Re: [Marxism] [pen-l] Fwd: Is a Controversial Nuclear Plant to Blame for Soaring Thyroid Cancer Rates in New York?

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I've read the back and forth on this issue with interest.

The main problem, as I see it, is the near impossibility of "proving" any
environmental causes of any disease or of birth defects according to modern
scientific standards of proof. That's because such proof is based on
controlled experiments, where all factors but one can be controlled or
precisely manipulated. That approach was a huge step forward at the time it
was developed, just as the social system that it was based on - capitalism
- was a step forward. However, I think that the rigid adherence to that
approach now really holds back our understanding of and advancing human
health.

Theo Colborn, the toxicologist who has been compared to Rachel Carson,
explains: *“There is little chance of showing a simple cause-and-effect
link between any one or selected groups of hormone-disrupting synthetic
chemicals,” *she writes and raises the approach of “eco-epidemiology”. *“In
this approach, one assesses the totality of the information in the light of
epidemiological criteria for causality, such as whether the exposure
precedes the effect, whether there is a consistent association between a
contaminant and damage, and whether the association is plausible in light
of the current understanding of biological mechanisms. But this real-world
environmental detective work comes to judgment based on the ‘weight of the
evidence’ rather than on scientific ideals of proof that are more
appropriate to controlled laboratory experiments… As some have noted, it is
akin to the decision-making process a physician uses to diagnose a case of
appendicitis – where failure to act has grave consequences.” *
This is from her groundbreaking book, "Our Stolen Future". That book deals
more with chemical toxins than radiation, and basically focuses on the
issue of birth defects rather than cancer. But I think the approach is
valid.

One other point that Colborn explains: It used to the thought that the
effect of a toxin was directly commensurate with the dosage. The greater
the dosage, the greater the effect. What Colborn shows is that sometimes
far smaller dosages don't simply have a far smaller effect; they have a
*different* effect in this sense: They don't kill cells, they alter them.

I don't see any reason why what is true for chemical toxins couldn't also
be true for radiation.

John
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[Marxism] Alabama elections

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“I think nationally, people should take heart in the fact that Alabama and
the South at large isn’t as backwards as it’s always seemed to be. Yes,
racism, bigotry, sexism – all those things – are still quite prominent
here, but I think Doug Jones or not, we are seeing a chipping away at that
image. Young, inspired people… are coming around to the idea that these
conservative ideals are just not doing anything for anybody,” Adam Powell
from Montgomery, Alabama. Powell is the national committee co-chair of the
Socialist Party of the US.

"We’re seeing a little bit of a change, and I just hope it continues
because people have to get their feet on the ground and figure out, ‘hey
look, some of these things are going to be good for Alabama. And I think
that Doug Jones has the opportunity really to bring Alabama into the 21st
century,’” Kimberly McCuiston, Foley Alabama.

“The last slave ship that touched on here was here in Mobile… Also we have
the last recorded lynching, back in the 80s… So this is the last place
where racism was prevalent. Also, when Dr. Martin Luther King came down
here, they turned him around at the airport…. If you look back at the time
down here after the Civil War, black people went to sell themselves back
into slavery for fear of attacks by whites. So that’s the environment and
atmosphere in Mobile….. I would advise everybody to pay attention to Doug
Jones…. Our celebration may be a little bit too early…. I think this is a
victory in our minds, but this is not actually a true victory. It’s just
something that was given to us to give us hope so we can actually be a part
of the system and to discourage us from separating from it.” Terrell
Simmons, Mobile Bay Socialist Network

Oaklandsocialist spoke with these political activists to get their comments
on yesterday’s election results in Alabama. (See recordings below.)

Capitalists
As for the capitalists, they had mixed feelings. As the Wall St. Journal
reported “The Alabama business community is on the sidelines of the state’s
high-stakes Senate special election, with some leaders refusing to back
Republican nominee Roy Moore because of concerns that the controversies
dogging his candidacy could be bad for the local economy.” They quote Neal
Berte, member of the Birmingham Business Alliance: “I don’t think it is
good for our image to have all the controversy and negativity going on
around Roy Moore’s candidacy.”

Then, too, there is the national angle. Everybody knew that the Democrats
were licking their chops at the thought of hanging the millstone of Roy
Moore around the necks of the Republican Party had he been elected. As the
Wall St. Journal’s editors put it the day after the elections: “The good
news is that Mr. Moore’s loss may give the GOP a better chance of holding
the Senate majority next year. Democrats were primed to make Mr. Moore a
national symbol of sexual harassment to drive turnout among women. GOP
incumbents would have been asked about Mr. Moore every day.”

Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/12/14/alabama-we-are-seeing-a-chipping-away-at-the-image/

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Re: [Marxism] Sam Charles Hamad - Comrade Corbyn supports Russian imperialism in Syria (Dennis Brasky)

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There is a totally different angle to consider regarding Corbyn's support
for Assad. Since US imperialism supports Assad, it is safe to assume that
British imperialism does too. It wouldn't be the first time that Labour
took up the cudgels for British imperialism.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Bus workers union leader in Tehran

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"Tehran’s Bus Workers Syndicate has been a target of perpetual harassment
and persecution since its re-establishment in 2005, with many of our
members either incarcerated or expelled from work. Reza Shahabi, a member
of Vahed syndicate’s board of directors, was incarcerated in June 2010 and
due to severe beatings by intelligence agents during his arrest and
interrogations he had to go through two massive operations for his neck and
spinal cord, hence spending some of his sentence on medical leave. While
Reza Shahabi’s six-year prison sentence had already been ended, yet Tehran
District Attorney claimed that a three months leave was not officially
approved and he has to return to jail because of it. Shahabi agreed to
return to prison for three months to prevent the confiscation of his
surety’s property; however, after his re-incarceration on August 9, 2017,
officials declared his entire medical leave as absence and informed him
that he would have to spend 968 additional days in prison. This is while
Shahabi’s sentence was completed and he has seen the letter of his release,
issued on August 23, 2015, in his file.  After a 50-day hunger strike by
Reza Shahabi, which led to widespread protests in Iran and around the
world, intelligence and judicial authorities promised to Shahabi’s family
that they would urgently address his demands, but in recent weeks they have
been pressuring Shahabi into acceding to end his trade union activity and
his efforts in defense of workers’ rights. Shahabi, however, has resisted
such pressures and steadfastly been insisting on his stance, which is the
rights of workers for independent labour organization and unions, and has
not succumbed under all the harassments and persecution imposed on him
while incarcerated."

