[Marxism] John Lewis: He should be remembered for this speech

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John Lewis, long time civil rights icon and then member of the House of
Representatives has died. Many on the left will remember him for his role
as an establishment liberal. I remember him differently.
I first saw John Lewis in a small meeting of civil rights activists in New
York City back in the early 1960s. I don’t remember his words, but I
remember his demeanor – more like an aura. He spoke very quietly and
seriously. You could see that he meant every word that he said.
But my clearest memory of John Lewis was from the famous 1963 March on
Washington. (Here

is
my memory of that march.) That was the speech at which Martin Luther King
gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It was all very good to this then
17 year old. But what really gripped me was the speech of John Lewis –
clear, sharp and brimming with anger. He criticized the then-pending Civil
Rights Act and the Democratic Party. “Where is our party?” he demanded.
See rest of article an link to that speech here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/18/rip-john-lewis/

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[Marxism] Haft Tapeh strike in Iran

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"Thousands of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company workers have been on strike for
a month now, demanding the immediate payment of all unpaid wages,
reinstatement of sacked workers, and the return of the embezzled funds to
the workers.

"Presently, the growing escalation of the protests have increased the
pressure on the Islamic Republic. Protests of Haft Tapeh workers today is
certainly one the main forefronts of the struggles of the working class in
Iran

"Please Sign the statement of support. Oaklandsocialist is seeking support
for this statement:
We send our comradely greetings to the Haft Tapeh strikers and to the
entire working class of Iran and we congratulate those fellow workers for
having won the freedom of Youseff Bahmani, Ebrahim Abassi, Mohammad
Khanifar, Moslem Cheshm Khavar, strike leaders at Haft Tapeh. We also
totally oppose the attacks on the Iranian people by Donald Trump. This
includes his imposition of sanctions against Iran. We workers the world
over have the same interests and the same enemies. Workers of all lands
unite. We have nothing to lose but our chains. We have a world to win.

"Contact us at oaklandsocial...@gmail.com to add your name and/or the name
of your organization."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/16/strike-of-haft-tapeh-workers-in-iran/

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[Marxism] Trump, Fauci & ecomodermism

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"Compared to the lies of Trump and the religious mysticism of Mike Pence,
Anthony Fauci seems like a breath of fresh air. He bases himself on
science, after all.

"Why, then, has he allowed himself to be silenced by Trump? Why hasn’t he
simply defied Trump’s orders and spoken out to the US media?...

"Once again we are reminded of the fact that understanding science is too
important to be left to the capitalist class. We workers have to understand
it also."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/12/trump-fauci-and-ecomodernism/

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Re: [Marxism] Harper?s and the Great Cancel Culture Panic

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I finally got around to reading that letter. Two comments:

First, it is extremely poor scholarship. The authors make a series of
allegations, but there are no references to specific acts. Maybe those in
the academic/cultural in crowd might know what they're referring to, but
the overwhelming majority of us don't. So we're left with no way of knowing
whether these allegations are blatantly false, or exaggerations, or whether
they are valid.

This goes to the second point: The entire piece is written without a
thought in mind to working class people. And this from some, like Chomsky,
who claim to be on our side. Sure, many workers can be insensitive, but
still contrary to what the writers seem to think, our experiences and views
do matter.

John Reimann


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Re: [Marxism] ? Anthony Fauci: The Last American Hero?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I agree with the article, but it only scratches the surface.

Today, CNN and MSNBC are lionizing Fauci and shouting from the rooftops
about the White House's refusal to allow Fauci to speak to the US media.
Last I looked, however, Fauci was not in solitary confinement in some
prison. There is nothing stopping him from doing what a series of State
Department officials did and defy Trump and speak to the media. He is
complicit.

But these are the very least of Fauci's sins. By confining himself to
talking about face masks, social distancing, etc., he is moving attention
purely in the direction of of dealing with the symptoms and totally away
from dealing with the underlying causes of this and other zoonotic
diseases. Once again, those are factory farming and habitat destruction.
Sooner or later, if these two practices continue unabated, we will see a
new pandemic that is far more deadly than is SARS-CoV19. And no amount of
facemasks will prevent millions - maybe tens or even hundreds of millions -
from dying.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Biden and Sanders deepen their cooperation

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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*Here we see two things: First the right wing Joe Biden of yesterday can
become the liberal Joe Biden of tomorrow. It all depends on the situation
on the ground, including what sort of movement exists in the streets.
Second, the real role of Bernie Sanders is a rallying of the liberal forces
inside the Democratic Party. This means continuing to enable that party to
bring millions of workers and others into their fold while ensuring that
nothing too "radical" is accomplished. Here's the text of the article:*

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/us/politics/biden-bernie-sanders.html?referringSource=articleShare
"Allies of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled a
sweeping set of joint policy recommendations on Wednesday, a significant if
tentative sign of cooperation among Democrats as Mr. Biden’s campaign
continues its appeals to the progressive left.

Mr. Biden is expected to adopt many of the recommendations, which were
submitted by six policy task forces and cover a wide range of issues
including health care, criminal justice, education and climate change.

For all of the details, the lengthy recommendation document amounted to a
collection of widely acceptable liberal proposals, many of which Mr. Biden
has already embraced in his bid for party unity. And they come at a time
when policy differences that stood out in the primary campaign have largely
faded to the backdrop as Democrats look toward a shared goal: defeating
President Trump.

The recommendations to Mr. Biden on economics include broader and costlier
plans than he has championed so far in his campaign, and the proposals on
climate change include new benchmarks for reducing carbon emissions. Though
Mr. Sanders favors universal, single-payer health care, the recommendations
adhere to Mr. Biden’s approach of building on the Affordable Care Act. And
Republicans will find plenty to fault among the proposals, like a 100-day
moratorium on deportations, a move that Mr. Biden had previously backed.

The policy recommendations will also most likely frustrate some in the
Democratic Party’s activist wing who believe they do not go far enough. The
task forces did not recommend plans that Mr. Sanders promoted like
“Medicare for all,” tuition-free public college for everyone or canceling
all student debt.

As the economic and public health impact of the coronavirus pandemic became
clear, some consensus between the two factions of the party had already
begun to form. The groups also met amid intense unrest over racial
injustice, spurred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of the
Minneapolis police, that has focused attention nationwide on systemic
racism and inequality.

Among the recommendations put forth by the health care task force are new
health insurance programs for the duration of the pandemic. The task force
suggested government-funded COBRA coverage for people who recently lost
job-based coverage, and the creation of a new Obamacare plan that would
have no deductible and would be free for low-income Americans.

The document also adds new details to an existing Biden campaign proposal
to create a “public option” plan, which would be run by the Medicare system
to compete with private health insurers. That plan would include a
no-deductible option. Low-income Americans who are not eligible for
Medicaid would be automatically enrolled in the plan at no cost, though
they could opt out if they wished. Anyone else would be eligible to buy it
if they preferred it to other choices.

Other recommendations included a proposal from the economy task force for
an executive order to prohibit federal contracts with companies that pay
less than a $15 minimum wage or that do not remain neutral in unionization
efforts; a goal from the climate change task force to eliminate carbon
emissions from power plants by 2035; and the creation of an environmental
justice fund to address the disproportionate burden of pollution and
environmental hazards that communities of color bear.

The task forces also gave broad policy recommendations to the Democratic
National Committee’s platform committee.

In a statement, Mr. Biden commended the task forces’ work and expressed
gratitude toward Mr. Sanders “for working together to unite our party, and
deliver real, lasting change for generations to come.”

Mr. Sanders, for his part, acknowledged the progress his supporters had
made — but also nodded to some lasting disappointment.

“Though the end result is not what I or my supporters would have written
alone, the task forces have created a good policy blueprint that will move
this country in a much-needed progressive direction and substantially

Re: [Marxism] Trump's Job Approval Rating Sinks To 38% Amid Record-Busting Partisan Divide | HuffPost

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I've become a political junkie who follows these polls on a daily basis. I
suspect that I'm not the only one, which shows a wider political interest I
think

That Gallup poll is similar to but slightly off the average of polls taken
during that time period, as shown here:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo.
The Gallup poll is slightly worse for Trump. Let's hope it's more accurate.

Also note that the Gallup poll was taken June 8-30. The five-thirty eight
site has a daily average. Interestingly, since July 1, Trump's numbers have
moved very slightly in his direction. The move may just be a statistical
fluke, although the fact that it has continued for a few days could mean
that it's not. ("Might" and "could" are the operative words here.)

My own feeling is that the main driver in his slide in the polls has been
the protests in the streets. Like during Occupy, these protests have
transformed the consciousness. Now, it seems the protests are fading a bit.
How far this will go is anybody's guess.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Sleep is for the Rich Gun Club

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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When a black gun club showed up at a protest in Louisiana. If somebody else
already posted this brilliant monologue, I apologize for double posting,
but anyway it's worth watching a second time.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCIH3QtH16U/?igshid=1l8re97ewhalo
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[Marxism] Bounties, WMD's and big game hunters

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"When a big game hunter goes after a large and dangerous beast, he had
better understand how that beast functions, or else the hunter can become
the hunted. The same is true for those who wish to bring an end to the
dangerous beast known as capitalism. However, all too many show an
unfortunate tendency towards complete misunderstanding of this particular
beast. The story of the Russian government offering a bounty to the Taliban
for any US soldier they kill in Afghanistan is an example.

"Many on the left denounce that story as just another example of war
mongering. They use the case of the Bush claim of Saddam Hussein’s weapons
of mass destruction. They rely on the likes of the pro Assad Chris Hedges
as an example. Hedges, who is an Assad defender , claims that it’s the
military industrial complex that is likely inventing this story because
Trump is pushing us “to the brink of peace”. Another example is the group
“Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting” (FAIR.org) which also has a similar
approach as far as supporting Assad. They also refer back to the WMD claims.

Let’s review what actually happened in the US build-up to its invasion of
Iraq:"

Read more:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/07/russian-bounties-wmds-and-big-game-hunters/

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[Marxism] coming wave of evictions, especially in black community

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is an article on the coming wave of evictions in the black and Latino
communities. This makes it all the more important to organize protests
against the ending of the $600/week unemployment benefit. I have tried to
be pretty diplomatic about it up until now, but I received no reply, so I'm
going to be more blunt: It is very disappointing that those RSN members in
the Oakland area have completely ignored my proposals for RSN to organize a
protest around this. It really leads me to question what is happening and
it should lead others to do the same.

"A backlog of eviction cases is beginning to move through the court system
as millions of Americans who had counted on federal aid and eviction
moratoriums to stay in their homes now fear being thrown out.

A crisis among renters is expected to deepen this month as the enhanced
unemployment benefits that have kept many afloat run out at the end of the
July, and the $1,200 per adult stimulus payment that had supported
households earlier in the crisis becomes a distant memory.

"Meanwhile, enforcement of federal moratoriums on some types of evictions
is uneven, with experts warning that judges’ efforts to limit access to
courtrooms or hold hearings online because of covid-19 could increasingly
leave elderly or poor renters at a disadvantage.

"Of the 110 million Americans

living
in rental households, 20 percent are at risk of eviction by Sept. 30,
according to an analysis by the Covid-19 Eviction Defense Project
, a Colorado-based community group. African
American and Hispanic renters are expected to be hardest hit."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/06/eviction-moratoriums-starwood/

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[Marxism] Unexposed patients found with T-Cells that react to SARS-CoV 19

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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A recent study seemed to show that SARS-CoV-19 antibodies disappear in a
person over a fairly short period of time. That is important because it
might mean that an effective long term vaccine against the disease is not
possible. "Seem" and "might" are the operative words. Here is a study that
seems to show the opposite. In this study, researchers found a T-cell in
people who had been uninfected (as far as they knew) that reacted to the
virus. The researchers concluded that it's possible (note: "possible") that
these people had been exposed to another virus in the coronavirus family
and had manufactured a T-cell that reacted to that virus and was also
reactive to SARS-CoV-19. In that case, it could mean that some antibodies
remain for a longer period of time.

One thing I've learned from following the science in this disease is how
very complex scientific research is and why it's important to hesitate to
draw definitive conclusions. But we as workers definitely need to keep
abreast of the research.


https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/sars-cov-2-reactive-t-cells-found-in-patients-with-severe-covid-19-67695?fbclid=IwAR0cFpctF11F8fOpXC8Cqx6FlLpB74oIKtcQ630OPUx1mGFxu_ed3W68gQI#.XwM7Vw2aknU.facebook

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[Marxism] Once again: The crisis of the US capitalist class which can't trust its own president

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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And again, the crisis of the US capitalist class that cannot trust its own
president. From today's WSJ:

"WASHINGTON—President Trump’s combative relationship with U.S. intelligence
agencies has made it difficult for officials to speak candidly to him or
the public about national security threats throughout his tenure,
particularly those involving Russia, according to current and former
officials.

Blunt talk by officials about threats ranging from North Korea’s nuclear
program to Russian election interference has resulted in Twitter-powered
fusillades or private tongue-lashings from Mr. Trump—and contributed to his
dismissals of senior intelligence officials seen as insufficiently loyal,
the officials said.

The challenges of communicating intelligence that President Trump may not
want to hear are on renewed display amid revelations about intelligence
assessments that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to carry out attacks
on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The White House said Mr. Trump wasn’t briefed on the intelligence because
it was unverified. However, Republican lawmakers have acknowledged it was
contained in the daily intelligence brief prepared for the president, and
several said they take the potential threat seriously. Mr. Trump has called
reports of the intelligence a “hoax.”

Tensions between Mr. Trump and the intelligence community existed even
before Mr. Trump took office. During the presidential transition, Mr. Trump
blamed intelligence agencies for leaks of unsubstantiated claims about his
relationship with Russia and accused them of acting like “Nazi Germany.”
But the Russia bounties episode has offered a rare look at the impact of
Mr. Trump’s distrust of intelligence agencies, former officials said.

Mr. Trump is known among intelligence officials to be especially sensitive
to issues involving Russia. Marc Polymeropoulos, who was a senior Central
Intelligence Agency officer until last summer, said that when a briefer
would raise issues related to Russia, “Trump would flip out.”

“There’s probably a lot of self-censorship” in terms of what the
president’s intelligence briefers raise in oral presentations, he said.

From the perspective of the president and many White House officials, the
mistrust goes both ways. Former senior intelligence officials from the
Obama administration are vocal critics of Mr. Trump in the media, where
they routinely call him a threat to national security and the rule of the
law—something many current and former officials privately concede is
unhelpful. And Mr. Trump and other officials have claimed the investigation
into Russian election interference was motivated by a desire to damage his
presidency, pointing to the largely discredited Steele dossier that alleged
Moscow had compromising information on the president—as well as the
applications for surveillance of one-time campaign adviser Carter Page,
which a Justice Department watchdog concluded were riddled with errors—as
evidence of bad faith.

