Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New Yorker

[Mark Lause via Marxism]

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There was a very telling exchange at one point where MSNBC was interviewing
Jill Stein.  The script centered on her visit to Moscow (a dunderheaded
idea), but stein pointed out all the myriad ways in which the system
(including the "liberal media") stacked the deck in Trump's favor.

The commentator cut her off with the comment, "yes, but what we're
discussing here is Russia."

If we consider Putin that the oligarchs as part of the same game that the
oligarchs here at home play with electoral politics, it's quite possible to
see both the decisive role of Russia in tilting the election and the way
that this is used as a distraction from the broader questions about the
game itself.

I think we should condemn Putin for his role in stealing the election
process as thoroughly as we should condemn the Koch brothers and others
who've regularly done the same thing.
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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New Yorker

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 9/25/18 8:41 PM, Chris Slee wrote:
because it seemed relevant to my argument ("All this talk about Russian 
interference in the election is a distraction. It diverts attention, not 
only from the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, but 
also from the undemocratic nature of the US political system").


Here's the problem. Most of the people on the left writing along these 
lines about Russiagate being a distraction (Max Blumenthal, Stephen F. 
Cohen, Glenn Greenwald) are *for* Putin. What they do is correctly point 
out the real cause of Clinton's defeat (her crappy campaign, ties to 
Wall St., bellicose foreign policy) at the same time they take Putin and 
Assad's side on every major issue. Blum, arguably, is the worst of them 
with his open anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, support for Assad, etc. I 
understand that Chris Slee is not that familiar with American politics 
but William Blum is toxic, a UNZ Review type that should not be cited as 
an expert on anything. I say that as someone who wrote favorably about 
him over 20 years ago: 
http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/fascism_and_war/william_blum.htm

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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump

[Jason Hicks via Marxism]

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> On Sep 25, 2018, at 10:26 AM, Anthony Boynton  
> wrote:
> 
> In response to Jason: A short list of the political reasons not to vote for 
> the Democrats were listed in my post. You could start with fracking, continue 
> with the deporter in chief, go on to drones...
> 
> If you think these are issues of individualistic moral analysis, it only 
> shows that you do not understand which side you are on. That would make you 
> one of the majority for now. 

The issues themselves aren't individualistic, responding by not voting for 
Democrats simply because of those issues is.
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[Marxism] "Europe finally has an excuse to challenge the dollar"

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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From Bloomberg.com, an article about a new international "special purpose
(financial) vehicle" to get around US sanctions on Iran.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-25/europe-finally-has-an-excuse-to-challenge-the-dollar
They write: "With more and more European companies fleeing Iran
 following
the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions, it may be tempting for Americans to
write off Europe’s efforts to save the Iran nuclear deal. It would be wiser
to resist the temptation. A new plan by Germany, France, Britain, China and
Russia to create special financial infrastructure to work with Iran could
be a credible challenge to the U.S. dollar’s long global dominance. "


The previous idiot-masquerading-as-president, AKA George Bush, thought that
US imperialism didn't need allies. He and his fellow neoconservatives
thought that the fact that no military could stand up to US military
domination was the end of the story. So they sent their troops into Iraq,
assured of victory. It turned out to be a disaster for them and for US
imperialism and vastly hastened the decline in power of US imperialism.

Trump's mode of thinking is similar: US economic and financial domination
is so complete that he can impose his will on all the US allies as far as
sanctions on Iran. But as this article points out, US domination - through
the universal role of the dollar - must inevitably decline anyway. Trump's
imposition of sanctions on Iran, his forcing of other countries and of
various companies to observe these sanctions, simply is hastening the day
of this inevitable decline.

Once the domination of the dollar ends, then we will see real chaos as the
different imperialist powers jockey for position. It will be exactly in
such a situation that a new world war will tend to develop. This doesn't
mean that we should support the global domination of the dollar, which
simply means the global domination of US imperialism. (It would be
pointless since it's already in irreversible decline.) It means that the
only alternative is international socialist revolution. Sounds scary, but
the alternative is scarier still!

