[Marxism] Translation (Cuba): A victory for socialism
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == From Cuba's Socialist Renewal http://cubasocialistrenewal.blogspot.com To sign up as a follower or receive email updates click link above Bohemia editorial, March 31, 2011 Link to translation: http://cubasocialistrenewal.blogspot.com/2011/04/translation-victory-for-socialism.html Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Ending tyranny in the Middle East
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == sobuadhaigh: Marxism became a force in China only after the October Revolution and had less than a decade to develop before the Communist Party of China was in a civil war fighting for its survival. The number of socialists, communists and anarchists of all types was small in this time period with Communist Party membership dropping by half in the bloody repression of 1927. So, just exactly how was the 'ideological' ferment of the late 19th century in China comparable to the 'generations of socialist and anarchist ferment in Russia before 1917'? It wasn't and that means that Communism developed as a mass force in China simultaneously with the revolution and not as a prelude to it. Suresh: Yeah, Marxism only became a force after the October Revolution, but left-wing revolutionary ideals were developing a decade before then. Even given 1917 as a starting point you still have over thirty years of Marxist gestation before the final victory. Moreover, there is no degenerate worker's state to provide an example and hasten revolutionary consciousness in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt, so we should expect the evolution of a new Marxist movement in these countries to take even longer than that. In other words, if history is any guide, it may take generations of struggle. So be it; actions taken now may still have significance come mid century. As for the PFLP, they're something of a joke at this point. Honestly, nobody really cares about them anymore aside from their dwindled cadres and some Western leftists. They're almost as collaborationist as Fatah in 2011. Listen, we all support the Arab Spring. But, let's support it in it's own terms: as a bourgeois democratic awakening. Expecting it to evolve in a radical direction is akin to wondering why the American Revolution didn't lead to an assault upon private ownership of the means of production. There was no left in colonial America, and there's scarcely more of one in the modern Middle East. I would love to be refuted. A socialist revolution in the Arab world would shake the world even more than 1917. It would probably also ultimately precipitate a new World War. Either way, predictions we make today are refreshingly falsifiable. If I'm wrong, it should become apparent in the next few years. Trotsky put his neck out and said the failure of the revolution after World War II would have definitive significance. He didn't live to see the outcome, but God willing, most of us will, this time around. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] On the posting of writings by Sam Marcy and Vince Copeland on the MIA
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == My personal opinion is that the MIA is an archive of particular value to people interested in the history of Marxism, and exclusions from the archive should have a very good reason. If we can find space for Fichte and Feuerbach, the study of whom seems decidedly an esoteric pursuit, why not Marcy and Copeland? Mark Harris Cebu, Philippines On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 10:50 AM, DW dwalters...@gmail.com wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == This is to Lou Paulsen who last week argued that there is no point to posting long ago written material from the internal discussion of the SWP (1950s) on the grounds that it's not relevant today, and certainly not relevant presented with a long winded introduction by a sectarian nut group (meaning the 'communist cadre' splitiscle from the WWP in the 1970s). As it happens I agree with the last point...but at this point we have to split the document and put the Communist Cadre introduction (which is actually quite interesting despite the source) as a stand alone document. I agree with Lou on this. I certainly disagree that there is no value in placing Marcy's and Copeland's early writings on the MIA. For gods sakes, Lou...these are the *original thoughts* of Marcy and Copeland. If one is interested in the Two-Class Camp/Global Class War theory then where best to start? Plus, do we not owe it to the broader socialist movement to put *all* documents online for the world to examine? I've written the WWP to suggest the WWP and MIA collaborate in disseminating the writings of Marcy (and Copeland, whose writings on the union movement during this same period are fascinating and well worth a read if only from a labor history perspective). This was last week and I haven't back from them. We are more than willing to let the WWP *write any introduction* if they want, link back to their site, and so on. This would forever preserve their writings should the rather anemic collection of writings by Marcy already on line disappear from the one server the WWP has running for their site. The MIA has multiple mirrors around the US and the world. But I would like to dialogue with anyone from WWP on this project. David Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/linksgerichtet%40gmail.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] RSP NC Statement on Libya
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == *End imperialist intervention!* *Stop bombing Libya! US, French, British troops out!* Statement by the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Australia (Adopted by RSP National Committee April 9, 2011) * The Revolutionary Socialist Party is vehemently opposed to the NATO US/France/Britain military attack on Libya. Eight years to the day since the beginning of the war on Iraq on March 20, 2003, they have carried out this attack on Libya's air force, air defence systems, airports, roads, ports and ground forces with hundreds of cruise missiles (at $1 million each) and waves of jet fighters and bombers, under cover of UN resolution 1973 pushed through the UN Security Council on March 17. The UN Security Council resolution approved all measures necessary to protect Libyan civilians against Muammar Gaddafi's forces. This has given the imperialist forces a free hand to do whatever they want, bombing at will, and sending in CIA and SAS special forces on the ground already. * This is NOT a humanitarian intervention. It was NOT carried out to protect civilians. It is carried out in the interests of imperialism, a war for political control in the Arab world. When have the US and the rich European powers ever done anything that's not in their own selfish interests? Look at the record of the US for decades and decades -- propping up and installing the most brutal dictators; attempting to undermine and overthrow any regime that threatens their interests. The intensive US, British and French ground and air attacks have pulverised Gaddafi's military, but have also targeted cities, with many civilian deaths, including rebel supporters. Western politicians openly admit the intention of the assault is for regime change, the removal or assassination of Gaddafi. In no way is the imperialist military being used to help a people's rebellion -- it's the kiss of death! * While the Gaddafi regime provided a pretext for the imperialist intervention with its brutal repression of the civilian pro-democracy protests, calls by the leadership of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion, which has become increasingly dominated by defectors from the regime, for an imperialist-enforced no-fly-zone have enabled the regime to portray itself as the defender of Libyan national sovereignty against foreign military aggression. This has enabled it to rally support from a section of the masses, particularly in and around Tripoli, and neutralise support