Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Speaking of the disaffected...
In a message dated 3/1/2010 8:20:44 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, cb31...@gmail.com writes: CB: This doesn't seem to me to be "hating" on the CP. You are just saying some that is a fact. 1949-1955 is a period of most intense McCarthyism and criminalization of the CP Reply CB I try not to be a hater. There is another aspect of the CPUSA equation which I have spoken about in the past. That is the location of their cadre in heavy industry and the inability of any group to shift their forces to a new front of struggle. Let me be clear. When the Negro peoples movement of that period broke out, the bulk of the militants were located in heavy industry and specifically the trade union movement. This is no crime. No organization could demand its members quite their jobs and go to the new front of social struggle. Especially, when the members were under attack by the government. Today is different. There is a core of retired workers who can shift to any front of struggle because they are not tied to an employer. You are perhaps the youngest amongst us and you are not young. :-) WL. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] "In the last instance"
Mike
Dealing with the three Althusserian bugbears:
(clip)
he mainly wanted to say that society was not fully determined by the
economy (except 'in the last instance', whatever that means).
^ CB: Here's a proposal on what it means. "In the last instance"
is a time of fundamental or revolutionary change. Marx and Engels
notion is that history or the revolutionary changes in history or the
transitions in the mode of production in history since the rise of
class divided society are determined or "caused" by contradictions
between exploiting and exploited classes. My position is that Marx and
Engels were not in this formulation vulgar materialists (smile).
Most of the time of history, of course, is not spent in fundamental
transitions between modes of production. Most times are not
revolutionary , but conventional. Most times of history are not "the
last instance". "The last instances" are rare. Through most of the
time of history there is more of a reciprocal determination between
superstructure and base, " infra-structure". Also, a revolution is a
fundamental change in a societies' structures. In revolutionary eras,
the change in the base structure causes a fundamental change in the
super_structure_, the culture, the political structure, and especially
the property laws, which are structures (part of superstructure)
Specifically, a structure in the Althusserian/Levi-Straussian sense,
is a complex idea, built up of algebraic relations between binary
oppositions. It is an idea that guides peoples conduct, activity. It's
a principle of conduct, a custom, a "value". Often in modern society
it is a custom enforced by the state, i.e. a law. One of Althusser's
points would be that the "economy" or class struggle is "structured" ,
too. It is not just the superstructure that has a guiding ideational
structure. The class struggle is structured by many rules like the
polity is.
Notice the word/root "structure" is in Marx's famous forumulation
"superstructure". Levi-Strauss' structuralism , the source of
Althusser's structuralism, is a superstructuralism, in a way. Also
notice that Levi-Strauss's structuralism derives from anthropology or
the study of pre-written historic, or pre-class divided societies in
which super-structure is long term determining because there weren't
any classes in conflict or revolutions in the mode of production. The
modes of production of "primitive" society haven't changed structure
much for hundreds of thousands of years. Plus ca change; plus la meme
chose. So, Levi-Strauss choice of a metaphor of rigidity ("structure")
is in ways more apt in his direct subject matter , the unchanging
"primitive" societies, than modern societies. On this Levi-Strauss
distinguishes between "cold" ( unchanging, "primitive") and "hot" (
more frequently changing, modern) societies. So, Althusser may be
stretching it a bit in applying the Levi-Straussian concept to "hot"
France.
Since Marxism does seek to consciously "stir up" a "last instance" for
a transition from capitalism to socialism, it focuses on
contradictions in the "economy" or more precisely between the ruling
class and ruled classes , and from the standpoint of activating the
ruled class to act in its material self-interests.
So, yes, most of the time of history society is not determined in the
"last instance"; the last instance ( when revolutions occur) is not
most of the instances of history (trivially). On the other hand,
Marxism is all about making our lifetime a "last instance" in which
the working class of the "base" changes the superstructure. Notice in
this the working class is a Subject of history. It has "agency" , in
the post mod sense. It's not a non-human "structure" or utterly
"objectively" determined. Of course, it has to have class and
socialist consciousness greater than that of the ruling class' class
consciousness to succeed at that historic mission, blah , blah, blah
(smile).
