[Marxism] Denmark: Fresh openings for Red-Green Alliance as it marks 25 years

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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The Danish Red-Green Alliance (RGA) marked 25 years since its founding at a
national conference on May 16 to 18.

A radical left unity project marking 25 years in existence is itself a
cause for celebration, but this conference was able to celebrate much more.
After about 20 years as a fringe party in Danish politics, the RGA has
recently emerged as a significant force.

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56538

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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[Marxism] Fwd: Socialist takes seat from Sinn Fein in West Belfast

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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FOR IMMEDIATE EMBARGO

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT CANDIDATE GERRY CARROLL

ELECTED IN WEST BELFAST:

“PEOPLE ARE FED UP WITH THE STATUS QUO”

FRIDAY’S LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS signal a new dawn for politics in West
Belfast, as People Before Profit candidate Gerry Carroll was elected
with the third highest count in Black Mountain ward.“None of the pundits
saw us coming,” Carroll observed after coming less than a hundred votes
shy of topping the poll. “The assumption outside this district is that
the two main nationalist parties have the area sewn up. What we have
heard on the doors all through this campaign and what has been proven
today is that ordinary people are fed up with the status quo. In the end
we managed to take a seat from Sinn Féin, but it could have just as
easily have been the SDLP: both have played a shameful role around the
Casement Park development, and our vote sends a clear message that
residents will not accept a sham process that has been rigged against
them at every stage. I call oncorporate GAA and the Antrim board in
particular to come back to the table immediately and begin to repair the
damage they have done.”

“Our campaign has been a fight for the soul of West Belfast, and our
victory here today is only the beginning.  This constituency includes
some of the most socially deprived wards in the North, and the message
from here is loud and clear: ordinary people have had enough. They are
tired of seeing their rights trampled upon in the interests of
developers, landlords, and low-wage corporate employers; they have had
enough of the politics of sectarian division, and their patience is
running out with a political establishment committed to gutting our
public services and punishing the most vulnerable of our friends and
neighbours under a regime of austerity and cuts. It is time for
change and I am committed to leading and lending my support to every
fight for the rights of ordinary people in this district and across the
city of Belfast.”

“The conditions that brought people out to vote for change in Black
Mountain ward exist in every working-class community, and on both sides
of the sectarian divide. We are proud to have worked side-by-side with
people on the Shankill and in the Village in the past, and will seize
every opportunity to unite ordinary people against the elite who benefit
from our continued division.”

“Across the city working people are struggling to keep their heads above
water while our politicians spendmillions of our hard-earned rates
subsidising low-wage corporate employers. Our hospitals are being run
down and privatized with the full support of the political
establishmentand our leisure centresare on the chopping block. Many of
our young people are unemployed and without hope, while those fortunate
enough to have work are stuck on zero-hour contracts and paid less than
their counterparts anywhere in these islands. Politicians and clerics
have built whole careers on whipping upsectarianism, and in recent weeks
have acquiesced in or given cover to racist attacks on migrant workers
and their families.  People Before Profit is committed to riddingthis
great city of the burdens of the past, and we know there are tens of
thousands of ordinary people across Belfast who share our rage at the
status quo and our hopesfor a new dawn. We look forward to working with
them and building a new Belfast that puts people before profit.”

Ends





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[Marxism] Protest held in London showing solidarity with Ukrainian Miners | Demotix.com

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.demotix.com/news/4825910/protest-held-london-showing-solidarity-ukrainian-miners#media-4825896

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Re: [Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish - NYTimes.com

[Richard Fidler via Marxism]

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Perhaps it is appropriate to mention one way to counter the predatory
practices of Amazon that Richard mentions below.

In Ottawa, where I live, we have a fine radical bookstore, Octopus, which is
so successful that it opened a branch outlet a couple years ago in a
downtown location that it shares with a number of progressive think tanks
and NGOs, and where they share a meeting hall that is now the place where
most left groups meet (and Octopus hosts its book launches).