for the pro-democracy rebellion among others in the area between Tripoli and the rebellion's base in Benghazi. As a result, the military conflict between the regime and the pro-democracy rebellion has become a stalemate, which only an escalation of the imperialist intervention through the introduction of increasing numbers of foreign military advisers and ground troops is likely to overcome. * We oppose the idea of a no-fly-zone, even though the actual Western intervention has already gone far beyond this. The no-fly-zone was never going to be restricted to just that, it would always extend to attacks on ground forces, and civilians. Washington has a terrible record with this excuse for military action in Iraq and former Yugoslavia. Even if some of the rebels in Benghazi have called for a no-fly-zone or complete military support, any imperialist intervention like this will not help the rebellion, but will kill it, or contain it within the bounds of Western interests. Certainly the pro-Western elements in the Benghazi leadership see no contradictions in their call, and perhaps we can understand the desperate call of other rebels there, but any left supporters abroad of the Libyan uprising should definitely not be calling for it or supporting military intervention. * Should we call for other imperialist measures to help the rebellion? No. Like the no-fly-zone or direct military intervention, none of this assistance would be to help the people of Libya, but only in the interests of imperialism. There's no Chinese wall between imperialist invasion (boots on the ground), a no-fly-zone, and other imperialist measures against the Libyan state, such as blockade, embargo, and confiscation of assets. We should not be calling for imperialism to carry out non-military attacks on Libya. This cedes to imperialism the right to deny an independent state the right to sovereignty, the right to its own finances, the right to trade. * The Libyan uprising is in the context of the great Arab awakening of 2011. Tunisia and Egypt have had initial success in removing their dictators. Now Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Palestine are in the midst of struggle. The RSP unconditionally supports this mass Arab protest
[Marxism] Misleading language
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Once again, the weekly Scientific Alliance Newsletter is well worth reading and considering - it is available at http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f1e3eeb023e7d88eff0dda8a2id=be1c0f359b e=27ee42a25f An excerpt follows: Paddy http://apling.freeservers.com Misleading language Use of language is one of the main factors which defines humanity. At its best, it can not only express our deepest feelings and be a source of great beauty, but also put across complex concepts with clarity and lack of ambiguity. However, language can also be misused and be deliberately misleading. Most obviously, this is in the form of propaganda, but more subtle misuse can be just as bad. This is as true in the case of science as for politics, finance or other areas. It is often assumed that misuse of a concept can change its meaning quite easily, by simple repetition. There are two ways of looking at this. Lenin is quoted as saying a lie told often enough becomes the truth, whereas Franklin Roosevelt took a different view when he said repetition does not transform a lie into a truth. Although apparently incompatible, each is equally valid in its own way. The Bolshevik view, unfortunately, tends to reflect real human behaviour: if people only hear a single view they tend - at least superficially - to accept it as the truth. But Roosevelt's more idealistic interpretation is equally well-founded because, although there may be general acceptance of an officially-sanctioned version of the truth, the fundamental reality does not change. Anyone who wants to look at the evidence rather than accept seemingly authoritative statements can discover the underlying truth for themselves. Take, for example, the term 'carbon dioxide pollution', which has become commonplace. The Oxford dictionary defines pollution as 'the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects'. This seems fairly unambiguous, and the only argument about, for example, sub-micron carbon particulates in the air, copper and other heavy metals in the soil or harmful bacteria in water would be about the maximum acceptable level. There can be little doubt that each is a form of pollution and may be harmful. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is vital to life on Earth. Without it, plants could not photosynthesise. Without photosynthesis, there would be no oxygen. Without oxygen, there would be no life apart from anaerobic bacteria. To consider it to be a pollutant therefore seems somewhat perverse. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] note to Marxism list
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Hey all, I realize it's tedious to defend one's own essay, especially when said essay is the outcome in part of editorial collaboration and especially of limited space, rather than being some total and pure articulation. So just a couple things. I think I probably am in some sense a real sector guy, as Doug suggests. But two notes about that. One, Doug says (rightly except for the pronoun), That's what we need - some new leading sector. Otherwise we're screwed. This by definition makes him a real sector guy as well. Two, it would be a decisive misreading to suggest that such analysis makes for a Vol. I Marxist: Vol.III is inarguably clear that the financial sector cannot generate systemic accumulation — that it doesn't generate new surplus value — but constitutes a struggle over the disposition of profit. This is not to say it plays no function in the economy. Of course it does. I find Harvey's formulation of socially necessary turnover time useful here for reflecting on finance's role in the relation of production and circulation...and of course its role as a mechanism for equalization of profit rates across lines and nations. But still, it can't reverse a declining rate of accumulation (which is where I think the Dumenil and Levy distinction between kinds of crises collapses: their hegemony of finance is itself a consequence of declining accumulation, a sign of Autumn per Braudel and Arrighi, rather than an independent causal force. This is also, entirely per Marx, why I think it would be an error to suggest that the housing bubble caused the crisis.) As for the question of booms and credit bubbles: of course. They are not only related, they are always in fact the same thing. This shouldn't need saying. Here I actually think that a non-Marxist has the most lucid account of the mechanism: Richard Duncan's The Dollar Crisis, which I highly recommend. Cheers to all, Joshua Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Importance of the Army
