Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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How does Brexit "respond to working-class interests"?

It is an example of a layer of workers looking for an easy road out and
turning towards their own capitalist class rather than the rest of the
working class outside of Britain. It is interesting that Carl does not deny
that the working class Brexit vote was an anti-immigrant vote. How is that
in the interests of the working class?

There is much made of the EU rules that demand austerity. But, as I said,
that is only the recognition of accomplished fact and it is simplistic to
claim that once outside the EU the British it will be easier for British
workers to defeat austerity. Just the opposite, because the laws of motion
of global capitalism will drive Britain in that direction, just as it has
every single capitalist country on the planet. So, maybe Carl and the other
"Lexiteers" can explain that!

The only way to even start to reverse that, the only way to even begin to
stand up to international capital, is through international working class
solidarity, international coordinated working class action. But the Brexit
vote makes that immensely more difficult.

In fact, as I said, the working class vote was not a vote even for working
class independent action (never mind international action); it was a vote
to turn to the British capitalist class. Meanwhile, we saw a huge increase
in hate crime and chauvinism leading up to and after the Brexit vote.
Shouldn't that tell us something? It's also significant that, to my
knowledge, not a single one of those groups that pretended that a "Lexit"
was possible even commented in this rise of bigotry. Why? Because to admit
it would be to admit the fact that the Brexit vote was a reactionary one.

Brexit was an early example of the red brown alliance. That is undeniable.

John Reimann

On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 5:00 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> Maybe John would like to respond to Tuck’s histroically-based argument
> that Brexit responds to working-class interests.
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2018, at 6:18 PM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I may be mistaken, but I do believe that Marx died well before the EU came
> into existence.
>
> Of course, this is a snarky way of saying that he was writing about an
> entirely different period in the development of capitalism. The EU is a
> symptom of the problem; it's not the problem itself.
>
> Maybe Carl would like to respond to the main points of my comments instead
> of citing an article from "Dissent" (from what?) magazine.
>
> John Reimann
>
> On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 2:06 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
> wrote:
>
>> A weel-known socialist might disagree with you. Marx might think it
>> worthwhile to be free of EU ‘constitutionalism’:
>>
>> https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit
>>
>> —CGE
>>
>>
>> On Jul 11, 2018, at 3:57 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
>> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>> "What we now need is a socialist Brexit." Yes, and what the jumper from
>> the
>> Golden Gate Bridge needed was the suspension of the laws of gravity.
>> Unfortunately for both the jumper and the "Lexiteers", I'm not sure which
>> is less likely.
>>
>> A lot of things can be said and a lot denied about the Brexit vote. One
>> thing that cannot be denied with any degree of truth is that it was a
>> right
>> wing, anti-immigrant vote. Sure, some - maybe most - of the workers who
>> voted for Brexit may not have been chauvinists, but every single interview
>> I saw of Brexit voters, including some pro-Brexit interviews, showed the
>> workers as saying that first and foremost the reason they voted for Brexit
>> was immigration.
>>
>> The entire Brexit vote was predicated on the idea that workers would be
>> better off under the rule of British capitalism vs. European capitalism.
>> This means that British workers should ally themselves with with the
>> British capitalist class. Inevitably, this means at the cost of allying
>> itself with the European working class.
>>
>> Unfortunately, the anti-Brexit campaign limited itself in this sense: It
>> wasn't enough to campaign *against *Brexit; it was and is necessary to
>> link
>> that with a campaign *for* something. That "something" was and is
>> pan-European working class unity and a pan-European campaign for a
>> region-wide minimum wage, region-wide minimum social safety net, etc. The
>> Brexit vote makes that all the more difficult.
>>
>> As far as the issue of the EU enforcing austerity: We should remember
>> Marx's comment that law represents established fact. So do the EU
>> mandates,
>> and the established fact is that EU mandates or not, global capitalism
>> requires national austerity. 

Re: [Marxism] Antifa Activists Are Freaking Out About a Proposed 'Unmasking' Law - VICE

[Saman Sepehri via Marxism]

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 From the Article Louis posted:

In August 2017, an Arizona lawmaker said he wanted to use unmasking laws to go 
after Antifa protestors by explicitly comparing them to the KKK.