One reason for the success of Octopus, which was founded as a worker co-op
in the 1960s and is now privately owned, is that progressive profs urge
their students to purchase their books there. This is one of their primary
revenue sources. But another is that individual clients like myself who want
to order a book -- and don't need immediate delivery -- can order it through
Octopus. That gives them the normal 40% markup from publisher's cost, and
saves the buyer shipping costs (which in Canada can be quite high).

I'm sure that procedure could be widely replicated by the left elsewhere,
with great benefit to the smaller independent (and often progressive)
booksellers.

Richard Fidler

-Original Message-
From: Marxism [mailto:marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu] On Behalf Of
Richard Menec via Marxism
Sent: May-24-14 6:37 PM
To: rfidle...@sympatico.ca
Subject: Re: [Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish -
NYTimes.com

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David Walters wrote: 

Now Amazon is doing to B&N what B&N did to Dalton (smaller book chains) and
the independents. 

I suppose others such as bookfinders.com and abebooks.com, by offering rarer
books, are doing the same thing. 

 

**Bookfinder.com was bought out by Abebooks long ago, and Abebooks was in
turn purchased by Amazon many years ago now.  When this happened thousands
of independently-minded booksellers left the Amazon/Abebooks behemoth, and
some of us set up our own online, multi-dealer sites.  One such site is the
IOBA (Independent Online Booksellers' Association); another is
www.tomFolio.com, the world's only international co-op of used booksellers.

 

Regardless of whether this sort of massive centralization of Amazon should
be a model for the future in some socialist utopia, it is no exaggeration to
say that Amazon puts thousands of booksellers out of business every year.
Today.  Now.  It is also increasingly clear to me that the independent
online alternatives which have sprung up are getting little or no book buyer
support their way.  While we are desperately trying various things to bring
in people to our sites, it seems that when people are hooked on something,
there's no turning back.

 

Richard Menec


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[Marxism] Thomas Piketty's economic data 'came out of thin air' | Business | theguardian.com

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/24/thomas-picketty-economics-data-errors

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Re: [Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish - NYTimes.com

[Richard Menec via Marxism]

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David Walters wrote: 

Now Amazon is doing to B&N what B&N did to Dalton (smaller book chains) and
the independents. 

I suppose others such as bookfinders.com and abebooks.com, by offering rarer
books, are doing the same thing. 

 

**Bookfinder.com was bought out by Abebooks long ago, and Abebooks was in
turn purchased by Amazon many years ago now.  When this happened thousands
of independently-minded booksellers left the Amazon/Abebooks behemoth, and
some of us set up our own online, multi-dealer sites.  One such site is the
IOBA (Independent Online Booksellers' Association); another is
www.tomFolio.com, the world's only international co-op of used booksellers.

 

Regardless of whether this sort of massive centralization of Amazon should
be a model for the future in some socialist utopia, it is no exaggeration to
say that Amazon puts thousands of booksellers out of business every year.
Today.  Now.  It is also increasingly clear to me that the independent
online alternatives which have sprung up are getting little or no book buyer
support their way.  While we are desperately trying various things to bring
in people to our sites, it seems that when people are hooked on something,
there's no turning back.

 

Richard Menec


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Re: [Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish - NYTimes.com

[Clay Claiborne via Marxism]

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On 05/24/2014 10:44 AM, Clay Claiborne wrote:
> Midnight Special Bookstore would have sold my film and Free Syria
> stuff  [to people in LA - Victorville not so much] 
On second thought, I'd like to amend that. Given't the standance of
almost the entire Left in LA these days, its not at all clear that
Midnight Special would be willing to carry my Free Syria stuff, maybe
they would even be pulling Vietnam: American Holocaust from the shelves
too like a few other "Left" outlets because if I am so wrong on Syria,
apparently in retrospect, I was wrong on Vietnam too.

-- 
Clay Claiborne, Owner
Cosmos Engineering Co. 
116 Rose Ave, Ste. 9
Venice Beach, CA 90291
(310)581-1536

(323) 219-6507 cell

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[Marxism] Michael Kinsley’s review of Glenn Greenwald’s book is the worst thing The NYT Book Review has ever run | PandoDaily

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Michael Kinsley’s review of the new Glenn Greenwald book is the worst 
thing The New York Times Book Review has ever run.