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I think: There are two main factors which determine the eventual outcome of revolutions. The FIRST, obviously, is that the masses feel that it is impossible for them to continue to exist as things are. They feel they must TAKE ACTION. The SECOND, also obviously, is that the powers that be are also in a ?muddle? The THIRD, which tends to be the ultimate determinant of the final outcome- is the question whether the ARMY - the sole (or at least the main) controllers of lethal weapons will continue to obey the orders of their superiors, supporters of the old regime. This third was the crucial question in the earlier demonstrations in Tahir square in February/March - in which the old regime was careful to issue orders that might not be obeyed, so that rank and file and junior officers were not forced to reveal their attitudes to their superiors. Comrades, really try to think yourselves into the position of those behind the guns. They are not all our enemies; they have all the same problems as we have - compounded by their control under military law and the threat of punishment even for a word out of turn, let alone a refusal to obey the order of a superior - and to act AGAINST a superior order is likely to result in summary execution without even a warrant. REALISE that: for the junior ranks of the army, orders of superiors may, some of them, seemed a little peculiar, - but (e.g. in the earlier Tahir Square demonstrations) - if they do not cause any army sqaudies [UK English = lower ranks] to be involved in confrontations against the mass of the demonstrators, lower ranks can remain happy with their role - they are not forced to make any decisions. Just obey orders, as usual (however ridiculous those orders seem to be - but that's what army life is all about - obeying all the time - obeying orders that, you think, can only have been drafted by complete idiots - but which are not so completely stupid and obviously against OUR interest in the future as to be worth disputing (bearing completely in mind that if we object our superiors will put us up for a court martial - and even condemnation to the firing squad). But the FIST object of the February Movement has been won. Mubarek had lost his power. NOW we are in the next stage. BUT the factors remain the same. The ABSOLUTELY crucial factor for the present and future stages of the Arab Spring are the relationships between the civilian leadership (or just the masses generally) and the armed forces. It is absolutely CRUCIAL that both leaderships and masses continue cordial relationships with the lower ranks (INCLUDING lower ranks - and even sometimes even higher to at least Capt., Major, and at times even higher ranks). All these are CRUCIAL to success; but is so easy to regard these potential allies as enemies - and this is the MAIN DANGER: Forget all your prior categories of pro-imperialist, anti-working class, and all those other categories we are so used to using as explanations. THESE categories are all in a state of flux - they are IRRELEVANCES. Convincing EACH INDIVIDUAL is what everything depends on !! In Libya this is particularly confounded in that the majority of the regime forces are MERCENARIES - not just Libyans, with the future of themselves and their families (if they have any they have regard for) at stake - but just enrolled in support of the regime for the money they can make. BUT they still don't want to lose their lives and their peculiar motives are subject to development and change ... So much of our comments are also irrelevant to the situation on the ground, - but I do feel that much of what I am trying to say in really important for all to consider and bear in mind in our discussions. Comradely greetings, Paddy http://apling.freeservers.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The purpose or the workers' press (was: Re: Ending tyranny in the Middle East
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Apr 9, 2011, at 8:01 AM, Louis Proyect l...@panix.com wrote: On 4/8/11 9:24 PM, Lou Paulsen wrote: Well, Libya is not the whole Arab world. We have made our views clear about opposing abuses particularly in those parts of the Arab world where the oppressors have been the proxies of US imperialism. Sorry, I should have been clearer. I was referring strictly to the axis of good countries like Libya and Syria. We must assume that in those places torture, etc. is okay because the State Department has opposed the heads of state. No, to make the point again, it's not that torture is good when countries that are targeted by the state department do it. It's that it's bad AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY when tools of the United States do it. 's Yes, you are the mirror image of the bourgeois press. They leave out all the positive gains of North Korean society while you leave out all the bad things (family dynasty, cult of the leader, police state, etc.) If that's your thing... If those two were the choices, I would much rather be the mirror image as you have described it than a mirror site for the bourgeois media. Again, what is the point? What diseases or delusions in the working class and the progressive movement are we supposed to be opposing here? Gadhafi and Kim have not set up internationals. We do not run into their followers everywhere. But on the contrary, there are millions of workers who support imperialist war against them, while believing that the US armed forces are a global force for good* against their evil, and many in the progressive movement who are truly equivocal about it. Those people are our responsibility to engage with our press. I view the socialist press as a practical operation, like the practice of medicine, rather than an artistic function like a journal of poetry or film criticism. Suppose we were producing a journal for the use of health care providers in the poor areas of the US. Someone complains that we haven't run any articles attacking schistosomiasis. We explain that we don't get so much of it in our service areas, and we get told that we must think schistosomiasis is a good disease! Until we turn our own situation around here, innumerable deaths and unmeasurable crimes are going to take place. So how are we actually going to most effectively use our resources to bring more freedom to the Arab world? I believe the revolutionary movement has to engage in ruthless criticism of every police state in the world, as well as bourgeois democracies. If I was editor of Workers World newspaper, I would have be exposing the ANC government early on. (etc) Fortunately there is a left paper which is always ready to ruthlessly criticize every government or socialist or nationalist or class-collaborationist force in the world, regardless of whether it makes any practical sense: Workers' Vanguard. I don't know if they accept cold resumes, but you might give it a shot. They are a great example of another tradition that we are intent on distinguishing ourselves from. What do you think are the practical bad results of editing our press our way, and not your way? If we were under the delusion (which I sometimes think affects the people at Workers Vanguard) that the workers in Libya, North Korea, and South Africa were relying on our website for information about their countries, and for tactical guidance, I would favor our editors taking that into consideration. Lou Paulsen Member, WWP Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Ending tyranny in the Middle East
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Apr 9, 2011, at 8:59 AM, Mark Lause markala...@gmail.com wrote: As we've heard, the aspirations some here have for democratic rights is seen as something made dialectically...that is, in the old idealist Hegelian sense. Those who have the aspiration in this way are content to say nothing or do nothing to encourage it. It's existence as a spiritual preference kept between the ears is deemed sufficient ML The point in my view is not to encourage the struggle from a distance of six thousand miles like someone watching a World Cup match on TV while drinking lots of beer and jumping up and screaming real loud, as satisfyingly undialectical as that may be. The point is to actually promote the struggle by working to undermine imperialism which is its chief obstacle. Lou Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose or the workers' press