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Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New Yorker

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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Louis Proyect says:


"I don't see how anybody in their right mind would find William Blum
credible at this point. In fact, I am disappointed that CounterPunch
would publish his crap."


I am not familiar with the writings of William Blum.  I just quoted his 
statement  - "Even if you assumed that all the charges made about “Russian 
interfering in the elections” were true, and put them all together, they still 
wouldn’t have a fraction of the impact on the 2016 elections as did Republicans 
in several states by disenfranchising likely Democratic voters (blacks, poor, 
students, people in largely Democratic districts), by purging state voting 
lists" - because it seemed relevant to my argument ("All this talk about 
Russian interference in the election is a distraction.  It diverts attention, 
not only from the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, but also 
from the undemocratic nature of the US political system").


Is Blum's claim about Republicans "disenfranchising likely Democratic voters" 
correct?  If so, I think it should be given more attention than claims of 
Russian influence.


Chris Slee


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[Marxism] Funny Iranian Short Film: The Slap - YouTube

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0WaUdiYBwg
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[Marxism] Post-Reconciliation - Breaking Ghouta – Atlantic Council

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org/breakingghouta/post-reconciliation/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Video of the celebration of Fred Feldman's life

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Hello everybody,

As you probably know, our dear friend and comrade Fred Feldman passed 
away a month ago today, August 25.  Last Saturday there was a memorial 
meeting celebrating his life.  It was held here in Manhattan, at the 
home of Helen Schiff and Rick Congress.


We knew Fred had many friends around the country who would want to see 
and hear the event, so we asked the “movement videographer” Joe Friendly 
to video it, and he did.  The YouTube link to the video is:


https://youtu.be/nn4qg5iZ-E0

If you know others who you want to share it with, please do so.  (And 
those of you who receive the link more than once will please forgive the 
duplication.)


As you know, Fred was a prolific writer who wrote on a huge range of 
political issues.  I am also attaching something John Riddell produced, 
which he calls “the skeleton of a Fred Feldman bibliography.” [Sorry, we 
can't send attachments to the list. Contact me directly for a copy.]


Cliff Conner

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[Marxism] China and the Uyghurs | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://louisproyect.org/2018/09/25/china-and-the-uyghurs/
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[Marxism] What has happened to Britain's ruling class? | Richard Seymour on Patreon

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.patreon.com/posts/what-has-to-21641230
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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New Yorker

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 9/25/18 4:41 PM, Chris Slee wrote:

All this talk about Russian interference in the election is a distraction.  It 
diverts attention, not only from the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton and the 
Democrats, but also from the undemocratic nature of the US political system.  
As William Blum says:

"Even if you assumed that all the charges made about “Russian interfering in the 
elections” were true, and put them all together, they still wouldn’t have a fraction of 
the impact on the 2016 elections as did Republicans in several states by disenfranchising 
likely Democratic voters (blacks, poor, students, people in largely Democratic 
districts), by purging state voting lists."

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/24/the-new-iraq-wmd-russian-interference-in-us-elections/


I don't see how anybody in their right mind would find William Blum 
credible at this point. In fact, I am disappointed that CounterPunch 
would publish his crap.


In 2016, he recommended that his readers get the other side of the story 
on the holocaust:


Holocaust Deniers
It’s easier to deny the existence of God than to deny the existence of 
certain aspects of the Holocaust. And not as dangerous. In Europe 
“denying the Holocaust” is illegal in 14 countries.


Ken Meyercord, who lives in Virginia, has long been a researcher of this 
phenomenon. He writes that the debate over the Holocaust boils down to 
three principal issues:


--How many died?

--Was the “Final Solution” really an extermination plan or was it a plan 
to deport Europe’s Jews?


--Were there actually gas chambers?

--He’s prepared an 11-page e-pamphlet on the subject, “Did the Holocaust 
really happen the way we’ve been told?” It can be obtained by emailing 
iconoh...@gmail.com.


https://williamblum.org/aer/read/142

In 2009, the Washington Post profiled Ken Meyercord:

"I believe millions of Jews were uprooted from their homes and died in 
droves," Meyercord said. But he dismisses as Allied propaganda the 
assertion that Nazi Germany embarked on a mission to annihilate European 
Jews, a plan known as the Final Solution. He also denies that Nazis used 
gas chambers to murder Jews, saying gas chambers did not exist, and 
expresses skepticism that the number of Holocaust victims reached 6 million.