This makes it worth reading.

Magisterial in its intellectual dishonesty, so breathtakingly 
establishmentarian one wonders how this got past his own copy of 
Microsoft Word much less an editor, and perhaps the most egregious 
example of a hatchet job masquerading as a book review in recorded 
history, “Eyes Everywhere” inadvertently leaves the reader with an 
“anyone who elicits this much contempt can’t be all bad” vibe that will 
likely lead curious book buyers to further line Greenwald’s pockets.


Like any classic hit piece, Kinsley’s bullshit starts out reeking right 
out of the gate:


full: 
http://pando.com/2014/05/23/michael-kinsleys-review-of-glenn-greenwalds-new-book-is-the-worst-thing-the-nyt-book-review-has-ever-run/


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[Marxism] South America: How ‘anti-extractivism’ misses the forest for the trees | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Extractive industries exist in every South American country. However, 
those fixated on extractivism often neglect to point out that the reason 
for this can be found in the region’s history of imperialist domination. 
Progressive governments inherited economies that are deeply dependent on 
raw material exports because this is the role that colonial and 
imperialist countries have for centuries assigned to the region. 
Overcoming extractivism is therefore intertwined with overcoming 
imperialist control over the region’s economies.


Any genuine campaign against South American “extractivism”, particularly 
by solidarity activists in imperialist countries, must start by pointing 
the fingers at those truly responsible for extractivism in South 
America: imperialist governments and their transnational corporations.


The label “extractivist” also conceals the real differences between 
governments that do the bidding of transnationals and imperialist 
governments, and peoples’ governments trying to use their country’s 
resources to break imperialist dependency and improve living standards 
for the majority.


full: http://links.org.au/node/3859

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[Marxism] King of the monsters? | SocialistWorker.org

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Beyond the clumsiness of the film's nuclear politics, it relies on just 
a few too many coincidences and easy outs--like the fact that our hero 
just happens to be Naval lieutenant just back from a tour of duty whose 
expertise is in ordnance disposal (which comes in handy when you might 
have to deal with a nuclear warhead!)--and a few too many clichéd shots 
of the awe-struck faces of children witnessing disaster.


None of this makes Godzilla an awful movie--just one whose plot holes 
and failure to make use of its excellent cast keep it from being a truly 
epic summer blockbuster.


So if you want to be wowed by some very cool monsters and kaiju battle 
scenes, overlook the plot and give the newest Godzilla a shot. But then 
be sure to watch the original 1954 Japanese film (not the American 
reshoot starring Raymond Burr) and remember, as Annalee Newitz writes, 
that "the greatest kaiju who ever lived will never truly go away. As 
long as we face incomprehensibly huge disasters, we will need a metaphor 
as big as Godzilla to bring them to life."


full: http://socialistworker.org/2014/05/22/king-of-the-monsters

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[Marxism] Declaring independence from the 1 Percent | SocialistWorker.org

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://socialistworker.org/2014/05/21/independent-of-the-1-percet

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[Marxism] Irish Left Review | Ukrainian Marxists and Russian Imperialism 1918-1923: Prelude to the Present in Eastern Europe’s Ireland

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Ukrainians were ruled by Russia and experienced the coercive genocidal 
impulse behind Russian universalist Enlightenment rationalism from the 
horrors of 1708-12 and the 1820s (Arakcheev’s military colonies), to 
those of 1919-1949. They accordingly have a tradition of 
anti-colonialist thought, like all peoples who experienced modernization 
through domination, that is relevant to today’s events. This should be 
remembered today, when so many in the European  “democratic” and 
“anti-Stalinist” left, apparently ignorant of Russia’s colonial rule in 
Ukraine, condone instead of condemn Putin’s renewed  imperialism and its 
neo nazi fifth-column in Ukraine. This article reviews the little-known 
Ukrain­ian anti-colonialist Marxist critique of Russian tsarist and 
Bolshevik rule up to 1923. It summarizes some of the key ideas of 
Ukrainian Marxist anti-colonialist thinkers noting that they can be 
placed alongside men like Amilcar Cabral, Tan Malaka, Frantz Fanon and 
Aime Cesaire.