The Central Intelligence Agency prepares the President’s Daily Brief, a
classified digest gleaned from human spies, electronic intercepts and other
sources of information. An intelligence official typically meets with the
president and other senior White House officials to highlight key takeaways
from the prepared brief, according to former officials.

Beth Sanner, a CIA officer, works as Mr. Trump’s briefer, presenting main
elements of the daily report, which is supplied on an iPad but rarely read
by Mr. Trump, former officials have said.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a televised interview this
week that Ms. Sanner, whom he didn’t name, was an “outstanding officer” who
chose not to verbally raise the Russian bounty intelligence because it was
uncorroborated.

However, Ms. Sanner doesn’t unilaterally decide what issues from the daily
brief to raise directly with Mr. Trump, former officials said, adding such
decisions typically are made in consultation with senior White House
advisers.

Mr. Polymeropoulos, the former CIA officer, said the breakdown in
presenting the bounty intelligence to Mr. Trump wasn’t the briefer’s fault
and that Mr. O’Brien and others should have flagged it to the president,
particularly as he was in the process of trying to get Russia back into the
Group of Seven leading nations.

“Throwing Beth Sanner under the bus, that’s just grotesque,” he said.

The National Security Council and CIA didn’t respond to a request for
comment. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany this week, when
questioned about Mr. Trump’s use of intelligence, called him “the most
informed person on planet Earth” and blamed “some rogue 

[Marxism] New Swine Flu strain

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is a living example of what Rob Wallace explains in his book, "Big
Farms make Big Flu". In that book, he explains that once a new virus is
identified, it's already too late. And what do the scientists say here?
'“From the data presented, it appears that this is a swine influenza virus
that is poised to emerge in humans,” University of Sydney evolutionary
biologist Edward Holmes, who was not involved in the study, tells Science.
“Clearly this situation needs to be monitored very closely.” “We just
do not know a pandemic is going to occur until the damn thing occurs,”
influenza researcher Robert Webster, who recently retired from St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital and was not involved in the study, tells
Science. “Will this one do it? God knows.”'

In other words: Too late, there's nothing "we" can do about it.


https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/swine-flu-strain-has-pandemic-potential-study-67678?utm_campaign=TS_DAILY%20NEWSLETTER_2020_medium=email&_hsmi=90575694&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9rnJ1K88-izP_ieiE0dsRB6gd_Nr2h8gki-qgSd-7-a2npM-nTH5C5vtG0cytchDRwu88KCwdUSfEOm-dcj7lZnyhkwQ_content=90575694_source=hs_email
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[Marxism] MPD: a summary history of their crimes

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The MPD: Here's a brief summary of their history of corruption, ignoring
rape, illegal ketamine injections, brutality & murder.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/01/the-crimes-of-the-minneapolis-department/

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[Marxism] Trump headed for crash?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"What do we make of Trump’s claim that he was never briefed on the US
intelligence belief that Putin’s government had placed a bounty on the
heads of US soldiers in Afghanistan? Evidently, it was reported to Trump in
one of his daily president’s daily intelligence brief (PDB) in early 2019.
Yet Trump claims that he was never personally briefed on the matter. That
may be true, but if not, why not?

"Even at the start of his presidency, it was known that he didn’t read the
PDB’s. (In fact, those who wrote the briefs resorted to the methods that
are used to hold a child’s attention by including “fun pictures and graphs
to hold his attention.” So, if they knew he was unlikely to read this
report, why didn’t they apparently have a sit-down with him to tell him
about it?"
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/07/01/trump-headed-for-a-crash/

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Re: [Marxism] Trump in ?fragile? mood and may drop out of 2020 race if poll numbers don?t improve, GOP insiders tell Fox News | The Independent

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Louis Proyect writes about "the idealized proletarians of the CIO in
the 1930s..." He once again fails to recognize the transformation that has
come about in the US working class and seems to think that any comment on
that (our) class automatically means those blue collar industrial workers.
Newsflash: Teachers, secretaries, health care workers (including nurses),
uber drives and tech workers are all part of the 21st century proletariat!

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Trump in ?fragile? mood and may drop out of 2020 race if poll numbers don?t improve, GOP insiders tell Fox News | The Independent

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Mark Lause writes: "I do think there's nothing that's going to jolt voters
into forgetting what Trump's record." I think both the 2018 results as well
as all present polls show that is not correct. Hundreds of thousands if not
millions of previous Trump voters voted for a Democrat in 2018 in an
election that was in effect a referendum on Trump. And the fact that his
polling numbers today are dropping like a stone also shows that that is
untrue. Not only are college educated white suburban moms ("soccer moms"?)
turning against Trump, so are those over 60 and even a layer of white,
males without a college education.

Even among those who "strongly approve" of Trump today, it would surprise
me if even among some of them, his support could erode, at the very least
to the extent that their enthusiasm will decrease to the extent that they
won't vote at all. I think some great shock will be required to move them,
but shocks are inherent in the situation. We know, for example, that the
Trump supporters tend to be very patriotic and for many of them, the
immediate reaction to Americans being killed (most especially US soldiers)
is almost being willing to drop a nuclear bomb. What will happen if it is
decisively proven that Trump knew about the Russian bounty on US soldiers
in Afghanistan and did nothing? (My own suspicion is that the information
was in his daily briefing but that they hoped he wouldn't read it because
if he did they feared he'd go directly to Putin and let Putin know that US
intelligence knew.)

There is a layer of Trump supporters about whom what Mark writes is true. I
suspect that they are about one quarter or a little more of the electorate.
That doesn't even come close to being enough to win an election, not even
with voter suppression.

I do think that Trump's reelection (which now seems increasingly doubtful
although far from ruled out) would be a serious defeat, an even greater
defeat than the election of Biden. If Trump got back in, it would
enormously boost the far right - the white supremacists, violent militias,
and outright fascists. It would give Trump a free hand to even further
steamroll all semblance of opposition. This is not the same as what could
have been said - and was said - about previous Republican presidents
(Reagan, Bush, etc.). Trump actually is qualitatively different from them.

As for Howie Hawkins and the Green Party: I had had hopes that it might
develop into something - might start to develop a wider working class base
- after Sanders lost in 2016. I think it's pretty clear since then that
they won't. A real working class party will develop out of the struggle in
the streets, on the jobs, and inside the unions. I have yet to see the
Green Party play any significant role in any of that. To my knowledge, for
example, they aren't even in the discussion within the protests against the
George Floyd murder and the related murders.

I voted for the Greens in 2016 and now I think it was a mistake for two
reasons: First is that I underestimated the importance of their vice
presidential candidate being an Assad supporter and their presidential
candidate palling around with Putin and, in effect, saying that a Trump
victory was better than a Clinton victory. Despite that, I might have voted
for them anyway had I been right that they might develop a genuine working
class base. (And, no, I don't see blue collar men as being the only members
of the US working class.)

John Reimann

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 11:52 AM Mark Lause  wrote:

> I do think there's nothing that's going to jolt voters into forgetting
> what Trump's record.  His diehard supporters know and don't care.  But I
> think he's damaged severely and not bright enough to even attempt to do
> anything about it other than to repeat what's worked for him in the past.
> Nothing he does is going to get significantly more than he's already got.
>
> What could lose the election is turnout.  The Democrats are trying hard to
> convince people that Joe Biden is some kind of old liberal or more, which
> he wasn't.  Neither is he entirely up to the ordeal of a serious campaign
> without become too exhausted or frustrated to being making utterly
> gratuitous and idiotic comments revealing his arrogance and sense of
> entitlement.  Either the Democratic leadership will use him only in very
> controlled situations and win or they will let him do what Trump does and
> risk losing by persuading voters that it's not worth their while to
> participate in such a crappy and demeaning process.
>
> Our task should be to see if we can get Howie Hawkins a percentage of the
> popular vote as large as Nader got in 2000.  More is 

Re: [Marxism] Trump in ?fragile? mood and may drop out of 2020 race if poll numbers don?t improve, GOP insiders tell Fox News | The Independent

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I don't agree with Michael Meeropol that poll numbers mean nothing. Nor
does either Trump or Biden. Even in 2016 the poll numbers weren't that far
off. They predicted a Clinton victory, and they were right. They just
didn't take into account the electoral college distortions. Also, there was
another factor: Just slightly over a week before the election, Comey
released a statement saying that there was more to investigate regarding
Hillary Clinton. That had a significant effect, but it came too late for
the polls to show it.

As far as voter suppression: I've been commenting on that for some time.
However, Trump can only suppress just so much of the votes, and it has to
be done on a demographic basis. In other words, he can't pick and choose
which individual voters he wants to suppress; he can only suppress votes
in, for example, a mainly black precinct. His problem is that now, it's not
only college educated younger white voters who are turning against him.
Even older voters are, including older whites. And even his lead among
non-college educated whites is declining.

We should never underestimate the potential of Biden to totally screw
things up, nor the possibility that some shock could happen that could
transform everything, but Trump made his real move when he tried to get the
army to intervene. Once he was stymied there, he was in deep trouble. Not
saying the outcome is definite, but he's in trouble.

And I think it's ridiculous to think that we'd be in better shape if
Clinton had won. No, I didn't vote for her, but the degree that the far
right - outright fascists included - has developed under Trump is
unprecedented in my lifetime.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] "Capitalism after Coronavirus"

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/capitalism-after-the-coronavirus-11593470102?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Al Gore pimps for responsible capitalism regarding Covid 19. But notice
that he entirely fails to even hint at the issues of habitat destruction
and factory farming. So much for that idea.

"We wrote an op-ed for these pages in 2006 titled “For People and Planet,”
in which we argued for a long-term, sustainable, multistakeholder approach
to business. We said America’s corporate leaders should put environmental,
social and governance factors at the heart of their decision-making.

Fourteen years later, the idea has become a proven model for business. The
Business Roundtable and the British Academy have both strongly endorsed the
multistakeholder approach in the past nine months. Why? Because sustainable
capitalism is better suited than business as usual to the challenges we
face.

Voluminous research has shown conclusively that businesses properly
integrating ESG factors into their plans are typically more successful and
profitable. As the value of this paradigm becomes widely recognized,
investors who fail to take it into account may be at risk of violating
their fiduciary duty to their clients.

As economies reopen around the country, it is essential that policy makers
don’t default to pre-pandemic thinking. Covid-19 with all its unfolding
tragedy presents a once-in-a-century obligation to rethink the
relationships among business, markets, government and society. What is
desperately needed, and what we must deliver, is a sustainable form of
capitalism.

Investors have a critical role to play. All investments made today must
factor in long-term climate and societal implications. Indeed, the shift to
a zero-carbon, inclusive business model is already well under way. Entire
sectors are beginning to be transformed: energy, agriculture and food,
fishing and ocean protection, forestry, architecture and construction,
mobility and transport, and other carbon-intensive sectors such as
chemicals and heavy manufacturing. We believe this transition will be the
most significant change in economic history. The opportunities are ready
now. We need to invest in them with the same sense of urgency that people
have demanded in mitigating the pandemic.

Already, the pandemic has revealed what companies are truly made of.
Health-care firms have played vital and visible roles in sequencing the
virus, testing, and delivering personal protective equipment. Companies in
other sectors have also stepped up by helping restaurants pivot to digital
ordering channels or directing small businesses to the financial support
they need to get through the crisis.

Some companies have responded by adopting a responsible, long-term
perspective on this challenge—absorbing costs where necessary to protect
their employees. Major food retailers are sharing data, logistics
infrastructure and even staff in a huge effort to maintain food security.
This unprecedented cooperation is made possible by regulators waiving
normal rules on competition.

CEOs must put the welfare of their employees first. People shouldn’t have
to worry about getting hurt or getting sick when they come to work, and
those who are working from home need support too. It goes without saying
that those who do get sick will need time to recover and those who lose
family members or friends will need space to grieve.

African-Americans are suffering from Covid-19 more than any other race, in
part because their much higher exposure to air pollution increases the
mortality rate from the virus. The mental-health challenges and financial
pressures related to the pandemic are also affecting some populations more
than others.

Companies making cuts in pay or staff numbers should lead from the top. The
C-suites should be taking the largest cuts to total compensation, and we
are pleased that many companies have adopted this approach. We also ask
CEOs to focus on their companies’ long-term strengths. It is far wiser to
prioritize capital allocation in ways that will produce results in 2021 or
even several years hence, instead of chasing the next quarter’s numbers.
For some companies, there may be opportunities to bring forward a long-term
project or make a strategic acquisition.

Finally, we want CEOs to accelerate their efforts on climate action. For
perspective, it is worth recalling the shocking wildfires that have struck
Australia, California and the Amazon in recent years. There is an obvious,
if uncomfortable, parallel between our still inadequate responses to the
tragic suffering of Covid-19 and to the fast-growing consequences of the
climate crisis. We ignored the warnings 

[Marxism] Emerging Republican election strategy

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Combine closed polling stations, increased Covid-19 numbers, eliminating
mail-in ballots in some states, and the possible closure of the USPS this
fall (making mail-in ballots impossible), and you get a Republican election
strategy that might possibly work.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/27/republican-election-strategy-starting-to-emerge/

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[Marxism] Studies report rapid loss of Covid-19 antibodies

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This is not good news, including the possible long term effectiveness of a
possible vaccine.

"A pair of studies published this week is shedding light on the duration of
immunity following COVID-19, showing patients lose their IgG antibodies—the
virus-specific, slower-forming antibodies associated with long-term
immunity—within weeks or months after recovery. With COVID-19, most people
who become infected do produce antibodies, and even small amounts can still
neutralize the virus in vitro, according to earlier work. These latest
studies could not determine if a lack of antibodies leaves people at risk
of reinfection"


https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/studies-report-rapid-loss-of-covid-19-antibodies-67650?utm_campaign=TS_OTC_2020_medium=email&_hsmi=90233790&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Ujl94awvqp8eCJQur9M69q-Zn7gIkdI-ZSNiWq2RstXDdXWJVUDFnExi5DBrImtwe1Md-R2U-zBtMBKRSRLQK-vzQoA_content=90233790_source=hs_email

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[Marxism] Keynes returns from the dead?

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Those of the younger generations will not remember, and maybe many won't be
familiar with Keynes. He was the architect of the economic strategy post WW
II. That was the strategy that advocated deficit spending as a means of
preventing new economic disasters like the 1930s Depression. His theories
lost capitalist support in the fact of the threat of runaway inflation in
the US in the late 1970s. Now, it seems, in the face of renewed crises,
they may be making a comeback. For those who can't open the article, here
it is:

"
If, like me, you feel like our nation is going through hell right now, then
you might also agree that it’s a good time to recall the admonition, “When
you’re going through hell, keep going.” But where are we to go? What is the
best path out of our intersecting crises: pandemic, recession and violent,
structural racism?