--

Furthermore, Blum is still writing the kind of shit that appears on UNZ 
Review. Here's a 2017 Tweet:


“Jewish Power is the capacity to silence the debate on Jewish Power.” – 
@GiladAtzmon https://williamblum.org/aer/read/146


---

Before this anti-Semitism shit cropped up, which is not that widely 
known, he wrote the kind of Islamophobic stuff that you hear from the 
Trump administration. Here he is after an Islamic State-inspired attack 
in Nice, France:


"The Islamic teachings I refer to are not necessarily explicitly 
mentioned in the Koran or any other sacred texts, nor have any 
connection to actual historical events of the 7th through the 21st 
centuries, but rather are an imbedded part of the atmosphere surrounding 
a young person growing up in a Muslim culture or environment. This 
atmosphere, this education, this culture must be severely curtailed."


https://louisproyect.org/2016/07/24/bill-blum-channels-donald-trump/

No wonder he wants the press to leave Trump alone. He is the "leftist" 
version of Tucker Carlson.



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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New Yorker

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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All this talk about Russian interference in the election is a distraction.  It 
diverts attention, not only from the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton and the 
Democrats, but also from the undemocratic nature of the US political system.  
As William Blum says:

"Even if you assumed that all the charges made about “Russian interfering in 
the elections” were true, and put them all together, they still wouldn’t have a 
fraction of the impact on the 2016 elections as did Republicans in several 
states by disenfranchising likely Democratic voters (blacks, poor, students, 
people in largely Democratic districts), by purging state voting lists."

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/24/the-new-iraq-wmd-russian-interference-in-us-elections/

Blum also notes:

"Noam Chomsky has pointed out that Israeli intervention in US elections “vastly 
overwhelms” anything Russia has done. Israeli leader Netanyahu goes directly to 
speak to Congress without even consulting the president."

This does not mean we shouldn't criticise Russia.  If there is evidence that 
Russia spread reactionary propaganda to help Trump, this should be condemned.

But we should keep a sense of proportion. The US ruling class, not Russia, is 
mainly to blame for the election result.

Chris Slee






From: Marxism  on behalf of Louis Proyect 
via Marxism 
Sent: Monday, 24 September 2018 10:17 PM
To: Chris Slee
Subject: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New 
Yorker

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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/how-russia-helped-to-swing-the-election-for-trump
[https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ba3ec4f674a1371fe8d4e43/16:9/w_1200,h_630,c_limit/181001_r32888.jpg]

How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump | The New 
...
www.newyorker.com
Jane Mayer on a meticulous analysis of online activity during the 2016 campaign 
that makes a powerful case that targeted cyberattacks by hackers and trolls 
were decisive.



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[Marxism] Financial Times: Peking University threatens to close down Marxism society

[Red Arnie via Marxism]

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I saw this article via URPE mail. Sorry if it’s been posted here already.

Financial Times,
Peking University threatens to close down Marxism society

https://www.ft.com/content/ccab09aa-bdc2-11e8-8274-55b72926558f

In solidarity
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[Marxism] [UCE] Trump's UN Speech

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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In today's speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump promised increased
tensions with China and a possible war against Iran. Most significant,
though, were his attacks on "socialism" and his attempts to shore up his
base at home. This last consisted of his appeals to ethnic nationalism, the
same ideology that a resurgent fascist movement bases itself on. One
problem is that some socialists also tend in that direction too.

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/09/25/trump-speaks-at-un-general-assembly/

-- 
*“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
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Re: [Marxism] lesser evilism/"progressive Except on Palestine" in Texas Senate race

[A.R. G via Marxism]

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Having corresponded with Haithem, who was also active in the Standing Rock
protests, I don't for a second doubt the sincerity of his and Nada's
condemnations of Beto's lapse on Palestine.