This article draws attention to the fact that although there is a 
Ukrainian Marxist revolutionary tradition behind the current 
anti-Russian struggle, there is no influential Ukrainian socialist party 
to speak of. There only exists the old soviet Communist Party of Ukraine 
(CPU), formed in 1918 as a sub-branch of the Russian Communist Party 
(RCP). This party was overwhelmingly non-Ukrainian in its ethnic 
composition until the 1950s and has always stood for Ukrainian 
subordination to and integration with the former imperial power – 
Russia.1 Today, because of its leaders’ opulent lifestyle and generous 
financial backing from politically pro Russian oligarchs, the CPU is 
popularly known as the Capitalist Party of Ukraine.  It supports Putin’s 
imperialism and the Russian Eurasianist neo-nazis.2
- See more at: 
http://www.irishleftreview.org/2014/05/23/ukrainian-marxists-russian-imperialism-19181923-prelude-present-eastern-europes-ireland/#comment-331313


full: 
http://www.irishleftreview.org/2014/05/23/ukrainian-marxists-russian-imperialism-19181923-prelude-present-eastern-europes-ireland/


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[Marxism] Right-left convergence? Phooey | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Maybe because unlike most leftists I actually went through the 
experience of being a conservative, the prospect of a right-left 
convergence leaves me cold. This project has been around for a long 
time, exemplified by Justin Raimondo’s antiwar.com. Since I remember all 
too well what an asshole I was back in 1960 as a 15-year-old member of 
the Young Americans for Freedom, my tendency is to avoid anybody with 
even a glancing similarity to what I once was, starting with the creepy 
Raimondo. There, but for the grace of god and immense peer pressure from 
Bard College classmates, go I.


http://louisproyect.org/2014/05/24/right-left-convergence-phooey/

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Re: [Marxism] re kavita krishan, keynote speaker at oz socialist alliance conference

[Shane Mage via Marxism]

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On May 24, 2014, at 12:00 PM, Duane Filan via Marxism wrote:
 'Kavita Krishnan is a leader of the Communist Party of India  
(Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.'


The only thing Krishan leads is a counter-revolutionary Maoist sect  
that embraces 'anti-imperialist' dictators.
The BJP won the election "in a landslide" thanks to all the  
Stalinists like her.


Landslide??? The fact is that the BJP won a mere 30 percent of the  
vote--ie., an overwhelming majority of Indian voters voted AGAINST the  
BJP.  Its lower-house majority is a pure artifact of the  
antidemocratic "first past the post" electoral system gifted to the  
Indian ruling classes by their former Anglo-Saxon overlords; and that  
it got even as much support as it did was because it  was among those  
benefitting from the overwhelming anti-Congress vote. The Maoists'  
ideological sins had nothing at all to do with that.




Shane Mage

"L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce  
qu'on a apporté."


Bardo Thodol






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[Marxism] LENIN'S TOMB: When the bourgeoisie goes fascist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Of course, Modi organises his support base around a fanatical 
personality cult - during the recent elections, he 'appeared' in dozens 
of towns and villages by projecting a 3d hologram of himself.  This 
isn't because he has personal charisma but because he effectively 
markets himself as a hard bastard who can 'get things done'.  This 
ideologeme of the 'Gujarat model' of capitalist development, which is 
entirely bullshit and hype as far as any claim to commanding growth 
goes, is very much linked to his reputation as a hard man.  For example, 
the boss of India's biggest business conglomerate, the Tata group, 
reports glowingly on how Modi facilitated the transfer of a car plant to 
the state of Gujarat within days.  He gives the impression of being a 
technocrat able to suppress and transcend the quarrelsome arguments and 
grasping hands of the parliamentary political machine, in order to 'get 
things done'.  So much the worse for troublesome minorities if he has to 
be a bit rough with them in the process.