For that, I recommend turning to the renowned British economist John
Maynard Keynes. I’ve been reading Zachary D. Carter’s excellent new
biography of Keynes, finding the book and Keynes’s ideas remarkably timely.
Keynes’s towering body of work points toward a more inclusive economy and
society, one that throws off the yoke of dominant assumptions that, 74
years after Keynes’s death, still repress functional, representative
democracy.

Most people associate Keynesian economics with governments spending their
way out of recessions, a policy playing out in real time across the globe.
That’s certainly core to the Keynesian revolution in political economics,
but to stop there fails to capture the scope of insights Keynes developed
long before he was pushing Roosevelt to spend expansively on the New Deal
during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Through the First World War and especially during its aftermath, when his
sage guidance was ignored, Keynes struggled to reconcile the tragic
occurrences he saw unfolding with the classical assumptions that markets,
and thus the societies they support, would always naturally settle into
optimal conditions.

Keynes correctly predicted that imposing severe reparations on post-World
War I Germany would plant the seeds for the next world war. He saw,
contrary to the classical model in which he’d been trained, endless cycles
of booms and busts born of assumptions about money, wages and work that
relentlessly delivered high unemployment and stagnant earnings for workers
amid huge returns for “rentiers” (those whose incomes derived from
compounding wealth, not work).

He witnessed the political discontent that grew out of these dynamics and
understood how the failure of the capitalism of the day — underwritten by
untethered, often corrupt financial markets — provided powerful fuel for
communism. Keynes rejected Marxism, believing instead, as Carter notes,
that “it was time for capitalism not to be overthrown but to be ‘wisely
managed.’ ” But Keynes understood and feared the political outcomes of an
economic system that failed to deliver consistent security, if not
prosperity, to most people.

Why did capitalism need management?

Because, contrary to assumption, it didn’t manage itself. Keynes observed,
for example, that individual people often saved more than businesses
invested (again, contrary to assumption). To this day, economics students
are taught that savings equals investment, and that the way to boost
investment is to save more (this is a common argument against running
budget deficits).

But people worried about the future — maybe due to … oh, I don’t know, an
invisible, pernicious microbe — will, from the perspective of broad social
welfare, oversave and underconsume. There is no invisible hand to magically
balance such things out, and thus an enlightened government must intervene
to offset imbalances.

This all sounds theoretical until you realize that the U.S. labor market,
as I pointed out last week, has been at full employment only 37 percent of
the time since 1972 and the black rate has never reached that mark. In
other words, the assumption that full employment is the norm is thoroughly
disproved by the data now, and it was no truer in Keynes’s time. Yet it
still pervades economic thinking and policy.

Keynes saw that markets do not settle into an “optimal equilibrium” but can
diverge from such conditions for years on end. Moreover, markets exist in a
political context that determines who wins and who loses. Examples include
product and industry regulations, labor standards (e.g., minimum wages and
overtime rules), the extent of collective bargaining, anti-discrimination
rules and their enforcement, and employers’ leeway to fire workers at will.

In his time, as today, that political context is held in place by 

Re: [Marxism] fascism in the US?

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First of all, in reply to Andrew Stewart: I challenged the idea that the
South was under a fascist regime in any period of US history. In doing so,
I did not refer to the Populist Party. I referred to the union organizing
drives in the South, including public meetings. No such meetings would have
been possible under a fascist regime.

Secondly, there seems to be a failure to distinguish fascist from
bonapartism. Mexico, for example, was under a bonapartist dictatorship for
the 70 years of the PRI rule. It was similar under Batista in Cuba. I think
there are some fundamental differences between the situation in those
countries and fascism.

I have repeatedly written about Trump's drive towards one-man authoritarian
rule. By that I mean bonapartism. If Trump manages to suppress the vote and
use other means to get a second term, I think he'll go a lot further down
that road. We couldn't even discount the possibility of his becoming an
outright bonapartist ruler - or possibly his son would upon succeeding him.
But I don't think actual fascism is really in the cards. Under fascism, the
ruler needs to have his or her own mass private army of thugs, such as
Hitler's SS. While the militias aspire to such a role, they aren't even
close, nor do I think it's likely that they will get close. Under fascism,
the working class organizations - the unions in this country - aren't
merely put under state control, they are smashed entirely and the working
class is completely atomised. I don't think that is at all likely, even if
Trump succeeds himself.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] fascism in the US?

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Yes, I thought about it more and I actually sent the following letter to
the editor. I doubt they'll publish it, but I sent it anyway:

Regarding "American Fascism; it has happened here". Sarah Churchwell
outlines a truly horrific history of racist terrorism, especially in the
South. However, I think it is questionable whether it was truly fascism
that held sway. Under fascism, the working class is atomized; working class
organizations are crushed completely and no working class organizing is
possible. Not only that but the main form of repression is the state forces
themself. That was not the case in the South.

Consider this history, as outlined in Philip Foner's "Organized Labor and
the Black Worker, 1619-1981":

In the 1880s and early 1890s, there was a series of strikes of black and
white workers together throughout the South. This included sugar plantation
workers in Louisiana and the New Orleans general strike of 1892. In that
instance, the workers consciously established a negotiating committee that
was half white workers and half black workers. The employers sought to
divide them by offering to negotiate with the whites only. The whites
refused and the strike was ultimately successful. That period reflected a
general tendency of the working class to come together across racial lines.
That general tendency was reversed by the Panic of 1893. This crisis threw
workers into competition with each other for jobs and, in the absence of
any alternative, racial divisions were given a renewed life, including in
the AFL.

That body, which had previously threatened to expel the Machinists union
due to their racist color bar, then reversed course and by 1914 Gompers was
in effect blaming black people for their own oppressed conditions. Despite
this, even in that time the United Mine Workers were a largely integrated
union throughout the coal mining regions. While rare, there were a few
instances of united worker struggles even in those years. That included the
1907 strike of levee workers in New Orleans. In that instance, the workers
elected an arbitration committee composed of 2 black and 2 white workers.

The most outstanding example was that of the IWW during those years. One
example was the Brotherhood of Timber Workers, which organized in Texas,
Louisiana and Arkansas. They held their founding convention in Alexandria,
Louisiana in 1914. Due to the Jim Crow laws, the black and the white
workers at first met separately. However, at the urging of Big Bill
Haywood, they agreed to defy the law and meet together. They then elected
black and white delegates to the subsequent IWW convention to be held in
Chicago.

It is true that most of these efforts in the South in those years were
crushed, but the same was true in the North. I hardly think that one can
make an argument that the entire United States was fascist during that
entire period. Under fascism, no such organizing is possible. And it is not
only the extra-state mobs that crush such attempts; it is the forces of the
state itself. Therefore, while I think that Churchwell makes a real
contribution in her article, horrific as the situation was in the South, I
don't think it's accurate to call it "fascism" during those years.

On Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 12:15 PM Andrew Stewart 
wrote:

> Considering that Robert Paxton points to the Klan as a fascist
> organization decades before Mussolini came to power I have to agree with
> that point
>
> Best regards,
> Andrew Stewart
> - - -
> Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via
> https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2020 10:04:56 -0700
> From: John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com>
> To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
>
> Subject: [Marxism] fascism in the US?
> Message-ID:
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Here is an article that argues that the US was ruled by fascism in the
> South for an extended period of time. It also argues that fascism in the US
> has had a greater influence at the national level that we often recognize.
> I think their argument is quite serious.
>
>
> https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/22/american-fascism-it-has-happened-here/?fbclid=IwAR3QiVgCGTORPziQv04LceN9VI-iQ9hjlgBNVf3txsaMGgU3qOVWXiQzefM
>
> --
> *?Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.? *Felicity Dowling
> Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
>


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[Marxism] fascism in the US?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is an article that argues that the US was ruled by fascism in the
South for an extended period of time. It also argues that fascism in the US
has had a greater influence at the national level that we often recognize.
I think their argument is quite serious.

https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/22/american-fascism-it-has-happened-here/?fbclid=IwAR3QiVgCGTORPziQv04LceN9VI-iQ9hjlgBNVf3txsaMGgU3qOVWXiQzefM

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[Marxism] Trump deflating?

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"Hold up! What is that sound we’re hearing? Is it the sound of the air
being let out of the Trump balloon?

Trump’s moves to consolidate his grip on the various branches of the US
government did prevent further dissension within those branches, as long as
he appeared invincible. But the movement in the streets severely weakened
that image. He tried to move to outright military repression, but that was
a step too far for even the Wall St. Journal editors, never mind the
military brass. (See Trump in Trouble.)

Unable to repress the movement in the streets and stymied at least
temporarily in his drive towards one-man rule, the defeats are mounting and
the cracks in his regime have started to widen."
Full article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/22/is-trump-deflating/

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[Marxism] Video of port of Oakland shutdown

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Here is a video of the shutdown of the Port of Oakland by the ILWU.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/20/video-juneteenth-port-of-oakland-shutdown/

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[Marxism] Grocery workers walk off in solidarity with #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd

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"On June 16th nearly the entire staff on shift at Seward Co-op’s Franklin
Ave. store in Minneapolis walked out for a 9 minute work stoppage to mourn
the murder of George Floyd and to stand in solidarity with the
#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protests erupting around the world. Nine minutes is
the length of time George Floyd suffocated under MPD officer Derek
Chauvin’s knee.This was an effort led entirely by rank and file workers.
With our action we also hoped to encourage the Seward Co-op to announce
it’s support for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department and called
on the leadership of UFCW Local 663 (our union) to demand immediate
resignation of the police union’s president, Bob Kroll, who is openly
bigoted and racist.

I was a part of the core group who organized the work stoppage"
Read full article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/18/grocery-workers-walk-off-in-solidarity-with-justiceforgeorgefloyd/

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[Marxism] UAW to take action

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The UAW announces that they will be shutting down assembly lines for the
infamous 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Juneteenth. This comes after the
Amalgamated Transit Union has made sure their bus drivers don't become
"bust" drivers for arrested protesters and the ILWU is shutting down the
West Coast ports on Juneteenth. The general social turmoil is starting to
have an effect on the union bureaucracy. That is all the more reason that
rank and file members should organize to push their unions forward,
including getting mass union participation in the street protests plus
getting the cops out of the AFL-CIO.
https://uaw.org/uaw-action-racism-june-19-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2VLE71TtE-cK2ytoekxuQ3LNICmv1k_z-pKFT6aXwp11uIitQLEKmitus

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[Marxism] Trump in trouble, the future is uncertain (to say the least)

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"His national approval ratings are sinking like a stone, down from 41%
approval, compared to 55% disapproval as of June 11. This near 15% gap
compares to a mere 5% gap in March
"The coming period will be full of struggle, drama, suffering, chaos… and
uncertainty. The only thing we can be sure of is that it won’t be boring!"
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/12/trump-in-trouble-the-future-is-uncertain-to-say-the-least/

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[Marxism] AFL-CIO statement on Floyd & a resolution for rank and file activists

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Not only is the AFL-CIO statement on the George Floyd murder too little too
late; it defends the presence of the police "union" in the AFL-CIO. As we
explain in this article, by picturing the cops as workers in uniform, this
presence endangers the collective bargaining power of all public sector
workers. Here is a model resolution that rank and file members can
introduce in their locals calling for the expulsion of the police "union"
from the AFL-CIO.

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/10/afl-cio-statement-on-george-floyd-a-suggestion-for-a-rank-and-file-resolution-to-be-introduced-at-the-local-level/

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[Marxism] Modern Monetary Theory

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/opinion/us-deficit-coronavirus.html?action=click=Opinion=Homepage
Here is another article written by an advocate of Modern Monetary Theory.
Those advocates seem to be saying that this is a panacea - simply keep
printing up and spending money because debt doesn't matter. Debt might not
matter, but money supply does. As the author writes, "If any government
tries to spend too much into an economy that’s already running at full
speed, inflation will accelerate. So there are limits. However, the limits
are not in our government’s ability to spend money or to sustain large
deficits. What M.M.T. does is distinguish the real limits from wrongheaded,
self-imposed constraints."

Yes, just the tiny little detail of inflation. Maybe my age is showing, but
I remember the good old days of the late 1970s, when unemployment and
inflation were both high. Inflation was in double digits and rising. It was
called "stagflation". So, it doesn't even require low unemployment to send
the economy into an inflationary spiral. And in fact, we have already seen
rampant inflation in recent years - in both the stock market and in real
estate values. These are the two arenas in which the more wealthy invest
their dollars. The lower 2/3, struggling to get by, haven't seen much
inflation in what they purchase, because they don't purchase much.

Even there, though, inflation has been a lot more than what they admit. One
of the things they did was, starting in 1980, change the way inflation was
calculated. If we used that previous method, we'd be seeing inflation of
about about 7% right now. See:
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Minneapolis city council votes to disband police. Will they?

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Here's an article of mine on the vote of the Minneapolis City Council to
disband the police:

"When the police make a high-profile arrest, they make him or her walk in
public through the throng of reporters. On June 6, Minneapolis’s reform
minded young mayor, Jacob Frey, refused to commit to disbanding the police
in a crowd of thousands. He was booed and forced to do a “people’s perp
walk” through the crowd and back to his condo. Shortly after that, the
Minneapolis City Council voted to disband their police force. This is
attracting a lot of attention. But what does it really mean?
Oaklandsocialist talked with a union steward and anti-police brutality
activist in Minneapolis. We will call him “Activist”. He warned: “We have
to be prepared for them to do some things we wouldn’t expect.” In other
words, not allow those steps to undermine or divert the power of the
movement. He explained: “they’re not going to get rid of policing… they’re
going to move to some unique form of policing. The class relations are
going to remain the same.…” He said that he wouldn’t be surprised if
“abolish the police would win a popular vote among high school students.”
He continued: “Because this has become a popular slogan, it will be
difficult to just dress up the MPD…. They’re going to have to do some major
changes….”"
Read full article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/08/minneapolis-city-council-votes-to-disband-police-will-they/

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Re: [Marxism] antifa

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Jeffry Masko writes (in reference to what I wrote): "You assume that
baristas, hair stylists, carpenters aren't putting their bodies on the line
and normally a lot wouldn't be because they are at work." I never even
implied any such thing. All I said was that the unions (and please note:
there are a lot more unions than simply blue collar construction unions)
are missing in action. Sure, there are workers out there (including
baristas and hair dressers, who are also part of the working class, despite
what some seem to think). What's not out there is any serious union
presence. Comrades can debate whether this is necessary. But I don't see
how they can claim it's untrue.

John

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Re: [Marxism] antifa

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Louis writes: "Why is peaceful in scare quotes? What are people who work as
baristas or
hair stylists supposed to do? Wait until your carpenters put their
bodies on the line? I ordinarily don't pay attention to your workerism
but in this instance it is galling."

