that question the foundations of these 
proposals. In particular, whether they imply a substantive 
transformation of current capitalist socio-ecological regimes, or their 
continuation and even expansion. The series will also feature 
contributions by Stefania Barca and Emanuele Leonardi.


full: https://entitleblog.org/2018/01/25/the-shitty-new-communist-futurism/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Imperialism, globalization and the profitability of capital – Michael Roberts – Rupture Magazine

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://rupturemagazine.org/2018/01/25/imperialism-globalization-and-the-profitability-of-capital/
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[Marxism] Fwd: The Great British Empire Debate | by Kenan Malik | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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I am not a big Kenan Malik fan but this is great.

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/01/26/the-great-british-empire-debate/
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Re: [Marxism] Terreblanche Fwd: The Co-Optation of the African National Congress: South Africa’s Original ‘State Capture’

[Patrick Bond via Marxism]

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On 2018/01/26 12:45 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/26/the-co-optation-of-the-african-national-congress-south-africas-original-state-capture/ 



Thank for posting, Louis,

    We're nearing the end of Sampie's wonderful contributions, as his 
brain cancer is at an advanced stage. He's 84 and his last book, four 
years ago, was a 600 page critique of Western imperialism, a real tour 
de force - and surprisingly, published by Penguin, though they did a 
terrible marketing job.


    Still, meeting Sampie two weeks ago, he was full of energy and a 
desire to see his work critiqued and spread. So on Monday we'll be doing 
so with a symposium in his honor at the University of Johannesburg, with 
quite a stellar roster of South African radicals cheering him on.


    If anyone wants to chip in a tribute with some few sentences by 
email, or if you want to read his work, do let me know, I'll send you a 
little package by email.


Cheers,

Patrick

PS, I've spent the last three days with Samir Amin - age 86 - in Dakar 
(including his humble apartment in the city's oldest major building). 
He's going very very strong, making constant inputs into a workshop 
(where we're writing an "Alternative Report on Africa") of the Council 
for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, a group of 
4000 critical intellectuals he founded more than 40 years ago. I can't 
wait for the next MR Press book he has authored, the second half of his 
autobiography. Amazing! Our continent has some of the finest critics of 
Washington's shithole imperialism.



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[Marxism] Fwd: Will Trump Really Challenge World Economic Forum's Neoliberal Agenda?

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Leo Panitch interviewed by Greg Wilpert.

http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20967:Will-Trump-Really-Challenge-World-Economic-Forum%27s-Neoliberal-Agenda%3F
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[Marxism] Robin Yassin-Kassab: Syria’s Opposition Should Support Kurdish Autonomy

[mkaradjis . via Marxism]

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The article Louis sent earlier by Omar Sabbour on the Afrin issue
(Dont do It: why attacking Afrin city would be a major blunder for the
Syrian rebels) is certainly one of the best pieces I've seen on the
issue (and I generally find myself in 99% agreement with Omar).

Meanwhile, here is another excellent piece, by Burning Country
co-author Robin Yassin-Kassab: Syria’s Opposition Should Support
Kurdish Autonomy:
https://qunfuz.com/2018/01/25/syrias-opposition-should-support-kurdish-autonomy/

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Re: [Marxism] [Critical-Syria] Re: Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[mkaradjis . via Marxism]

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"A blow to Trump"?? What has Juan been smoking? Trump has made clear
he wants Assad to survive; and the US is allied to the SDF. So since
the US didn't want to confront NATO member Turkey in Afrin, I'm sure
Trump will be good with this.

Of course, this is yet another reason the participation by some rebels
in Turkey's attack on Afrin is a very bad thing. But then again, the
regime is also extremely unlikely to actually heed the call, I think
the regime is quite happy to see rebels and Kurds kill each other.

As for the PYD calling for Assad to "protect Syrian sovereignty", yes
it's a laugh, but at least we can say they are doing it under
pressure. I wonder what excuse for Noam Chomsky and a dozen or so
other left celebrities calling on such famous non-violators of Syrian
sovereignty as ... Iran, Russia and the US ... to "protect Syria's
sovereignty"!! One wonders why they didn't call on that other famous
non-violator of Syrian sovereignty, Israel, to join in as well.

On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 11:58 PM, Andrew Pollack  wrote:
> I've seen this Ocalanite statement in various posts and tweets and was
> waiting, before commenting, to be sure it's not a forgery.
>
> It's one thing to project a non-state, non-national, cross-border entity.
> It's another to do so as an excuse to not fight for national
> self-determination. And it's yet another thing for the leaders of such an
> entity to call explicitly for Assad to protect Syrian national sovereignty
> (the statement explicitly says Assad has a duty to do so!).
>
> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 7:39 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism
>  wrote:
>>
>>
>> "There's a sucker born every minute."
>>
>> P.T. Barnum
>>
>> https://www.juancole.com/2018/01/trump-syrian-turkey.html
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Critical Syria" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to critical-syria+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to critical-sy...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/critical-syria.
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[Marxism] Comment on my article “The Rise of the Leninist Right?"