And that seems to be why much of the business press admires him.  So 
what if the reasons they so admire him are inextricable from the reasons 
for his hitherto pariahdom?  This is the bourgeoisie we're talking 
about: they aren't known for being sentimental about mass murder.  That 
is why the rush to normalise and redeem him is on.  Mark The Economist 
ganting for Modi's open door to capital.  'He's a strongman, he'll knock 
some heads together, he'll get the country open for business again.' 
Hark at Fareed Zakaria gushing about India's "inspiring" election, 
creaming his pants for the alliance with American business.  Look at 
American politicians enthusing about his 'economic reforms'.  Witness 
Obama signalling the end of Modi's global pariah status by inviting him 
to the US despite the visa ban.


full: http://www.leninology.com/2014/05/when-bourgeoisie-goes-fascist.html

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[Marxism] Interviewed on Ukraine

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Yesterday I did an interview with Richard Estes on a public radio 
station in California. If you click the link for May 23, you will hear 
me rant.


http://library.kdvs.org/archive/view/show_id/2580

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[Marxism] re kavita krishan, keynote speaker at oz socialist alliance conference

[Duane Filan via Marxism]

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Hi
p boyle wrote 'Kavita Krishnan is a leader of the Communist Party of India 
(Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.' 

The only thing Krishan leads is a counter-revolutionary Maoist sect that 
embraces 'anti-imperialist' dictators.
The BJP won the election "in a landslide" thanks to all the Stalinists like her.
  
from wiki -'The CPI(ML) later split into pro- and ant- Lin Biao factions.  the 
anti-Lin Biao-group later became known as Communist Party of India 
(Marxist–Leninist) Liberation' 
CPI(ML) Lib protests US move to attack Syria
Tuesday, 10 September 2013 | PNS | BHUBANESWAR | in Bhubaneswar


"America’s plan to throttle democracy and freedom in Syria can’t be allowed" 
said CPI(ML) Liberation national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya

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[Marxism] Ukraine’s Stalled Rebellion by Tim Judah | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Until now one of the big questions in the east has been about Rinat 
Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, who is based in Donetsk and is said to 
employ up to 300,000 people. He owns coalmines, steel plants, and power 
stations. Until recently he made mild statements about Ukrainian unity 
but also kept channels open to the separatists, whom many actually 
thought he was financing. On May 19, however, Akhmetov came off the 
fence. He called his workers to rallies the next day, in which they 
watched a video of him saying the rebels were leading “a fight against 
the citizens of our region” or listened to speeches by their bosses 
saying that continued instability could lead to the end of their 
businesses and jobs.


I went to one these rallies in the fabulous, modern 52,500-seat stadium 
of Shaktar Donetsk, the local football team owned by Akmetov. Only about 
three hundred people had shown up, mostly employees of the team or boys 
from the team’s football academy who had been bussed in. It was evident 
that what Akmetov had meant as a show of force had been badly planned 
and was a flop. Nevertheless, the next day his company issued a 
statement saying that a million people had come out in support. It was 
science fiction, but I wonder if Akhmetov is surrounded by yes-men and 
believed it.


When I asked Vladimir Kipen, a Donetsk political scientist, about 
employees being forced to attend such rallies, he just chortled, “That 
is Donetsk, c’est la vie!” Donetsk, he said, was characterized by 
“feudal relationships” and in those terms “Akhmetov is lord.” Still, he 
said, “I see you are surprised that he has such power but can’t do 
anything. All Ukraine is surprised!” But, he added, Akhmetov had one 
card up his sleeve that he has not yet played. He has an armed security 
force that guards his plants, and if and when he chose to deploy that 
against the rebels, many thought he would easily defeat them. Meanwhile 
the rebels are trying to force Akhmetov to pay taxes to the Donetsk 
republic and, since he is resisting, they are talking of nationalizing 
his assets.