I never mentioned anything about carpenters or any other sector of the
working class. Nor have I ever mentioned anything about any particular
sector of the working class. Maybe Louis doesn't see hair stylists or
baristas as part of the working class, but I do. Louis may find it galling
that I see the working class as the only force that can transform society,
but I hardly think that view is "workerism".

John

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Re: [Marxism] Group linked to far-right ?boogaloo? movement plotted terror attacks against protesters: prosecutors

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Amith R. Gupta writes of Boogaloo "Hmmm, people with questionable views on
race, part of an amorphous and incoherent internet movement that opposes
state violence but has sketchy
characters, who use violence against infrastructure for the purpose of
accelerating social unrest. These men could have basically been Antifa."

If you don't like antifa, fine, but let's try to be accurate here. The
roots of antifa are completely different from those of boogaloo and so are
their politics. They have almost nothing in common, including their
attitude towards private property. And to imply that those in antifa would
be willing to collaborate with, no less allow in their ranks, overt racists
is simply ludicrous.

To make sure I'm not misunderstood: I am not an anarchist and strongly
disagree with that ideology. I disagree that random property damage can
lead the movement forward. I disagree that simply confronting fascists on
the streets is all that is needed and that a political approach is
unnecessary. I know that antifa can be damaging to the movement at times.
But they are far less of a danger than are the liberals. And do far less to
hold the movement back than does the union leadership.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] antifa

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Of course unfocused property destruction does not advance the movement. But
the ritual denunciations of Antifa don't help clarify things either.
Especially in such a group of anarchists which is not really an
organization, there can be all types - woman beaters, racists, and
supporters of Israel included. But the idea that the last - Israel
supporters - is in any way a significant percentage is simply false. It
just doesn't stand to reason, nor does it meet with my personal experience
here in the SF Bay Area.

The main point is this, though: If you denounce antifa without an
explanation of why they have become so prominent and what is the
alternative, then what is left is simply the implication that we should
return to the nice, safe, "peaceful" marches -- the same approach that has
accomplished nothing. Antifa has become so prominent because of the absence
of a large sector of the working class, specifically because of the absence
of the unions. If the union leadership were organizing and mobilizing its
membership, it would be shutting down the country and creating a real
massive working class movement. The presence of a mass or organized workers
would also tend to lead to a serious discussion on both program and tactics.

So, if you want to denounce something, start by denouncing the union
leadership.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] video of Oakland

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is a video of the last few nights of protests in Oakland.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/06/05/video-of-oakland-protests/

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[Marxism] Minneapolis and the crisis of US capitalism

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The greatest crisis for US capitalism since the Civil War?
"US capitalism is caught in a conflict of its own making. White supremacy
has been essential to the rule of US capitalism from its inception. Having
held black people down for so long, they have to let the cops run wild in
the streets of the black community. But every once in a awhile, when the
eyes of the rest of society are on them, they want to restrain those same
cops. Then it is too late."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/31/minneapolis-and-the-crisis-of-us-capitalism/

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Re: [Marxism] Counterpunch keeps the nonsense on coming

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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To what degree Putin/Russia influenced the outcome of the 2016 election is
not the point. Nor is the point why Clinton lost nor why the Democrats are
focusing on this aspect. The point is that this denialism is all too common
on the left. It's the same method of non-thinking, the same method of
refusal to seriously consider actual evidence that leads all too many on
the left to support Assad. That is why we should not ignore it or divert
attention away from this method.

John Reimann

On Wed, May 27, 2020 at 4:32 PM Chris Slee  wrote:

> While Russia no doubt had some influence on the 2016 presidential
> election, other factors were more important.  The electoral college system
> enabled Trump to win even though he got less votes.  Voter suppression
> deprived millions of poor and minority voters of the right to vote.
>
> The Democrats focus on Russia because they prefer to blame foreigners
> rather than look critically at the US political system.
>
> Here in Australia we are always being warned about Chinese influence on
> our political system.  US influence is rarely discussed.  It is taken for
> granted as the natural state of affairs.
>
> To take just one example, a large part of Australia's media is owned by a
> US company, News Corp (controlled by Rupert Murdoch).
>
> The Australian ruling class generally does not see this as a problem.
> Australia is an ally of the US, and participates in US wars (e.g. Korea,
> Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq).
>
> However the rise of China has led some ruling class figures to question
> this close relationship, favouring instead a more neutral attitude in the
> conflict beteeen the US and China.
>
> Chris Slee
>
>
> 
> From: Marxism  on behalf of John
> Reimann via Marxism 
> Sent: Tuesday, 26 May 2020 6:34:17 PM
> To: Chris Slee 
> Cc: John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com>
> Subject: [Marxism] Counterpunch keeps the nonsense on coming
>
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> *
>
> Here we have Rob Urie continuing the nonsense about "Russiagate". Rob Urie
> is one of those who is so obsessed with opposition to neoliberalism that he
> is willing to indirectly support something even worse. (It's no accident
> that he's also published in that extreme cospiracy theorist and Assad/Putin
> supporting Mint Press News.) "Russiagate?" What "Russiagate"? You think
> Putin & Co. didn't involve themselves in the last elections? Really? You
> think Trump & Co. didn't encourage it? What was that meeting at Trump Tower
> all about? Why did so many of Trump's staffers have contacts with Putin
> representatives? Every imperialist power - including Russia - has its
> preferred methods of influencing world affairs. It's now been shown that
> Putin & Co. helped get Brexit passed. Here in the US, among other things,
> they help racism along. Look up "blackstar". And, yes, Putin does have
> "kompromat" over Trump. So, you think he wouldn't use it? That's like
> thinking that a drug cartel doesn't use violence.
> Here's an article of his in Counterpunch. Sure, maybe they have some good
> stuff, but if they also publish such nonsense, How can they be taken
> seriously?
>
> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/22/why-russiagate-still-matters/?fbclid=IwAR2dnImcxBfnrZDnf-Eo5_bOFAnm_iWqkCDee7o49VbOuSuA52io86an5CU
>
>
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>


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[Marxism] George Floyd murder shows need to transform the unions

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"Oaklandsocialist has been to almost all the protests in Oakland over these
outrages. The unions have been entirely missing Union members should
not think this doesn’t affect them directly. The same way that the union
leadership bows down before the corporate-controlled politicians they bow
down before the employers. And as far as the membership of the unions: If
we don’t apply simple solidarity, the simple concept that “an injury to one
is an injury to all”, in this instance, then when will we ever?"
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/27/george-floyd-murder-shows-need-to-completely-transform-the-unions/

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[Marxism] Counterpunch keeps the nonsense on coming

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Here we have Rob Urie continuing the nonsense about "Russiagate". Rob Urie
is one of those who is so obsessed with opposition to neoliberalism that he
is willing to indirectly support something even worse. (It's no accident
that he's also published in that extreme cospiracy theorist and Assad/Putin
supporting Mint Press News.) "Russiagate?" What "Russiagate"? You think
Putin & Co. didn't involve themselves in the last elections? Really? You
think Trump & Co. didn't encourage it? What was that meeting at Trump Tower
all about? Why did so many of Trump's staffers have contacts with Putin
representatives? Every imperialist power - including Russia - has its
preferred methods of influencing world affairs. It's now been shown that
Putin & Co. helped get Brexit passed. Here in the US, among other things,
they help racism along. Look up "blackstar". And, yes, Putin does have
"kompromat" over Trump. So, you think he wouldn't use it? That's like
thinking that a drug cartel doesn't use violence.
Here's an article of his in Counterpunch. Sure, maybe they have some good
stuff, but if they also publish such nonsense, How can they be taken
seriously?
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/22/why-russiagate-still-matters/?fbclid=IwAR2dnImcxBfnrZDnf-Eo5_bOFAnm_iWqkCDee7o49VbOuSuA52io86an5CU


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[Marxism] One in five in England think Covid 19 caused by Jews or Muslims

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https://www.newsweek.com/covid-19-conspiracy-theories-england-1505899

"Nearly half of people in England believe in conspiracy theories about
COVID-19, according to a survey carried out by psychologists at the
University of Oxford, with nearly 20 percent agreeing separately that
either Jews or Muslims were responsible for spreading the virus.

In a survey of over 2,500 people, almost half of those questioned endorsed
to some degree the idea that "COVID-19 is a bioweapon developed by China to
destroy the West" and around one-fifth endorsed to some degree that "Jews
have created the virus to collapse the economy for financial gain".

Nearly 20 percent of those asked also agreed to some extent with the
statement that "Muslims are spreading the virus as an attack on Western
values."

Approximately 59 percent of adults in England believe to some degree that
the Government is misleading the public about the cause of the virus and 62
percent agree to some extent that the virus is man-made, according to the
study."

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[Marxism] The contradictions of the Council on Foreign Relations

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As the foremost representative of US capitalist strategists, "Foreign
Affairs" (of the Council on Foreign Relations) is an interesting mix. Their
articles on US strategy tend to be simply the most muddled, idealistic
nonsense. For example, there is one article on proposed US policy in the
so-called "Middle East" on line now. On the other hand, their analyses of
events tend to be quite serious. Here is one example, with key sections
quoted below. The article is on "The Coming Post-Covid Anarchy":

"“Yet despite the best efforts of ideological warriors in Beijing and
Washington, the uncomfortable truth is that China and the United States are
both likely to emerge from this crisis significantly diminished. Neither a
new Pax Sinica nor a renewed Pax Americana will rise from the ruins.
Rather, both powers will be weakened, at home and abroad. And the result
will be a continued slow but steady drift toward international anarchy
across everything from international security to trade to pandemic
management. With nobody directing traffic, various forms of rampant
nationalism are taking the place of order and cooperation. The chaotic
nature of national and global responses to the pandemic thus stands as a
warning of what could come on an even broader scale.

As with other historical inflection points, three factors will shape the
future of the global order: changes in the relative military and economic
strength of the great powers, how those changes are perceived around the
world, and what strategies the great powers deploy. Based on all three
factors, China and the United States have reason to worry about their
global influence in the post-pandemic world.
Contrary to the common trope, China’s national power has taken a hit from
this crisis on multiple levels. The outbreak has opened up significant
political dissension within the Chinese Communist Party, even prompting
thinly veiled criticism of President Xi Jinping’s highly centralized
leadership style. This has been reflected in a number of semiofficial
commentaries that have mysteriously found their way into the public domain
during April. Xi’s draconian lockdown of half the country for months to
suppress the virus has been widely hailed, but he has not emerged
unscathed. Internal debate rages on the precise number of the dead and the
infected, on the risks of second-wave effects as the country slowly
reopens, and on the future direction of economic and foreign policy.
The economic damage has been massive. Despite China’s published
return-to-work rates, no amount of domestic stimulus in the second half of
2020 will make up for the loss in economic activity in the first and second
quarters. Drastic economic retrenchment among China’s principal trading
partners will further impede economic recovery plans, given that
pre-crisis, the traded sector of the economy represented 38 percent of GDP.
Overall, 2020 growth is likely to be around zero—the worst performance
since the Cultural Revolution five decades ago. China’s debt-to-GDP ratio
already stands at around 310 percent, acting as a drag on other Chinese
spending priorities, including education, technology, defense, and foreign
aid. And all of this comes on the eve of the party’s centenary celebrations
in 2021, by which point the leadership had committed to double China’s GDP
over a decade. The pandemic now makes that impossible.

As for the United States’ power, the Trump administration’s chaotic
management has left an indelible impression around the world of a country
incapable of handling its own crises, let alone anybody else’s. More
important, the United States seems set to emerge from this period as a more
divided polity rather than a more united one, as would normally be the case
following a national crisis of this magnitude; this continued fracturing of
the American political establishment adds a further constraint on U.S.
global leadership.
Meanwhile, conservative estimates see the U.S. economy shrinking by between
six and 14 percent in 2020, the largest single contraction since the
demobilization at the end of World War II. Washington’s fiscal
interventions meant to arrest the slide already amount to ten percent of
GDP, pushing the United States’ ratio of public debt to GDP toward 100
percent—near the wartime record of 106 percent. The U.S. dollar’s global
reserve currency status enables the government to continue selling U.S.
treasuries to fund the deficit. Nonetheless, large-scale debt sooner or
later will constrain post-recovery spending, including on the military. And
there’s also risk that the current economic crisis will metastasize into a
broader financial crisis, although the 

[Marxism] anti-vaxxers, far right, in Europe

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As in the US, so in Europe. The red brown alliance enters anti-science. A
report on a movement in Europe similar to the back-to-work far right here.

"In the first half of the 20th century, anti-vaxxer views converged with
anti-semitism: the Third Reich was rife with conspiracy theories presenting
vaccination programmes as a Jewish plot to either poison the German nation
or “submit humanity to Jewish mammonism”."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/23/europes-covid-predicament-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-the-anti-vaxxers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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[Marxism] Covid-19, the rise of new zoonotic diseases and the capitalist disaster

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Here is the transcript of a presentation I made yesterday on this title. It
draws on Engels, Rob Wallace... and Thomas Friedman. As my friend and
comrade, Felicity Dowling said, "Science and socialism go hand-in-hand."
Note: For those who like to listen, there is also a link at the bottom of
this article to a podcast of this article.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/24/covid-19-the-rise-of-new-zoonotic-diseases-and-the-capitalist-disaster/
John Reimann
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[Marxism] Glenn Greenwald

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Good to see the takedown of the latest piece by Glenn Greenwald. Overall,
he is just a slightly disguised conspiracy theorist/Assad supporter. In
this article (
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/the-spoils-of-war-trump-lavished-with-media-and-bipartisan-praise-for-bombing-syria/)
he covers up for Assad. In this one (
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/11/the-deep-state-goes-to-war-with-president-elect-using-unverified-claims-as-dems-cheer/)
he trots out that sorry old deep state claim in order to defend Trump.

He's just another hack libertarian. It really says something about the
sorry state of affairs on the left that so many take him seriously.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Why touch is important

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Why Zoom, etc. is good but no substitute. My strong suspicion is that being
in the physical presence of others (as opposed to online connection) also
matters:

Losing Touch: Another Drawback of the COVID-19 Pandemic
HomeNews & Opinion
Losing Touch: Another Drawback of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Affectionate touches tap into the nervous system’s rest and digest mode,
reducing the release of stress hormones, bolstering the immune system, and
stimulating brainwaves linked with relaxation.

It had been seven weeks since I’d touched another human being. Arms
outstretched, I walked quickly toward my dad, craving his embrace. In the
instant before we touched, we paused, our minds probably running quick,
last-minute calculations on the risk of physical contact. But, after
turning our faces away from each other and awkwardly shuffling closer, we
finally connected. Wrapped in my dad’s bear hug, I momentarily forgot we
were in the midst of the worst global crisis I have ever experienced.

“Touch is the most powerful safety signal of togetherness,” says Steve
Cole, a psychiatrist and biobehavioral scientist at the University of
California, Los Angeles.

