Carrol Cox wrote: > Most of these critiques ignore the most obvious point: Obama _believes_ > in the policies he follows. He is NOT a bumbling or misguided or merely > lukewarm friend of working people. He is an active, intelligent and > supremely competent advocate of the interests of u.s. capital.
This is a big question. To what extent is Obama simply a cork in the ocean, reflecting the various movements of the political waves (i.e., a total opportunist)? or to what extent does he stick to basic political principles that people on the left disagree with (an anchor shielding him from much of the pressure from the waves)? It's really hard to know (though it's interesting to speculate). But either way, the only way to deal with him -- and the rest of the government -- is to mobilize mass political pressure for the principles that people on the left favor. Then we can discover _in practice_ whether Obama is merely an opportunist or a Scott Walker in sheep's clothing. > Wailing at Obama is a childish game. 1) there are people participating pen-l who think that Obama is a good person and deserves support (perhaps critical support). "Wailing" at him can provide evidence and logic to convince these folks. 2) the real-world specifics of political events are "over-determined." That is, they don't simply reflect the inherent logic of the capitalist system and the mass counter-pressures from opposition groups (which together form the socio-economic "base"). They also reflect such "superstructural" things as the internal "rules of the game" within the government and competition within the capitalist class. To some extent, "wailing" about Obama provides details of an analysis which takes such overdetermination into account rather than copping to simple reductionist temptations. 3) childish games help us avoid total despair as the world circles the drain... -- 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