"The thugs wearing masks and throwing things at police officers and breaking 
windows and robbing and pillaging while wearing masks and hoods are the 
equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan," state representative Jay Lawrence told the 
Arizona Capitol Times. “Now, there are no hangings of white people, yet.”
from Louis:

Maybe these idiots will finally realize that their tactics are 
self-defeating.

Louis, seriously... this is what you are focusing on? Rather than this is a 
right wing attack, comparing anti-fascists to the KKK?
S.

On Wednesday, July 11, 2018, 6:35:33 PM CDT, Louis Proyect via Marxism 
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Maybe these idiots will finally realize that their tactics are 
self-defeating.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bjb8kw/antifa-activists-are-freaking-out-about-a-proposed-unmasking-law
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[Marxism] Former Obama Officials Are Riding Out The Trump Years By Cashing In | HuffPost

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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A reminder of how slimy the Democratic Party is. Running on their ballot 
line is like jumping headfirst into a septic tank.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/so-how-are-obama-administration-alums-handling-the-trump-years_us_5b44ea86e4b07aea7544c4ea
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Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[Saman Sepehri via Marxism]

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 The main point is that the main point is NOT whether you are for or against 
Brexit. It is a disctration at the moment by all who emphasize it--including 
those on the left.  The main point is that the Tory government is on the verge 
of collapsing. Any one and everyone should be focusing on bringing them down, ( 
the Anti-Trump protest are part of that) not the abstraction of whether Brexit 
was or is good or bad, in our class interest, etc
If the Trump administration was about to collapse on any issue (be it on 
Tarifff orTrade policy or not) I would not be debating the good or bad of 
tariffs, but focus on bringing them down, since all of their policies ( of both 
factions of ruling class) are rubbish and against our class interest. Their 
downfall however, and their weakening is a victory and in our class interest.
Just a couple of thoughts.
S.



On Wednesday, July 11, 2018, 6:19:48 PM CDT, John Reimann via Marxism 
 wrote:  
 
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I may be mistaken, but I do believe that Marx died well before the EU came
into existence.

Of course, this is a snarky way of saying that he was writing about an
entirely different period in the development of capitalism. The EU is a
symptom of the problem; it's not the problem itself.

Maybe Carl would like to respond to the main points of my comments instead
of citing an article from "Dissent" (from what?) magazine.

John Reimann

On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 2:06 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> A weel-known socialist might disagree with you. Marx might think it
> worthwhile to be free of EU ‘constitutionalism’:
>
> https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit
>
> —CGE
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2018, at 3:57 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
> "What we now need is a socialist Brexit." Yes, and what the jumper from the
> Golden Gate Bridge needed was the suspension of the laws of gravity.
> Unfortunately for both the jumper and the "Lexiteers", I'm not sure which
> is less likely.
>
> A lot of things can be said and a lot denied about the Brexit vote. One
> thing that cannot be denied with any degree of truth is that it was a right
> wing, anti-immigrant vote. Sure, some - maybe most - of the workers who
> voted for Brexit may not have been chauvinists, but every single interview
> I saw of Brexit voters, including some pro-Brexit interviews, showed the
> workers as saying that first and foremost the reason they voted for Brexit
> was immigration.
>
> The entire Brexit vote was predicated on the idea that workers would be
> better off under the rule of British capitalism vs. European capitalism.
> This means that British workers should ally themselves with with the
> British capitalist class. Inevitably, this means at the cost of allying
> itself with the European working class.
>
> Unfortunately, the anti-Brexit campaign limited itself in this sense: It
> wasn't enough to campaign *against *Brexit; it was and is necessary to link
> that with a campaign *for* something. That "something" was and is
> pan-European working class unity and a pan-European campaign for a
> region-wide minimum wage, region-wide minimum social safety net, etc. The
> Brexit vote makes that all the more difficult.
>
> As far as the issue of the EU enforcing austerity: We should remember
> Marx's comment that law represents established fact. So do the EU mandates,
> and the established fact is that EU mandates or not, global capitalism
> requires national austerity. Show me one single capitalist government - EU
> member or not - that is not enforcing this sort of austerity.
>
> The "left" can comfort itself with "Lexit" all it likes. It remains nothing
> but a nice fairy tale which was and is preordained to come into existence
> as much as is the tale of Cinderella.
>
> John Reimann
> _
> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
> Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/galliher%
> 40illinois.edu
>
>
>


-- 
*“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[Carl G. Estabrook via Marxism]

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Maybe John would like to respond to Tuck’s histroically-based argument that 
Brexit responds to working-class interests.