Like more than 35 million other Americans, I live alone, and with the
guidelines of physical distancing set by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, I hadn’t been getting close to anyone to avoid being
infected with (or potentially spreading) SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19. I’d been working, thankfully, at home and staying connected with
friends and family through Zoom and Skype, but those virtual interactions
were no replacement for being with loved ones in person.

“When we get lonely and isolated our brainstem recognizes that suddenly we
are in insecure territory and flips on a bunch of fight-or-flight stress
responses without us even knowing it,” Cole says. “There’s all sorts of
things in our social world that lead us to calculate that we are either
safe or unsafe. You can think of physical touch, supportive and
affectionate touch, as the most fundamental signal that you’re with
somebody who cares about you . . . a fundamental signal of safety and
well-being.”

What touch does to the immune system
Stress, which for many of us during the coronavirus pandemic has grown
considerably, can flood the body with hormones, such as cortisol and
adrenaline, as part of the fight-or-flight response. Left to build up over
time, those accumulating stress hormones can lead to high blood pressure,
heart disease, and growing levels of anxiety.

Touch is hitting all of the right buttons to affect physiological processes
that are that are critically important to keeping us healthy.

—John Capitanio, University of California, Davis
The feeling of security that comes with holding hands or hugging is a
result of a cascade of physical and biochemical changes in the body and the
brain that can counter the fight-or-flight response. Tiffany Field, the
director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, has been studying that cascade of changes for more than
three decades, focusing mainly on the effects of massage. What she and
others have shown is that anything that moves the skin with a bit of
pressure—hugging, holding hands, massage—stimulates pressure receptors
beneath the skin. Those receptors then send electrical signals to the vagus
nerve, a superhighway of the nervous system with thoroughfares leading to
nearly every organ of the body and a direct line into the brainstem, which
automatically regulates breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/losing-touch-another-drawback-of-the-COVID19-pandemic-67542?utm_campaign=TS_DAILY%20NEWSLETTER_2020_source=hs_email_medium=email_content=88223377&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8qomrBZX6A6M91FjwR79ElMcw1RuiEE1dwSbJvVLIeWpny3XSy_pce3Hu1SDNNZxEgqT3WeKoZ_PS5fkEse6CtLtL_jA&_hsmi=88223377

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[Marxism] Interview with fired ER nurse Cliff Willmeng

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Cliff was terminated for fighting for safe working conditions. He explains
the issues and talks about perspectives for the workers struggles:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/18/interview-with-er-nurse-cliff-willmeng/

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[Marxism] Trump, Covid 19 and new steps towards authoritarian one-man rule

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"With each twist and turn in events, with each step he takes, Trump is
driven ever further down the road of one-man authoritarian rule. His recent
steps in that direction have flown somewhat under the radar because of the
Covid-19 crisis. That should not be allowed to happen because these steps
are directly linked with his policy regarding the pandemic
"It is exactly this crisis, and Trump’s disastrous strategy in dealing with
it that show how serious is the threat of his authoritarian drive"
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/17/trump-covid-19-and-new-steps-towards-authoritarian-one-man-rule/

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[Marxism] When my fellow carpenters surprised me

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This article is inspired by a discussion on my personal Facebook page. In
part, it's about whether US workers will rise up.

"So, here’s a little bit of personal history, a mistake that I made, that
maybe we all can learn from: In 1999, some 2000 SF Bay Area carpenters went
out on a five-day wildcat strike against a second-rate contract that was
forced down their throats by the union leadership. I won’t bore you with
all the details of how that came about. You can find them in this history
[see link in article] of that strike. It was one of the most exciting
political events I’ve ever had the privilege of participating in. But
here’s the thing:..."

I never thought that wildcat strike could happen! Read why
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/15/when-my-fellow-carpenters-surprised-me/

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[Marxism] Financial Times accounting of inner workings of Trump administration

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This is the best accounting I have seen of the history of the Trump
administration's dealing with the crisis. Among other things, it explains
that Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, is a religious fanatic. It also
reports what many of us suspected: That Trump kept testing down so as not
to spook the stock market. A few quoted:

“Jared [Kushner] had been arguing that testing too many people, or ordering
too many ventilators, would spook the markets and so we just shouldn’t do it,”
says a Trump confidant who speaks to the president frequently. “That advice
worked far more powerfully on him than what the scientists were saying. He
thinks they always exaggerate.”

“The way to keep your job is to out-loyal everyone else, which means you
have to tolerate quackery,” says Anthony Scaramucci, an estranged former
Trump adviser, who was briefly his White House head of communications. “You
have to flatter him in public and flatter him in private. Above all, you
must never make him feel ignorant.”

A former senior Trump official says: “People turn into wusses around Trump.
If you stand up to him, you’ll never get back in. What you see in public is
what you get in private. He is exactly the same.”

“We used to think of America as the world’s leading power, not as the
epicentre of disease,” says Fullilove, who is an ardent pro-American. “We
increasingly feel caught between a reckless China and a feckless America
that no longer seems to care about its allies.”*

Yet without exception, everyone I interviewed, including the most ardent
Trump loyalists, made a similar point to Conway. Trump is deaf to advice,
said one. He is his own worst enemy, said another. He only listens to
family, said a third. He is mentally imbalanced, said a fourth. America, in
other words, should brace itself for a turbulent six months ahead – with no
assurance of a safe landing.

https://www.ft.com/content/97dc7de6-940b-11ea-abcd-371e24b679ed
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[Marxism] President Franklin Delano Cuomo?

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"How does the sound of “President Franklin Delano Cuomo” grab you? Like it
or not, Cuomo is already in effect running against Trump. Every day he’s on
national TV, giving a fact-based approach to the greatest crisis the US has
faced for at least 50 years, if not more. As is inevitable, he is being
compared to Trump."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/14/president-franklin-delano-cuomo/

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Re: [Marxism] The Syrian fascist

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This article is relevant to what is happening in the Covid-19 crisis in
this sense: We are seeing the rise of conspiracy theory ideas regarding
this pandemic. Some on the "left" will be taken in by these ideas. In
reality, they will be advancing the agenda of the far, far right. Their
mode of thinking as well as the political alliances they will be making is
the same as those on the "left" who either overtly or covertly support
Assad and see him as some sort of anti-imperialist leader. But completely
aside from that, this article is important in and of itself.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] nurse told to shut the f__k up... by own union leader

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The head of the NY State Nurses Association sent out an email telling a
nurse who complained about lack of ppe's to "shut the f__k up". And this
union is supposed to be oh-so-different and wonderful. I guess not.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/11/nurse-who-complained-about-lack-of-ppe-told-to-shut-the-f-k-up/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons_medium=site+buttons_campaign=site+buttons=IwAR0RPfdi-n_dmLZzyqWHG-gUIKgRoQLki-0uXBUAXTmSz-Pk5KXuD8TXD5A

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[Marxism] unprecedented strike wave: What next?

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"A wave of strikes and walk-outs that is unprecedented in numbers is
sweeping the United States. It’s largely flown under the radar because the
capitalist press in general isn’t reporting on it and even the most liberal
of capitalist politicians (e.g. Governors Cuomo and Newsom) won’t comment
on it. Yet despite the unprecedented (in many, many decades) numbers, an
even bigger and nationally-coordinated similar wave will be necessary if
workers aren’t to lose even more than they already have."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/10/strike-wave-without-precedent-for-decades-what-is-to-come/

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Letter sent to Rob Wallace

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I assume readers of this list are familiar with Rob Wallace. I sent him the
following message:

Rob: I read that you are doing a webinar with Jeff Mackler. I don't know
much about your politics outside of the issue of your professional
expertise, and you have no particular reason to consider mine.
Nevertheless, I hope you do because I think you are making a mistake.


As we know, in the US (and beyond) there is a whole science denialist
culture. This links up denial of basic facts, “fake news” claims, and
conspiracy theory approaches to history. Sometimes, wings of the far left
align with the far right in this approach. In the world of left politics,
we see the same, especially when it comes to international issues, and most
especially when it comes to the issue of Syria. There, the far, far right -
including outright fascists (and I don’t use that term lightly) - almost
unanimously support Assad. Disgracefully, so do many on the left. They use
all the same methods as the science denialists: obscure or outright deny
proven facts and ignore the immense suffering of millions of Syrians (just
like the science denialists do regarding Covid-19). Jeff Mackler is one of
the leading people on the left who employs these methods in his clear and
implicit support for Assad, even going so far as to imply that he and his
backers are not the ones responsible for the deaths of over 500,000 Syrian
civilians.


The issue of Covid-19 also is directly relevant to Syria, where the disease
has now made an entry. How will the Syrian people get medical care after
Assad and his main backer, Putin, have bombed so many hospitals? And what
will happen to the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, huddled in tent
cities in Idlib, the one province not under Assad’s control, when the
disease makes its way there? These issues cannot be considered once one
takes the pro-Assad position.


By appearing on his webinar, you are lending credibility to Jeff Mackler
and, thereby, strengthening his disastrous policies. I hope you reconsider.


John Reimann

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[Marxism] Birx, Fauci and the union leadership: Accommodating capitalism

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Fauci, Birx and other scientists on Team Trump are trying to play a
balancing act placating Trump in the hope of influencing him. How long can
they continue with the balancing act? And what basic compromises have they
made to reach this step in their careers? Their accommodation to capitalism
is similar to that of the union leadership and will be equally disastrous.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/05/fauci-birx-and-the-union-leadership-accommodating-capitalism/

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[Marxism] May Day in Oakland

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Here is a short video of May Day, 2020 in Oakland. The video ends with a
call to support all those workers who are working under unsafe conditions,
but especially the meatpacking workers. A new Civil Rights movement is
needed to give support to those workers. Remember Mississippi Freedom
Summer, when the young radicals in the Civil Rights movement organized
thousands of supporters from the North to come to Mississippi to help build
the movement? Now, a similar event is needed. Build car caravans to go to
the meat packing plants across the country & encourage them to do what they
feel is necessary to ensure safe conditions. If that means that they feel
they have to walk off the job and shut the plants down, then so be it.
That’s the way to push back against the far right bigots and science
deniers who want everything opened right now, the same ones who value a
hair cut or a hamburger over human life.

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/02/may-day-2020-in-oakland/

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[Marxism] New pamphlet - Covid 19: The Capitalist Pandemic

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New oaklandsocialist pamphlet
Covid-19: The capitalist pandemic

Introduction
"This pamphlet is produced to help explain this [capitalist disaster]
so that working class people can resolve the disaster that capitalism has
created. We are the only force on the planet that can do so!
In this pamphlet:
New world era: Disaster stalking the planet
Capitalism clashes with laws of nature; laws of nature more powerful
Dinosaur & reform wings of capitalist class offer no solution
Socialists must recognize this new world era
Factory farming & NAFTA Flu
Wild habitat loss
Coming pandemics can be even worse
Nature cannot be “conquered”
Regenerative farming part of solution
Socialist program necessary for a new workers movement

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/05/01/pamphlet-covid-19-the-capitalist-pandemic/

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[Marxism] "hundreds of strikes"

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Amazing how we miss thisinformation. but I'm not sure how much longer they
will be able to keep it under wraps:

https://paydayreport.com/defying-trumps-order-nebraska-meatpackers-strike-pa-national-guard-replaces-striking-nurses-richmond-threatens-to-fire-striking-nurses/

"Before, we’d see 2-3 strikes in a week; hence a weekly newsletter made
sense. Now, we’re dealing with at least 2-3 strikes a day. So, Payday will
publish regular, often daily afternoon round-ups of the strike and other
major labor activity.

151 Strikes Across the U.S. since March 1st

Our strike tracker is now up to 151 strikes across the U.S. (Check it out
here ).
You’ll see many of the strikes listed here and others.

Trump Orders Meatpacking Plants to Stay Open, but Workers Have Other Ideas

Earlier today, Trump announced that he intended to use the power of the
federal governmen
t
and the Defense Production Act to keep meat processing plants open
throughout the United States.

The move comes as massive outbreaks with hundreds of workers have hit
meatpacking plants throughout the U.S. As a result, scores of meatpacking
plants have closed because of outbreaks.

Strikes and mass sickouts at a dozen meatpacking plants throughout the U.S.
have led to the closure of additional plants.

It’s unclear how Trump intends to use the Defense Production Act to force
meat packing processing workers back into the assembly line.

Organized labor immediately denounced the move.

“We only wish that this administration cared as much about the lives of
working people as it does about meat, pork, and poultry products. When
poultry plants shut down, it’s for deep cleaning and to save workers’
lives,” said Stuart Applebaum, president of Retail, Wholesale, and
Department Store Union. “If the administration had developed meaningful
safety requirements early on as they should have and still must do, this
would not even have become an issue.”

In Defiance of Trump, Nebraska Meatpacker Walks Off the Job at Smithfield

The prospect of meat shortages, which increasingly seem likely according to
experts as dozens of plants have been shut down by outbreaks or strikes,
would be politically embarrassing to Trump. "

See ink for more.
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[Marxism] Covid-19 and the science we need to understand it: Rob Wallace and Theo Colborn

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What is the classical scientific standard for proof, and is it appropriate
for investigating environmental-related crises, including Covid-19? Yes, a
scientific method is necessary, but are there alternatives to the "double
blind" experiment. Two ground breaking books, "Our Stolen Future" by
zoologist Theo Colborn and "Big Farms Make Big Flu" by evolutionary
biologist Rob Wallace, make great contributions in helping answer these
questions. And they are absolutely vital if we, the working class, are to
make sense of what is happening and are to lead the way away from the brink
of absolute disaster.

"Humans lived by hunting and gathering for the overwhelming majority of
their history. During that era they were reminded every second of their
lives of the laws of nature. They never lost their awareness of that world.
With industrialization and the urbanization of society, the illusion
developed that we live apart from nature. What’s more, the oppressed class
– the working class – had it pounded into their thinking that science – the
study of the natural world – was the province of academics and that it
wasn’t any of our business. Academia was properly more or less under the
control of the ruling class. Except in the most general way, it was not the
business of the working class to really understand science. Now, we see the
rising disasters as the laws of nature threaten to overwhelm human society.
No longer can we afford to ignore the discussions and debates among the
scientists. Scientists like Theo Colborn and Rob Wallace can serve as a
light to help us understand the nature of the crisis that we confront and,
most important, what we as the working class can do about it."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/28/covid-19-and-the-science-we-need-to-understand-it-rob-wallace-and-theo-colborn/

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[Marxism] Irish Times: Now the world pities the US

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Irish Times

April 25, 2020

By Fintan O’Toole

THE WORLD HAS LOVED, HATED AND ENVIED THE U.S. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME. WE
PITY IT

Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide
range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope,
envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never
been directed towards the US until now: pity.

However bad things are for most other rich democracies, it is hard not to
feel sorry for Americans. Most of them did not vote for Donald Trump in
2016. Yet they are locked down with a malignant narcissist who, instead of
protecting his people from Covid-19, has amplified its lethality. The
country Trump promised to make great again has never in its history seemed
so pitiful.