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 4/9/11 10:21 AM, Lou Paulsen wrote: No, to make the point again, it's not that torture is good when countries that are targeted by the state department do it. It's that it's bad AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY when tools of the United States do it. This is exactly where we differ. I don't care if the USA had no responsibility for Qaddafi torturing a Palestinian doctor until he confessed to infecting Libyan babies with the HIV virus. I think it would have been important to make a big deal about this since there were still lots of leftists who had illusions in Qaddafi's credentials. Again, what is the point? What diseases or delusions in the working class and the progressive movement are we supposed to be opposing here? Gadhafi and Kim have not set up internationals. What an odd criterion. But I suppose that it is practically useless to explain to you why. I view the socialist press as a practical operation, like the practice of medicine, rather than an artistic function like a journal of poetry or film criticism. I think there is a certain amount of artistic license in the Workers World newspaper. Fortunately there is a left paper which is always ready to ruthlessly criticize every government or socialist or nationalist or class-collaborationist force in the world, regardless of whether it makes any practical sense: Workers' Vanguard. I don't know if they accept cold resumes, but you might give it a shot. They are a great example of another tradition that we are intent on distinguishing ourselves from. I think there's a much better example of what I am talking about, the newspaper of the ISO. That is why they are growing rapidly and you stagnate. Young people who are radicalizing hate all forms of oppression. When I joined the SWP in 1967 rather than PLP it was because I believed in the rights of artists to paint what they wanted, among other things. Ironically I discovered years later that Lenin felt the same way: Why is there not a single political event in Germany that does not add to the authority and prestige of the Social-Democracy? Because Social-Democracy is always found to be in advance of all the others in furnishing the most revolutionary appraisal of every given event and in championing every protest against tyranny...It intervenes in every sphere and in every question of social and political life; in the matter of Wilhelm's refusal to endorse a bourgeois progressive as city mayor (our Economists have not managed to educate the Germans to the understanding that such an act is, in fact, a compromise with liberalism!); in the matter of the law against 'obscene' publications and pictures; in the matter of governmental influence on the election of professors, etc., etc. --What is to be Done What do you think are the practical bad results of editing our press our way, and not your way? As I told you, it is repellent to young radicalizing people. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose of the workers' press
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Apr 9, 2011, at 9:50 AM, Louis Proyect l...@panix.com wrote: Ironically I discovered years later that Lenin felt the same way: Why is there not a single political event in Germany that does not add to the authority and prestige of the Social-Democracy? Because Social-Democracy is always found to be in advance of all the others in furnishing the most revolutionary appraisal of every given event and in championing every protest against tyranny...It intervenes in every sphere and in every question of social and political life; in the matter of Wilhelm's refusal to endorse a bourgeois progressive as city mayor (our Economists have not managed to educate the Germans to the understanding that such an act is, in fact, a compromise with liberalism!); in the matter of the law against 'obscene' publications and pictures; in the matter of governmental influence on the election of professors, etc., etc. --What is to be Done Well, Louis, I suggest you re-read that quote. Lenin is, correctly, praising the German Social-Democratic press because they exposed all sorts of abuses of all kinds - ***IN GERMANY.*** He is not suggesting that the German Social-Democratic press was successful because they exposed all sorts of abuses everywhere on the planet. (I wrote) What do you think are the practical bad results of editing our press our way, and not your way? (this is all Louis tho I'm having some trouble with the formatting): I think there's a much better example of what I am talking about, the newspaper of the ISO. That is why they are growing rapidly and you stagnate. Young people who are radicalizing hate all forms of oppression. (and he continues) As I told you, it is repellent to young radicalizing people. Actually you have a point - in a way. I agree that the ISO's press is closer in viewpoint to, and more attractive to, the viewpoint of young radicalizing people, when they start out. It's been that way for decades. It was that way when their slogan was Neither Washington mor Moscow! That was a natural position to start with for rebellious youth in the US - Of course we all know how bad it is in Communist Russia, but I'm starting to think the US is pretty bad too! You see my point? Lou Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose of the workers' press
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 4/9/11 11:27 AM, Lou Paulsen wrote: Well, Louis, I suggest you re-read that quote. Lenin is, correctly, praising the German Social-Democratic press because they exposed all sorts of abuses of all kinds - ***IN GERMANY.*** He is not suggesting that the German Social-Democratic press was successful because they exposed all sorts of abuses everywhere on the planet. Just because the quote is about Germany, you cannot conclude that the German social democracy avoided commenting on matters outside its borders: Indeed, Kautsky wrote about controversies in the Russian movement: http://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1905/xx/rsdlp.htm And Rosa Luxemburg wrote about Morocco: http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1911/07/24.htm Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] writing
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I read Paul Street's piece on the poohbahs at the Left Forum plenary. His points are good ones. Celebrity is a big problem for the left too. Same old faces, every year, doling out the same old and boring crap. However, Paul's article is badly written, with paragraph-long sentences, too many quotes and references, too many useless adverbs, and too much ego (I said this and I said that). A little editing would have helped make the article better. Same goes for much of what is written in Z, on blogs, on email lists, just about everywhere. In writing, less is always more. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Roger Cohen: Goldstone is bizarre
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 4/8/11, Dennis Brasky dmozart1...@gmail.com wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Goldstone won't seek report nullification http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_israel_un_report Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/gulfmann%40gmail.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose or the workers' press (was: Re: Endingtyranny in the Middle East
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Lou Paulsen wrote: Again, what is the point? What diseases or delusions in the working class and the progressive movement are we supposed to be opposing here? Gadhafi and Kim have not set up internationals. We do not run into their followers everywhere. But on the contrary, there are millions of workers who support imperialist war against them, while believing that the US armed forces are a global force for good* against their evil, and many in the progressive movement who are truly equivocal about it. Those people are our responsibility to engage with our press. ___ Kind of misses the point comrade, because in reality WWP and similar organizations do much more that simply oppose imperialist war, and the belief that the armed forces of capitalist countries can be a global force for good. There is, I believe, an actual record of endorsement, of uncritical support [and by criticism I mean class-based, material critique of the functioning of the nationalist regime, so that uncritical support involves obscuring the class lines within the national domain] for Qaddafi-type regimes. And this creates the illusion that somehow such regimes represent a viable option, a viable opposition to capitalism, exploitation-- that anti-imperialism actually represents a vector for class struggle. It also creates the illusion that oppositions to Qaddafi-type regimes can somehow be identified as, and separated into, from the