More than a month ago I met Olena Yemchenko, an artist, and her husband 
Artyom. I met her at a pro-Ukrainian rally. A couple of nights ago I 
went back to see them and their two boys. Artyom runs a company whose 
shops sell household goods and whose name translates as “Cozy Home.” 
When I first met Yemchenko she had a little Ukrainian flag on the 
dashboard of her car, which surprised me, in view of the current 
political climate. A few days later she told me that someone had smashed 
the back window of her car. I asked Artyom what he had been doing for 
the last month. The answer was that he had been exploring the 
possibility of moving to Kiev or the west or emigrating. “If I come back 
in year,” I asked, “what do you reckon the chances of you still being 
here are?” Without hesitation he answered: “Fifty-fifty.” That may be a 
fair assessment of whether there is still a chance of a peaceful 
settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.


full: 
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/may/23/ukraine-stalled-rebellion/


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[Marxism] "Lean-in" with working class women? "Sorry, I don't have the time"

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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http://coreyrobin.com/2014/05/24/these-housekeepers-asked-sheryl-sandberg-to-lean-in-with-them-what-happened-next-will-not-amaze-you/

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Re: [Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish - NYTimes.com

[DW via Marxism]

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I think both Louis and Clay make excellent and are not contradictory. I
think the same can be said of any Big Box/On line store as it relates to
small town America (or anywhere for that matter).

Amazon didn't start this. Barne's and Nobel did. Shortly after swallowing
NYC based Marboro Books, it expanded nationally. Both had large
brick-and-mortar stores in NYC. B&N was a 'cool' place to stop on lower 5th
avenue as it was "ginormous" and had 'everything'. It was a real NY
institution, like the Strand, for different reasons, is today.

B&N, simply by being a big box book store, put out *thousands* of
independent book sellers around the U.S. Those that remain either are niche
genre booksellers (sci-fi, antique, etc) or have very, very loyal customer
bases.

Now Amazon is doing to B&N what B&N did to Dalton (smaller book chains) and
the independents.

I suppose others such as bookfinders.com and abebooks.com, by offering
rarer books, are doing the same thing.

But I want to focus on Clay's point. I think he's 100% right. And this
harkens back to Andy Pollack's most excellent set of essays on something
called "B2B" software, or "Business to business" software that allows
manufacturing companies to completely remove the human element from
production decisions and inventory/parts control, from primary processing
to sales/distribution to the user/customer.

Andy noted (10 or more years ago??) that B2B allows for the "software basis
for socialism". I agreed with him then and I do so again now, in light of
Clay's comments about the 'model' for online distribution. When we talk
about the "administration of production and distribution" under socialism,
the various models that are set up by capitalism today, such as Amazon and,
brick-and-mortar big box stores like Home Depot and Costco show the vast
efficiencies in that can be achieved by lowering the labor power value in
this distribution.

Using my own family's shopping habits I can even see how instead of being
competitors doesn't necessarily mean the demise of one form of distribution
over another but allows choice (something that is hardly ever mentioned in
books on socialism except in the last chapters of Mandel's Introduction to
Marxist Economic Theory). We live in a suburb of San Francisco. We live
about 3 miles from every big box store imaginable, plus Trader Joe's and
SF's Alemeny Farmers Market. We shop at all 3 depending on what we want.
For bulk items or expensive tools, we go to a big box store like Loews or
Costco. For better quality *processed* foods we go to Trader Joe's and for
really good produce we go to the Farmers Market or the local workers Co-op,
Rainbow Grocery. We also go to the local Ace Hardware franchise for smaller
items in that vein.

Under socialism there is simply no reason that any of these distribution
forms would have to disappear. B2B software could be used even in the
smaller mom and pop brick-and-mortar stores as well as the big online
stores or box stores. B2B is used by Amazon and B&N's online store, in fact
their whole business model is organized around B2B. So can socialisms. The
*tools* exist to vastly increase efficiency and lower costs.

David

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[Marxism] A Response to Michael Kinsley by Glenn Greenwald - The Intercept

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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So let’s recap: The New York Times chose someone to review my book about 
the Snowden leaks who has a record of suggesting that journalists may be 
committing crimes when publishing information against the government’s 
wishes. That journalist then proceeded to strongly suggest that my 
prosecution could be warranted. Other prominent journalists —including 
the one who hosts Meet the Press–then heralded that review without 
noting the slightest objection to Kinsley’s argument.