> On Jul 11, 2018, at 6:18 PM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I may be mistaken, but I do believe that Marx died well before the EU came 
> into existence.
> 
> Of course, this is a snarky way of saying that he was writing about an 
> entirely different period in the development of capitalism. The EU is a 
> symptom of the problem; it's not the problem itself.
> 
> Maybe Carl would like to respond to the main points of my comments instead of 
> citing an article from "Dissent" (from what?) magazine.
> 
> John Reimann
> 
> On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 2:06 PM, Carl G. Estabrook  > wrote:
> A weel-known socialist might disagree with you. Marx might think it 
> worthwhile to be free of EU ‘constitutionalism’:
> 
> https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit 
> 
> 
> —CGE
> 
> 
>> On Jul 11, 2018, at 3:57 PM, John Reimann via Marxism 
>> mailto:marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu>> wrote:
>> "What we now need is a socialist Brexit." Yes, and what the jumper from the
>> Golden Gate Bridge needed was the suspension of the laws of gravity.
>> Unfortunately for both the jumper and the "Lexiteers", I'm not sure which
>> is less likely.
>> 
>> A lot of things can be said and a lot denied about the Brexit vote. One
>> thing that cannot be denied with any degree of truth is that it was a right
>> wing, anti-immigrant vote. Sure, some - maybe most - of the workers who
>> voted for Brexit may not have been chauvinists, but every single interview
>> I saw of Brexit voters, including some pro-Brexit interviews, showed the
>> workers as saying that first and foremost the reason they voted for Brexit
>> was immigration.
>> 
>> The entire Brexit vote was predicated on the idea that workers would be
>> better off under the rule of British capitalism vs. European capitalism.
>> This means that British workers should ally themselves with with the
>> British capitalist class. Inevitably, this means at the cost of allying
>> itself with the European working class.
>> 
>> Unfortunately, the anti-Brexit campaign limited itself in this sense: It
>> wasn't enough to campaign *against *Brexit; it was and is necessary to link
>> that with a campaign *for* something. That "something" was and is
>> pan-European working class unity and a pan-European campaign for a
>> region-wide minimum wage, region-wide minimum social safety net, etc. The
>> Brexit vote makes that all the more difficult.
>> 
>> As far as the issue of the EU enforcing austerity: We should remember
>> Marx's comment that law represents established fact. So do the EU mandates,
>> and the established fact is that EU mandates or not, global capitalism
>> requires national austerity. Show me one single capitalist government - EU
>> member or not - that is not enforcing this sort of austerity.
>> 
>> The "left" can comfort itself with "Lexit" all it likes. It remains nothing
>> but a nice fairy tale which was and is preordained to come into existence
>> as much as is the tale of Cinderella.
>> 
>> John Reimann
>> _
>> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm 
>> 
>> Set your options at: 
>> http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/galliher%40illinois.edu 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> “In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” from "The Black Jacobins" by 
> C. L. R. James
> Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com  
> also on Facebook

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[Marxism] Antifa Activists Are Freaking Out About a Proposed 'Unmasking' Law - VICE

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Maybe these idiots will finally realize that their tactics are 
self-defeating.


https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bjb8kw/antifa-activists-are-freaking-out-about-a-proposed-unmasking-law
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Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I may be mistaken, but I do believe that Marx died well before the EU came
into existence.

Of course, this is a snarky way of saying that he was writing about an
entirely different period in the development of capitalism. The EU is a
symptom of the problem; it's not the problem itself.

Maybe Carl would like to respond to the main points of my comments instead
of citing an article from "Dissent" (from what?) magazine.