getgo, good opposition [i.e. not containing liberal, pro-capitalist, foreign-intervention friendly], or bad opposition, containing all those, and more elements. That's not how social struggle develops. That isn't how it develops in Iran, Libya, Syria, etc. just as it wasn't the way it developed in Poland, the former DDR, Romania etc. What's missing above all in this anti-imperialist cover is economic analysis; analysis of the social relations of production in these economies; the relations that compel a Qaddafi, or a Jaruzelski, to act as they do. If I might be so rude to refer back to an earlier exchange, in discussing the situation in Poland, you pointed out how WWP appealed to the Polish government to renounce the debt when in fact that government had committed itself to servicing that debt at the expense of the workers in general, and the Polish miners in particular. The Polish miners did more than appeal. They struck and seized those mines. Did WWP support those strikes? Does a workers' press have an obligation to support workers' actions taken against a anti-imperialist or national state/economy that is in fact embedded in imperialism and servicing the demands of capital? Simple question: did you support the strikes and seizures of the mines by the Polish workers? The illusion being sown is that the workers in say a Poland or even a Libya or Syria cannot dare risk opposition to the terms of exploitation because they might lose something more than their chains which of course abandons the field of opposition exactly to those regressive forces that are generated, reproduced by national regimes. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose of the workers' press
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Apr 9, 2011, at 10:35 AM, Louis Proyect l...@panix.com wrote: = On 4/9/11 11:27 AM, Lou Paulsen wrote: Well, Louis, I suggest you re-read that quote. Lenin is, correctly, praising the German Social-Democratic press because they exposed all sorts of abuses of all kinds - ***IN GERMANY.*** He is not suggesting that the German Social-Democratic press was successful because they exposed all sorts of abuses everywhere on the planet. Just because the quote is about Germany, you cannot conclude that the German social democracy avoided commenting on matters outside its borders: Rosa Luxemburg wrote about Morocco: http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1911/07/24.htm Louis, thank you for posting that link. Having read that article, I clasp it to my heart and cry, bravo, Comrade Luxemburg! How sorely we miss your wisdom in this difficult time. And I am not being the least bit Swiftian about this. And now, I would encourage YOU to go and read the article, which you will find is not about Morocco at all or an attack on some Moroccan leader or even about French imperialism. It is a criticism of her German comrades in leadership for being soft on anti-imperialism!!! An international collaboration of socialists against intervention in Morocco had been proposed. The German party pulled out of it, apparently because an election campaign was coming up and they didn't want Morocco to be used against them by the right. She is writing to criticize this and oppose the idea of adapting to pro-imperialist sentiment!! Lou Paulsen Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Erik Toren wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == LinkedIn Activists, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Erik Toren Erik Toren Director at The University of Texas - Pan American McAllen, Texas Area Confirm that you know Erik Toren https://www.linkedin.com/e/-p60gh4-gmari6tw-5x/isd/2664868727/EeC9oA6X/ -- (c) 2011, LinkedIn Corporation Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Conclusion: The Bogota Symposium on my Work
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I met with the students on my second day at the University, along with my outstanding translator, who was there for me that every session, sometimes translating me into Spanish, and sometimes including my hosts into English for me. As the letter I posted yesterday suggested, they were all familiar with books of mine. They asked questions that showed a political awareness that would have been unlikely in a US, setting. Part of the interest in talking with me, was a desire to know how to respond to a transformation of the country that is underway. In addition to the impending free trade agreement with the United States and the arrangement for three military bases, the government is planning a massive reform, a word that should make any right-minded person tremble. Presently, the country is fairly generous with students, apparently far more than United States. All this is going to cease because the program was funded with World Bank money, which now must be repaid. In addition, universities will be privatized and turned into trade schools for the extractive industries, upon which the new economic plan rests. Colombia has already been under a heavily neoliberal program. The new move smacks of a combination of absurdity and violence. more at: -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 mperel...@csuchico.edu 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Ending tyranny in the Middle East
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == 1. If you are saying or doing nothing encourage worker resistance to repressive regimes in any materially perceivable way, I suppose that it doesn't matter whether you are in Libya or six thousand miles away or on the other side of the Moon. 2. The issue isn't just about six thousand miles away but an understanding of what we're trying to do right here. First and foremost, socialism is an outcome of workers' gaining their rights. Conversely, when that's not what it's based on, it's not going to pan out. ML Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The purpose of the workers' press
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 4/9/11 12:28 PM, Lou Paulsen wrote: Louis, thank you for posting that link. Having read that article, I clasp it to my heart and cry, bravo, Comrade Luxemburg! How sorely we miss your wisdom in this difficult time. And I am not being the least bit Swiftian about this. And now, I would encourage YOU to go and read the article, which you will find is not about Morocco at all or an attack on some Moroccan leader or even about French imperialism. It is a criticism of her German comrades in leadership for being soft on anti-imperialism!!! If you think that Rosa Luxemburg has something in common with Deidre Griswold, who am I to stand in the way? Rosa's blistering attacks on what she saw as Lenin's abuse of workers democracy would suggest to me that she had much more in common with the ISO. (Although she was wrong about the Soviets, to be sure.) She had a way of sticking her nose in wherever she saw fit. More to the point, who am I to advise you to try another path? If you are satisfied with having a hundred or so members in a country of nearly 300 million, please continue on your merry way. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Exchange with MRZine editor
