[Marxism] [UCE] From the IRA to Saor Eire: remembering Liam Walsh

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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"Liam Pearse Walsh, who was born in Dublin in 1933, was totally committed
to whatever he did: to his trade as a fitter-welder or the Socialist
Republican struggle.  He was fiercely loyal to those around him: his
comrades, family and especially his four young daughters.

"Recruited into the Irish Republican Army by Liam Sutcliffe in 1954, Liam
Walsh was active in Operation Harvest, the IRA border campaign of
1956-1962, eventually becoming the Commanding Officer of the South Dublin
Unit of the IRA.

"In 1957, he was interned without trial in 1957 in the Curragh Internment
Camp in Co. Kildare.  His girlfriend, Jacqueline  Barry, and his father,
Joseph, visited him and brought food parcels and cigarettes.

"Shortly after they were married in 1960, Liam and Jacqueline, like many of
their generation. . ."

full at:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/from-the-ira-to-saor-eire-remembering-socialist-republican-liam-walsh/
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Re: [Marxism] Syria: Assessment and Prospects

[mkaradjis via Marxism]

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I agree with Chris that the writer's advocacy of "working with Turkey to
liberate eastern Syria from SDF" is way wrong. Other than that though,
there is much value in the perspectives of the rest of the piece.

Unfortunately, I don't think Chris's own prescriptions are much better than
the mistaken presciption of the writer on the eastern Syria question. Chris
notes "the YPG has responded to the threat of a Turkish invasion by asking
the Assad regime for help," and this "may just mean that a few of Assad's
troops are stationed on the border between Turkish-controlled and
SDF-controlled areas as a deterrent to a Turkish attack." While the Assad
regime "may try to restore its effective control over SDF-controlled
areas.," Chris hopes that the regime's 'weakness" may prevent it from
fulling restoring its rule over SDF-co0ntroled regions.

I think this is the wrong interpretation of "weak." The regime's "weakness"
has not prevented it from mass arrests and killings of ex-rebels who have
"reconciliated" elsewhere in Syria. It does not prevent it from imposing
its totalitarian tyranny elsewhere in Syria. However, it is "weak" in
relation to the mass of criminal militias, Russian-backed militias,
Iranian-backed forces, Shabbiha gangs etc, and the rivalries within its own
base. New revolts will break out, whether in the form of new revolutionary
outbreaks or a new ISIS surge (or another jihadist alternative), due to the
very nature of the regime which bred revolt, and later jihadism, in the
first place. But the SDF would be kidding itself if it thinks the Assad
regime would allow it to maintain its autonomous and democratic structures
due to its "weakness."

Of course I understand that the idea of a temporary alliance with Assad
being "a good idea" is now prevalent among Rojava supporters. Apparently
they see Erdogan as running a more terrible dictatorship than Assad. That
turns reality on its head to a rather enormous extent. It seems to me that
if the non-Kurdish populations in the northeast, especially the Arabs, are
really as supportive of the Rojava federation as supporters claim, then
there is potential for huge resistance to any Turkish invasion. It also
seems to me that the best way to lose a lot of those Arabs in the northeast
is to invite back Assad. That may be exactly the cue for them to jump ship.

It is of course a rotten decision to have to make. But it is well-known
that the PYD's softness on Assad did not begin now, but rather goes back to
the beginning of the uprising and has been part of the problem leading to
this juncture.

The other thing though is that both the Kurdish-led forces and the mostly
Arab rebels now supporting Erdogan may be equally being misled by Erdogan.
Erdogan has just now essentially welcomed the news that Assad troops have
arrived in Manbij, even though the SDF invited them as a block to Erdogan.
Erdogan said that it is "Syrian" (ie Assadist) territory; once Assad ejects
the YPG, he has no more problem in Manbij. Interesting for both FSA and SDF
to dwell on that for a moment.

And also interesting from the point of view of my assertion in my article
that T5rump's withdrawal is just as much an invitation to Assad as it is to
Erdogan. More, in my opinion.