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Farans Kalosar commented on “The Rise of the Leninist Right”? A 
commentary on a Berkeley professor's nonsense 
(https://louisproyect.org/2018/01/20/the-rise-of-the-leninist-right-a-commentary-on-a-berkeley-professors-nonsense/)


Cihan Tuğal Global Dialog is the magazine of the International 
Sociological Association, a professional society founded by …


...white working class ...:"

Not sure the phrase necessarily assumes working class=white: it may 
merely mean the white segment of the working class--or working white 
people who are neither poor nor rich. Since these would be the 
beneficiaries of white privilege, it makes sense that some of them would 
make more money and enjoy higher status than the average worker. A 
recent article--in Time to be sure (fair disclosure)--put it this way, 
not that i endorse this, but it does not simply equate WC and white:


This puzzlement becomes a problem in politics. What delivered the 
Electoral College for Donald Trump in 2016 was a regional effect: about 
80,000 votes in Rust-Belt states like Michigan, Wisconsin and 
Pennsylvania. The key group was the now-famous “white working class,” 
who trended for Trump. Analyses that deny this often assume that 
“working class” is a euphemism for the poor, and point out that the poor 
did not deliver Trump the election. This is true, but irrelevant — no 
one is arguing they did. The “white working class” that trended for 
Trump is the have-a-littles, not the have-nots: Trump performed best 
among voters earning between $50,000 and $100,000. 
[http://time.com/4899906/donald-trump-white-working-class/]


The "have a littles"--a group that IMHO does exist, whatever their 
relation to the dynamics of social class--certainly have less than they 
formerly did:


According to the BLS, the average hourly wage for non-management 
private-sector workers last month was $20.67, unchanged from August and 
2.3% above the average wage a year earlier. That’s not much, especially 
when compared with the pre-Great Recession years of 2006 and 2007, when 
the average hourly wage often increased by around 4% year-over-year. 
(During the high-inflation years of the 1970s and early 1980s, average 
wages commonly jumped 8%, 9% or even more year-over-year.)


But after adjusting for inflation, today’s average hourly wage has 
just about the same purchasing power as it did in 1979, following a long 
slide in the 1980s and early 1990s and bumpy, inconsistent growth since 
then. In fact, in real terms the average wage peaked more than 40 years 
ago: The $4.03-an-hour rate recorded in January 1973 has the same 
purchasing power as $22.41 would today. [Pew Research study cited in 
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article179570826.html]


Whether the term "working class" applies to statistical income groupings 
as such is intensely problematic. This is of course one reason why 
Marxists look at the underlying dynamics of capitalist social relations 
rather simply than at income and prices for a definition. But the 
expression of those dynamics changes as perhaps the mass of profit 
requires ever more extreme maneuvers for its preservation and growth and 
automation makes inroads on the need for toiling masses tout court. The 
even more problematic traditional notion of "labor aristocracy" perhaps 
also needs an update in the light of developments since 1973 and the 
crash of 2008, especially as this applies to white people and their 
undeniably privileged status historically in the United States.


The point is that some workers have always identified their interests 
with those of their masters, never more so than among American "white 
people." It would be extremely surprising if significant numbers such 
people did not fall into line behind the neoliberal othodoxy put forward 
behind the flimsy "populist" mask of a Trump or a G.W. Bush, as many did 
behind Nixon in the heyday of the reactionary "patriotic" labor unions.


In view of this, indeed, the surprising thing may be how hard it is to 
put one's finger on "working class" support for Trump, not that 
statistics can be squinted at in order to conjure this up. This could be 
construed as a hopeful sign.


Nevertheless, given the changing nature of work through automation and 
the success of the so-called one percent in the U.S. in exporting 
manufacturing, if not the high consumption on which profit largely 
depends, it seems clear that the definition of "working class" in the US 
at present needs a refresh. Until we have more clarity on this, the 
"white working class," like Casper the Ghost (if not so 

[Marxism] Fwd: Water Scarcity Now Threatens India, South Africa

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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More than 80% of India’s electricity comes from thermal power stations, 
burning coal, oil, gas and nuclear fuel. Now researchers from the 
US-based World Resources Institute, after analysing all of India’s 400+ 
thermal power plants, report that its power supply is increasingly in 
jeopardy from water shortages.