John Reimann

On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 2:06 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> A weel-known socialist might disagree with you. Marx might think it
> worthwhile to be free of EU ‘constitutionalism’:
>
> https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit
>
> —CGE
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2018, at 3:57 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
> "What we now need is a socialist Brexit." Yes, and what the jumper from the
> Golden Gate Bridge needed was the suspension of the laws of gravity.
> Unfortunately for both the jumper and the "Lexiteers", I'm not sure which
> is less likely.
>
> A lot of things can be said and a lot denied about the Brexit vote. One
> thing that cannot be denied with any degree of truth is that it was a right
> wing, anti-immigrant vote. Sure, some - maybe most - of the workers who
> voted for Brexit may not have been chauvinists, but every single interview
> I saw of Brexit voters, including some pro-Brexit interviews, showed the
> workers as saying that first and foremost the reason they voted for Brexit
> was immigration.
>
> The entire Brexit vote was predicated on the idea that workers would be
> better off under the rule of British capitalism vs. European capitalism.
> This means that British workers should ally themselves with with the
> British capitalist class. Inevitably, this means at the cost of allying
> itself with the European working class.
>
> Unfortunately, the anti-Brexit campaign limited itself in this sense: It
> wasn't enough to campaign *against *Brexit; it was and is necessary to link
> that with a campaign *for* something. That "something" was and is
> pan-European working class unity and a pan-European campaign for a
> region-wide minimum wage, region-wide minimum social safety net, etc. The
> Brexit vote makes that all the more difficult.
>
> As far as the issue of the EU enforcing austerity: We should remember
> Marx's comment that law represents established fact. So do the EU mandates,
> and the established fact is that EU mandates or not, global capitalism
> requires national austerity. Show me one single capitalist government - EU
> member or not - that is not enforcing this sort of austerity.
>
> The "left" can comfort itself with "Lexit" all it likes. It remains nothing
> but a nice fairy tale which was and is preordained to come into existence
> as much as is the tale of Cinderella.
>
> John Reimann
> _
> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
> Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/galliher%
> 40illinois.edu
>
>
>


-- 
*“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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Re: [Marxism] Acknowledging the contradictions of socialism in ‘the other Germany’ | Review of *Comrades of Color: East Germany in the Cold War World*, edited by Quinn Slobodian | Lowell B. Denny, III

[Michael Meeropol via Marxism]

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Acknowledging the contradictions???

Not one mention of the secret police?Lack of independent trade
unions??   such an unbelievable failure to "convert" the people of the GDR
to their model that when given a chance, they voted overwhelmingly to JOIN
West Germany ---

How does that acknowledge the contradictions??
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Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[DW via Marxism]

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What John doesn't understand...and is in denial about...is the E.U. itself
as if it represents something "better" for the working class in Britain or
any of the member states of the E.U. The fact that it is precisely the E.U.
and all the fiscal agreements for the past 25 years that is THE tool by
which austerity is argued for, predicated on and deployed. As I pointed out
when we had a public debate on this last year in Berkeley to oppose Brexit
meant support for this Imperialist institution. John appears to see the
E.U. as nothing more than free-immigration statute and...a victory
of...what? Working class internationalism? There is zero analysis of the
role the E.U. plays in the European wide undermining of labor codes,
privatization and austerity. He is completely blind side by the very real
anti-immigrant perspective of many working class voters. But he knows as
well that the vote itself was far more complicated than that.

David Walters
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[Marxism] The City and Its Prey | Dissent Magazine

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Article on Doblin's "Berlin Alexanderplatz". I only wish to god that 
Fassbinder's masterpiece was available as VOD. I might break down and 
order the DVD's from Amazon.


https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-city-and-its-prey-berlin-alexanderplatz-alfred-doblin
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Re: [Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[Carl G. Estabrook via Marxism]

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A weel-known socialist might disagree with you. Marx might think it worthwhile 
to be free of EU ‘constitutionalism’:

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit 


—CGE


> On Jul 11, 2018, at 3:57 PM, John Reimann via Marxism 
>  wrote:
> "What we now need is a socialist Brexit." Yes, and what the jumper from the
> Golden Gate Bridge needed was the suspension of the laws of gravity.
> Unfortunately for both the jumper and the "Lexiteers", I'm not sure which
> is less likely.
> 
> A lot of things can be said and a lot denied about the Brexit vote. One
> thing that cannot be denied with any degree of truth is that it was a right
> wing, anti-immigrant vote. Sure, some - maybe most - of the workers who
> voted for Brexit may not have been chauvinists, but every single interview
> I saw of Brexit voters, including some pro-Brexit interviews, showed the
> workers as saying that first and foremost the reason they voted for Brexit
> was immigration.
> 
> The entire Brexit vote was predicated on the idea that workers would be
> better off under the rule of British capitalism vs. European capitalism.
> This means that British workers should ally themselves with with the
> British capitalist class. Inevitably, this means at the cost of allying
> itself with the European working class.
> 
> Unfortunately, the anti-Brexit campaign limited itself in this sense: It
> wasn't enough to campaign *against *Brexit; it was and is necessary to link
> that with a campaign *for* something. That "something" was and is
> pan-European working class unity and a pan-European campaign for a
> region-wide minimum wage, region-wide minimum social safety net, etc. The
> Brexit vote makes that all the more difficult.
> 
> As far as the issue of the EU enforcing austerity: We should remember
> Marx's comment that law represents established fact. So do the EU mandates,
> and the established fact is that EU mandates or not, global capitalism
> requires national austerity. Show me one single capitalist government - EU
> member or not - that is not enforcing this sort of austerity.
> 
> The "left" can comfort itself with "Lexit" all it likes. It remains nothing
> but a nice fairy tale which was and is preordained to come into existence
> as much as is the tale of Cinderella.
> 
> John Reimann
> _
> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
> Set your options at: 
> http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/galliher%40illinois.edu

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[Marxism] Andrew Zimmerman on Marx, Engels and Slavery | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Today I received the new collection of Marx and Engels’s writings on the 
Civil War from International Publishers. Although this book belongs in 
any collection of their books, I would say that the introduction by 
Andrew Zimmerman justifies the purchase all on its own. I have not heard 
of Zimmerman before but on the basis of the excerpt below, I plan to put 
him on my must-reading bucket list.


The excerpt resonates with a topic that I will be addressing in the next 
few days that has been prompted by various leftists on FB and Marxmail 
arguing that Marx and Lenin would vote for Democrats if they were alive 
today, just like the people writing for Jacobin and in the leadership of 
DSA. When I get around to a rebuttal of the three most common arguments 
along these lines, I will certainly consult Zimmerman’s introduction as 
well as the articles by Marx and Engels that illustrate his point that 
while they were very far-sighted on the Civil War, they still had a 
flawed interpretation.


Back in 2007, we had a CP’er or CP sympathizer on Marxmail who when 
challenged to identify a major Marxist who supported bourgeois parties, 
he answered: Abraham Lincoln. When I get around to writing my answer to 
this, I will bring up Marx’s support for Friedrich Sorge against 
Victoria Woodhull who in my view understood the flaws in official 
Marxism that Zimmerman alludes to below. She ran for president with 
Frederick Douglass as her running-mate. That Marx could have referred to 
Woodhull as a faker and instead endorsed the dreadful Sorge shows that 
he was just as capable of making mistakes as any other human being, 
including those today who view the Democratic Party as if it were some 
sort of social democratic party with distinctly American features. Baloney.


full: 
https://louisproyect.org/2018/07/11/andrew-zimmerman-on-marx-engels-and-slavery/

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[Marxism] The Assadist propaganda brigades claims the OPCW vindicates them

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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As someone who has been following reports on chemical attacks in Syria 
since August 2013, when Obama made empty threats about "red lines", I 
have gotten accustomed to the manner in which Assad's defenders become 
part of a well-orchestrated campaign to clear him of culpability. On 
outlets such as Media Lens, Moon of Alabama, Off-Guardian, you can now 
find articles crowing about how the OPCW report says nothing about sarin 
(which was never identified as the main cause of the deaths) and adds 
that no chlorine was found, only chlorinated compounds that could have 
come from many different sources. For example, Media Lens crossposted an 
article on FB from something called "The Skwakbox" that states: "The 
family of chemicals it reported finding – compounds, not pure chlorine – 
are common in fire extinguishers, insect sprays and other common 
products, as well as in fridges, machinery and cleaning products." But 
if you read the fucking OPCW report, and particularly Annex 3 that hones 
in on these chlorine-based compounds, it states that they were taken 
from "industrial gas cylinders" in two locations, namely the apartment 
building where all the deaths occurred. Guess how the fucking 
dictatorship weaponizes chlorine gas? By dropping these cylinders from 
helicopters, that's how.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JmAOWmkFvk
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[Marxism] Acknowledging the contradictions of socialism in ‘the other Germany’ | Review of *Comrades of Color: East Germany in the Cold War World*, edited by Quinn Slobodian | Lowell B. Denny, III | P