Here is an article from the Alliance of Middle East Socialists on the case
of Reza Shehabi. He is the leader of the bus workers union in Tehran, Iran,
and has been imprisoned for demanding the right of workers to have
independent unions. Evidently his health has so deteriorated, included
having a stroke while in prison, that his life is in danger.

Is it possible for this to be raised in any unions and messages of protest
sent?

https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/open-letter-tehran-bus-workers-syndicate-workers-labour-organizations-around-world/?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Syria: A new and even more dangerous development

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"The human disaster in Syria threatens new and even greater disasters.

"An essential aspect of the war in Syria has been the increased influence
of Iranian imperialism. All capitalist regimes try to increase their power
and influence at least in the countries around them, and the Saudi regime
is no exception. But the spread of influence of the Iranian regime spurs
the Saudis onwards even more so.

" What would have happened, for example, had the latest attack
succeeded and the missile had struck the Saudi royal palace, killing
several top government officials? There would have been tremendous pressure
for Saudi Arabia to declare war directly against Iran."
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/12/20/syria-a-new-and-dangerous-development/
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: How Tough Is It to Change a Culture of Harassment? Ask Women at Ford - The New York Times

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There used to be a GM plant in Fremont CA, not very far from where I live
in Oakland. I knew a guy who taught some sort of classes there to some of
the workers and he was pretty familiar with the situation inside the plant.
This would have been before the days that many women went to work there,
but the situation he descirbed was pretty horrific.

He said that workers were openly selling dope, liquor, even stolen goods
inside the plant. On the outside, there were some vans set up by a
prostitution ring and also informal, rolling "bars". The whole place was
out of control, and I'd imagine that if many women had been working there
they'd have been subject to the exact same harassment.

I thought about the role of management and of the union in this. The union
was fairly powerful in those days so management couldn't discipline
anybody. But what could the union do about it? They had even back then
abandoned their role as fighting for the members and for the working class
in general. Had the leadership still played that role, then they could get
the membership involved and at the same time explain to them that this
complete breakdown would make it impossible to really campaign. And if
there were many women there, then that would have made it all the more
obvious. You cannot fight for the working class while you are harassing one
half of that class, after all.

But since the leadership is in bed with management - even more now then
back then - what can they say?

John Reimann

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[Marxism] “Mainstream news”, Twitter and conspiracy theorists

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"There’s a continuum from Alex Jones to (Assad supporter) Vanessa Beeley to
US Congresswoman (and another Assad supporter) Tulsi Gabbard, and all
points in between. For example, they all denied that Assad was behind the
sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun. The basis of their support is that they
all play into the simplistic thinking that rests on conspiracy thinking.

"The very set-up of Twitter and Facebook plays into the tendency towards
simplistic thinking in the US. This also includes many socialists. Don’t
take time to research. Don’t bother looking beneath the surface. Don’t
think about the indirect consequences of developments. The enemy of my
enemy is my friend. That’s their approach.
There’s more: Since the major establishment news channels are saying that
Trump is aligned with Russia, it must all be a conspiracy. And since US
imperialism is in a rivalry with Russian imperialism, then we should
support the latter."
Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/12/25/mainstream-news-twitter-and-conspiracy-theorists/

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[Marxism] support Middle East Political Prisoners

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I urge people to endorse and help publicize this campaign.

"
International Campaign in Solidarity with Middle Eastern Political Prisoners

0 comments 

The aim of this campaign is four-fold: 1.To shine a spotlight on the
political prisoners who are labor, social justice, feminist, anti-racist
and human rights activists opposed to war, imperialism, occupation,
authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism and extremism.  2. To oppose all
the global and regional imperialist powers in the Middle East:  The U.S.,
Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and Iran. 3. To demand that
both state actors and non-state actors responsible for perpetrating war
crimes in the Middle East be put on trial. ( We support initiatives meant
to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity by enforcing universal
jurisdiction, such as the cases filed in Spain, Germany, France and other
EU states by local and Syrian lawyers.)  4.  To show that demanding the
immediate release of political prisoners in the Middle East is a crucial
part of fighting the rise of authoritarianism and racism at home.

Freedom for Middle Eastern Political Prisoners Seeking Social Justice &
Democracy

December 2017

Below are brief biographies of 17 political prisoners who represent some of
the courageous fighters for social justice and democracy in the Middle East
today.  Most have been imprisoned by authoritarian regimes. Some have been
abducted by religious extremist organizations such as ISIS and Al Qaeda."

https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/14964/

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[Marxism] Iran and the different factions of the Iranian capitalist class

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*Iranian People Rise Again*
By Reza Fiyouzat

"The reader must understand that most of the non-state part of the economy
in Iran is based in the bazaar, the merchant class. Not
industrial-productive capital, but merchant capital has been dominating the
non-state and non-oil sector since the onset of the rule of theocracy. When
the merchant class is the hegemonic economic bloc, that means most capital
accumulation occurs through buying and selling, not through producing
commodities. As a result of this, more and more products are imported
(under full state monopoly) for as cheaply as possible and sold at profits
that can come faster than if the production process were to take place
internally with all its related costs and complications; including, most
importantly, labor conflicts and class struggle at the point of production
that such capitalist ventures would have to deal with

"A basic feature of a rentier state, such as the one in Iran, is that,
depending on the character of the state, different layers and echelons of
the economically powerful attach themselves to the state. During the
Pahlavi dynasty, the state attracted the industrial capitalists, at the
expense of the mercantile classes, who were more attached to the clerical
classes. The founding father of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah, is known in
Iranian history as being particularly harsh on the religious establishment.
(His most egregious sin against the religious establishment was the
forceful banning of hijab for women.)