I note, however, that Beto was never supposed to be a revolutionary
candidate. His candidacy is buoyed by the fact that serious abuses are
taking place within/at the border of his state, that he is trying to unseat
a particularly repugnant Republican, and that he is, at the very least,
*less* supportive of Israel than Cruz. Moreover, even the other candidates
that are supposedly sympathetic to Palestine have caved. This isn't a Beto
problem, it's an America problem. If leftists did not expect anything from
these people they'd be presently surprised.



Amith R. Gupta

On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 12:54 PM, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> *
>
> With “Team Beto’s” letter being so extreme, and likely a form letter sent
> to anyone asking O’Rourke about his views on Palestine, the debate is
> naturally very intense in Texas—O’Rourke is running against Ted Cruz, and
> has a chance to win.   The consensus seems to be that progressives should
> of course vote for the opponent to Cruz, regardless of that opponent’s
> views on the one issue of Palestine.
>
> But as we approach a turning point, with electoral victories that will
> hopefully weaken the current administration’s grip on the nation, it is
> absolutely critical that we  keep in mind all the damage that centrist
> Democrats have done, long before Trump ascended to power. We must not
> forget how uncomfortable we were with the Obama Administration, which waged
> wars on many countries, and bailed out the 1%.  We must keep in mind how
> much we disliked Hillary Clinton, not because she is a feminist, but
> because she is a neo-liberal imperialist whose feminism is restricted to
> the 1%.
>
> And so, as it comes down to O’Rourke vs. Cruz, the choice may well be
> obvious to some.  Others, however, feel differently, namely, they feel that
> a “lesser evil” is still evil, and is what has led us to the present
> dystopia.  There are enough of us who are so thoroughly disenchanted with
> the system that we will not vote for “Progressives for Israel,” even if we
> support their positions on other issues.   Indeed, El-Zabri has posted an
> Open
> Letter  10155410992137131?__tn__=K-R> in
> which he responds to O’Rourke’s problematic letter, taking him to task over
> his opposition to BDS—a particularly problematic one as O’Rourke rightly
> supports taking a knee during the US national anthem.  “Efforts to boycott
> or delegitimize Israel are constitutionally protected forms of free
> speech,” El-Zabri informs O’Rourke, adding, “So you’re willing to stifle
> free speech and compromise our own constitution in order to shield a
> foreign country from legitimate criticism of the crimes that it commits?”
>
> https://mondoweiss.net/2018/09/orourke-progressives-support/
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[Marxism] Russia’s gives Syria S-300 Air Defence System

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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https://www.juancole.com/2018/09/russias-relationship-defence.html
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[Marxism] lesser evilism/"progressive Except on Palestine" in Texas Senate race

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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With “Team Beto’s” letter being so extreme, and likely a form letter sent
to anyone asking O’Rourke about his views on Palestine, the debate is
naturally very intense in Texas—O’Rourke is running against Ted Cruz, and
has a chance to win.   The consensus seems to be that progressives should
of course vote for the opponent to Cruz, regardless of that opponent’s
views on the one issue of Palestine.

But as we approach a turning point, with electoral victories that will
hopefully weaken the current administration’s grip on the nation, it is
absolutely critical that we  keep in mind all the damage that centrist
Democrats have done, long before Trump ascended to power. We must not
forget how uncomfortable we were with the Obama Administration, which waged
wars on many countries, and bailed out the 1%.  We must keep in mind how
much we disliked Hillary Clinton, not because she is a feminist, but
because she is a neo-liberal imperialist whose feminism is restricted to
the 1%.