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 3/28/2011 10:52 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: Dear Louis, A friend of mine called my attention to the following message written by you:http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2011-March/128016.html. Since you say that you now regret having written anything for MRZine, I have withdrawn your articles from the server, so as not to cause you distress. The copyright to them belongs to you, and you are free to submit them elsewhere. The html files of the articles are attached to this message, in case you didn't keep the originals on your computer. Drop me a note if you change your mind about this. Sincerely, -- Yoshie Furuhashi http://mrzine.org/ http://monthlyreview.org/ Yoshie, you can go ahead and remove my articles now. On further reflection, I realized that it made no sense for me to keep my material on a online publication that I so detest. Speaking frankly, I really decided long ago not to have anything to do with you after you sat on an article I wrote about the problems of aging for months and months. (When David Gibbs asked me to submit a review of his book on Yugoslavia to MRZine, I made an exception and respected his wishes.) I guess you learned your arrogance from Mage and Foster who have antagonized countless people over the years in their stewardship of the print publication. When they hired you to run MRZine, they really knew what they were doing. Swans, unlike MRZine, seeks out original material from people like me. When MRZine was launched, I thought it would be geared to activists and the non-academic left. During your reign, it has turned into an aggregator like Huffington Post but one geared more to recycling garbage from the Iranian news agency and more lately the ignorant rants of Sukant Chandan, one of the more hated figures on the British left. See Lenin's Tomb for his take on this dreadful creature. Yours truly, Louis Proyect Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Firedoglake on the budget compromise
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://my.firedoglake.com/scarecrow/2011/04/09/obama-led-demo-pods-rescue-tea-gop-zombies-keep-washington-monument-open/ Obama DemoPods Feed Tea-GOP Zombies, Keep Washington Monument Open By: Scarecrow Saturday April 9, 2011 11:44 am You would think that a sentient President of the United States would be embarrassed, ashamed, and contrite after one of the more mindless and destructive governmental performances in years. Nope. Not the President who foolishly believes the federal government needs to tighten its belt because he’s clueless about the difference between families and the federal government. Has there ever been a Democratic President more befuddled about what leadership requires? Having locked his own DemaPod Party into voting to slash $38 billion for their own programs, Mr. Obama didn’t apologize. Instead he thought it was a moment to make another speech urging you to visit the Washington Monument, as though he were George Bush telling you to visit Disneyland. Why anyone would want to watch this spectacle of a government and party betraying their followers and making fools of themselves from the top of the Washington Monument escapes me. This President owes an explanation to the American people why, at a time when the nation’s critical needs are going unmet at both the federal and state levels, when 50 million people are without health insurance, record numbers in poverty, 14 million people are unemployed — millions for more than a year — and Governors are balancing their budgets on the backs of teachers, firemen, police, health and safety workers, etc, he thinks the right policy is to slash federal spending. Wrong, stupid, cruel, mindless. In short, a mistake. The final vote was in favor of this travesty was overwhelming, indicating the degree to which Pods and Zombies not control our government. Worse, Obama and the DemaPods foolishly maneuvered themselves into providing more than enough votes for the “largest spending cuts” in our history just so the 40 or so craziest Tea-GOP zombies could vote still “no.” That neat trick means the Tea-GOP zombies can avoid responsibility for the dirty work the Obama Pods just performed on their own base, but not offend their own zombie base. Then they can come back in the next round, only a month away to demand even more insane cuts than last night’s. And if you care about the “leadership” imagery, John Boehner just made Barack Obama look like a helpless fool. Boehner will get a few dumb primary threats, but he’s got two more rounds of this to buy off the Zombies and he’s perfectly positioned for that. Worse, Boehner will receive kudos from the Village for getting more than he first demanded and more than he ever expected, at zero cost to his party, while getting credit for being what passes for an “adult” in our nation’s capitol. Gosh, he’s not at all like the Zombies whose agenda he just furthered. “Compromise” is what the polls said Democratic voters wants, but where is the compromise? Repeal tax breaks on the rich? Make GE pay its share of taxes? Tax the banksters for their casino games? Never even considered. Instead, the “compromise” consisted of the DemaPods giving the Tea-GOP Zombies 2/3 of what they demanded in this hostage taking, instead of 3/3. But the Zombies still hold the hostages, because this will all replay on the debt limit debate a month from now. You really must wonder how many real people becoming DemaPods it will take before a real human Democrat wakes up and realizes that Barack Obama is destroying the Party and hurting the country, and to stand up and say, “enough! I won’t let you lead us over the cliff again.” The human casualty lists are in the New York Times. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Cuban ex-CIA agent acquitted in perjury case:
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == *Cuban ex-CIA agent acquitted in perjury case: * Luis Posada Carriles, 83, declared not guilty of lying to customs about how he sneaked into the US in 2005. In 1976, he was arrested for planning the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/04/201148195821823196.htmlhttp://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=iqnuv6babet=1105104820905s=109652e=001gkgj4b-3SiFNSKcz_v-uEJg7YNFhPHmt5qQWPoXUE5BIqSNO76vkBLmleKAFHuEXBll2L06SjS78HwKI76M_CvQSWmDKTpixpPgOAvAcq9kZdNCx6q6i2kuoWGdXGa1DBpuubXO7EXtjKbeg48mkmlpjIEsboGpoXUjYdQnrRg7en2y5qu6FfMjsrYowSwYD Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Marxism Digest, Vol 90, Issue 27
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == mojy jaan, salaaam, miakhshi keh negaraanat kardam, man haalam khoo ast, emrouz aamadeh-am khaaneh mana jaani, va kaaram neggah daarai sinaa jaani! bebakhsh khili ziyaad. mot'asefaaneh yaadam rafteh bood keh telefon dasti-am raa baa khodam biyaavaram. mahammad, dideh bood keh baraay-e man yek payaam-e fori resideh ast, baa khabaram, kard, va al,aan daaram javaab midaham1 man ian payaam raa daaram az khaaneh-e mana minebisam, va al,aa'an daaram miravam biroun. sina dam dar montazer man ast, mibakhshi, baaz ham ma'zerat! fadaaye to From: marxism-requ...@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu marxism-requ...@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu To: Aaraam ardeshir_mehr...@yahoo.co.uk Sent: Sat, 9 April, 2011 14:00:03 Subject: Marxism Digest, Vol 90, Issue 27 Send Marxism mailing list submissions to marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to marxism-requ...@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu You can reach the person managing the list at marxism-ow...@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of Marxism digest... == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Today's Topics: 1. Re: The purpose of the workers' press (Louis Proyect) -- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:32:41 -0400 From: Louis Proyect l...@panix.com To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Subject: Re: [Marxism] The purpose of the workers' press Message-ID: 4da09839.7070...@panix.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed On 4/9/11 12:28 PM, Lou Paulsen wrote: Louis, thank you for posting that link. Having read that article, I clasp it to my heart and cry, bravo, Comrade Luxemburg! How sorely we miss your wisdom in this difficult time. And I am not being the least bit Swiftian about this. And now, I would encourage YOU to go and read the article, which you will find is not about Morocco at all or an attack on some Moroccan leader or even about French imperialism. It is a criticism of her German comrades in leadership for being soft on anti-imperialism!!! If you think that Rosa Luxemburg has something in common with Deidre Griswold, who am I to stand in the way? Rosa's blistering attacks on what she saw as Lenin's abuse of workers democracy would suggest to me that she had much more in common with the ISO. (Although she was wrong about the Soviets, to be sure.) She had a way of sticking her nose in wherever she saw fit. More to the point, who am I to advise you to try another path? If you are satisfied with having a hundred or so members in a country of nearly 300 million, please continue on your merry way. -- ___ Marxism mailing list Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism End of Marxism Digest, Vol 90, Issue 27 *** Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Another country where peaceful protest is illegal