"So, the fact that here and there we have heard slogans in support of Reza
Shah does not shock me. People go by what they know from their own history.
If people see that the ruling mullahs are the most corrupt, the most
thuggish, the most brutal, the most miserly when it comes to helping the
most needy, and the most lascivious when it comes to sexual matters while
prescribing piousness to others — in short, when you are ruled by the most
oppressive and violently corrupt bunch of people, and you know from your
history that back a hundred years ago, Reza Shah was showing the clerical
classes the door, well, you can’t be blamed for thinking that that guy,
Reza Shah, had figured out something about the mullahs that Iranians should
have paid more attention to."

http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=13896

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[Marxism] Some thoughts on US perspectives

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"Not only is the election of Trump a defeat for the working class*, he is
also partially out of control of the mainstream of his own class – the
capitalist class. That’s because he is a long time money-launderer for the
Russian oligarchs/mafia.1 As such, he is closely linked with the interests
of one of the main rivals for US imperialism – Russian imperialism.

"How did this happen? How did the mainstream of the US capitalist class
largely lose control over their own presidency, while millions of workers
actually voted for this buffoon billionaire? That is what we have to answer
if we are to effectively combat him and what he represents."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/09/perspectives-for-the-united-states/

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[Marxism] Nafta, the Democrats & chasing the end of a rainbow

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"At least five members have said they will vote with the president if he
needs their votes.”

It was November, 1993, and then-President Bill Clinton (and his lieutenant,
VP Al Gore) were pushing hard for ratification of Nafta. The AFL-CIO was
fighting against it. “We tend to have long memories,” said AFL-CIO
president, Lane Kirkland. He was threatening congress members who’d gotten
elected through labor support, and it was far from clear that Nafta was
going to pass congress.

The role of those “pro-labor” congress members was clear, as this article
(see reprint) from the Wall St. Journal of Nov. 16, 1993 makes clear.
Although it seemed that there were enough votes to kill NAFTA, “the White
House cautions that vote counts are tricky

Can you say, “chasing the end of the rainbow”?
See article for full quote from the Wall St. Journal:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/10/nafta-the-democrats-and-chasing-the-end-of-a-rainbow/

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Re: [Marxism] Some thoughts on US perspectives

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Anthony Boynton seems confused by what I wrote in the piece on US
perspectives.

The election of Trump helped add to the confusion and division within the
working class. I think that much is obvious, if for no other reason than
the rise of the white supremacists, the normalization of outright lying,
and the increase in celebrity worship. And had Hillary Clinton won? Would
that have advanced the consciousness of the working class? First and
foremost, would that have helped the working class get to its feet and
assert itself as an independent force? I think the answer is absolutely
not. So, we were damned if we do and damned if we don't.

I also think that it's undeniable that the working class does not exist as
a coherent - meaning independent - force in US society. Look at the voting
statistics, for example. There is no general pattern as far as how workers
- meaning wage earners - vote. The only working class organizations that
exist are the unions, and they are in a state of disastrous decline. Worse
than the fact that they barely represent 10% of the US work force is the
fact that they are nearly completely controlled by a clique who directly
represent the employers inside the unions. The decades-long campaign to
erase all the militant traditions of the 1930s has left the rank and file
largely alienated from their own unions. Here where I live - Oakland CA -
most union members I run into don't even know the name of their union,
never mind attend any union meetings!

Then Anthony draws a "logical" conclusion - logical in the sense of formal
logic: He writes:

*"It also says that the absence of a mass working class party is the
keyfactor in all of this, from which a reader might concludeall of
US**history
has been a long interrupted string of defeats for workers."* The point is
that a certain presence - or absence - in one situation can have a very
different affect from in a different situation. In the 1960s and early 70s,
for example, when US capitalism was (1) raking in the profits hand over
fist; and (2) competing with the Soviet Union for influence all around the
world - in that situation in many instances they had to concede to the
demands of the working class. Or take in the 1930s, when there was an
aroused working class, to some degree influenced by two anti-capitalist
parties - the Socialist and the Communist Parties. Again, the same thing.
But today? We've had 30 years of propaganda that the workers and the
capitalists have common interests. It comes not only from the capitalist
class and their various organs, but also from the union leadership. And the
tradition of struggle from the 1930s is largely lost, with what few
militants that remain in the unions largely isolated. On top of that, we
have had defeat after defeat.

All of this has led to massive confusion and demoralization. I don't see
how anybody who has any contact with working class people can deny that
that confusion is rampant. It's ironic that also, at the same time, there
never has been a better opportunity to start to build a working class
political party. That's a contradiction, you say? Well, yes, but life is
full of contradictions.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Two videos from yesterday, Jan. 20, in Oakland

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Here are 2 videos from January 20 here in Oakland.

The first is of the massive women's march, which was also an anti-Trump
march.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/21/womens-march-oakland-2018/

This next is of a group of restaurant workers who had walked off the job in
protest against the sexual harassment by the owner of the restaurant,
Charlie Hallowell.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/21/boot-and-shoe-restaurant-workers-walk-off-job/

John Reimann


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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: How Democrats Lost Their Spine | Time

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In the first place, the Democrats did not "lose their spine". They simply
represent their class - the capitalist class. The fact that they
historically have done so in a different way from the Republicans - by
drawing in potential independent forces, especially working class forces -
doesn't change this in the slightest.

In the second place, I think this study makes the classic mistake of
assuming that association means causality. In other words, just because a
handful of mid-Western states suffered an unusually high rate of casualties
in recent and ongoing wars and that these states voted for Trump doesn't
mean that the one caused the other. I think there is a much more likely
cause:

Because of the drying up of industrial jobs, these states have suffered a
high rate of unemployment and poverty. This has been the cause of higher
enlistment rates in the US military as well as the cause (in a twisted way)
of the vote for Trump. I'd propose an associated factor: The destruction of
the industrial working class has had a disastrous effect on the
consciousness of those former industrial workers and their families. It's
been a process similar to the destruction of the coal mining industry in
Britain, which destruction decimated the class consciousness and led to the
Brexit vote.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] Solidarity with Afrin, al-Ghouta, Idlib Against All Military Attacks

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From the Alliance of Middle East Socialists:

We, the Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists oppose the various military
attacks on Afrin, Idlib and Eastern Ghouta  and support all the innocent
civilians in Syria. . . There has been a consensus between all the
international and regional powers on the necessity to liquidate the
revolutionary popular movements initiated in Syria in March of 2011 . . .

