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What never ceases to amaze me is that absolute unwillingness of people putting so much into the building of these groups to learn about previous failures. It really is a fundamental refutation of the very assumptions of . . . not just Marxism, but any substantive legacy of the Enlightenment at all. The ISO flared into prominence pretty quickly and really occupied the niche that the SWP/YSA had held for some years earlier. As soon as the group began claiming a membership of "about 3000," I thought to myself that they were going to hit the same glass ceiling that blocked the continued growth of the SWP. I pointed this out. I tried to talk to people in the ISO about it. Nobody wanted to hear it because, like good little children of the great ahistorical American empire, they instinctively saw everything as a one off. And they made many of the same suicidal mistakes that the SWP did.. The sad thing is that it really didn't have to happen. Even now, the former members of the ISO who are complaining bitterly about how the organization failed them (as though it wasn't also the other way around) just don't want to hear from anybody who challenges them to reach beyond their posturing and faux rage to a serious analytical discussion. And that really bodes poorly for the future. Comradely, Mark L. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
