me: the labor leaders had proved their >> mettle by fighting the communists and other leftists in the unions, in >> many cases kicking them out. These leftists had wider goals than >> simple wage-and-benefits negotiation.
Tom: > The Communists also had other fish to fry, which were not so > objectively progressive. Right. Most people have ulterior motives. My impression is that the CP's goal in this period was to become power-brokers in the labor movement (including affecting the unions' stand on foreign-policy issues), instead of pushing a class vision that was much broader than that of the labor leaders who ended up winning. Other communists besides the CP ones had yet other goals. A good case could be made -- with the power of hindsight, natch -- that the entire US labor movement (left, right, and center) during the period up to now has fucked up. None of them seemed to accept my Line, my Program, or my Slogans as Correct and True! -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