The researchers found that 90% of these thermal power plants are cooled 
by freshwater, and nearly 40% of them experience high water stress. The 
plants are increasingly vulnerable, while India remains committed to 
providing electricity to every household by 2019.


full: 
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/water-scarcity-now-real-threat-india-south-africa/

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[Marxism] Art is a Hammer

[Ron Jacobs via Marxism]

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A review of two political art books

http://stillhomeron.blogspot.com/2018/01/art-is-hammer.html

-- 
Check out my newest books *Still Tripping in the Dark

*,* Capitalism
, Daydream
Sunset:60s Counterculture in the 70s
 and Can We Escape the Eternal Flame?
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[Marxism] Fwd: Why There’s So Little Suspense Ahead of Russia’s March Presidential Elections | The Nation

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Written by the nonpareil Tony Wood.

https://www.thenation.com/article/why-theres-so-little-suspense-ahead-of-russias-march-presidential-elections/
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[Andrew Pollack via Marxism]

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I've seen this Ocalanite statement in various posts and tweets and was
waiting, before commenting, to be sure it's not a forgery.

It's one thing to project a non-state, non-national, cross-border entity.
It's another to do so as an excuse to not fight for national
self-determination. And it's yet another thing for the leaders of such an
entity to call explicitly for Assad to protect Syrian national sovereignty
(the statement explicitly says Assad has a duty to do so!).

On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 7:39 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

>
> "There's a sucker born every minute."
>
> P.T. Barnum
>
> https://www.juancole.com/2018/01/trump-syrian-turkey.html
>
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[Marxism] Fwd: Don't do It: why attacking Afrin city would be a major blunder for the Syrian rebels | openDemocracy

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The anger of many rebels towards the YPG should be understood in the 
local context of the province of Aleppo. Following their exile by a 
heavily-armed ISIS in 2014 (particularly following the seizure of heavy 
US weapons stockpiles from the Iraqi Army in Mosul), the armed brigades 
and local councils of dozens of towns and villages in the province of 
Aleppo were prevented from returning to liberate their territory from 
ISIS by US diktat. Contrary to lax media coverage, the only groups which 
would receive US air support against ISIS were those which would 
explicitly commit not to fight the regime, prime amongst them the SDF 
(these would commonly referred to as ‘US backed rebels’, despite the 
condition not to ‘rebel’). Here, not only did the US itself refuse to 
support the anti-Assad FSA against ISIS – despite the FSA being the 
first force on record to have inflicted severe defeats against ISIS – 
the US would even blockade attempts by third parties to support rebel 
offensives against ISIS.


full: 
https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/omar-sabbour/dont-do-it-why-attacking-afrin-city-would-be-major-blunder-for-s

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[Marxism] Fwd: The Co-Optation of the African National Congress: South Africa’s Original ‘State Capture’

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/26/the-co-optation-of-the-african-national-congress-south-africas-original-state-capture/
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[Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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"There's a sucker born every minute."

P.T. Barnum

https://www.juancole.com/2018/01/trump-syrian-turkey.html
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[Marxism] Afrin invasion: Turkey attacks northern Syria’s democratic revolution — with Russian and US approval

[Nick Fredman via Marxism]

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TONY ILTIS

January 26, 2018

Three years after Kurdish-led forces liberated the northern Syrian city of
Kobane from ISIS — after a months-long siege that captured the world’s
imagination — the democratic, multi-ethnic and feminist revolution in
Syria’s north is facing a new assault.

This time, it is coming directly from the virulently anti-Kurdish Turkish
state, which had supported ISIS’s siege of Kobane.

With approval from both Russia and the United States, it has launched an
invasion of the Afrin Canton of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria
(DFNS), in its latest attempt to destroy the revolution it sees as a
profound threat.

Full <
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/afrin-invasion-turkey-northern-syria-democratic-revolution-russia-united-states
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[Marxism] One stinking hot afternoon down at the Ford's factory. . .

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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"It was a stinking hot afternoon down at Fords Lower Hutt assembly plant
when one of us deliberately smashed a new truck windscreen. The truck trim
line was a small non-automated section where four or five painted cab
shells got fitted out each day, their windows fixed in place by skilled use
of a big rubber hammer.

"A worker would tap around the edges of the glass, on this occasion
whacking it hard in the middle so it shattered. This meant work in the area
had to stop until a cleaner’s union guy was located, had made his dignified
way across to us and methodically swept up all the pieces. That process
took a good twenty minutes, during which we were able to enjoy a break.

"Of course we. . ."

This is a reflection on the class struggle in the 1970s and today in NZ,
but it has relevance in a lot of other places, I think. . .

full at:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/01/26/one-stinking-hot-afternoon-down-at-the-fords-factory-some-reflections-on-the-class-struggle-in-the-70s-and-now/
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