On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 4:05 PM Chris Slee via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> *
>
> Dr Zaineddin (see below) is an apologist for the Turkish state.  He
> advocates "working with Turkey to liberate eastern Syria from SDF".  In
> other words, he wants a repetition of the Turkish invasion of Afrin on a
> larger scale.
>
> The YPG has responded to the threat of a Turkish invasion by asking the
> Assad regime for help.
>
> What this will mean in practice I am not sure.  It may just mean
> that a few of Assad's troops are stationed on the border between
> Turkish-controlled and SDF-controlled areas as a deterrent to a Turkish
> attack.  (Presumably Turkey would not want to start a war with Assad regime
> and its Russian backers).
>
> On the other hand, the Assad regime may try to restore its effective
> control over SDF-controlled areas.
>
> This would be a bad outcome.  But as Zaineddin notes, the Assad regime is
> weak, so it may not be capable of restoring its rule in northeast Syria.
>
> Chris Slee
> 
> From: Marxism  on behalf of MM via
> 

[Marxism] Strikes in Iran

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here are some reports of strikes in Iran.

https://libcom.org/blog/iran-what-after-repression-haft-tapeh-workers-steelworkers-ahvaz-24122018?fbclid=IwAR3SnEAJo6pRL248Vg-f60YVCemJs29HwivDJBI5nW1ni108dpUIPOaR63U

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Re: [Marxism] Syria: Assessment and Prospects

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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Dr Zaineddin (see below) is an apologist for the Turkish state.  He advocates 
"working with Turkey to liberate eastern Syria from SDF".  In other words, he 
wants a repetition of the Turkish invasion of Afrin on a larger scale.

The YPG has responded to the threat of a Turkish invasion by asking the Assad 
regime for help.

What this will mean in practice I am not sure.  It may just mean
that a few of Assad's troops are stationed on the border between 
Turkish-controlled and SDF-controlled areas as a deterrent to a Turkish attack. 
 (Presumably Turkey would not want to start a war with Assad regime and its 
Russian backers).

On the other hand, the Assad regime may try to restore its effective control 
over SDF-controlled areas.

This would be a bad outcome.  But as Zaineddin notes, the Assad regime is weak, 
so it may not be capable of restoring its rule in northeast Syria.

Chris Slee

From: Marxism  on behalf of MM via Marxism 

Sent: Saturday, 29 December 2018 12:00:06 PM
To: Chris Slee
Subject: [Marxism] Syria: Assessment and Prospects

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I’m not familiar with the speaker here (Dr. Zaineddin) but this Twitter thread 
offers a summary in English of what seems like a very important speech; 
hopefully others who know Arabic or who have been able to follow things more 
closely can weigh in with additional context or perspective:

[Quote:]

This is an excellent speech by @DrZaineddin on the current state of affairs in 
Syria. In this thread, I'll try to summarize the main points in English.

In the beginning, the Syrian people were struggling against a dictatorial 
regime and the regime's allies were supporting it from behind. Now the allies 
were forced to enter directly and fight the people on behalf of the regime.

To think that the situation is entirely in the hand of outside actors, and the 
internal decision of Syrians is now irrelevant, is wrong. The regime wanted to 
attack Idlib recently but it was the military preparations of the rebels which 
ultimately deterred the offensive.

In Ghouta and Daraa the regime used traitors/"frogs" to make the military 
conquest of rebel-held areas easier. In Idlib, all the rebels came together and 
decided to snuff out the people who wanted to reconcile with the regime. 100s 
were arrested.

After this, the morale of the regime fighters hit rock bottom, Hezbollah 
announced it wouldn't participate and ultimately the regime was forced to 
cancel the offensive. This was due to the internal resolve of Syrians.

The next point of discussion is the loss of territory by rebels. At one point 
they had 70% of Syria, today they have 15%. Someone could say: "if we didn't 
win when we had 70%, how can we hope to win with just 15%? The matter is 
decided and we lost.”

As for the loss of formerly besieged areas, the transfer of rebels from there 
to the North might be positive, because now they can get supplies and continue 
to fight. Also, note that the rebels having 15% doesn't mean the regime has 
85%. It has 54% and the rest is with SDF & IS.

Even this 54%, the regime doesn't have real power and control. Russia, Iran, 
Hezbollah, and 100s of various militias are the ones really in control on the 
ground. The actual regime has no ability to make decisions. In Aleppo, there 
are bloody battles and turf wars between the...

...various militias. In Daraa, the regime hasn't even entered the towns it 
recaptured yet. Thus, the regime's control of areas is mostly a mirage.