Do I need to continue to participate in the debate over whether many 
U.S. journalists are pitifully obeisant to the U.S. government? Did they 
not just resolve that debate for me? What better evidence can that 
argument find than multiple influential American journalists standing up 
and cheering while a fellow journalist is given space in The New York 
Times to argue that those who publish information against the 
government’s wishes are not only acting immorally but criminally?


full: 
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/05/23/response-michael-kinsley/


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[Marxism] As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish - NYTimes.com

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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I don't consider myself well-versed enough in Marxist economic theory to 
be overly assertive about this, but it strikes me that Amazon 
exemplifies the irrationality of capitalism. Amazon has yet to show 
sizable profits but continues to destroy businesses left and right, from 
bookstores to publishing houses, from old time brick-and-mortar stores 
like Best Buy and Sears. Jeff Bezos's main inspiration is Walmart, a 
corporation that has hollowed out much of small town America. Every step 
made in the direction of achieving his ultimate goals seems to be one 
also calculated to pushing profits downwards.


---


http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/amazon-escalates-its-battle-against-hachette/

Amazon’s power over the publishing and bookselling industries is 
unrivaled in the modern era. Now it has started wielding its might in a 
more brazen way than ever before.


Seeking ever-higher payments from publishers to bolster its anemic 
bottom line, Amazon is holding books and authors hostage on two 
continents by delaying shipments and raising prices. The literary 
community is fearful and outraged — and practically begging for 
government intervention.


“How is this not extortion? You know, the thing that is illegal when the 
Mafia does it,” asked Dennis Loy Johnson of Melville House, echoing 
remarks being made across social media.


Amazon is, as usual, staying mum. “We talk when we have something to 
say,” Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive, said at the 
company’s annual meeting this week.


(clip)


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[Marxism] The real story of South Africa's national election | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://links.org.au/node/3845

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[Marxism] Between Two Rationalities: The Possibility of an Alternative Politics in Turkey

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(The HDP referred to below is a left social democratic party, the BDP a 
Kurdish rights party. Their alliance has attracted smaller, more radical 
groups. I may be wrong but it sounds like a promising development--a 
Turkish SYRIZA so to speak.)


The main supporters of the current government—mostly shopkeepers, 
small-scale manufacturers, and workers in precarious sectors with a low 
level of education—focus on the extent to which their daily needs and 
demands have been taken into consideration and met, rather than looking 
at the democratic procedures involved, the legality of the actions 
taken, or whether or not corruption was involved. The same supporters of 
the government remember very well the times before the AKP came to 
power, and that the laws and regulations of that era were the results of 
a very different mindset, the expressions of another social class. The 
bureaucracy of that state, with its corresponding media and judiciary, 
were under the control of this other class. In these preceding decades, 
corruption also used to be endemic, along with countless extra-legal 
executions; current supporters of the AKP have not forgotten how much 
they used to be ostracized and degraded. Let me emphasize this one more 
time: when we are talking about polarization, we are actually talking 
about two differing rationalities, two ways of experiencing the world, 
two divergent forms of subjectivity, two different affective economies, 
and finally, two different sources of legitimacy. In this context, it is 
imperative to draw attention to the political perspective of the 
Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP) as a way to overcome the stranglehold 
of this dichotomy.


From Revelation to Construction: The Possibility of Alternative Politics

The singular subjectivity of the HDP/BDP can be described by the 
confluence of the struggle for equality and freedom under the universal 
maxim “to claim my right is my prerogative,” and the concrete historical 
experience of social exclusion and deprivation of this right. While 
referencing similar precedents, the HDP/BDP counters the expectation to 
renounce its memory and abdicate its rights in the name of a fake social 
peace. Instead, the movement puts its voice and body unwaveringly into 
the public arena, and claiming the ground to mutually defend the rights 
of all. From the vantage point of sovereign codes, experiences, and ways 
of knowing, this voice may sound like “much ado about nothing.” 
Nevertheless, the HDP today is endeavoring to make its demands resonate 
on universal grounds while rendering them negotiable, and also to take 
other marginalized demands seriously by inviting the aggregation of the 
multitude on a wider basis.