And so, as it comes down to O’Rourke vs. Cruz, the choice may well be
obvious to some.  Others, however, feel differently, namely, they feel that
a “lesser evil” is still evil, and is what has led us to the present
dystopia.  There are enough of us who are so thoroughly disenchanted with
the system that we will not vote for “Progressives for Israel,” even if we
support their positions on other issues.   Indeed, El-Zabri has posted an Open
Letter  in
which he responds to O’Rourke’s problematic letter, taking him to task over
his opposition to BDS—a particularly problematic one as O’Rourke rightly
supports taking a knee during the US national anthem.  “Efforts to boycott
or delegitimize Israel are constitutionally protected forms of free
speech,” El-Zabri informs O’Rourke, adding, “So you’re willing to stifle
free speech and compromise our own constitution in order to shield a
foreign country from legitimate criticism of the crimes that it commits?”

https://mondoweiss.net/2018/09/orourke-progressives-support/
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Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump

[Anthony Boynton via Marxism]

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In response to Jason: A short list of the political reasons not to vote for
the Democrats were listed in my post. You could start with fracking,
continue with the deporter in chief, go on to drones...

If you think these are issues of individualistic moral analysis, it only
shows that you do not understand which side you are on. That would make you
one of the majority for now.

Anthony

On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 5:20 AM Jason Hicks  wrote:

>
>
> > On Sep 24, 2018, at 7:50 PM, Anthony Boynton via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
> >
> > On one level things would have been decidedly different. The Democrats
> > complicity and agreement with, and even leadership of, many of the
> policies
> > now labelled with Trump’s name would be much harder to hide, so the
> growing
> > split and crisis in the Democratic Party would be much greater.
>
> An extremely important point and a key reason that voting for Democrats
> does not equate to political capitulation unless one has some kind of
> individualistic moral analysis rather than a political one.
_
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[Marxism] The Republican party is about to face the wrath of women | LA Kauffman | Opinion | The Guardian

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/25/republican-party-face-wrath-women
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[Marxism] Hotel Workers Fret Over a New Rival: Alexa at the Front Desk

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Creative destruction? No, just destruction.)

NY Times, Sept. 25, 2018
Hotel Workers Fret Over a New Rival: Alexa at the Front Desk
By Eduardo Porter

The bosses haven’t yet introduced facial recognition technology at the 
Royal Hawaiian Hotel. But from her perch behind the front desk at the 
pink neo-Moorish palace overlooking Waikiki Beach, Jean Te’o-Gibney can 
see it coming.


“Marriott just rolled it out in China,” enabling guests to check into 
their rooms without bothering with front-desk formalities, said Ms. 
Te’o-Gibney, a 53-year-old grandmother of seven. “It seems they know 
they will be eliminating our jobs.”


Similar fears simmer throughout Marriott’s vast network of hotels, the 
largest in the United States. Over the last two weeks, Ms. Te’o-Gibney 
and thousands of other Marriott workers — cooks and cashiers, bellhops 
and housekeepers — have voted to authorize their union, Unite Here, to 
strike at dozens of locations from Waikiki to Boston and San Diego to 
Detroit.


Alongside the usual demands for higher wages and better workplace 
safety, the union is bringing another issue to the table, asking for 
procedures to protect workers affected by new technologies and the 
innovations they spur.


“You are not going to stop technology,” said Unite Here’s president, D. 
Taylor. “The question is whether workers will be partners in its 
deployment or bystanders that get run over by it.”


Unlike manufacturing workers, whose jobs have been lost to automation 
since as far back as the 1950s, workers in the low-wage portion of the 
service sector had remained until now largely shielded from job-killing 
technologies.


Many earned too little to justify large capital costs to replace them. A 
typical hotel or motel desk clerk earns just over $12 an hour, according 
to government data; a concierge just over $13.50. And many of the tasks 
they perform seemed too challenging to automate. Technology is changing 
this calculus.


There is no equivalent measure on the penetration of software systems 
like Alexa or touch screens in the workplace. But in 2014, automakers in 
the United States had 117 robots for every 1,000 workers, according to 
research by the economists Daron Acemoglu of the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology and Pascual Restrepo of Boston University. In service 
businesses, there were virtually none.


But with advances in machine learning and other innovations in 
information technology, many service jobs are now potentially in 
jeopardy. Compared with manufacturing, the investment needed to automate 
some tasks in the hotel sector — like front desk or concierge services — 
is likely to be relatively low.