Solidarity with Afrin against Turkish military intervention

Since January 20, 2018, Turkish military assisted by pro-Turkish Syrian
opposition militia groups have launched a large scale air and ground
offensive, dubbed « Operation Olive Branch » on Afrin province located in
northwest  Syria with a Kurdish majority population and controlled by the
Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG).  At
least 30 civilians  have been killed since the beginning of the operation.

Afrin has welcomed many Internaly Displaced Persons from other regions of
the country which has led to a doubing of its population to 400,000 and
500,000, because it was relatively spared from the war and agressions of
the Assad’s regime forces.

This attack comes after months of tensions and agression by the Turkish
military against Afrin. The Turkish army used as a pretext, an announcement
by a military spokesman for the US-led global coalition against the Islamic
State (IS) to build a 30,000-strong border force under the command of
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by People’s Protection Units (YPG).
   In Ankara’s opinion, the US decision meant that  the US-YPG partnership
would not end with the collapse of the IS, as the Turkish government had
hoped.

Read entire statement here:
https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/solidarity-afrin-al-ghouta-idlib-military-attacks/
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[Marxism] Have we turned the corner?

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'A review of the last few decades shows the following trends:

In the late 1990s and first year-and-a-half of the new century, there was
an increasing movement against neoliberal policies. This movement focused
on the World Trade Organization and originated among the youth, but in the
last few years increasing numbers of workers were drawn into it.
9/11/2001 brought this to a screeching halt and there followed a period of
reaction not only in the US but globally. This included not only invasions
and war, but also unrelenting attacks on the working class and their
organizations, especially the unions.
The economic crisis, which started in 2007-08, seems to have shaken things
up once again. Shortly following that crisis, we had the Arab Spring, the
Occupy movement in the US, a renewed movement of the miners and also
agricultural workers in South Africa, a massive strike wave in China, and
the election of Syriza in Greece (2015).
None of these movements clearly found a way forward, and some – such as the
Syrian revolution – were outright defeated, at least for now. This led to a
period of division and reaction. This period was marked by the rise of far
right, racist chauvinist parties throughout Europe, the Brexit vote in
Britain, the election of Trump in the US, and the rise of Islamic
sectarianism and division. One of the most disastrous of these has been the
assault on the Rohingya in Myanmar (Burma).

'So the question is whether a new wave of the movement against capitalism
is now starting. Has the period of reaction run its course? And if so, what
direction will this new wave take?'

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/24/have-we-turned-the-corner/

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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thank you, Chris Slee, for giving the complete statement from the Afrin
administration. One thing upon which we all agree, I think, is that the
Kurdish leaders are not stupid or ignorant when it comes to realpolitik.
They must know perfectly well that inviting Assad to intervene will not
stop there. They also must know perfectly well what all their stress on the
region being "part of Syria" and about "Syria's territorial integrity"
means. It means that in the end, despite all the silliness of
decentralization, they accept that the central Syrian government - meaning
Assad - has final say about what is and is not allowed in Afrin. And they
all agree that a powerful anti-Assad movement will be prohibited.

Basically, they are trying to make a deal with Assad: "Let us administer
this region and we will insure that nothing is done to destabilize your
position. Meanwhile, we expect you to step in and protect us from Erdogan."
This shows the limits of their whole strategy. They want some form of
independence (yes, they do) within the limits of capitalism. They are
trying to build a Kurdish rights movement in isolation from all the other
movements around them such as the Arab Spring and what came of it, workers'
strikes in Turkey and Iran. Or put it another way: Just like all such
movements, they need allies. The question is whether they will seek allies
in the working class struggles of the region or from one capitalist regime
or another. Time and again they have sought the latter and time and again
they have been "betrayed". I put that in quotes, because when a lion chases
off a leopard in order to kill and feast on an antelope, that antelope
wasn't betrayed. It was simply a matter of which killer gets to reap the
spoils.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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They may say they want autonomy (vs. an independent state) and maybe they
really believe it. But the very logic of the situation will drive them
further, especially considering that Kurdistan spans a whole series of
countries.

And it's similar regarding Assad: They may say they want a democratic
Syria, but they have never participated in the movement against Assad, and
I'm not talking about the Islamic fundamentalist movement. In fact, there
are enough reports about their suppressing anti-Assad activists within the
region that they control that it's not reasonable to just dismiss those
reports. And if they think that if Assad does anything about the Turkish
invasion more than just send the airforce, then they are being quite naive.
And any wish that the Syrian national government being democratized as long
as Assad or his clique remain in power is exactly that - a wish. And will
never be anything more than that. It's like "keep hope alive".

John Reimann

On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 3:40 PM, Chris Slee 
wrote:

> The PYD has always said its aim is not an independent Kurdish state, but
> autonomy within a democratic Syria, with linguistic and cultural rights for
> Kurds and other minorities.
>
> Thus when the Afrin administration says that Afrin is "part of Syria",
> that is nothing new.
>
> The statement aims at exposing the Assad regime's failure to defend
> Syria's "territorial integrity" against the Turkish invasion.  If the
> statement has the effect of prodding the regime into taking some action
> against the invasion (e.g. threatening to shoot down Turkish military
> aircraft entering Syrian airspace), that will help the defenders of Afrin.
> In the (more likely) event that Assad continues to allow the invasion to go
> unchallenged, it might lead to questioning of his credentials as a defender
> of Syria.
>
> John Reimann claims that "the Kurdish leaders...accept that the central
> Syrian government - meaning Assad - has final say about what is and is not
> allowed in Afrin.  And they all agree that a powerful anti-Assad movement
> will be prohibited".
>
> In fact the Kurdish and other leaders of the Democratic Federation of
> Northern Syria want the "central Syrian government" to be democratised so
> that it is no longer the dictatorship of Assad.
>
> But the question is: what sort of movement is needed to bring democracy?
> Being "anti-Assad" is not sufficient.  Some "anti-Assad" groups are
> religious sectarians and/or ethnic chauvinists.  Some have been coopted
> into Turkey's war on the DFNS.
>
> Democracy can only be created by a multi-ethnic and multi-religious
> movement that can win the support of those Syrians - particularly the
> religious minorities - who currently view Assad as the lesser evil.
>
> Chris Slee
>
> 
> From: Marxism  on behalf of John
> Reimann via Marxism 
> Sent: Sunday, 28 January 2018 2:06:52 AM
> To: Chris Slee
> Subject: Re: [Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on
> al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment
>
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> *
>
> thank you, Chris Slee, for giving the complete statement from the Afrin
> administration. One thing upon which we all agree, I think, is that the
> Kurdish leaders are not stupid or ignorant when it comes to realpolitik.
> They must know perfectly well that inviting Assad to intervene will not
> stop there. They also must know perfectly well what all their stress on the
> region being "part of Syria" and about "Syria's territorial integrity"
> means. It means that in the end, despite all the silliness of
> decentralization, they accept that the central Syrian government - meaning
> Assad - has final say about what is and is not allowed in Afrin. And they
> all agree that a powerful anti-Assad movement will be prohibited.
>
> Basically, they are trying to make a deal with Assad: "Let us administer
> this region and we will insure that nothing is done to destabilize your
> position. Meanwhile, we expect you to step in and protect u

[Marxism] Can Trump keep up the happy face?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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'“Trump Tries Taking a New Role: Optimist”. So read the headline of the
Wall St. Journal’s report on Trump’s State of the Union speech. It is
largely accurate, and Trump’s speech is nearly certain to result in an
increase in his support ratings. The question is: Can he keep it up? What
lies ahead for him… and for the US working class?'
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/31/trumps-state-of-the-union-speech-can-he-keep-up-the-happy-face/

John Reimann

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[Marxism] "Whoppers of Boss Tweet"

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"Whoppers of Boss Tweet…
A thief
a thug
Clown in a rug
A tweet
deceit
A lie
a cheat— Embellish, embroider: a lying disorder…
A myth
a fable
a bit unstable Flimflam, claptrap bunkum—bull crap! An empty wagon
a puffed up dragon…
A whopper
a fib
You peeped from your crib! A sham
a fake
a major ‘mistake—’ Pathological lying false-flag flying…
A grope
a trope
Bad jokes breaststrokes..."
See entire poem here. And thanks to Raymond Nat Turner for his permission
to reprint.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/02/01/whoppers-of-boss-tweet/


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Re: [Marxism] Can Trump keep up the happy face?

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Thanks to Anthony Boynton for his thoughtful comments. However, I think he
missed one of my points: In the article, I referred to "Trump’s close ties
with the Russian oligarchy/Russian capitalist class. For this very reason,
the investigation into his campaign’s links with the Putin regime cannot go
away." What I was referring to was the fact that Trump has acted as a
money-launderer for the Russian mafia for many years. This is something
I've written about frequently, and what it means is that he has close ties
to one of the main imperialist rivals to US imperialism, and this guides
much of his foreign policy. Witness, for example, his refusal just in the
last day or two to implement new sanctions against Russia despite its being
required by a law passed by the Republican congress. (Note: I'm not
advocating that he should; just giving an example.)

I think that the attitude of the mainstream of the capitalist class is what
you might call schizophrenic. Yes, they loathe him, but they also love his
tax breaks. The Wall St. Journal is a great example. During the primaries,
they had editorials and columns harshly attacking him almost every day.
Now, their editorials largely support him.

I also don't agree that bonapartism is enshrined in the US Constitution;
rather, I think it's a perfect example of bourgeois democracy, in which the
capitalist class ensures its rule as much through persuasion as through
outright repression while at the same time making sure that the working
class can never get ahold of real power through the (capitalist) state.
They are able to do this because of their base in wide layers of society,
and they have many institutions through which they maintain that base. The
capitalist mass media is one of them. Because that media does not explain
the real basis of the crisis of capitalism (of course!), it has lost a lot
of credibility, a lot of authority, among millions of workers. Then Trump
comes along and deals it one body blow after another. They also have other
institutions which are seen as being "above politics" and simply looking
out for the "national interest". The FBI and the CIA are two of them. Yes,
of course, we on this list and some others understand the roles of those
two institutions, but I'm talking about the great bulk of white middle
America. Now, here comes Trump and Co. and they are undercutting that
respect. That's the meaning of this whole struggle over the Nunes memo.

So, as this process continues, what other means do they have to continue
their rule? I find it hard to see anything other than massive increased
voter suppression and outright repression on a scale far wider than
anything we've seen outside the South during the segregation years. That is
what Bonapartism is.

One qualification: I think the mainstream of the US capitalist class does
not believe that bonapartism is necessary, and maybe they are right. Maybe
they will be able to reverse this drift. The problem is that the working
class hardly even exists as a coherent force in US society, so what is
there to push them? DSA? I'll wait to make that suggestion till April 1.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] The Nunes Memo: Tempest in a teapot or tip of the iceberg

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So now a new furor has broken out over the House Intelligence Committee
breaking precedent and releasing its “Nunes Memo”. Is this just a tempest
in a teapot, or is it the tip of the iceberg?"