Will American prestige ever recover from this shameful episode? The US went
into the coronavirus crisis with immense advantages: precious weeks of
warning about what was coming, the world’s best concentration of medical
and scientific expertise, effectively limitless financial resources, a
military complex with stunning logistical capacity and most of the world’s
leading technology corporations. Yet it managed to make itself the global
epicentre of the pandemic.

As the American writer George Packer puts it in the current edition of the
Atlantic, “The United States reacted ... like Pakistan or Belarus – like a
country with shoddy infrastructure and a dysfunctional government whose
leaders were too corrupt or stupid to head off mass suffering.”

It is one thing to be powerless in the face of a natural disaster, quite
another to watch vast power being squandered in real time – wilfully,
malevolently, vindictively. It is one thing for governments to fail (as, in
one degree or another, most governments did), quite another to watch a
ruler and his supporters actively spread a deadly virus. Trump, his party
and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News became vectors of the pestilence.

The grotesque spectacle of the president openly inciting people (some of
them armed) to take to the streets to oppose the restrictions that save
lives is the manifestation of a political death wish. What are supposed to
be daily briefings on the crisis, demonstrative of national unity in the
face of a shared challenge, have been used by Trump merely to sow confusion
and division. They provide a recurring horror show in which all the
neuroses that haunt the American subconscious dance naked on live TV.

If the plague is a test, its ruling political nexus ensured that the US
would fail it at a terrible cost in human lives. In the process, the idea
of the US as the world’s leading nation – an idea that has shaped the past
century – has all but evaporated.

Other than the Trump impersonator Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, who is now
looking to the US as the exemplar of anything other than what not to do?
How many people in Düsseldorf or Dublin are wishing they lived in Detroit
or Dallas?

It is hard to remember now but, even in 2017, when Trump took office, the
conventional wisdom in the US was that the Republican Party and the broader
framework of US political institutions would prevent him from doing too
much damage. This was always a delusion, but the pandemic has exposed it in
the most savage ways.

Abject surrender

What used to be called mainstream conservatism has not absorbed Trump – he
has absorbed it. Almost the entire right-wing half of American politics has
surrendered abjectly to him. It has sacrificed on the altar of wanton
stupidity the most basic ideas of responsibility, care and even safety.

Thus, even at the very end of March, 15 Republican governors had failed to
order people to stay at home or to close non-essential businesses. In
Alabama, for example, it was not until April 3rd that governor Kay Ivey
finally issued a stay-at-home order.

In Florida, the state with the highest concentration of elderly people with
underlying conditions, governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump mini-me, kept the
beach resorts open to students travelling from all over the US for spring
break parties. Even on April 1st, when he issued restrictions, DeSantis
exempted religious services and “recreational activities”.

Georgia governor Brian Kemp, when he finally issued a stay-at-home order on
April 1st, explained: “We didn’t know that [the virus can be spread by
people without symptoms] until the last 24 hours.”

This is not mere ignorance – it is deliberate and homicidal stupidity.
There is, as the demonstrations this week in US cities have shown, plenty
of political mileage in denying the reality of the pandemic. It is fuelled
by Fox News and far-right internet sites, and it reaps for 

Re: [Marxism] "Trump comments prompt doctors, and Lysol, to warn against injecting disinfectants"

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Glenn Kissack asks if anybody has studied whether the US capitalist class
is at all concerned about having this lunatic in as president. I've
actually written about that over and over. The US capitalist class is
somewhat divided. One wing, as represented by the Wall St. Journal editors,
thinks about next quarter's balance sheet - i.e., immediate profits -
first, last and only. Prior to the 2016 elections, the WSJ was entirely
hostile to Trump. Ever since he pushed through his tax giveaway, they have
done a one-eighty and have been unstinting in their praise, despite what
they called his "chaos theory" of government. Occasionally, such as when he
first signalled his pullout of troops from Syira, they were critical, but
overall they have supported him. His support from the more crazed wing
shows in the tremendous war chest he has accumulated for the upcoming
election. Aside from the sports and gambling wings (is there really a
difference?), I cannot discern any particular wing that supports him.

The mainstream, however, is extremely worried. This is reflected in the
in-depth criticisms of him seen in the journal of the Council on Foreign
Relations - "Foreign Policy" - as well as the even harsher criticisms of
him by former top Republican strategists like Max Boot and George Conway
III (husband of Trump representative Kellyanne Conway), as well as in the
editorials of the NY Times and the Washington Post. We also see it in the
number of top generals who cycled through the Trump administration. I think
these military tops are in very close contact with the tops of the
capitalist class.

It is a symptom of the crisis of US capitalism that they cannot as strongly
influence the consciousness of masses of workers anymore and, despite their
opposition to Trump, he may still get reelected.

John Reimann



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Re: [Marxism] MMT, Chartalism, and Keynesianism

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Question for the MMT advocates, or anybody who understands the theory: Am I
right that MMT advocates that countries simply print up cash rather than
float bonds and T-notes - in other words rather than go into debt? A simple
"yes" or "no" will do.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] WA Post: "Record government and corporate debt risks tipping point"

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I actually did read some of the "ideas" of modern monetary theory. Most of
it, I couldn't make head or tail of. I know I'm not the smartest person in
the world, but I'm not the stupidest either. In general, I figure if I read
some theoretical piece carefully and still can't understand it, that's
because it's simply gobbledygook. I've asked around about what's the
difference between this "theory" and Keynesianism and nobody has been able
to give me a straight answer. Maybe it's the idea (as far as what I can
make out) that governments should simply print more money rather than go
into debt. If that's the case, then it's simply reformist nonsense and in
practice, as far as the effect of expanding the money supply without an
equal expansion of production, there is no practical difference. I asked
around about whether the advocates of this theory say it applies to
underdeveloped countries - in fact any country aside from the US, any
country whose currency isn't the world currency - and nobody can answer me.
Now, maybe all those other people are just as dumb and uneducated as I am.
Or maybe they don't know because the so-called theory simply doesn't deal
with these questions concretely.

John

On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 4:34 PM MM  wrote:

> On Apr 20, 2020, at 6:31 PM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> In many other countries around the world, extremely high levels of
> government debt led to devaluation and high inflation. The US is in an
> exceptional situation because of the global role of the dollar. That role
> is based on the military and economic power of the US internationally.
> However, just as that power of US capitalism is being challenged so,
> contrary to what some comrades seem to think, the international role of the
> dollar may not last forever.
>
> So, we will see.
>
> John Reimann
>
>
> John, Where do you think a future socialist government’s money supply
> would come from?
>
>

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Re: [Marxism] WA Post: "Record government and corporate debt risks tipping point"

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In many other countries around the world, extremely high levels of
government debt led to devaluation and high inflation. The US is in an
exceptional situation because of the global role of the dollar. That role
is based on the military and economic power of the US internationally.
However, just as that power of US capitalism is being challenged so,
contrary to what some comrades seem to think, the international role of the
dollar may not last forever.

So, we will see.

John Reimann

On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 2:29 PM Michael Meeropol  wrote:

> 90% of that WAPO article is garbage  corporate debt is another problem
> but government debt is not (Japan's government debt reached 200% of GDP)
> --- with interest rates so close to zero in nominal terms that they are
> probably negative in the long run, government borrowing can be much higher
> than it is even now ---
>
>
>

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[Marxism] Studies on genetics and Covid-19 immune reaction

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A few days ago I posted an article on the environmental factors that
influence a person's survival chances if the contract Covid-19. I commented
on how little this is studied, how the tendency is towards looking for
genes. That is particularly "strange" since an NIH article (
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/immune-system-shaped-environment-more-genes
) had to admit that "researchers found that non-heritable influences
outweighed heredity in about 75% of all the immune parameters, and almost
exclusively determined more than half of the parameters." Yet here we are,
with "The Scientist" reporting on major studies to find the genes that
determine how a Covid-19 patient's immune system will react to the virus.
Sure, genes have an influence. The fact that women survive better than men
and that behavior differences (smoking vs. non-smoking, eg.) don't seem to
be the determinant would indicate that. But from reading the article it's
clear that many millions are being spent in these genetic studies, far more
than is being spent to investigate environmental factors. Could there
possibly be a political reason? You think?
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/dna-could-hold-clues-to-varying-severity-of-covid-19-67435?utm_campaign=TS_DAILY%20NEWSLETTER_2020_source=hs_email_medium=email_content=86538700&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_qhnptb1C3MycFr6zF2WSaDh7vvEEMdcsBlCNXpr0tq70L67uqrI1E6Lf0g-P4MTaXNNAQPY6gFebkyf-piA7f9OrCuw&_hsmi=86538700

John Reimann
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[Marxism] WA Post: "Record government and corporate debt risks tipping point"

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From the Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/04/18/record-government-corporate-debt-risk-tipping-point-after-pandemic-passes/

The United States is embarking on a rapid-fire experiment in borrowing
without precedent, as the government and corporations take on trillions of
dollars of debt to offset the economic damage from the coronavirus

 pandemic.

The federal government is on its way this year to spending nearly $4
trillion more than it collects in revenue, analysts say, a budget deficit
roughly twice as large relative to the economy as in any year since 1945.

Business borrowing also is setting records. Giant corporations such as
ExxonMobil and Walgreens, which binged on debt over the past decade, now
are exhausting their credit lines and tapping bondholders for even more
cash.

To support such borrowing, the Federal Reserve has dropped interest rates
to zero and added more than $2 trillion of loans to its portfolio in the
past six weeks — as much as in the four years following the Great Recession.

All this borrowing is required to plug the gaping hole the novel
coronavirus has punched in the economy, as unemployment reaches levels not
seen since the Great Depression. Few, if any, prominent economists or
lawmakers opposed opening the government’s fiscal taps amid the current
economic emergency. The Senate last month approved $2 trillion of crisis
spending with a vote of 96 to 0.

Yet high debt loads already are straining many corporations, which may be
forced to choose between skipping loan payments and laying off workers.
Millions of consumers, too, face sizable monthly bills for student loans
and credit cards, a burden that could weigh on any economic rebound.

The reliance on so much debt also will leave scars after the pandemic
passes, economists say, making it difficult for policymakers to withdraw
support and leaving the economy more vulnerable than before this crisis
began.

“We should be very worried,” said Atif Mian, an economics professor at
Princeton University who has written widely on the subject. “We are talking
about a level of debt that would certainly be unprecedented in modern
history or in history, period. We are definitely at a tipping point.”

On the eve of the pandemic, the U.S. economy was humming, thanks in part to
a jolt from the 2017 tax cut and the subsequent end of congressional
spending limits. But Congress took those actions without any plans to pay
for them.

Governments and companies often turn to lenders during times of unexpected
duress. This new wave is different because it follows an era of heavy
borrowing.

For President Trump, debt is a familiar tool. The former real estate
executive once bragged that he was “the king of debt” and suggested
haggling with holders of U.S. Treasurys over repayment terms using hardball
techniques he had honed in the business world.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last month that the government must
spend freely to help workers and businesses hurt by official shutdown
edicts. “Interest rates are incredibly low, so there’s very little cost of
borrowing this money,” he told reporters. “In different times, we’ll fix
the deficit. This is not the time to worry about it.”

Some argue that even more spending is needed to save the economy. Economist
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate, says the government should guarantee
workers’ pay and forbid evictions or foreclosures. Larry Fink, the chief
executive of BlackRock, a New York-based investment firm, told CNBC last
week that an additional $1 trillion may be needed for small businesses.

But once the coronavirus has been tamed and the country regains its
swagger, U.S. leaders will need to find an exit from the extraordinary
levels of government borrowing.

Building a consensus for the blend of tax increases and spending cuts
needed to shrink the mammoth post-crisis debt will be tough to manage.
Neither political party emphasized spending limits in recent years. And the
presumptive Democratic nominee for president, former vice president Joe
Biden, proposed relatively modest tax increases compared with his former
rivals. Republicans, meanwhile, reflexively oppose tax hikes.

The Fed, likewise, will face difficulty extricating the economy from
today’s elevated levels of financial support. The Fed had only partial
success in unwinding its efforts to buttress the economy after the
2008-2009 crisis before the pandemic drew it back into an emergency posture.

Economists typically worry that excessive debt could lead to a 

[Marxism] Time magazine on factory farming

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The capitalist media is starting to cover the connection between factory
farming and zoonotic pandemics. Here is an article in Time magazine on the
issue. It includes extensive coverage of Rob Wallace. The article leaves
out the other half of the equation - habitat fragmentation and loss - but
it's a lot better than nothing. And a lot better than the great majority of
the socialist left press, which completely ignores these issues. However,
if the capitalist press continues to report on this, then the socialists
will pick it up. Heaven forbid that they should do so independently!

https://time.com/5819801/rethink-industrialized-farming-next-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR06paY8z3hFN0aM4J_ZtUBwnpnc9Ou1c1Lv61ZhkqgpwpnTotys2W4PmR8

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Prayers, guns and "freedom": conversations on Facebook

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"In response to the calls of the Trump idiots and of the Idiot in Chief
himself to go back to work, there have been conversations on various
construction worker Facebook pages. Here's some of them...

"I don't want to give a false impression. These comments got a lot of
support, but also some of the idiots. Finally, I got sick of all the idiots
and made the following suggestion:

“Now here's another thought for all you freedom-loving Christians: You
should all get together in one or another megachurch and pray really hard
and really loud. Pack yourselves in as close as you possibly can. And lock
the doors and close all the windows. After all, you wouldn't want the holy
spirit to escape.

"If any of you doesn't feel well and starts coughing, then all gather round
him or her to offer up your prayers" Read more here:
Read more: https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/18/prayers-guns-and-freedom/

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[Marxism] coronavirus, mortality rates and environmental factors

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"The Covid-19 pandemic is but the most striking example of how the laws of
nature are affecting the lives of ordinary working class people. As we will
show, we as workers cannot afford to simply leave it up to the experts to
understand what is happening. In previous articles, oaklandsocialist has
shown why as far as the origins of this disease. Here, we discuss the end
result: Are environmental factors involved in deaths from Covid-19? We are
not academically trained scientists, but any worker can understand some of
the basics. We just have to put in the time to do the research

"according to Webmd “an unexpected 20% of deaths occurred among adults aged
20-64 years, and 20% of those hospitalized were aged 20-44 years

"So, pollution, overwork, sleep deprivation and the related stress all seem
to be related to survival chances of Covid-19. What a surprise!"

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/17/coronavirus-mortality-rates-and-environmental-factors/

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Rob Wallace

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“agribusiness is opposed to public health as a matter of principle... in
essence that command has to be broken in order to get to the promised land
in a way that inputs and outputs reach each other (If continued) that
system will collapse of its own weight and it takes everybody with them
If we are alienating our means by which we grow food... we are in essence
alienating the very planet on which we depend Profound shifts in our
relationships between each other and the planet... are going to be
required.”
Rob Wallace

on
today's webinar.