Maria Mendiola, a concierge at the San Jose Marriott, frets that 
Amazon’s agreement to deploy its Echo device in hotel rooms across 
Marriott’s properties will eventually make her position pointless. 
“Alexa might do my job in the future,” she said.


At the Sheraton Waikiki, next to the Royal Hawaiian, cashiers at the 
beachside lounge worry about a newly deployed computer system that will 
allow servers to close out their own checks — making cashiers redundant.


There are automatic dishwashers on the market; machines to flip burgers 
and mix cocktails; robots to deliver room service or help guests book a 
restaurant reservation.


New technologies are reconfiguring the workplace in other ways. Doormen 
are losing tips as guests turn to Uber and Lyft instead of regular 
taxis. So are bellhops when guests use Seamless, a food-delivery app, 
instead of room service.


How many jobs will technology take out? Hoteliers have yet to figure out 
how guests will react to a more tech-heavy experience. A Marriott 
spokeswoman said in a statement that the chain was not deploying 
technology to eliminate jobs but was “personalizing the guest experience 
and enhancing the stay.”


Cliff Atkinson, senior vice president for hospitality at MGM Resorts, 
said new technologies had changed job descriptions at properties across 
his chain but had not eliminated jobs. Front-desk clerks displaced by 
automated check-in kiosks are deployed as “lobby ambassadors” or concierges.


Still, history suggests that the most powerful motivation to deploy new 
technologies has been the opportunity to reduce labor costs. From 1993 
to 2007, Professors Acemoglu and Restrepo estimated, each new robot cut 
5.6 jobs and reduced wages by 0.5 percent.


As technology gets better and cheaper, there are lots of new tasks it 
could take over. “It is a new, uncharted area for our company and our 
industry as a whole,” Mr. Atkinson said. “We have talked about one or 
two brands being fully automated and

[Marxism] U.K.’s Labour Party Lurches Sharply Left on Economy

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Those expecting the Democratic Party to come up with something like 
this after electing a majority of Sandernistas are just kidding 
themselves. Labour is capable of taking such a left turn because of its 
institutional roots in the labor movement. Even tainted by Fabianism, it 
is nothing like the party that rested on slavery and Jim Crow for over a 
century.)


NY Times, Sept. 25, 2018
U.K.’s Labour Party Lurches Sharply Left on Economy
By Stephen Castle

LIVERPOOL, England — Britain’s opposition Labour Party laid out a 
blueprint on Monday for a sharp leftward turn in economic policy, 
gambling on the readiness of voters for a big expansion of the state’s 
role in the economy.


“The greater the mess we inherit, the more radical we have to be,” the 
party’s economic spokesman, John McDonnell, told Labour’s annual 
conference in Liverpool to loud applause.


Under the plan, firms with 250 employees or more would set aside a 10th 
of their shares for their workers, 10.7 million in all, who would 
receive up to $650 a year in dividends. Mr. McDonnell also proposed 
nationalizing critical utilities, giving a third of the seats on company 
boards to workers and making firms prove that they paid their rightful 
share of tax.


Labour’s economic agenda has surprised some with its boldness and put 
the party on a collision course with business groups. But that is 
unlikely to faze a leadership that says it is rediscovering the party’s 
socialist roots and believes that voters will trust a left-wing agenda 
to redress some of the failings of a decade marked by stagnating real 
wages and poor productivity growth.


Mr. McDonnell even joked about his reputation as a left-wing firebrand, 
referring to recent comments by the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the 
archbishop of Canterbury, calling for a more inclusive form of capitalism.


“Just a few words of advice though, archbishop,” Mr. McDonnell said. 
“When they get around to calling you a Marxist, I’ll give you some tips 
on how to handle it.”


Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s most left-wing leader for decades, the 
party performed better than many expected in a general election last 
year, depriving Prime Minister Theresa May of her parliamentary 
majority. In most opinion surveys, Labour is now a few percentage points 
behind Mrs. May’s Conservative Party, which is so divided over plans for 
Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, that there is 
speculation that another election could be called soon.