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/acknowledging-the-contradictions-of-socialism-in-the-other-germany/


Sent from my iPhone

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[Marxism] Voices of Idlib | Crisis Group

[Richard Taylor via Marxism]

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> https://www.crisisgroup.org/voices-idlib?utm_source=Sign+Up+to+Crisis+Group's+Email+Updates_campaign=12a087a38e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_07_11_12_15_medium=email_term=0_1dab8c11ea-12a087a38e-359883461
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> 
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[Marxism] Obama "shocked" about Israeli gobbling up of Palestine!

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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I was telling the first contact who sent me this, who really is a very
informed person, that it’s a bit of an insult to the intelligence, because
they could have seen all that from the Oslo Accords and thereafter. Indeed,
if one looks at the ‘Oslo II’ map

of
the West Bank and its areas A, B and C, all that is evident. You don’t need
the Israeli controlled Area C to be in the same color as Israel to see
this. It’s quite straightforward.

It’s pretty ironic. Obama could have looked at one of the maps of
‘disappearing Palestine’ which are shared so often by Palestinian
solidarity activists (see it in Tom Suarez’s article
 on
Jaffa). The series of four maps shows how Zionist control of historical
Palestine has expanded from 1946 to this day, where the last map is
essentially what Obama was looking at. Shock horror! Palestinian solidarity
activists had it right! Israel IS shrinking Palestine!

And PS all these maps were available to anyone before February 2011 when,
mindful of his reelection campaign a year off, Obama vetoed a resolution
against the settlements at the U.N.

https://mondoweiss.net/2018/07/improbable-settlements-supposedly/
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Re: [Marxism] Government Told Immigrant Parents to Pay for DNA Tests to Get Kids Back, Advocate Says

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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Is there any organization or Facebook-fundraising effort that can take
donations to pay for these tests if this thug regime cannot be forced to
backtrack?

On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 8:06 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

>
> Garcia said that the tests likely cost money that many immigrants entering
> the country with little more than the clothes on their backs don’t have.
> Iliana Holguin, an immigration attorney in El Paso who works with
> Annunciation House, said the government made some of her clients pay
> between $700 to $800 to prove their relationship to a relative as part of
> their citizenship cases.
>
> https://www.thedailybeast.com/government-told-immigrant-pare
> nts-to-pay-for-dna-tests-to-be-reunited-with-kids-advocate?ref=home
>
>
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Re: [Marxism] Free trade or protectionism? – the Keynesian dilemma | Michael Roberts Blog

[DW via Marxism]

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I think it's a good description of Keynes evolution on the subject of
protectionism and free trade. He ends  with the last word on the subject by
Engels where he writes:

"*“the question of Free Trade or Protection moves entirely within the
bounds of the present system of capitalist production, and has, therefore,
no direct interest for us socialists who want to do away with that system.
Whether you try the Protectionist or the Free Trade will make no difference
in the end.”*

Quite honestly this a useless position Engels takes. It's akin to some
groups that argue that the national question can only be resolved by
working class unity for socialism which can *then* deal with the issue. No,
the workers movement needs to take positions on these questions and offer
immediate and transitional perspectives that in fact reject both the Free
Trade argument and the Protectionist one.

What is ignored...and I will add that along with some other questions (like
US expansion into Mexico) the "tilt" of Marx and Engels is toward Free
Trade as they spend most of their meager writings on this important subject
attacking tariffs. It is one of the weakest areas of Marx's writings, IMO,
and this is compounded by being totally Euro-centric in their examinations
of the issues. Ignore or out of ignorance, was any examination of the use
of the tariff in *developing* economies like the United States, whose
record growth (built of course along the colonial and post revolutionary
accumulation of capital from the slave trade) was based solely on the
Hamilitonian/Federalist tariff imposed on the early U.S. by Congress.  This
spurred the development of, as Hamilton called them "our native
manufacturies" by basically keeping most British and French goods out and
provided enough money to run the Federal government.

