******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
Trump has backed off from threats to invade Venezuela, but as far as I am aware there has been no change to the economic sanctions - which are an attempt to impose an economic blockade against Venezuela. The threat of invasion was, I think, psychological warfare rather than an imminent threat. An invasion may happen later, after Venezuela has been weakened further by the blockade. It disturbs me that the US left does not seem to be campaigning vigorously against the blockade (as far as I can tell observing from afar). Chris Slee ________________________________ From: Marxism <[email protected]> on behalf of John Reimann via Marxism <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, 8 May 2019 2:41:06 AM To: Chris Slee Subject: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with something fundamentally new ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. ***************************************************************** A week ago, we had a short debate here on the significance of Trump's defending the Russian presence in Venezuela. That defense came after Pompeo and Bolton had rattled their sabres on that score and it also came an hour or so after Trump had spoken with Putin. My view was that it was yet another example of the degree to which Putin is pulling Trump's strings. Another way of seeing it is that it's an example of how the mainstream of the US capitalist class has largely lost control over its presidency. This, of course, is a description of bonapartism, and while we're not all the way there yet, I believe that's the essence of the issue. This, of course, means a sharp transformation in how capitalism rules in the United States - possibly the biggest political transformation since the US Civil War. I also believe that the great majority of the left - including Marxists - are having a hard time wrapping their heads around this transformation. It's not easy to change our orientation, after all. In this article, I lay out the argument and also the evidence for my view. https://oaklandsocialist.com/2019/05/06/trump-and-the-reluctance-to-reckon-with-something-fundamentally-new/ One detail: I quote an email from Michael Karadjis in the article. I do so with his permission. 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 _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.com _________________________________________________________ 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