Labour’s conference has been overshadowed by pressure on the leadership 
from members and unions to endorse a second referendum on Brexit. But 
Mr. McDonnell suggested that even if there were to be a new vote, it 
might not give voters the choice to remain in the European Union. Later, 
Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, contradicted Mr. 
McDonnell, saying the party was not ruling options out, including that 
of a second referendum with “remain” on the ballot.


Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Corbyn prefer to talk about an economic agenda 
designed to roll back the austerity politics of the last decade — 
policies that have helped move Labour to the left of the social 
democratic positions it adopted under the previous Labour leaders, Tony 
Blair, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband.


“The balance of power at work has been tipped against the worker,” Mr. 
McDonnell said. “The result is long hours, low productivity, low pay and 
the insecurity of zero-hours contracts,” which let companies decide from 
day to day how much paid work, if any, an employee receives.


Promising to press ahead with nationalization, Mr. McDonnell identified 
water and sewerage companies as the first targets, saying that 
shareholders would be compensated with bonds. While most staff members 
would keep the same jobs, those of senior executives and directors would 
be filled at significantly reduced salaries. Energy utilities and postal 
and rail services would also be nationalized.


His other big proposal would apply to companies with more than 250 
workers, who would transfer 1 percent of their shares each year to 
“inclusive ownership funds” that would ultimately control 10 percent of 
the stock.


Business groups were unimpressed. “With Labour’s current proposals, the 
fallout for the U.K., its workers and customers would be a drop in 
living standards,” said Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the 
Confederation of British Industry.


“At a time of great uncertainty, this is no way to build the foundations 
of competitiveness and productivity that will improve people’s lives,” 
she added.


Stephen Martin, director general of the Institute of Directors, s

[Marxism] A Senate Candidate’s Image Shifted. Did Her Life Story?

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(After a Green Party leftist joined the Democratic Party, she turned 
into a Blue Dog Democrat. An object lesson in the futility of operating 
in a party that rewards opportunism.)


NY Times, Sept. 25, 2018
A Senate Candidate’s Image Shifted. Did Her Life Story?
By Jonathan Martin

PHOENIX — When Kyrsten Sinema began her rise in Arizona politics in the 
early 2000s, she was a Ralph Nader supporter and local spokeswoman for 
the Green Party who worked to repeal the death penalty and organized 
antiwar protests after the Sept. 11 attacks.


But today, as the Democratic nominee for Senate from Arizona in one of 
the most pivotal races in the country, Ms. Sinema is campaigning as an 
altogether different person. While she is now a three-term member of 
Congress, Ms. Sinema is running as much on her biography — her three 
years spent homeless as a child — as on any issue. She is using that 
personal hardship to project grit and distinguish herself from “most 
people in politics,” as she says.


This emphasis on her life story has had a dual effect: It has 
highlighted her lack of a strong political identity and it has drawn 
scrutiny to her story of homelessness and some contradictory elements in it.


Ms. Sinema’s evolution reflects a calculation about what it takes to 
prevail statewide in Arizona, which has not elected a Democrat to the 
Senate since 1988. And it is a strategy that has put her in a 
competitive position against Representative Martha McSally, her 
Republican opponent, as they seek to replace Senator Jeff Flake and 
Democrats try to upend the current one-seat G.O.P. majority in the Senate.


To the frustration of many Arizona progressives, Ms. Sinema has shifted 
from a firebrand — she told The Arizona Republic in 2003 “that the real 
Saddam and Osama lovers were Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush” — to 
membership in the congressional Blue Dog Coalition, the most 
conservative group of House Democrats. Last year, she joined a small 
group of Democrats to back a bill that was promoted by President Trump 
and named for a woman killed by an undocumented immigrant, which would 
significantly stiffen penalties on migrants who illegally re-enter the 
country.


In her current race, Ms. Sinema holds up Senator Joe Manchin III, a 
centrist Democrat from West Virginia, as one of her role models; goes to 
lengths to avoid criticizing Mr. Trump; and is focusing on priorities 
for veterans and law enforcement. She has featured her 
Marine-turned-police-officer stepbrother in one ad; another shows 
machine gun-equipped helicopters, aircraft carriers and images of troops 
high-fiving. “Security and strength,” the announcer intones, “whatever 
it takes.”