But the real problem is not looking at tarrifs and their more modern
sibling, direct quotas on manufactured commodities, in the dynamic sense.
It's one thing to oppose tarrifs for the obvious reasons of inflationary
pressures and as a form of exporting one nations unemployment to other
countries, but it's another thing entirely to call for their removal (as
advocates of Free Trade do) after the economies of the countries in
question have adapted to strong tarrif legislation. Socialist might oppose
the *removal* of tariffs and quotas if it means the wholesale destruction
of a nations manufacturing sector, and thus the proletariat in that section.

The problem with Robert's blog is that he doesn't recognize (nor did
Marx)...that it is not just "trade" as a function of Free Trade but also of
what he notes as the cause for massive unemployment and whole destruction
of segments of industry and that is capital delocalization for purposes of
reducing the cost of labor in a product to boost profits (or maintain
them). These are *always* part of so-call Free Trade agreements. Only the
most naive observer would not understand that NAFTA was more than a trade
agreement but involved wholesale removal of subsidies to poor farmers in
Mexico, privatization of the ports, fiscalization of the economy, and, most
importantly, the removal of barriers to US capital wanting to invest in
Mexico.  The sort of artificial segmentation of the discussions around
"Free Trade" usually ignore this. And why, some groups on the left, took
neutral positions back in the Clinton years over the question of NAFTA (and
Europe as well!). . . ultimately siding with those wanting to impose NAFTA
on the people of all 3 countries in North America.

David Walters
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[Marxism] Grain shortages and financial ruin plague Hasakah farmers as crops fail after devastating drought - Syria Direct

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Tacitus: "They make a desert and call it peace".

http://syriadirect.org/news/grain-shortages-and-financial-ruin-plague-hasakah-farmers-as-crops-fail-after-devastating-drought/
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[Marxism] Nature Defends Itself | Boston Review

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Review of Andreas Malm book.

http://bostonreview.net/science-nature/dayton-martindale-nature-defends-itself
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[Marxism] A “socialist movement” in the Democratic Party? | SocialistWorker.org

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://socialistworker.org/2018/07/11/a-socialist-movement-in-the-democratic-party
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[Marxism] Woman calls cops on black 12-year-old boy delivering newspapers in Ohio neighborhood - NY Daily News

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-ohio-child-police-delivering-newspapers-20180710-story.html
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[Marxism] Building for a Socialist Brexit

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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I am not sure about the analysis (not having given a lot of thought 
about Brexit) but the author Michael Barker is very smart.


https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/11/building-for-a-socialist-brexit/
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[Marxism] Government Told Immigrant Parents to Pay for DNA Tests to Get Kids Back, Advocate Says

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Garcia said that the tests likely cost money that many immigrants 
entering the country with little more than the clothes on their backs 
don’t have. Iliana Holguin, an immigration attorney in El Paso who works 
with Annunciation House, said the government made some of her clients 
pay between $700 to $800 to prove their relationship to a relative as 
part of their citizenship cases.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/government-told-immigrant-parents-to-pay-for-dna-tests-to-be-reunited-with-kids-advocate?ref=home
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[Marxism] Free trade or protectionism? – the Keynesian dilemma | Michael Roberts Blog

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The protectionist line has also been peddled by leftist economist Dean 
Baker.  He points out that not everyone gains from ‘free trade’. He 
claims that it was free trade that lost manufacturing jobs in the US, 
echoing the Trumpist argument.  However, there is much evidence that 
this was not the case.  As I said in a past post on Trump, trade and 
technology, “the loss of US manufacturing jobs, as it has been in other 
advanced capitalist economies, is not due to nasty foreigners fixing 
trade deals.  It is due to the inexorable attempt of American capital to 
reduce its labour costs through mechanisation or through finding new 
cheap labour areas overseas to produce.  The rising inequality in 
incomes is a product of ‘capital-bias’ in capitalist accumulation and 
‘globalisation’ aimed at counteracting falling profitability in the 
advanced capitalist economies. But it is also the result of 
”neo-liberal’policies designed to hold down wages and boost profit share.”


https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2018/07/11/free-trade-or-protectionism-the-keynesian-dilemma/
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