The rebels have 15% but it's not just Idlib, they also have most of Aleppo 
province and parts of other provinces. It's an area larger than some countries 
such as Qatar, Bahrain or UAE. If they invest in this area, they can enjoy the 
fruits of it.

The next topic is the international situation. Years ago, various countries 
gave statements saying "Assad must go" etc. Now many of those same countries 
are saying "Assad should stay" and are restoring diplomatic relations with the 
regime.

However, this is all a media mirage. If them saying "Assad must go" had no 
effect on whether Assad stays or goes, why would them saying the opposite have 
any effect? It's all just statements and doesn't translate to anything on the 
ground.

Plus, many countries were supporting Assad secretly and are now supporting him 
openly. This doesn't change anything. 

Re: [Marxism] There’s a Voice Missing in Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma”

[Jeffrey Masko via Marxism]

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I thought I'd give a link to Catherine Grant's excellent Film Studies For
Free website for those who are interested in a deeper look at it from film
scholars. I've felt mostly ambivalent toward Cuarón's body of work and
certainly not keen on *Children of Men* (nice long takes doesn't negate
shitty politics), even though he did this years back...

Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: Naomi Klein, author of "No Logo", and
Alfonso Cuaron, director of "Children of Men", present a short film from
Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism."
www.shockdoctrine.com (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuyRdJupbvU).

*Roma *has garnered a lot of attention and FSFF is able to get a quick turn
around that traditional peer reviewed journals cannot. It also has top rate
video essays from top scholars such as Jason Mittell.

MEDIÁTICO

- *Special Dossier on Alfonso Cuarón's Roma* (2018) by nine world-leading
scholars on Latin American Cinema

   - INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL DOSSIER ON ROMA (ALFONSO CUARON)
   

   by Dolores Tierney
   - WATCHING ROMA IN MEXICO CITY
   

   by Paul Julian Smith
   - BROKEN MEMORY, VOICE AND VISUAL STORYTELLING
   

   by Pedro Ángel Palou
   - ALFONSO CUARÓN’S LOVE LETTER TO HIS NANA
   

   by Deborah Shaw
   - CLASS TROUBLE
   

   by Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado
   - MEMORIES OF C/LEO – ON AUTEURISM AND ROMA
   

   by Jeffrey Middents
   - FEMINISM AND INTIMATE/EMOTIONAL LABOR
   

   by Olivia Consentino
   - THE PARADOXES OF CINEPHILIA IN THE AGE OF NETFLIX
   

   by Belén Vidal
   - RECUERDA, NOTES ON ALFONSO CUARÓN’S ROMA
   

   by Robert Carlos Ortiz
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[Marxism] Michael Neumann countering some of the foolish comments on Trump’s withdrawal from Syria

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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clip - The least foolish of these is that the battle against ISIS is not
won. No it isn't, and Trump's claim that it is, is plainly false. But to
harp on this is absurd.

For one thing, there isn't the slightest possibility that keeping US troops
in Syria would win the battle, or prevent an ISIS resurgence. ISIS'
ultimate strength lies, not in its Syrian or Iraqi enclaves, but in what
the West and Arab authoritarian governments have done to the peoples of the
region, and in the conditions in Muslim countries worldwide. These
conditions guarantee a literally unending stream of militants seeking
justice and revenge. The notion that 2000 US troops would affect this
dynamic is ludicrous. Equally foolish are the tiresome recommendations that
the underlying conditions be addressed. The sage pundits who say these
things know perfectly well that the West will never, ever address these
conditions: it can't, because they occur in sovereign states. It would take
a Western occupation of those states, involving hundreds of thousands of
troops for decades, to cure the injustices of the region, and even then
it's not clear that the economic basis for healthy societies exists. In
other words, whatever the West is going to do, whatever leadership it has,
ISIS won't be defeated. What then is the point of warning us that Trump's
withdrawal will not defeat ISIS?

http://notris.blogspot.com/2018/12/nonsense-about-us-withdrawal-from-syria.html
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Re: [Marxism] Russia without Putin

[Marla Vijaya kumar via Marxism]

