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> s.artesian wrote: [And exactly what does that have to do with the issues...
> 'semi-colonialism?' Should I start quoting...."ad nauseum
Louis wrote: If anybody sees Lenin's pamphlet in terms of gospel, they deserve
> castigation. I favor taking all his works off the pedestal, starting
> with "What is to be Done". These works were all written to address the
> exigencies of their time. Period.
>
> In terms of the issue at hand, the national question is intimately
> linked to Lenin's writings on imperialism. Angelus has described himself
> as favoring Rosa Luxemburg's approach to the national question which
> doesn't quite explain his horrible comments on the Palestinians. It is
> not too hard to figure out that he reflects confusion on the German left
> about the Middle East.
Right, no religion implied here . . .kind of believe that we should oppose
imperialism, the capitalist system, and all its manifestations such as the
bourgeois-democratic "colonial", "semi-colonial", and "post-colonial"
governments and that we should struggle to achieve workers power. "What is to
be Done" is a great place to start and there should be no pedestals for
previous heroes (or present aspirants) . . .
I'm pretty confident I am not going to make a petit-bourgeois mistake on the
national question or the bourgeois nature of governments in the "developing
world" or elsewhere. In fact, I am so confident in that that I am willing to
egg them on when bourgeois nationalists get into conflict with their
imperialist masters (in case you still want that definition, see "Imperialism
the Highest State of Capitalism" by V.I. Lenin and then go from there, although
I warn you that delving further into the "intricacies" of imperialism,
especially as described by pseudo-Marxist economists, Stalinists, etc., will
only give you a headache, make you crazy, or simply end up contemplating your
navel while the world moves past you). I do so especially if there is someone
listening who may have illusions about the national capitalists. I do so
because I wish to fight strategically and hope to bring more than myself into
struggle. In all honesty, however, I actually do not spend too much time on
this "egging on" as I am much more interested in actually fighting capitalism
with whatever tool I may have at my disposal. That I am spending this much time
on a really small point--Lula told Obama "screw you," didn't change the nature
of Lula's government, but it was still cool and, most importantly, indicates a
shift in forces, "whats the big deal?"--is not really what I wanted to do this
afternoon, but y'all are good folks, so, I'll try to assuage your concerns for
my "falling into sin" (yeah, I thought that whole "apostle" stuff was kind of
funny, never really been accused of being religious before, so, it is kind of
entertaining, thanks for the chuckle).
Brother Artesian seems to want somebody to produce "data, evidence" etc. to
define imperialism for him, but I am not sure if it is a genuine request or
simply an epithet to "prove" how anybody who says anything positive about Lula
or, say, the Nicaraguans who just withdrew their ambassadors from Israel, are
just not well-schooled in Marxism according to the gospel of Artesian (I
actually think ending diplomatic ties with Israel is pretty good, too, and hope
more non-imperialist and imperialist governments do so as well--I hope I am not
risking become petit-bourgeois though); Hence, my flippancy and disdain for his
comment. I suggest you, Artesian, enlighten us so that we all don't become
fallen angels.
Either that, or move on because I already have.Manuel
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