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[Marxism] [UCE] Rob Wallace webinar

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Comrades might find it interesting also. This is a webinar with
evoloutionary biologist Rob Wallace and food justice activists:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10221464511542738=a.1352365169721=3

John Reimann
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[Marxism] coronavirus capitalism: An environmentalist manifesto

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"A disaster is stalking the planet. It consumes all and threatens all. It
is the epochal clash of “society” – in reality capitalism – against the
forces of nature. The world capitalist class may seem all powerful, but in
the face of the forces of nature it is a Lilliputian facing a giant, a tiny
boat at sea in a storm of epic proportions. If this clash is allowed to
play out to the fullest, the forces of nature must inevitably sink the
capitalist boat and carry all its passengers down to a watery grave
with it.

"Like King Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, capitalism
turns everything it touches into capital, into a source of profits

"In the 1990s, the H1N1 virus jumped the species barrier and caused a new
flu in North America known at the time as “swine flu” because the virus
originated in pigs. Rather than change the practices that enabled this new
zoonotic disease (one which has jumped the species barrier), the hog
industry simply sought to change the name of the disease. Profits, after
all, matter. Evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace, also used a different name
for that disease. He called it “Nafta flu”

"just as the zoonotic diseases often jump from a wild animal to a tamed, or
domesticated animal to humans, this disease (of the mind) jumped from the
capitalist class and their propagandists to the domesticated or tamed union
leadership to the rest of the working class.

"This disease of the mind is the disastrous concept that the interests of
the employers and those of the workers are one and the same and, anyway,
there is nothing that workers can do to oppose the employers, AKA the
capitalist class. As Andreas Cluver, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alameda
County Building Trades Council put it “Yes, we are slaves in the capitalist
economy to the financiers. They create the jobs.” “The (wage) slave is
dependent on and has a common interest with the slave owner. And anyway, if
you don’t like it, there is nothing you can do about it. So, shut up, go to
work, and don’t think about your conditions, never mind the disastrous
train wreck that awaits you further down the track.” That is the message of
both the capitalists and their tamed union leaders. This crisis and the
disastrous ongoing failure of the union leadership leaves workers no option
but to organize on their own on the job and off - first to deal with death
on the job, but also to deal with the root causes of this and future
crises: The clash between capitalist development and the laws of nature.
This article contains some ideas on how this can be carried out and towards
what ends.

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/12/coronavirus-capitalism-an-environmentalist-manifesto/

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[Marxism] Toxic Agriculture and the Gates Foundation

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Bill Gates was recently interviewed by Trevor Noah on his The Daily Show.
As elsewhere, Gates was pictured as this kindly billionaire who is using
his vast fortune to help solve world hunger and illness. In this time of a
crisis driven by capitalist interaction with nature, Gates's role should be
really clarified. What he's doing is helping promote industrial
agriculture, and the commodification of agriculture knowledge. Meanwhile,
he and the Gates Foundation are doing is further advancing the idea that
there is a technical solution that can override the laws of nature, that
rather than work with nature, modern capitalist technology can override its
laws. This approach is exactly the one that is driving the Covid-19
pandemic.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/02/toxic-agriculture-and-the-gates-foundation/
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[Marxism] "A Few Good Men: Trump and the Generals "

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From the ever-worthwhile 'Foreign Affairs'. Among other things, a thorough
refutation of the idea that was common on the left that the military
industrial complex favored Clinton and opposed Trump because he "wants
peace".

"When Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, there was
good cause to think that he would be popular with the armed forces. He was,
for a start, a Republican, and the military leans heavily conservative. He
had also run an ostentatiously pro-military campaign, promising to “rebuild
the military, take care of vets and make the world respect the U.S. again!”
There were, to be sure, some warning signs of trouble to come, such as when
he attacked the war hero John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona (“I
like people who weren’t captured”), and belittled the parents of a soldier
who had died in combat after they dared to criticize him.

"But initially, at least from the military’s perspective, the good seemed
to far outweigh the bad. Trump pushed for higher defense spending; sent
more U.S. forces and firepower to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria; and
liberalized the military’s rules of engagement, giving commanders on the
ground more freedom of maneuver. Even more eye-catching was his appointment
of generals to senior civilian positions: the retired Marine Corps general
James Mattis became the secretary of defense, the retired Marine general
John Kelly became the secretary of homeland security and then the White
House chief of staff, the retired army lieutenant general Michael Flynn
became Trump’s national security adviser—and, when he flamed out after just
24 days, was replaced by the then active-duty army lieutenant general H. R.
McMaster. Trump, for his part, reveled in the generals’ aura of manliness,
hailing “Mad Dog” Mattis (a nickname Mattis hated) as “a true General’s
General!”

"Some critics worried that the overrepresentation of generals in the
administration would impinge on civilian control of the military. But many
others celebrated the appointment of these generals, hoping that their
presence in the administration would provide the reality TV star turned
president with much-needed “adult” supervision.

"Things went wrong almost immediately. How that happened—how the promise of
smooth civil-military relations devolved into acrimony, backbiting, and
bewilderment—is documented in four new books. Two are journalistic
accounts: Trump and His Generals, a fair and comprehensive overview of
Trump’s foreign policy by the journalist and think tanker Peter Bergen, and
A Very Stable Genius, a work of first-rate news coverage and valuable
insight by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, reporters at The Washington
Post (where I am a columnist). The other two books are memoirs. Holding the
Line, by Guy Snodgrass, a retired U.S. Navy officer who served as Mattis’s
Pentagon speechwriter, gives the impression of being hastily cobbled
together and includes more interoffice politics than most readers will want
to know. But it provides a few nuggets that have not been reported
elsewhere—such as the claim that Trump told Mattis to “screw Amazon” on a
major contract because he was so unhappy with The Washington Post (which is
owned by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos). The other memoir—Call Sign Chaos,
by Mattis and Bing West—doesn’t deal with the controversies of the Trump
administration at all. “I’m old fashioned: I don’t write about sitting
Presidents,” Mattis explains. But the book does provide an expertly crafted
account of Mattis’s career, which helps explain why the marriage between
Trump and his generals was destined for divorce."

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2020-04-06/few-good-men

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Re: [Marxism] By Picking Joe Biden Over Bernie Sanders, Democrats Are Kissing Their Future Goodbye

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I see so many people talking about the probable nomination of Biden as
if there were no mood and no consciousness that created Biden's success.
This defeat was not simply a matter of the DNC deciding who it wanted. The
fact is that there is a conservative consciousness within a huge sector of
the US population, including among most Democrats. Sure, that consciousness
exists because of the propaganda (and the threats) of big business. But it
exists. To simply see Biden's victory as a matter of manipulation by "the
Democrats" (meaning the Democratic Party powers-that-be) is somewhat akin
to conspiracy theory in that it is overly simplistic.

I am also not so sure that a Biden candidacy means the future of the
Democratic Party is dead. In fact, I'm not so sure that he won't beat
Trump. He might not, but it's far from guaranteed.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Sanders withdraws: What next?

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"Now that Bernie Sanders has officially withdrawn from the race, what
lessons will be learned by his tens of thousands of supporters? For many of
the 20+ year olds, it’s entirely understandable that they enthusiastically
backed his campaign. After all, he promised very real steps to make their
lives better, like forgiving student debt and government-paid health
insurance. Many of those supporters were probably unfamiliar with previous
similar campaigns. These include those of Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Jackson,
and George McGovern (who actually won the nomination). The list goes all
the way back to Gene McCarthy in 1972. What came of all those campaigns?
What was built out of them? And what will be built out of Sanders’s
campaign? Will it be anything more than just another attempt to push the
Democrats to the left, which may happen for awhile, until the pressure
eases Then they will slide right back into their more openly pro-corporate
comfort zone.

“Dirty break”
"The end of Sanders’s campaign and the history of the similar ones of the
past shows what the “dirty break” strategy is really all about"

Read entire article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/08/sanders-withdraws-what-next/

John Reimann

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[Marxism] "There's a man goin' round takin' names"

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by Michael D. Yates
"I am worried, shocked, sad, angry. At 74 and with a pre-existing
condition, Covid-19 certainly could mean death. I am more afraid than I
have ever been in my life. And while I have been chronicling society’s ill
for years, the current moment astounds me; it is well beyond my prior
imagining. Every day brings news more awful than the day before. I find it
hard to cope, to do anything but hypnotically read one sad story after
another. A sometimes-incoherent rage follows. Not only at the obvious
targets but at so many whom I thought would have more sense, less ego, more
insight. It is hard to be hopeful now. I am not.

"Death stalks the towns and cities. We can take our pick of tragic stories.
A couple in Florida, together for decades, without health problems, die
within minutes of one another. The US healthcare system failed them. The
right-wing governor, who refused to close the beaches, has blood on his
hands. A bus driver in Detroit dies a few days after a passenger coughs
repeatedly close to him. The healthcare system failed him too, as did those
who manage the transit company. The latter took action to protect the
drivers only after the workers staged a walk-out. And even now, they don’t
have protective clothing. There are a million stories in the Naked City, so
New Yorkers, take your pick, as the sirens wail and hospitals work out
triage rules. You, sir, will die. You, ma’am, will die. But we shall do our
best to save the rest. The nurse, the teacher, the jazz musician. All gone.
Death stalks the towns and cities.

"There’s a man goin’ round takin’ names"
Read full article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/08/theres-a-man-goin-round-takin-names/

-- 
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[Marxism] Foreign Affairs: Crisis will accelerate history not reshape it

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When I first read the title of this article from Foreign Affairs - that
this crisis will not reshape history, it will accelerate it - I thought
they were being unduly optimistic. Then I started reading the article.
Basically, what they are saying is that the world was already headed
towards chaos before this crisis. It will only move faster now. As they put
it, this will be a period similar to that following WW I, not WW II. Not a
pretty thought.

"After World War II, the need to meet the looming communist threat
galvanized the American public to support their country in assuming a
leading role around the world. Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson
famously said that the government had to make arguments “clearer than
truth” to get the American people and Congress to buy into the effort to
contain the Soviet Union. Some analysts suggest that invoking the threat of
China could similarly galvanize public support today, but a foreign policy
based on opposing China is hardly suited to addressing the global
challenges that shape today’s world. Meanwhile, appealing to the American
people to put tackling those global problems at the heart of U.S. foreign
policy will continue to be a tough sell. Accordingly, the more relevant
precedent to consider may be not the period following World War II but the
period following World War I—an era of declining American involvement and
mounting international upheaval. The rest, as they say, is history."

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-04-07/pandemic-will-accelerate-history-rather-reshape-it
John
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Re: [Marxism] Factory farm may be the real cause of Covid-19 pandemic

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Following up on this issue. Rob Wallace - socialist and evolutionary
biologist - is skeptical. This shows how careful we lay people really need
to be. Here's what Wallace commented on Facebook:
Rob Wallace 
commented
on his page:
"The problem with this GRAIN stab is that the genetics of the virus appear
to converge on a recombination event between a bat coronavirus and one
circulating in pangolins, the latter exactly the kind of animal that wet
markets sell, regardless of whether or not the first cases emerged out of
the Wuhan market.
Clearly I'm a proponent of the notion industrial ag selects for virulent
pathogens, but there is presently no smoking gun to stick SARS-2 on hog,
beyond a circumstantial possibility I raised myself in January and a
previous hog-specific spillover.
GRAIN, which I greatly respect, also aims to have it both ways here: save
wet markets and, piggybacking off my commentary, wild animals are becoming
increasingly industrialized.
How about we better square that circle? Why focus on exactly the kinds of
object-oriented epidemiology--wild animals vs industrial livestock--I
suggest we largely abandon?
Instead, to better encapsulate the wide range of pathogens emerging in
different parts of the periurban continuum--HPAI, Ebola, Zika, African
swine fever, cornaviruses--how about we track how multiple systems of
production, across wild foods and industrial production alike, are being
entrained into expansive disease geographies tied to capital-led
development?
That SARS is splattering across host types means it's not (just) about the
specific host. It's about the means by which populations of any living
organism can be commoditized, turned into another reservoir beyond bats,
and transported near and far, a threat to all others folded into
propagating circuits of production."

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 10:06 AM John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:

> It seems that evidence is emerging that the novel corona virus that is
> causing this pandemic originally may have jumped the species barrier to
> humans on a factory farm, not in that "wet market". The most likely
> candidate for such a farm is a pig farm, because pigs immune system is
> genetically similar to humans. None of this is proven yet, but we as
> workers must keep aware of this science. The capitalists certainly won't do
> anything to stop factory farming.
>
>
> https://grain.org/e/6437?fbclid=IwAR2mY1aX9CszAvDHYWBDeTmdljocu28nVOYlEUC3rNeaDPmRbgBhtwD_ke4#.XogylbfSSFs.facebook
>
> John Reimann
> --
> *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
> Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
> Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
>


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Re: [Marxism] South Africa: A Step towards Dictatorship?

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The measures taken to slow or stop the spread of this pandemic are
necessary. It is also inevitable that the capitalist class will use these
measures to try to increase their power over the working class. The one
doesn't rule out the other, nor should we be ignoring either side of this
equation.

But what most socialists do seem to be ignoring is the most important class
aspect of this disaster, the aspect that is the very basis of it. I am
referring to the clash between capitalist development and the laws of
nature. To be more specific: How habitat loss and factory farming are
together responsible for the spread of these new zoonotic diseases.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Factory farm may be the real cause of Covid-19 pandemic

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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It seems that evidence is emerging that the novel corona virus that is
causing this pandemic originally may have jumped the species barrier to
humans on a factory farm, not in that "wet market". The most likely
candidate for such a farm is a pig farm, because pigs immune system is
genetically similar to humans. None of this is proven yet, but we as
workers must keep aware of this science. The capitalists certainly won't do
anything to stop factory farming.

https://grain.org/e/6437?fbclid=IwAR2mY1aX9CszAvDHYWBDeTmdljocu28nVOYlEUC3rNeaDPmRbgBhtwD_ke4#.XogylbfSSFs.facebook

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Marxism] Howie Hawkins statement on COVID-19

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Bernie Sanders-like rattling on about free health care and income
inequality doesn't address the issue. The main issue at this point to start
with is lack of hospital beds, supplies and staffing. The issue is
suppliers holding bidding wars for their products. In other words,
profiteering. Behind all that, the issue is the collision between
capitalism and the laws of nature. If thats the best the Green Party has to
offer, and if our concern is how to get through this crisis, why not hope
that N.Y. State governor Andrew Cuomo replaces Biden as the Democrats’
candidate. He might be an anti-labor conservative, but at least he is
trying to cope with the immediate crisis.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] coronavirus, a new world historical era and the socialist movement

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"Two years ago, a scientific paper on bats and wild habitat loss stated
that “an ecological threshold has been crossed.” Such a topic might seem
pretty esoteric, pretty minor in the bigger scheme of things, but as it
turns out it is not. The world working class including the socialist
movement within that class, had better pay attention. It signals the dawn
of a new era in world capitalist development, an era in which capitalism is
sharply colliding with its own contradictions. But in this case, the nature
of the contradictions are fundamentally different from anything we have
seen before.