“What she’s always been is not a centrist or a bold progressive but an 
opportunist,” said Tomas Robles, an immigration activist who said Ms. 
Sinema would not meet with his group. “She’s very smart about what the 
political climate is and where she wants to make her next move.”


Her careful positioning was on display recently when — unlike every 
other Democrat in Arizona’s congressional delegation — she refused to 
back her party’s nominee for governor, David Garcia. Ms. Sinema is 
uneasy about being identified with Mr. Garcia because he has taken a far 
more liberal approach to immigration issues than she has, Arizona 
Democrats said.


The 42-year-old lawmaker’s metamorphosis began when, after a failed bid 
for the state legislature as a Green Party-aligned independent 
candidate, she won a statehouse seat as a Democrat in 2004. In the state 
Capitol, she began working with Republicans and found success — and 
attention — by forging bipartisan coalitions.


“We were both pretty progressive, but she learned along the way that to 
get things done you have to work across party lines and find common 
ground,” said David Lujan, a former Arizona House Democratic leader and 
a close friend of Ms. Sinema. He cited her ability to reach out to 
conservatives as part of a strategy that she devised to sink a 2006 
ballot measure to define marriage as between a man and a woman.


Lauren Kuby, a liberal city councilwoman in Tempe, emphasized that Ms. 
Sinema is “a solid progressive” on many issues. But Ms. Kuby was blunt 
about what was behind the evolution.


“Kyrsten has always had her eyes on a larger electorate,” she said, 
acknowledging “the driver being ambition.”


Ms. Sinema herself has acknowledged her changing approach. In her 2009 
book, “Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win and Last,” 
she argued that pragmatism was necessary to make progressive gains.


But with few major legislative accomplishments to her record, both 

Re: [Marxism] How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump

[Jason Hicks via Marxism]

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> On Sep 24, 2018, at 7:50 PM, Anthony Boynton via Marxism 
>  wrote:
> 
> On one level things would have been decidedly different. The Democrats
> complicity and agreement with, and even leadership of, many of the policies
> now labelled with Trump’s name would be much harder to hide, so the growing
> split and crisis in the Democratic Party would be much greater.

An extremely important point and a key reason that voting for Democrats does 
not equate to political capitulation unless one has some kind of 
individualistic moral analysis rather than a political one.
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[Marxism] Author discusses new book about history of black activist challenges to the Ivy League

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/09/25/author-discusses-new-book-about-history-black-activist-challenges-ivy-league
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[Marxism] More momentum on the banks | Michael Roberts Blog

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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At the weekend, I participated in a session on what to do about the 
banks at the Momentum conference (The World Transformed) in Liverpool, 
England.  For those readers who do not know what Momentum is, it is a 
campaigning group within the British Labour Party that supports more 
radical measures in favour of labour and backs the current leftist 
leadership in the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn.  The Momentum 
conference takes place alongside that of the official Labour Party 
Conference and complements it with debates, discussions and events.


https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/more-momentum-on-the-banks/
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Re: [Marxism] Leon Trotsky: Is It Possible to Fix a Definite Schedule for a Counter-Revolution or a Revolution? (September 1923)

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 9/24/18 10:57 PM, Jon Flanders via Marxism wrote:

The same would hold for a revolution.


Except that Trotsky was in Russia, not in Germany. As will be apparent 
when I post the chapter in Angless on "Preparing for a Revolution", the 
CP's leader Brandler was not only absolutely opposed to the scheme but 
felt himself incapable of leading such a revolution. That's why the 1923 
revolution was stillborn and left the CP looking incompetent. In 
preparing notes introducing the Angress chapter, I will be investigating 
how Trotsky viewed the 1923 fiasco. My guess is that he did not take 
responsibility for his own poor judgement.

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[Marxism] How U.S. Strategists View the Syrian Revolution

[RKOB via Marxism]

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*/Revealing Insights from some Documents of the U.S. Military 
Intelligence Establishment/*


https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/how-u-s-strategists-view-the-syrian-revolution/ 



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