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Louis,           My postings never get through. I get a message that my post is 
under moderator's approval and it never gets posted. It happened a number of 
times. I do not know what might be the technical problem. That is why I am 
posting to you. You may please post in the group.Regarding the subject cited 
above, here is my reaction:
"I had the opportunity to visit Russia on the invitation of my Indian friends 
in Moscow in August 2018. I had spent 2 weeks there and had discussions with a 
cross section of Russians. In an informal get together, with about a dozen 
Russians and a few Indians, the conversation turned to politics. They wanted to 
know what I think of Russia, after collapse of USSR. I replied that it is 
saddening to see that the welfare programs are being withdrawn. I told them 
that they should preserve what was good in Soviet times.One Russian lady, who 
is married to an Indian, asked me, "when are you going to get rid of Modi?"I 
said, the opinion polls indicate that he may not ride back to power in 
2019."Don't be fooled. Our Putin and your Modi, will never step down. Whether 
we want or not, Putin manages to win elections. So is the case with Modi."As I 
understood from their conversation, they have nothing against socialism, but 
want socialism with democracy.In the regional elections held last month, the 
opposition, including communists have won more votes in many places, but 
strangely, Putin's candidates were declared elected. The vote percentage of 
Communists had gone up from 19.5% to 40% in many places. I cam back with a 
distinct feeling that Russia is set for a change.Vijaya Kumar Marla

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[Marxism] Syria: Assessment and Prospects

[MM via Marxism]

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I’m not familiar with the speaker here (Dr. Zaineddin) but this Twitter thread 
offers a summary in English of what seems like a very important speech; 
hopefully others who know Arabic or who have been able to follow things more 
closely can weigh in with additional context or perspective:

[Quote:]

This is an excellent speech by @DrZaineddin on the current state of affairs in 
Syria. In this thread, I'll try to summarize the main points in English.

In the beginning, the Syrian people were struggling against a dictatorial 
regime and the regime's allies were supporting it from behind. Now the allies 
were forced to enter directly and fight the people on behalf of the regime.

To think that the situation is entirely in the hand of outside actors, and the 
internal decision of Syrians is now irrelevant, is wrong. The regime wanted to 
attack Idlib recently but it was the military preparations of the rebels which 
ultimately deterred the offensive.

In Ghouta and Daraa the regime used traitors/"frogs" to make the military 
conquest of rebel-held areas easier. In Idlib, all the rebels came together and 
decided to snuff out the people who wanted to reconcile with the regime. 100s 
were arrested.

After this, the morale of the regime fighters hit rock bottom, Hezbollah 
announced it wouldn't participate and ultimately the regime was forced to 
cancel the offensive. This was due to the internal resolve of Syrians.

The next point of discussion is the loss of territory by rebels. At one point 
they had 70% of Syria, today they have 15%. Someone could say: "if we didn't 
win when we had 70%, how can we hope to win with just 15%? The matter is 
decided and we lost.”

As for the loss of formerly besieged areas, the transfer of rebels from there 
to the North might be positive, because now they can get supplies and continue 
to fight. Also, note that the rebels having 15% doesn't mean the regime has 
85%. It has 54% and the rest is with SDF & IS.

Even this 54%, the regime doesn't have real power and control. Russia, Iran, 
Hezbollah, and 100s of various militias are the ones really in control on the 
ground. The actual regime has no ability to make decisions. In Aleppo, there 
are bloody battles and turf wars between the...

...various militias. In Daraa, the regime hasn't even entered the towns it 
recaptured yet. Thus, the regime's control of areas is mostly a mirage.

The rebels have 15% but it's not just Idlib, they also have most of Aleppo 
province and parts of other provinces. It's an area larger than some countries 
such as Qatar, Bahrain or UAE. If they invest in this area, they can enjoy the 
fruits of it.

The next topic is the international situation. Years ago, various countries 
gave statements saying "Assad must go" etc. Now many of those same countries 
are saying "Assad should stay" and are restoring diplomatic relations with the 
regime.

However, this is all a media mirage. If them saying "Assad must go" had no 
effect on whether Assad stays or goes, why would them saying the opposite have 
any effect? It's all just statements and doesn't translate to anything on the 
ground.

Plus, many countries were supporting Assad secretly and are now supporting him 
openly. This doesn't change anything. The Syrian people were the ones who 
decided that Assad must go, not any country, and these countries saying Assad 
should stay doesn't impact their decision.

