>The left needs to be studying the principles of war, not Robert's >Rules.
And what do you plan to do with those principles, comrade? Ambush a passing
armoured division from hidden positions in a phone box?
I mean, what are you saying here?
Anyway, I don't see 'em as 'rules', I see 'em as the unavoidable consequence
of a good look 'round. The left needs to make itself a respected part of an
already nascent world-wide tide of assertive seekers of democracy and
sustainable livelihoods for all. We need to communicate, not conflagrate. I
don't speak for our more desperate comrades in the 'periphery' as I'm simply
too ignorant to be of interest to them. In the core, the days of bolsheviks
and winter palaces are long gone. You bolshie types like your history, eh?
Well, we haven't got anywhere near Clara Zetkin and the women of Petrograd
yet. And we haven't got Rosa Luxemburg and the general strike yet. We've got
a culture of concern and indignation and perhaps we've got the makings of an
institutional legitimation crisis here and there. Mind you, we've had those
before, and a western left without an understanding of the specific
constraints and opportunities of its time and place - without the capacity
socially to embed what coherent explanations it could offer and without the
democratic structure to develop practice and salve the inevitable fears of
transformation - well, it's not an inspiring tale, eh? Coz here we are.
So I reckon the big idea in the core is to oppose war (historically a good
starting point for gaining a sympathetic public ear), not to invoke it.
Apologies if I misunderstood you, but general statements like yours are ripe
for misunderstanding, I suggest.
Cheers,
Rob.
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