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == In France, it's illegal for Muslim women to wear what they want and it's illegal to protest the law. It's so illegal that they will track you down and arrest you on the highway on the way to the demonstration. http://www.english.rfi.fr/visiting-france/20110409-paris-police-arrest-58-burka-law-protest For Sarkozy, political freedom has its limits... Lou Paulsen Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Importance of the Army
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Hi Paddy, I hear you clearly on this one. My old father was in the Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers so I know a fair bit about army culture. It seems to me that the crucial factor is an army must come under pressure before it will split and go over to the side of the people. The splits can be vertical (rank and file against high command) and or horizontal (some regiments against others). The pressure can be external - military defeat or domestic upheaval. The pressure in Egypt would appear to primarily domestic, but not exclusively so. What is not well understood in the Western media is how much pressure the peace with Israel has put on the Egyptian military. Mubarak could get away with holding the ring while Gazans were slaughtered. None of the present military council could pull that off. Western Israeli commentators are fond of saying that the Palestine issue played no role int he Egyptian revolt. That is the crudest of empiricism. the Palestinian question is forever a real tendency which may or may not be manifested in the surface actuality. It is a tendency which demands that Arab leaders act in the interests of the Arab nation and face up to the Zionists. To the extent they do that their popularity will be immense - despite all religious sectarianism - witness Hassan Nasrallah's popularity when his army resisted the Israeli invasion and inflicted a defeat on the Zionists. It is worth recalling here that in his last desperate days, Mubarak tried to position himself as an anti-Israeli warrior with references to his role in the 1976 war. Currently the Egyptian High Command is in a difficult position. They cannot start a foreign adventure - e.g. breaking off relations with Israel, opening the Rafah Crossing, without saying good bye to their American bonuses. Yet they will have to respond to Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza. Domestically they cannot continue the neo-liberal policies of Gamal Mubarak without provoking a newly confident working class. Relying on the Muslim Brotherhood to police the domestic situation is also fraught with peril. the MB looks like it could split with a section going over to the Revolution. Meanwhile the people are talking about The Revolution and acting to protect it. It is extremely interesting to see that mechanism in action. As one of my favourite songs put it Finally the tables are starting to turn Talking about a revolution Finally the tables are starting to turn Talking about a revolution oh no. Talking about a revolution oh no. Oh Yes I say. comradely Gary Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Decline and Fall of WWP
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://socialistworker.org/where-we-stand This is the most current 'where we stand.' Our actual organizational website is being redesigned and hasn't been updated to reflect that change. I supported the change, although I think - as Louis hints at - that it was merely formal, as I was never indoctrinated with state capitalism...assuming that members were at some point. Clearly, there are more important issues at hand. I am still a bit confused by Louis' criticism about the 'nucleus of the vanguard.' I think any revolutionary organization should WANT to be the embryo or nucleus of the vanguard or however you want to put it. That doesn't make it so, though any revolutionary group that is completely bypassed by an upsurge of struggle would be either insignificant or doing something terribly wrong. Not to say the ISO is all that significant, but we are certainly growing in significant ways from what I hear. Allow me to exerpt a section from our Where We Stand: The Revolutionary Party: To achieve socialism, the most militant workers must be organized into a revolutionary socialist party. The ISO is committed to playing a role in laying the foundations for such a party. We aim to build an independent socialist organization, rooted in workplaces, schools and neighborhoods that, in fighting today's struggles, also wins larger numbers to socialism. I assume Louis doesn't have a problem with this wording as much as the fact that the ISO maintains an opposition to Castroism and Maoism and therefore 'regroupment.' Here is where he thinks I have un-learned what I thought a few years back. I joined the ISO with some fading illusions about Castro, Che, Chavez, et al (I admittedly know next to nothing about Mao) which I subsequently dropped due to my own reading rather than any indoctrination. When you read about the Russian and German Revolutions, France '68, et al. the daring and heroic sacrifices of a guerrilla army become clearly and qualitatively different. The ISO focus on workers' democracy and socialism from below are completely opposed to the real, problematic 'vanguardism' that I think can stem from the idea that the working class can be liberated by a military force outside of its ranks rather than its own self-activity and organization. It also cuts against the notion that the party can exist separately, surfing above the class to state power in its name. Even Trotsky's piston-steam analogy may be a bit off since it gives the impression that the party is not an organic formation woven through the entire class. More concretely, I for one am not against regroupment as much as I seriously question on what basis that would happen and whether it would actually create a more effective organization. Similarly on the question of 'broadening,' I don't know enough about any of the attempts to do that - SA, NPA - to say whether they were the right steps in themselves nor whether they would be for us. Dan Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Photos of the New York City Anti-War Rally on April 9
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == https://picasaweb.google.com/jonflan/April92011AntiWarRallyInNewYorkCity# Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Decline and Fall of WWP
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 8:58 PM, Lou Paulsen loupaul...@sbcglobal.netwrote: The split took some able people with it but I don't think precipitous decline is accurate. And it's been a difficult period. Have other groups held their ground better? The very fact that we're having a discussion about the precipitous decline of a group this small is rather a testimony to the state of the American Left. No offense intended to any of the organizations or their members, but if you're measuring your successes relative to each other or to where you were in the past--rather than to the state of the class struggle and its needs--you're barking up the wrong tree. ML Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Photos of the New York City Anti-War Rally on April 9