Russia achieved military victories for the regime, but it failed in translating 
these into political victories. It tried to get the EU to recognize Assad and 
give the regime reconstruction money, but the Europeans refused because they 
know it was the regime that caused refugees.

The regime media made a big deal out of a few buses of refugees from Jordan 
returning to regime-held areas, but it wasn't more than a few dozen people and 
as soon as they arrived the men were arrested for military service. A few 1000 
returned from Lebanon and their fate was a…

...mix of arrest, execution, and homelessness, because the regime had either 
bombed their home or seized it and given it to a militia. There's international 
recognition that the refugee situation won't be solved as long as Assad is in 
power. Russia failed to change this.

Next point is the reduction in popular support for the revolution among 
Syrians. This is natural, after 8 years of war. The reduction was caused by the 
suffering inflicted by the regime, but also by mistakes and bad deeds done by 
some rebels.

The amount of suffering inflicted on the Syrian people over the last 8 years, 
if it was inflicted on a mountain, the mountain would have crumbled into dust. 
The 

[Marxism] Forecast for 2019 | Michael Roberts Blog

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/forecast-for-2019/
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[Marxism] How capitalism under-develops the world

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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From 2012:

"The past four years of world economic crisis have been only the latest
illustration of the bankruptcy of capitalism as an economic system and as a
form of social organisation. But the damage which capitalism causes goes
back a long way – and is certainly not confined to the consequences of its
periodic somersaults.

"Capitalism itself was borne out of the brutal plundering of many of
today’s poorest countries. Without the slave trade which decimated Africa’s
population for over two centuries, the industrial revolution would never
have developed in Britain and British capital would never have seen the
light. Subsequently, since the capitalist market took on its present form,
the world economy has been dominated by the small, but very wealthy
capitalist classes, which ruled the few very rich, imperialist powers. And
these capitalist classes have been drawing their enormous incomes partly
from the exploitation of their domestic working classes, but also, to a
large extent, from the looting of the human and material resources of the
poor countries.

"Whether under colonial rule or not, the poor countries included, and still
include, the majority of the planet’s population. But despite having
contributed so much to the accumulation of wealth of the imperialist
capitalist classes, they got. . ."

https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/how-capitalism-under-develops-the-world-2/
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Re: [Marxism] Russia Without Putin

[Andrew Pollack via Marxism]

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Wood's book sounds great.
See also Holmstrom and Smith:
https://monthlyreview.org/2000/02/01/the-necessity-of-gangster-capitalism/

>
>
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Re: [Marxism] Russia Without Putin

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Tony Wood's book certainly sounds like worthwhile reading. Another
excellent book is "House of Trump, House of Putin" by Craig Unger. Unger is
no Marxist, but he does an excellent job of tracing the history of the
Russian criminal gangs that became such an essential part of the new
Russian capitalist class that rose up after  the collapse of the Soviet
Union. He explains how these gangs actually had their roots in Tsartist
times, how they developed through Stalin's gulag, how they then formed an
embryonic capitalist class when Khruschev released hundreds of thousands
from the gulag, including those prison gangs, and how they then linked up
with the former Soviet bureaucrats who stole all the Russian state
enterprises for a song. Unger also explains how Putin arose from this heap
of dung to become the capo di tutti capo.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Sudan: Bring Down the Regime of Omar al-Bashir!

[RKOB via Marxism]

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A statement on a very important revolutionary event!

https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/sudan-bring-down-the-regime-of-omar-al-bashir/

--
Revolutionär-Kommunistische Organisation BEFREIUNG
(Österreichische Sektion der RCIT, www.thecommunists.net)
www.rkob.net
ak...@rkob.net
Tel./SMS/WhatsApp/Telegram: +43-650-4068314



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Re: [Marxism] On Tony Cliff and British SWP

[jgreen--- via Marxism]

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One of the things that Tony Cliff is widely known for is his book "State 
Capitalism 
in Russia". Indeed, on this mailing list, one may get brushed aside as a 
suposed 
follower of Cliff for holding that the Stalinist economy was state-capitalist.

