On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:54:42 -0400 Charles Brown
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
So Charles, what's up with all the postings
on the Free Masons? How is this related
to Marxism?
Jim F.
^^^
Take a look at the posts before this. First, some discussion of the
CLASS
relations in feudalism and a reconsideration of the level of
production and
science in the middle ages. Then I mentioned the stone MASONS as a
working
class component in the Middle Ages, and the modern masons as
deriving from
various physical laborers from past eras. Then Waistline mentioned a
book on
the modern masons.
Waistline also pointed out that many INDUSTRIAL WORKERS are in
masonic
organizations.
So what is the class character of the Freemasons? How has
it changed over the years. It seems to me that back in
the 18th and 19th centuries, the Freemasons were
predominantly bourgeois in character with many
aristocrats also belonging. Back then, the Freemasons
served as a conduit of Enlightenment ideas throughout
Europe and America. Some of the American founders
such as Ben Franklin and George Washington were
certainly Masons. Jefferson was probably
a Mason too. The dollar bill has Masonic symbols on it.
Over in Europe, Motzart was a Freemason and
Masonic symbolism is featured in some of his operas
like The Magic Flute. Since, Freemasonry
has long been condemned by the Catholic Church,
the Freemasons have often been at the center of
anticlerical politics in Catholic countries.
In the 19th century,
the anarchist revolutionary,
Mikhail Bakunin made a point of joining a
Masonic lodge in Paris. Marx Engels, as
far as I know, had no association with
Freemasonry, even though there are still
people on the extreme right who like to
talk about conspiracies of Freemasons,
Jews, and communists to take over the
world.
The issue of what impact the Freemasons
and other kinds of secret societies have
had on working class organization is
an interesting one and one that I think
merits further exploration. I think
that E.P. Thompson addressed the
issue to some extent in his *The Making
of the English Working Class*.
Perhaps Waistline can say something
more about the role of Freemasonry among
African-American workers.
The Marxist angle is a different look at some of the influences and
organizations of workers and the working class, some influences and
organizations that are not usually discussed by Marxists , but may
have some
significance in trying to understand workers.
CB
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