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Here's some more: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=267634id=667262503l=7fba885cd7 Tom -Original Message- From: marxism-bounces+tgbias=ptd@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu [mailto:marxism-bounces+tgbias=ptd@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Jonathan Flanders Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 10:18 PM To: tgb...@ptd.net Subject: [Marxism] Photos of the New York City Anti-War Rally on April 9 == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == https://picasaweb.google.com/jonflan/April92011AntiWarRallyInNewYorkCity# Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/tgbias%40ptd.ne t Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Communist Party of the Philippines
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == In a recent post about the world wide number of leftist parties, someone made a crack about the Communist Party of the Philippines being merely an armed extortion racket. That is a lie. Comrades of te CPP have for decades been fighting in many forms and on many fronts, including armed struggle. Below is an excerpt of the tribute to Comrade Billy Beranna who who was killed in action after 30 years participation in that struggle. The style of writing is common to this type of remembrance and I am sure it will strike some here as just crude propaganda. I prefer to think of the sacrifice a 44 year old man makes to soldier in the field under the conditions of guerrilla warfare against that rapacious, corrupt, comprador dictatorship. Red Salute to a fallen comrade. THE LAST BRAVE STAND: The Communist Party of the Philippines' Tribute to Comrade Billy Berana (Ka Toklai/Ka Ebyong) CPP-Far Southern Mindanao /February 1, 2011/ http://www.philippinerevolution.net/cgi- bin/statements/stmts.pl?date=110201;author=fsmrpc;lang=bis Withdraw now to safety while I take care of the enemy! These were Ka Toklai's last final words as he bravely faced a platoon of 73rd IB contingents who were on a surprise patrol in the hinterland barrio of Malapatan, Sarangani Province about 2 pm of 26 January 2011. Together with Red fighters in ambush position, he bravely fought with his m16 rifle, hitting seven soldiers, two of whom were later pronounced dead in the hospital. When Ka Toklai fell, the other comrades who were with him had already escaped to safety and were out of reach from the marauding Scout Rangers of the AFP. Billy Berana or Ka Toklai (also known as Ka Berka, Ka Ebyong, Ka Goyot,Ka Zero and many other names), who bravely offered his life to save his companions, gives us a glimpse of the heroism and selflessness of the people's true warrior. He was the quintessential revolutionary who lived and died serving the people wholeheartedly. He had dedicated the greater part of his life with the Lumad and peasant masses, braving the odds, giving practical solutions and humor to the most difficult situations. He was 44 and had worked as an exemplary revolutionary for close to 30 years. He was an organizer par excellence. Through his able leadership and dint of painstaking mass work, the comrades were able to build a relatively large mass base in Compostela Valley, Cotabato, Bukidnon, Davao and Sarangani. He was North Cotabato's recovery king who penetrated many unchartered territories in the past decade by using many unorthodox methods. For he was naturally talented and creative and he could pass for a lumad, a farmer, a student, a pastor, a last-two usher, a fish vendor, a handicapped polio victim, etc. He could also speak so many dialects and could mimic the accent of the masses in the area. Once, in order to penetrate the hostile areas of North Cotabato, Ka Toklai easily posed as a teenage girl in search of her relatives and thus was able to build contacts and organize peasant groups which eventually became the initial mass base. He was a chameleon revolutionary who blended with his surroundings so fully; his true identity was unknown up to the very end. The enemy never knew who he was until the time of his death. And how the people loved him! Wherever he went, Ka Toklai was received as a son, a brother or a friend. People ran to him to solve their myriad problems-- land conflicts, work conditions, interpretation of the law,medical problems and even the marital problems. Little children revolved around him for friendship, comfort and fun. On many occasions he saved orphaned children from the tragedy of hunger or death by finding them a home. Coming from the family of a poor peasant himself, Ka Toklai would remind everyone that while poverty is a reality we have to live with, we must always take care of the children, especially the peasant children. His energy was boundless, and his enthusiasm infectious --so infectious that his wife and three grown sons were inspired to join the movement and give their fair share of revolutionary work. He never stopped consolidating his family, deepening their understanding of the revolution, teaching them the values of working for the people's struggle. Kasamang Derpa his children would lovingly talk about him and his 'escapades'-- proud and happy revolutionaries themselves whose dedication to the cause became a shining beacon to many revolutionary families in the region. Bilib man gyud mi sa iya, bisan sa iyang pagkaamahan (We are very proud of our father.), texted one of his sons to the people attending his wake. For all his achievements, Ka Toklai was a humble revolutionary who was open to
Re: [Marxism] The Decline and Fall of WWP
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Lou Paulsen wrote: First, so everyone is clear on this, this is Louis Proyect you're quoting in each instance. Because Comrade Moderator is almost always referred to as 'Lou I retained that for the post although to avoid confusion where 'Lou' is directly addressing 'Lou' I should probably switch to last names Paulsen continued (on the formation of the PSL aftermath): The split took some able people with it but I don't think precipitous decline is accurate. And it's been a difficult period. Have other groups held their ground better? What I would expect in this 'difficult time' is that every existing leftist group should be experiencing growth (some more than others) and for new groups to be formed. Given the economic crash/disillusionment with Obama/ hatred of political conservatism among public workers/ anxiety and impatience for Imperialist war/ any left wing organization just holding their current membership numbers or losing members is doing something seriously wrong. A case in point is the CPUSA. As has oft been pointed out here, this is certainly not the most dynamic organization on the left. Nevertheless, the CP just announced they had recruited 1,500 new members online and I just also read where their following on facebook took a huge leap upwards. None of this means they are on the verge of becoming a mass party again but it does mean that on left wing name recognition alone thousands of new people are giving them a serious look. Is this happening with WWP? Has there been a marked upsurge in the number of FIST chapters? Has the party recruited enough new people to reconstitute chapters where the PSL stripped those groups or took large numbers of individual members with them when they walked out? These are all rhetorical questions of course because so little of this information is published by the groups themselves. I have no idea where Proyect got that number of '100' from, but if it is true the WWP is now struggling in a way it has never done before since the success of YAWF in the 1960's. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Decline and fall of state capitalist jargon?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I went to the link DR provided and found this: China and Cuba, like the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, have nothing to do with socialism. We support the struggles of workers in these countries against the bureaucratic ruling class. This may sort of represent a departure from the term state capitalism but only in the sense that some abstract terminology has been concretised. I've been associated with the international socialist tendency for about 40 years, and we've used terms like bureaucratic ruling class quite often in that tiime. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