Basically, the release of this memo is another step in Trump's drive to
seize personal control over the main institutions of the US government, to
rule "by fiat" as one article said about him. That's the meaning of all the
talk about "our democracy" being at risk. It means another step away from
capitalist (or "bourgeois") democracy and towards bonapartism. Here's why:

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/02/03/nunes-memo-tempest-in-a-teapot-or-tip-of-the-iceberg/


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Re: [Marxism] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/maya-laser-lidar-guatemala-pacunam/

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Jared Diamond's "Collapse" gives an interesting account of the collapse of
the Mayan civilization. As far as I can understand it, their civilization
was based partly slavery and partly feudal relations. Diamond writes: The
Kings' "attention was evidently focused on their short-term concerns of
enriching themselves, waging wars, erecting monuments, competing with each
other, and extracting enough food from the peasants to support all those
activities Maya kings sought to outdo each other with more and more
impressive temples, covered with thicker and thicker plaster -- reminiscent
in turn of the extravagant conspicuous consumption by moern American CEO.
The passivity of Easter (Island) chiefs and Maya kings in the face of the
real big [environmental] threats to their societies completes our list of
disquieting parallels."

In his book, Diamond recounts the collapse of various other societies, from
the Norse society in Greenland to Anasazi society in America's Chaco Canyon
to Easter Island society. He also recounts how a few societies successfully
dealt with similar environmental challenges as those that collapsed. What
he doesn't point out is that all those societies that survived were
non-class societies and all those which collapsed were class societies. In
every case of a collapse, what comes clear is that the ruling class had to
maintain its methods of extracting wealth from nature because the culture -
and hence the justification for their rule - was based on that.

John Reimann

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[Marxism] [UCE] Michael Roberts on the stock market crash

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Michael Roberts is one of the most serious Marxist economists around.
Here's his take on the stock market crash. He seems to think it's similar
to what happened in 1937, although not exactly the same. If I'm
understanding him correctly, he's saying that the expected increase in
interest rates as well as in increased wages will cut into profits. Also,
the level of corporate indebtedness is quite high. However, for a time
these factors will be somewhat offset by continued high profits.

Well worth reading.
https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/stock-market-crash-1987-2007-or-1937/

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Chris Hedges and Identity Politics

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I am somewhat surprised that anybody on this list would be unfamiliar with
the role of Chris Hedges regarding Syria. As a paid mouthpiece of Putin,
through his regular program on RT, Hedges has misrepresented the US role in
Syria and what is happening there in general as being like the US "regime
change" drive in Iraq. He gave a platform to Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal
to spout their lies and distortions. (Hedges simply asked them leading
questions; he never raised any doubts about their lies.) See:
https://youtu.be/Lsq6hAgYwjM

I first was turned off to Hedges back during the Occupy movement, when he
went on a rant against the anarchists/Black Bloc. He more or less blamed
them for every problem that Occupy had, putting it all at the feet of
violence and property destruction. Yes, that property destruction was
harmful, but before then at least here in Oakland those same anarchists
actually played a positive role preventing Occupy from falling into the
hands of the liberals. And, in my experience, the property destruction was
very far from the cause of the fact that Occupy didn't get more active
working class support.

But that's in the past. Hedges' being in the Putin/Assad camp tells me that
he has absolutely nothing useful to offer.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Chris Hedges and Identity Politics

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The question of the role of people like Hedges is not one of principles in
the abstract.

MM gives the example of being on a picket line and a worker makes racist
comments. If he or she does it once, like MM says, you take them up on it,
but if they continue to do so, and if they do so out loud where everybody
can hear, then they must be removed from the picket line. Among other
things, can you imagine the disastrous consequences for that struggle if
such comments are allowed? (Of course, in general that's a very poor
example because in all the picket lines and strikes I've been involved in
over 45 years, I've never heard a racist comment from a striker, although
I'm quite sure some of them held racist ideas. That's because workers in
struggle know better.)

And as far as Hedges and similar types: Would we invite him to speak on any
issue and not take him up on his pro-Assad position? If so, then we are
being enablers. We wouldn't speak on the same platform as a racist or a
sexist without taking them up, after all. And, if you take Hedges up just
one time you can be guaranteed that he'll never accept your invitation
again. Probably wouldn't even speak on the same platform as you.

Again, this is a very practical question. Plans are presently under way for
a united "anti-war" march for this April. All the usual suspects - all the
pro-Assad groups - will be in the lead. I doubt they'll openly express
support for Assad and Putin at the march, but what will be our role? Will
we just ignore the wider issues? I think doing so would be a serious
compromise of principles.

I think we should be involved and call for support for all peoples in
struggle against racial, religious and gender divisions and against
oppression in general and also call for open opposition to all neoliberal,
oppressive regimes. I think we should also call for opposition to all
racist, fascist and semi-fascist groups. I also think we should call for no
support for either of the parties of big business here in the US and for a
working class party. This would tend to rise us up above the pacifism that
the marches will be based on and it will also put the Assadists on the spot.

Overall, we have to consider the general process. Collaborating with these
people without raising what they stand for helps boost their credibility.
It also helps further their very method of approaching questions. In any
new movement, that very method would be a serious set-back. It would make
it impossible for that movement to understand issues as they arose.

That's why we have to challenge their approach - meaning their method. And
I seriously doubt they're willing to deal with that challenge.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Intersectionality, class reductionism and revolutionary socialism

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"

*The terms “intersectionality” and “class reductionism” are being debated
among socialists nowadays. As with any ideas, to really understand their
meaning we have to understand how they developed.*


Martin Luther King, jr.
“We are engaged in the class struggle.”


*MLK and Revolt of Black People in US*The revolt of black people of the
1960s and early ’70’s convulsed all of US society. But that revolt also
changed as it developed, and we can see that through some of its great
leaders. As it developed, it tended to link up the issue of racism/white
supremacy with the class question. Martin Luther King was one of the
clearest examples of this. As the so-called “Civil Rights” movement
developed, King became increasingly aware of how the issue of racism was
interlinked with that of poverty. As early as 1964, when he accepted the
Nobel Prize, he commented on the “second evil which plagues the modern
world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its
nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world.”
And he started to question how much further the Civil Rights Movement must
go. “What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t
afford to buy a hamburger?” he asked

.



*Murdered*It is no accident that they were all murdered in the space of
four years, first Malcolm X in 1965, then Martin Luther King in 1968, then
Fred Hampton in 1969. It was not just the murder of three individual
leaders. At the time of their murder – and that of others – the revolt was
running into a headwinds. “Where do we go from here?” asked King in his
last book.