"At the dawn of the 20th century, a similar new era had opened up. That was
the era in which imperialism had spread all over the world, had conquered
the entire planet. All that was left for it to do was fight to redivide the
world among the major imperialist powers. Coupled with a subsequent
economic crisis (the Great Depression), this spelled disaster for tens of
millions. That disaster came in the form of two world wars and the rise of
fascism.

"Today’s capitalist crisis, however, is fundamentally different: It is a
crisis created not by the laws of capitalist economics nor by
inter-imperialist rivalries. This crisis, this new era, is caused by the
collision of capitalist development with the laws of nature." Read more:
article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/03/coronavirus-a-new-world-historical-era-and-the-socialist-movement/

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[Marxism] Coronavirus and the factory worker: One worker's journal

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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A factory worker in Southern California explains the importance of this
section of the working class and then writes a journal of how the Covid-19
crisis is affecting the workers in that worker’s work place. He describes,
in the end, getting sick himself and what happens:

"Monday, March 30
We were just informed that the coworker at my factory job whose family
member tested positive for COVID-19 last week has also tested positive
himself. He has an asymptomatic case. This guy was at work as recently as
Tuesday.

Meanwhile, I feel like I have a minor cold right now. I don’t feel
particularly sick – but I don’t want to spread it if I do have it. I showed
up to work, but I told the bossman and went home without starting work.

At a meeting held outside in the parking lot to abide by “social
distancing” protocol, the Big Boss said that the plant is going to stay
open despite all of this. They want to “keep putting product out of the
door,” in the words of the boss. There is some grounds to claim that the
plant is “essential.” Apparently, the company’s plant in the Southwest –
which produces much of the same equipment as the plant where I work – has
been shut down for six days after two workers on the assembly line were
seen sneezing and coughing on the line last week.

Right now, I’m waiting to hear back from a doctor for a video checkup. I’m
going to try to get tested for the virus. If I test positive, I’m going to
call up the plant and tell them and urge them to shutdown.

UPDATE: I just talked to the doctor. They told me that I don’t meet the
criteria for being tested. They said that it sounds like I have a common
cold – and that, unless the symptoms get worse, I should just plan on
taking today and tomorrow off and returning to work on Wednesday. The
doctor is giving me a note for my job."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-and-the-factory-one-workers-journal/

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[Marxism] Coronavirus for grocery workers - like working in a petri dish

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"At night the stores are filthy due to the influx of customers flocking the
stores during the day panic buying. The night crews find all kinds of nasty
things left on the shelves by customers that they have to touch and remove
while wearing no safety gear. Night after night it’s a mad rush to fill up
shelves working hundreds if not thousands of cases of freight only for the
shelves to still look barren. The entire shift it’s in your mind “what
germs did customers leave behind and will I be the one that gets infected
with Covid – 19?” Showing up for work every day is like you’re playing a
continuous game of Russian Roulette! That mind set causes a lot of stress.

The “little things”
Little things we used to take for granted like taking a drink of water or
going to the bathroom has dramatically changed. Before drinking water, wash
your hands first. Before going the bathroom room and after, wash your
hands. Touching door handles, everything we did in the past unconsciously
you now have to think about to protect yourself. In general grocery stores
are a petri dish just waiting for infection to happen and the company is
doing no real extra cleaning or sanitizing to protect workers.

"For grocery workers working the day shift they have whole other issues to
deal with."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/31/coronavirus-grocery-workers-working-in-a-petri-dish/

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Re: [Marxism] The Contrarian Coronavirus Theory That Informed the Trump Administration | The New Yorker

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Aside from the fact that Epstein talks in complete gobbledygook, he does
two interesting things:
First, in truly Trumpian fashion, he makes grandiose statements about his
expertise. ("I'm trained in all of these things" - in relationship to
science.)

Second, as somebody who is totally untrained, he makes a mistake that I
actually made at first, before I started investigating the facts: He
understands that like all viruses, coronaviruses mutate and evolve. It is
true, to a degree, that a virus has it in its interest not to kill its
host, in order that the host can live long enough to pass on the virus to
others. He thinks, though, that the differences in severity of Covid-19 are
due to different strains of the virus. All the scientists dispute that as
far as I can tell, and as the article also says. And, as far as the
interest of the virus in not killing its host: *That is only true so long
as it doesn't kill the host immediately, or before the host can pass on the
virus. *

I'm reading Rob Wallace's "Big farms make big flu", and that's exactly one
point he makes: That if a virus can be passed on fairly quickly and easily,
it doesn't matter if it's ultimately fatal or not; it can survive and
multiply just as easily. But what do facts matter? Epstein has his
theories, and the facts that don't fit aren't facts. They don't exist.

But the interview is a terrific example of what I wrote about the lunatic
wing of the capitalist class.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] factory farming, habitat loss and the two wings of the capitalist class

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I am reading "Big Farms make big flu" by Rob Wallace. I Have just gotten
50+ pages into it, but already what is so very clear is this: While we can
and must develop demands that protect workers and limit the spread of
Covid-19, that is only dealing with the symptoms of the crisis. Wallace
explains part of the basis of it: factory farming. (The other half of the
basis, as I understand it, is habitat loss and the breakup of habitat into
segments. This seems to be the main reason why the viruses in bats, which
are hosts to many viruses, have spread to other animals and to humans.) So,
millions of sane people look to figures like Anthony Fauci or NY governor
Andrew Cuomo as the leaders who will save us.

In fact, the difference between them and lunatics like Trump and the Wall
St. Journal editors is similar to the difference between Herbert Hoover and
FDR. Hoover represented the wing of the capitalist class that just wanted
to let 'er rip - let the economy go into free fall and eventually recover,
whereas FDR understood that some reforms were necessary. Neither wing was
able to prevent the total disaster to both the human species and the planet
of WW II.

So today, one wing wants to allow Covid 19 to spread unchecked in the
lunatic belief that it will burn itself, while it has a low mortality rate.
(The percentage of those who get it and die may be low, but the total
number would be disastrously high, and made worse by the massive lack of
hospital beds and medical equipment.) The other wing understands that some
checks are necessary. Ultimately, however, a new virus will emerge or an
older one will evolve that will have the same transmission rate as the
present coronavirus but something closer to a 50% mortality rate. It seems
to me that that is inevitable unless we end factory farming and habitat
destruction. In other words, unless capitalism is overthrown. (After I
finish reading Wallace's book I will write more on this.)

John Reimann
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[Marxism] [UCE] coronavirus bailout, inflation and Marx

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"I’ve been trying to think through the issue of inflation in light of the
$2 trillion Coronavirus bailout and its affects on inflation.

"A large chunk of the bailout will be going to workers, in effect raising
their buying power or at least limiting the fall in their buying power.
Will that lead to inflation and does it contradict the views of Karl Marx?"
Here's my view on why it won't and doesn't.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-bailout-inflation-and-karl-marx/

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[Marxism] Some thoughts on the financial effects of the $2 trillion bailout bill

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Some thoughts on the effect of the $2 trillion bailout, that in reality
will be double that amount. What will be the longer term financial effects?
Hard to say for certain yet, but here are some thoughts.

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/28/coronavirus-and-the-2-trillion-plus-bailout/

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[Marxism] coronavirus and the battle for the hearts and minds

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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A struggle is under way. It is the struggle for the hearts and minds of the
US working class. Actually, that struggle has been here all along, but the
Covid-19 crisis is bringing it out into the open. While that battle is
being played out in conversations at every work place, it can also be seen
in social media like Facebook.
“If your scared stay home. Tired of new generation of bitches. We work or
we don’t get paid. Don’t take it personal business is business and more
people die in car accidents daily then this virus will kill in a year. So
scared bitches stay home.” said one carpenter
Said another: “I have seen more goddamn knuckleheaded “get your ass to
work”, bootsucking scabby rat fucks on this [Facebook] page with the most
insensitive and inhumanly stupid takes than I’ve seen in quite a while.
“You fucking vampires are what makes union weak and shitty today.
Unions are about SOLIDARITY and COMPASSION and COMMUNITY"
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/26/coronavirus-and-the-battle-for-hearts-and-minds/

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[Marxism] coronavirus, Trump and the "adults in the room"

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"It’s not just that Fauci is hogging Trump’s spotlight. He’s also on a
collision course with Trump, as has been every single other “adult in the
room”. James Mattis? Gone. H.R. McMaster? Gone. Rex Tillerson? Gone. John
Kelly? Gone. These were the people in the Trump administration who had
built up a genuine base of their own and who were capable of and tried to
look out for the interests of the US capitalist class, rather than just
parroting the line of the senile and raging narcissist Donald Trump. And
because they had their own base – either in the military or in the broader
capitalist class or elsewhere, they were able to and in fact had to stand
up to Trump

"Workers, however, should have no illusions in Fauci. Basically, what he
represents is the view of what is called “econ-modernism.” That is the view
that capitalist society can make up for its rape of the planet by ever new
and better technology. In this case, as oaklandsocialist has explained in
our article on Coronavirus, capitalism and the forces of nature, the real
basis of the crisis is how capitalism interacts with and violates the
natural world. Fauci’s sole solution is development of a vaccine as well as
other medical treatments. He also ignores the frequent link between
infectious diseases and environmental factors that weaken the immune
system. In this case, what he represents is what appears to be the more
sane wing of the capitalist class vs. the senile and insane approach of the
other wing and of Trump himself."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/24/coronavirus-trump-and-the-adults-in-the-room/

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[Marxism] coronavirus and social distancing in construction

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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“My concern is that guys are coming in to work sick, there’s no rules in
place regarding elevator maximums, and there has been no communication from
our GC. There’s probably 100 guys on site. I had to go to the jobsite
trailer to talk to our safety guy myself and then was told that we’ll only
shut down if the government makes us and that otherwise “the plan” is if
someone tests positive that they’ll shut down for a week of cleaning,"
writes one construction worker.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/22/coronavirus-and-social-distancing-in-the-construction-industry/

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Covid-19 coronavirus: The most important unanswered questions - Vox

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Regarding this Vox article that Louis posted: The article asks how Covid-19
is spread and only mentions droplets in the air (from coughing or
sneezing). It doesn't mention touching an object on which the virus is
present. It says: 'Vox’s Julia Belluz explains
.
“When these virus-laden droplets from an infected person reach the nose,
eyes, or mouth of another, they can transmit the disease.” But it’s still
unknown how significant other modes of transmission are in spreading the
disease.'

Everything I have read says that it can be spread by touching an object
where the virus is. See, for example this article from Harvard Health:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center#Prevention

I'm guessing this is just an oversight on the part of Vox. If so, that is
pretty sloppy reporting.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] coronavirus: a grocery worker speaks

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"Oaklandsocialist has received the following letter from a grocery clerk in
far Northern California. We reprint it here along with a message from
Oaklandsocialist. I distributed it in my local Lucky’s. Workers there were
very concerned. They had not seen hide nor hair from their union reps –
Missing In Action as usual.

While a lot is being said about health care workers, nothing is said about
other workers who keep our society running – workers at water plants,
garbage collectors, electric utility workers. Imagine where we would be
without them! We urge readers to download the pdf version of this letter,
print up copies and distribute them when YOU go to the grocery store. If
you prefer a version without the mention of Oaklandsocialist, contact us
and we will provide you with one."
**see article for full letter**
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2020/03/20/coronavirus-a-grocery-worker-speaks/

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[Marxism] Italian & German mortality rates

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I was just checking the latest mortality statistics. According to the site
below, the mortality rate of those counted is a massive 8.3% in Italy,
while it's a minuscule 0.28% in Germany. Presumably a large part of that
difference is due to Italy having missed thousands of cases, thus having
reduced the total number. But that massive of a difference? Does anybody
have any idea how to explain it?

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR2kuIKZC6pBYubhUdS_M-Rsp3OOwZ9b0mHCzgLD-dTr64gAhBMR-vI34ss#countries

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Re: [Marxism] "personal distancing plus social solidarity"

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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RKOB is certainly right about one thing: The world capitalist class and all
their representatives are watching this and thinking about how they can use
it. Already, it seems the strike of graduate students in the University of
California system is collapsing. It's simply not possible to run a strike
virtually. Not only that, but a huge number of workers are now working from
home. I think that is a very regressive policy since it separates workers.
I think that will continue after this is over.

We should all remember Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine". For all its
weaknesses (and there was one serious one), it made an excellent point:
That capitalism will use any shock that comes about, whether socially made
or made by the forces of nature, to advance its agenda. Most certainly it
will use this pandemic. And that is despite the fact that while it has been
brought about by a pathogen and the fact that this sort of zoonotic disease
is becoming increasingly common, the means of transmission of those
pathogens (wildlife encroachment and factory farming, are a direct result
of capitalist development.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] What some hospital workers are saying

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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No, these were workers at Summit Hospital. I think United Healthcare
Workers - part of SEIU - although I've heard similar complaints about UPTE,
as I have about ALL the unions (including my former one).

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:49 PM Jeffrey Masko 
wrote:

> Would that have been UPTE folks by chance?
>
> On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 2:51 PM John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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>> *
>>
>> I just got back from getting a chest x-ray (for something totally
>> unrelated
>> to the coronavirus). All the workers there are in the union. I got to
>> asking several of them how things are going, what's up with the union,
>> etc.
>> They had not seen hide nor hair of any union rep. They didn't seem to
>> think
>> the x-ray office would be closed, but if it is, they have no idea if they
>> will continue to be paid. They all commented on the $1000 they heard they
>> will be getting, as if it is in the bag, and as if it will save their
>> bacon
>> if they are laid off. I got the impression that they're seeing this bundle
>> of cash like an extra payday, period. I asked how far they think $1000
>> will
>> go in paying the rent of house note, and they all were silent. I pointed
>> out the billions that Trump is planning to give the big corporations, and
>> they had nothing to say about that.
>>
>> In the end, I was talking with the x-ray tech about all this. His final
>> words were, "well, they (the employers) sign our pay check." "Yeah, and we
>> do the work," was my reply. He kind of chuckled and muttered "that's
>> true",
>> but it was clear he'd never looked at it like that before.
>>
>> In general, the union is the furthest thing from their mind, exactly
>> because of the absence of the union for many years.
>>
>>
>> John Reimann
>>
>> --
>> *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
>> Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
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>
>
> --
>
> J.A. Masko
>
> "The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without
> becoming disillusioned."
>
>Antonio Gramsci.
>


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