full: 
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/17832/between-two-rationalities_the-possibility-of-an-al


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[Marxism] Interesting comment on Galeano on FB by Suren Moodliar

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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If anything, Galeano's alleged disavowal is a call for subtlety and 
careful analysis; the NYT's coverage of his remarks are anything but 
subtle and careful. It rests on these comments in the second para: 
'‘Open Veins’ tried to be a book of political economy, but I didn’t yet 
have the necessary training or preparation,” Mr. Galeano said last month 
while answering questions at a book fair in Brazil, where he was being 
honored on the 43rd anniversary of the book’s publication. He added: “I 
wouldn’t be capable of reading this book again; I’d keel over. For me, 
this prose of the traditional left is extremely leaden, and my physique 
can’t tolerate it.”' Fair enough! Later Galeano goes on to assert 
correctly I think, '“Reality is much more complex precisely because the 
human condition is diverse. Some political sectors close to me thought 
such diversity was a heresy. Even today, there are some survivors of 
this type who think that all diversity is a threat.


Fortunately, it is not.”' Anyone familiar with "political sectors close 
to [him]" will recognize that there used to a strong current that 
defined the working class and peasantry very narrowly and also dismissed 
the agency of women, indigenous people, Afro-latinos, gays and lesbians, 
many strata of the so-called middle class. And, of course, Galaeno is 
right, this diversity is anything but a threat to the left. For this 
reason, the Times has to concede, "But Mr. Galeano described himself as 
still very much a man of the left, and on other occasions he has praised 
the experiments in social democracy underway for the last decade in his 
own country, as well as in Brazil and Chile." [not-quite-an-aside: It 
should also be noted that his remarks on Venezuela, far from attacking 
Hugo Chavez's govt. are parodying of the opposition, calling Venezuela a 
"strange dictatorship [with] strange democrats" noting the government's 
electoral legitimacy and opposition's disproportionate access to mass 
media - 
http://aristeguinoticias.com/0603/mundo/debate-por-hugo-chavez-mario-vargas-llosa-y-eduardo-galeano/]. 



Galeano's choice of the word "survivors" is interesting when referring 
that part of he errant left close to him. After all, that left came 
under blistering physical attack in the 70s and well into the 80s. Their 
dogmatism may be unacceptable, but it is also understandable. That total 
assault on left happened at time Galeano wrote his book and continued 
into the intervening decades. None of that history is to be found in the 
NYT's account. Ironic absence in an article about a man for whom 
historical memory and amnesia are everything. For an entirely more 
interesting recent encounter with Galeano, read this interview by Gary 
Younge - 
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/23/eduardo-galeano-children-days-interview 
It includes this Galeano-ism: "History never really says goodbye," he 
says. "History says, see you later." Heed that New York Times! h/t Dan 
DiMaggio and Louis N. Proyect for sharing the NYT piece.




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[Marxism] Who represents Bolivia's highland indigenous peoples?

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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Bolivian indigenous group the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of
Qullasuyu (CONAMAQ) made headlines this year with its threats to blockade
the Dakar rally when it passed through Bolivia's highlands region.

This was not the first time that the group caught the attention of the
world’s media. Leaders of CONAMAQ have been regularly quoted in the media
due to their outspoken criticism of the government of president Evo Morales
― Bolivia's first indigenous head of state.

The articles frequently describe CONAMAQ as “the main indigenous
organisation in Bolivia's highlands”.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56536

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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[Marxism] India: Modi's real agenda is anti-people

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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*Kavita Krishnan* has become a well-known international spokesperson for
the movement against sexual violence in India that grew after a horrific,
internationally-publicised, gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012.

She is the national secretary of the All India Progressive Women's
Association and a leader of the Communist Party of India―Marxist-Leninist
(CPI-ML) Liberation. The party won more than 1 million votes, but failed to
win any seats in the elections in India. The right-wing Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, won in a landslide.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56534

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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