*US capitalism restabilizes*By the mid 1970s, US capitalism was starting to
restabilize its rule. It ended the Vietnam War in 1975. It embarked on an
attack on the working class through its attack on the unions, starting with
the building trades unions (see this pamphlet
 for
more in depth). And it started to draw in a whole layer of previous and
would-be rebels with its propaganda campaign that the way to fight
oppression was to advance oneself personally. Become a “role model” they
and their supporters said. Become an entrepreneur. Reagan, first elected
president in 1980, was the outstanding spokesperson for this propaganda.

This writer remembers a particularly outstanding example of that effect
when he was trying to sell a socialist newspaper to a young black man in
the later ‘80s. “I ain’t interested in that shit,” the young man said. “I
sell drugs. I’m an entrepreneur.”

This was the basis for the rise of “identity politics”, which said that all
people of a particular “identity” should unite together. The “identities”
were those of the oppressed – women, black people, Latino people, for
example. It was and remains based on the idea of individual advancement
within capitalism. One “identity” that isn’t mentioned in this approach is
the “identity” of worker, and that’s the tip off: How can a worker
“advance” and remain a worker? The thinking is based on a retreat away from
the radical, anti-capitalist ideas of the great leaders like King, Malcolm
X, Fred Hampton and others. Hillary Clinton is the foremost example of the
dangers of that sort of thinking.

Read entire article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/02/09/intersectionality-class-reductionism-and-revolutionary-socialism/

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Flirting with Liberals: A Critical Examination of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) | Andrew Dobbs

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I read the article by Dobbs with interest. He makes the classic mistakes
that Lenin so criticized in "Left Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder".

Of course, he is right to criticize DSA's links with the Democratic party.
And he is right about his perspectives for the Democratic Party.

He is dead wrong on the issue of a mass working class political party in
the US. It's interesting that he quotes Engels. He should have remembered
this comment from Engels: "The first great step of importance for every
country newly entering into the movement is always the organisation of the
workers as an independent political party, no matter how, so long as it is
a distinct workers' party. And this step has been taken, far more rapidly
than we had a right to hope, and that is the main thing. That the first
programme of this party is still confused and highly deficient, that it has
set up the banner of Henry George, these are inevitable evils but also only
transitory ones. The masses must have time and opportunity to develop and
they can only have the opportunity when they have their own movement--no
matter in what form so long as it is only *their own* movement--in which
they are driven further by their own mistakes and learn wisdom by hurting
themselves." (Engels to Sorge, Nov. 29, 1886)

Dobbs talks a lot about "a revolutionary class to be", but how can the
working class ever be even a class "for" itself if it has no history of
having its own political party?

Instead, Dobbs seems to advocate the sort of "base building" that assorted
Maoists and others engage in. This means organizing tenants, etc. Nothing
wrong with that in and of itself, but how does that differ from what Lenin
criticized in "What is to be Done?" if we don't go further?

I also think it's a mistake to simply ignore what's happening on the
socialist left. Dobbs points out that DSA is about 90% white. It's also
about 90% middle class in terms of the orientation of the individual
members - at least that's my experience. And if there were any sort of
beginnings of a real struggle somewhere else, that's where I'd be. For
example, here in Oakland there was the beginning of a campaign against a
new baseball park to be built across the street from Oakland's most
important educational institution - Laney Community College. That struggle
started to draw in working class youth of all different ethnic backgrounds
(but not DSA to its everlasting shame). I was very involved in that
campaign. But that's just episodic. In the absence of any other socialist
movement, even nominally so, where else is there to be at the moment?

John Reimann
Oakland CA


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[Marxism] Mattis: "No evidence" that Assad responsible for sarin attack

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According to this article from Newsweek, US Defense Secretary James Mattis
is now saying that the US "has no evidence" that Assad was responsible for
the Khan Sheikhoun sarin attack. What is the thinking of people on this?
Considering that all evidence totally refutes any other "explanation" of
that attack, why would Mattis say that? Is it an indication of the Trump
administration moving even closer to Assad, of their desire to make an
outright deal with him?

Of course, the Assadists will be dancing in the streets with this comment.
How they pick and choose! When the US government makes statements that
don't conform with their preconceived notions, they just dismiss them.

http://www.newsweek.com/now-mattis-admits-there-was-no-evidence-assad-using-poison-gas-his-people-801542

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Mattis: "No evidence" that Assad responsible for sarin attack

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Update: According to some, Mattis was referring to use of sarin gas since
April of last year, but Newsweek did not make that clear. Evidently there
is a crisis going on at the magazine.

John Reimann

On Fri, Feb 9, 2018 at 1:35 PM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:

> According to this article from Newsweek, US Defense Secretary James Mattis
> is now saying that the US "has no evidence" that Assad was responsible for
> the Khan Sheikhoun sarin attack. What is the thinking of people on this?
> Considering that all evidence totally refutes any other "explanation" of
> that attack, why would Mattis say that? Is it an indication of the Trump
> administration moving even closer to Assad, of their desire to make an
> outright deal with him?
>
> Of course, the Assadists will be dancing in the streets with this comment.
> How they pick and choose! When the US government makes statements that
> don't conform with their preconceived notions, they just dismiss them.
>
> http://www.newsweek.com/now-mattis-admits-there-was-no-
> evidence-assad-using-poison-gas-his-people-801542
>
> John Reimann
>
> --
> "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
> Assata Shakur
> Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
>



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Re: [Marxism] Something's in the air

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Louis reports on some discussion on labor in the NYC DSA.

Was there any discussion on the issue of building a working class party and
the relationship between this and supporting Democrats - either all
Democrats or even just some of them?

It seems to me that this is really the issue of the hour.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Something's in the air

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Dayne Goodman wrote about encouraging the growth of DSA. I take Dayne wrote
that in reply to my question. How does questioning whether there was any
discussion of the relationship with the Democratic Party not encourage that
growth? I'd really like to know.