But in fact, despite Cliff's denunciation of the Stalinist regime, his view of 
the  
internal nature of the Stalinist economy was closer than most Trotskyists care 
to 
admit  to the "orthodox Trotskyism" that regarded that there only needed to be  
a 
"political revolution" that changed the leadership of the Soviet Union, not a 
"social 
revolution", because the Stalinist system was supposedly basically socialist 
economically. While Cliff said that the "Soviet bureaucracy" formed an 
exploiting  
class, nevertheless, for him it was the relationship between the Soviet Union 
and 
the outside capitalist world that brought the capitalist law of value into the 
Soviet 
Union. In his words, "if one examines the relations within the Russian economy, 
abstracting them from their relations with the world economy, one is bound to 
conclude that the source of the law of value, as the motor and regulator of 
production, is not to be found in it. In essence, the laws prevailing in the 
relations 
between the enterprises and between the labourers and the employer-state would 
be no different if Russia were one big factory managed directly from one 
centre, 
and if all the labourers received the goods they consumed directly, in kind." 
("State capitalism in Russia," Ch. 7, Subsection, "The Marxian law of value and 
the Russian economy viewed in isolation from world capitalism")

This is a major flaw that makes a mockery of his declaration that the Stalinist 
system was state-capitalist. Among Trotskyists, it was Walter Daum, of the 
League for the Revolutionary Party, who sought in his book "The Life and Death 
of Stalinism" to deal with the capitalist nature of the internal organization 
of the 
Stalinist economy, which he denounced as "statified capitalism". So in regard 
to 
the internal Soviet economy under Stalin,  he went beyond Cliff and pointed out 
things that Cliff couldn't deal with. But at the same time, he wanted to 
denigrate 
any difference between his views and those of Trotsky's, and he declared that 
"We agree with Trotsky's outlook up to 1939" ("The Life and Death of 
Stalinism", 
p. 9). He sought to demolish Cliff and Mandel (p. 24), and closed his eyes to 
the 
fallacies of Trotsky. The result is that his book is full of a series of crying 
contradictions. What he says on one page about the Soviet economy is 
contradicted on another page. So one step forward, and a dozen steps every 
which way.

So up to the present, not a single trend of Trotskyism has ever succeeded in 
having a coherent theory of revisionist state-capitalism. I discussed Cliff's 
theory 
of state capitalism in passing in my article "On Walter Daum's `The Life and 
Death of Stalinism': Competition among Soviet enterprises and ministries, and 
the 
collapse of the Soviet Union" (http://www.communistvoice.org/19cDaum.html).

Subheads of the article:
The internal rot in the old Soviet economy
Theories of the nature of the Soviet Union
Trotskyist views
The competition concealed behind Soviet planning--it's important, Daum says
No, Daum says, it isn't important
Competition and state capitalism
Daum's contradictions
The economy of a workers' state
Platonic economics
The life and death of Trotskyism
Trotsky's denial of the possibility of Soviet state capitalism
The state sector as a supposedly proletarian form
The Soviet bureaucracy was supposedly not a new bourgeoisie
The Soviet Union in the 1930s: workers' state or state-capitalist regime? 

 An excerpt follows:

The Trotskyists have a reputation as being among the foremost critics of 
Stalinism, but it turns out that their analysis is often quite similar to that 
of the 
Stalinists. Their views of the Soviet economies fall into one of the following 
three 
categories:

*Most Trotskyist groups believe that the Soviet-bloc economies were 
"degenerated" or "deformed workers' states", depending on the country. They 
believe that these countries were essentially socialist or had a 
"post-capitalist" 
economic base, consisting of the state sector, although the government, being 
Stalinist, was oppressive. Thus they hold essentially to the view characterized 
above as that the Soviet Union was repugnant socialism, although they express 
it 
with their own terminology. This view leads them to defend some or all of the 
existing state-capitalist regimes, even when they seem to denounce these 
regimes in extreme language. Under 

[Marxism] The Totem Thieves

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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In 1899, railroad tycoon Edward Harriman put together an expedition of 
naturalists, scientists, painters and fellow robberbarons to explore the 
coast of southeast Alaska. The shrewd Harriman, head of the Union 
Pacific, even rented the services of John Muir, the father of 
environmentalism and founder of the Sierra Club, thus striking a bond 
between corporate villains and mainstream greens that thrives to this day.