In part, this post is an attempt to logically consistently interpret
the famous passage from Marx below.
In the social production of their existence, men inevitably
enter into definite relations, which are independent of their will,
namely relations of production appropriate to a given stage in the
development of their material forces of production. The totality of
these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of
society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political
superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social
consciousness. The mode of production of material life conditions the
general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not
the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their
social existence that determines their consciousness. At a certain
stage of development, the material productive forces of society come
into conflict with the existing relations of production or – this
merely expresses the same thing in legal terms – with the property
relat
[Marxism-Thaxis] Socialists get newfound attention as 'red-baiting' draws interest from youth
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100223/FEATURES/2230310/1010/Socialists+get+newfound+attention+as+%E2%80%98red-baiting++draws+interest+from+youth Socialists get newfound attention as 'red-baiting' draws interest from youth By Chris Kenning • ckenn...@courier-journal.com • February 23, 2010 The socialist agenda that some conservatives see lurking around every corner, hidden in everything from health insurance reform to stimulus spending to President Obama's policies, exasperates Louisvillian Fred Hicks. As the leader of a local socialist group, Hicks says the use of the “S-word” as a political smear is a gross mischaracterization that ignores the reality that socialism remains a lonely movement, with his 40-person group struggling to get more than a dozen people to attend a meeting. And yet while the term's recent popularity irks Hicks, the retired professor says it's also beginning to have an unexpected result: It's bringing newfound interest and attention to his cause. “Suddenly there are more people who want to know what it actually is,” said Hicks, head of the Committee of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, whose members seek more government regulation of business, health care and wages. Nationwide, the Democratic Socialists of America partly credits the term's usage with a 64 percent rise in memberships between 2008 and 2009. The party now has nearly 7,000 U.S. members, and the 1,000-member Socialist Party USA has seen new chapters pop up in Kansas and Oklahoma. Marvin Williams, who heads the Central Indiana chapter of the DSA, said that at a November convention, he noticed an increase in younger attendees, some drawn by “red-baiting” tactics, the practice of accusing people of being communist or socialist because of their liberal views. “In my age group, I've seen a dramatic rise in the number of people who understand and agree with socialism,” even though “getting people to actively participate is tough,” said Edward Elam, a 26-year-old computer trainer who started a Young Democratic Socialists chapter at Jefferson Community College in 2007 that has since disbanded. Elam said socialism doesn't carry the same negative Cold War ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Speaking of the disaffected...
"waistli...@aol.com" Perhaps, I was to harsh on this fellow. I did read his letter of protest and it was fairly obvious be was being crushed by big capital. Before returning to Detroit I did live in Texas for a while between Austin and Houston. It was Austin this fellow relocated to discover rates for his business 1/3 of that in California. It is true that for all of my life - up until now, I have had security and benefits of the better paid union workers. My fear is that the Marxist of our generation - no matter what our differences in perspective and ideology, will miss this juncture of history as the CPUSA missed the period of roughly 1949 - 1955 and leadership of the impending social activism will pass into the anti-communist so-called left. Here, I do not speak as a knee jerk hater of the CPUSA. I am not. CB: This doesn't seem to me to be "hating" on the CP. You are just saying some that is a fact. 1949-1955 is a period of most intense McCarthyism and criminalization of the CP If there are say 10,000 Marxist in America and we commit to wining over and teaching on a regular basis just 10 people for this year's goal that is 100,000 people who can make an impact. My personal goal is 36 or three a month. At this point it matters little what organization people are involved with. If we get two people who get two more people and open our homes to many of the youth, we win. All of us were won over to the idea of fighting injustice and then Marxism by someone else who spoke up. Yes? CB: Yes. And I admire your vigor for the struggle. WL. WL. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
