Ralph, Yes I am interested in your examples. Anyway you and the USA guys are in the belly of the beast and we in the UK regard you humbly with great respect. But, forgive me, is it possible that your isolation is not quite as severe as you are expressing it at the moment? You may not be aware of this to the full, but your idea-disseminating efforts have done much to break down dogmatism within Marxism. Of course there is loads to be done to build up a debate culture and dogmatism is a constant incubus on all our backs. Philosophy should teach us that good debate is not really about winning the debate (I'm serious) but about giving people more options than they currently have. You are probably more of a scientific Marxist, Ralph. But many moons ago you went beyond the narrow horizons of the Leninist groups in order to give people tools to think with. It cannot be a total coincidence that the Leninist groups have lost so much influence in this time. This is wholly positive and in the interests of the American (and international) working class. OK, frustration at the media culture is entirely warranted, and even worse in USA than in UK. But let's hold onto the truth that the working class loves ideas when it comes into contact with them. And what's more don't you have some first-rate intellectuals in the USA? Fredric Jameson, Robert Pippin, Terry Pinkard, Robert Wallace, David Harvey, Bertell Ollman, to name a few. Can I just say that I think Paul Gilroy's now revised position (he used to be a black nationalist) that the way forward for black people is to forget the race question and adopt universal humanism is very important and very smart. That doesn't make him a Marxist of course but we Marxists can learn things from people who haven't learnt the Marx lesson. Phil
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ralph Dumain Sent: 01 October 2007 21:59 To: marxism-thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] [marxistphilosophy] Presentations to the Fifth International Marx Congress As I said, it's not in our nature to give up however severely the odds stack up against us. Those of us who operate mentally as well as materially outside of media and celebrity culture find ourselves effectively bound and gagged. We can of course have and have had a small impact, but lacking a substantive societal basis for public discourse beyond the superficial, we can't make a dent in the media freak show which effectively saturates virtually all minds within our society, and which can mesmerize us when we let down our guard. The contradiction between the possibilities opened up by recent advances in communications and computer technology and the increasing pulverization and stupefaction of collective social existence is an especially acute one. The cleavage between radical intellectuals and activists in what the (loosely designated) left itself is as serious. There are, of course, academics who function in both roles, and there may be a crossover effect to a limited degree, but I think very limited, as I don't see the infrastructure or the ideological institutionalization of a coherent culture of profound radical critique. The left in a nation such as the USA itself is contaminated with both excessive subculturalism and celebrity media culture, and a fragmented consciousness as well as existence. I can and will give several relevant examples. At 02:27 PM 10/1/2007, Phil Walden wrote: >Thanks for the reply. Haven't got much time so this is very short. It is >possible to don an illusory consciousness whilst not being fooled into >really believing that it is true. I'd suggest more people are doing this >than you are allowing. Also, as an auto-didact you know the great interest >that ideas, and debate about ideas, can have. The authoritarian left has >tried to destroy that. But thanks to you and others it still exists. If we >can build up a genuine debate culture that will take us forward over the >next period, despite all the problems you rightly point to. Don't forget to >google Democratic Socialist Alliance. (UK). >Regards, >Phil _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