The object of the two-month foray, which was heralded as the largest 
survey of its time, was to size-up Alaska’s riches (timber, gold, furs, 
oil) under the guise of scientific exploration. Karl Grove Albert, the 
famed geologist, picked at rocks. Bernard Fernow, the dean of the 
American forestry, cruised timber, calculating the number of board feet 
per acre. Edward Curtis lined up Haida and Tlingits for romantic 
mugshots and the painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes, taking Audubon’s 
tradition to a new level of barbarity, shot thousands of animals in 
order to render them in his sketchbook.


https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/28/the-totem-thieves-2/
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Re: [Marxism] How the 1960s civil rights and black power movements split on Israel

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 12/28/18 12:02 PM, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:


How the 1960s civil rights and black power movements split on Israel

*BLACK POWER AND PALESTINE *
*Transnational Countries of Color*
by Michael R. Fischbach
296 pp. Stanford University Press. $25.95


*Excerpt of Chapter 3, titled “Reformers, Not Revolutionaries: the NAACP,
Bayard Rustin, and Israel.” Reprinted with permission fromStanford
University Press. *




I've been in touch with Fischbach ever since he started work on this 
book, mostly providing information on SWP debates over what exact 
position to take on Israel and Palestine. Looking forward to reading this.

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[Marxism] Russia Without Putin | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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For the longest time Vladimir Putin has assumed the role of an Ian 
Fleming super-villain in the imaginations of both liberal and 
neoconservative pundits. Like one of those well-worn set pieces in a 
James Bond novel, he sits opposite our British super-spy in a chess game 
with the world hegemony awarded to the winning side. Or in the case of a 
draw, multipolarity.


Any book on Putin and Russia that departs from these stereotypes would 
be most welcome. When it turns out to be a first-rate Marxist analysis, 
it should be added to your must-read list for 2019. The good news is 
that book has arrived in the form of Tony Wood’s Russia Without Putin: 
Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War, a ground-breaking study 
that departs from the lurid personality-driven narratives that are the 
stock-in-trade of MSNBC or the Washington Post. Additionally, for those 
on the left whose ideas are shaped by Stephen F. Cohen’s pro-Putin 
apologetics, the book will serve as a wake-up call to return to a class 
rather than a chess analysis. If Rachel Maddow is for the chess-master 
playing white, there is no reason to uncritically root for who is 
playing black. In keeping with the palette analogy, it is worth 
recalling Lenin’s citation of Mephistopheles’s words from Goethe’s Faust 
in his 1917 Letter on Tactics: “Theory, my friend, is grey, but green is 
the eternal tree of life.”


full: https://louisproyect.org/2018/12/28/russia-without-putin/
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[Marxism] How the 1960s civil rights and black power movements split on Israel

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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How the 1960s civil rights and black power movements split on Israel

*BLACK POWER AND PALESTINE *
*Transnational Countries of Color*
by Michael R. Fischbach
296 pp. Stanford University Press. $25.95


*Excerpt of Chapter 3, titled “Reformers, Not Revolutionaries: the NAACP,
Bayard Rustin, and Israel.” Reprinted with permission fromStanford
University Press. *



Clip - The Black Power movement’s increasingly vocal support of the
Palestinian national liberation movement starting in mid-1967 did not just
engender public controversy among Jews and others who were accustomed to
widespread American support for Israel. These pro-Palestinian sentiments
also made traditional black civil rights leaders uneasy and put them on the
defensive for a number of reasons. By the time of the 1967 war, mainstream
black groups were already feeling marginalized by the Black Power movement.
They struggled to maintain the initiative at a time when the “classic”
civil rights struggle in the South was generally over and when Black Power
advocates were confronting institutional racism in the North along more
aggressive lines. While traditional civil rights groups worked within
interracial coalitions to change the system, Black Power militants spoke
openly of revolution against the system on their own without white allies.
They stressed a new, revolutionary black identity that understood blacks in
America as constituting an internal colony to be liberated, whereas civil
rights activists saw blacks as Americans, albeit second-class ones, but
fully capable of fighting for inclusion in the American system as equals.
Combined with the violent urban rebellions that rocked various inner cities
from 1964 to 1968, Black Power was posing a powerful threat to the
strategies and nonviolent tactics of traditional civil rights organizations
and their vision of black identity in America. These attitudes were
reflected in the differing stances the two sets of black activists adopted
toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.



Full article - https://mondoweiss.net/2018/12/rights-movements-israel/
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[Marxism] “In Hungary, there is no way forward but strikes” - Peoples Dispatch

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Guzslován Gábor of the Federation of Metal Workers Union of Hungary 
talks about the impact of the ‘slave law’ passed by the far-right 
government of Viktor Orbán and the massive protests against it


https://peoplesdispatch.org/2018/12/26/in-hungary-there-is-no-way-forward-but-strikes/
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[Marxism] Bahrain to reopen Syria embassy in Damascus after UAE move

[RKOB via Marxism]

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It is obvious that the Saudi bloc (with the agreement of the U.S.) is 
openly reconciling with the Assad regime. I look forward to hear the 
"explanations" of the idiotic Putinistas who told us for years that the 
Saudis "support al-Qaida" etc.!


https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/12/28/bahrain-to-reopen-damascus-embassy-after-uae-move

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[Marxism] What Trump Isn't | Richard Seymour on Patreon

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Commentary on Dylan Riley's NLR article arguing that Trump is not a fascist.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/what-trump-isnt-23594790
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[Marxism] Iraqi lawmakers demand US withdrawal after Trump controversial visit

[RKOB via Marxism]

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Another grotesque of Trump (albeit with potential positive effects)

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/12/27/iraqi-lawmakers-demand-us-withdrawal-after-trump-controversial-visit

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[Marxism] Arab regimes bring Syria's Assad back into the fold

[RKOB via Marxism]

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UAE's embassy is reopening in Damascus

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/12/27/arab-regimes-bring-syrias-assad-back-into-the-fold

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[Marxism] Saudi Arabia’s Strange Bedfellows – LobeLog

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Meeting the Saudi women, Sajjad Karim, a senior British member of ECR, 
was positively gushing about the “comprehensive nature of the reform 
process in Saudi Arabia”. Today’s Tories may be just about within the 
confines of a presentable centre-right, but they are allied in the ECR 
with some overtly Islamophobic forces, such as the Danish People’s Party 
and the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-fascist roots. Among the 
ECR’s members is also the Dutch Calvinist party, which until 2006 barred 
women from joining and advocates for a re-establishment of the death 
penalty in the Netherlands. Bas Belder, the party’s leader in the EP, is 
a staunch supporter of Israel’s right-wing government and vice-chair of 
the EP delegation for relations with Israel. During the EP debate on 
Khashoggi’s murder on October 24, Belder accused him of being a 
“convinced Islamist, a spiritual leader of Muslim Brotherhood” and 
compared him to the late terrorist al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.


https://lobelog.com/saudi-arabias-strange-bedfellows/
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[Marxism] Syrian government forces enter Manbij after appeal from Kurdish YPG

[RKOB via Marxism]

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When the Syrian Revolution began in 2011, the YPG leaders made tacit 
agreements with the regime. Later they served US imperialism. Now they 
court French imperialism and, again, Assad the butcher.


How to put it diplomatically? Once a pathetic stooge, always a pathetic 
stooge!


https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/government-forces-enter-manbij-after-appeal-syrian-kurdish-ypg-696790850

As a positive news, it should be known that the Sudanese masses, 
demonstrating on the streets since 19 December, are raising the flag of 
the Syrian Revolution (in protest against the alliance of the Sudanese 
and the Syrian dictators)!


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[Marxism] Trump's Military Moves

[Ron Jacobs via Marxism]

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http://stillhomeron.blogspot.com/2018/12/trumps-military-moves.html

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[Marxism] On Anti-Semitism and Zionist Racism

[RKOB via Marxism]

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*On Anti-Semitism and Zionist Racism*

/by Yossi Schwartz, Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in 
Israel / Occupied Palestine), 22.12.2018/


https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/on-anti-semitism-and-zionist-racism/

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[Marxism] Interview with veteran Irish revolutionary

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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Gerry Ruddy was in the original People's Democracy group with people like
Michael Farrell and Bernadette Devlin. He was one of the PD people, like
Devlin, who took part in the founding of the IRSP and he left with her just
a year later. He was, with her, part of the Committee for a Socialist
Programme which then became the Independent Socialist Party. However, he
went back to the IRSP and regarded their departure from it as a mistake.
This is an interesting interview with him from late 2011:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/interview-with-veteran-socialist-republican-gerry-ruddy/
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