John Reimann

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Re: [Marxism] Something's in the air

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I'm going to assume that this report more or less reflects the general
approach of the conference. If there are other reports that show
differently, then all the better. But based on this report:

First, I'll give my perspective: I was a 30 year member of the Carpenters
Union, recording secretary of my local elected three times over the
opposition of the official leadership, offered full time (appointed)
positions many times, and known as one of the most prominent dissidents in
the union. I was also active in the wider labor movement, including
delegate to the central labor council in my area as well as numerous union
conventions. I was ultimately expelled for my role as a dissident, using
the excuse of the 1999 carpenters wildcat strike
<https://oaklandsocialist.com/2014/11/24/1999-sf-bay-area-carpenters-wildcat-strike/>
in the SF Bay Area. I mention all of this to say that I'm not speaking as
some ultra left or as some wild-eyed young idealistic radical.Those who
would like to know a little more about the carpenters' union, the building
trades in general, and what they show about the unions in general, can look
at this pamphlet
<https://oaklandsocialist.com/2013/06/06/what-happened-to-our-unions/>.

We have to start with the situation in the unions: Even as far back as the
1970s and 80s, this leadership was continually trying to accommodate the
needs of the employers. Since then, they've gotten even worse. The result
is that the membership in general is nearly totally alienated from their
unions, which they perceive as being the union officials. In my area, most
rank and file union members I meet couldn't even tell you the name of the
union they belong to. I could tell you one story after another about how
betrayed these members feel.

And how have most socialists responded to this? On the one hand, they tend
to ignore how the leadership refuses to organize a fight against the
employers. At the most, these socialists call for more "union democracy",
but that skirts the main issue, which is whether the union will fight for
better wages and conditions. The payoff is that some of the leadership is
willing to endorse some resolution on El Salvador or something like that
that these socialists put forward. Then, these same socialists can use that
to parade around and boost their authority.

On the other hand, many of them love to talk about union militancy... back
in the 1930s or even the 1960s. But as far as placing any demands on the
present leadership to organize a real fight now? That's a book sealed with
a 1000 seals. And it tends to be the same thing as far as organizing a
campaign to get the unions to break from the Democratic Party, to refuse to
endorse ANY candidates of this party of big business, and to join with
community groups, etc. in building a working class party.

So, what it amounts to is using the union for their own individual
advancement. And from these reports, I don't hear that there's anything
very much different in this case.

Some may say that these comments are trying to tear down DSA or not trying
to build it or something. Frankly, I completely reject that criticism. I
used to hear it all the time from my business agents, when they were trying
to prevent any discussion on how the union needs to change its course. A
free and open discussion, including airing of differences and criticism, is
an absolutely essential part of building any workers' movement.

John Reimann

On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 2:09 PM, Dayne Goodwin 
wrote:

> On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 5:45 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>> From Dan La Botz on FB:
>> Yesterday NYC DSA Labor Branch held a Labor Day School that was attended
>> by about 100 DSA members, most of them union activists. I spoke on a panel
>> on the left and labor: Stephanie Luce talked about Why the Working Class,
>> Chris Maisano talked about the Communist Party and the Trade Union
>> Education League in the 1920s, I spoke about the Communist Party,
>> Trotskyists and Socialists in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s.
>> About 50 people attended that session, though I think 75 to 100 attended
>> one or another session throughout the day. While I couldn't stay for the
>> entire day school, I heard good things about all of the panels and
>> discussions.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 3:33 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>> Louis reports on some disc

[Marxism] Zuma resigns

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"Jacob Zuma has resigned as president of South Africa. The immediate reason
was his corruption scandals, but the underlying reasons tell a tale that
workers around the world should consider. It is a tale of how a mass
workers struggle lost its way and lost control over its own leaders, who
then used their positions for their own personal enrichment

"As the Guardian newspaper writes, “As president, Ramaphosa will have to
balance the need to reassure foreign investors and local businesses against
the intense popular demand for dramatic measures to address South Africa’s
deep problems.”

"This, in a nutshell, is the contradiction that faces the world’s working
class under capitalism. To have jobs, they need to “reassure foreign
investors and local businesses.” But they can only do that by accepting low
wages and allowing capital to invest more or less free of environmental
restrictions. The more we have, the less we have."

read article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/02/15/south-africas-zuma-resigns-what-next/


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Re: [Marxism] South Africa Sees Fresh Start for Economy, With the Same Challenges

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Peter Goodman, author of the NYT article posted, refers to Ramaphosa's
betrayal of the miners as a "brush with controversy." And it can be
considered as nothing less than a betrayal in the literal sense of the
word. Ramaphosa went from the leader of the miners union (NUM) to sitting
on the board of directors of one of the companies and becoming one of South
Africa's richest men. He helped try to cover up that massacre at Marakana.
He is an out-and-out representative of the South African capitalist class.

Goodman focuses on the issue of corruption, as if that existed in
isolation. No, it came about because the leadership of the ANC embraced
capitalist development of South Africa. That meant the necessity of
attracting foreign capital. In order to do that, they had to keep wages and
taxes and regulation low and keep the working class quiet. In order to do
that, they had to distance themselves from the powerful South African
working class.

The problem facing Ramaphosa was perfectly summed up in an article in the
Guardian: “*As president, Ramaphosa will have to balance the need to
reassure foreign investors and local businesses against the intense popular
demand for dramatic measures to address South Africa’s deep problems*.”

Ever hear of squaring a circle being done successfully? No? Neither have I.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Signs of Regional-International Agreements Over Manbij, Afrin

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*More signs of collaboration between all the major players in Syria,
including the YPG.*


"A Kurdish official told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that signs of
regional-international agreements started to appear lately concerning the
division of north Syria, where US-Turkish forces should deploy in the city
of Manbij in exchange of a Russian-sponsored “symbolic presence” of Syrian
regime forces in the city of Afrin.

The official uncovered that contacts were currently held with Damascus to
sign a text deal stipulating the symbolic entrance of regime forces and
security institutions to central Afrin.

“It seems Moscow, which rejected to cooperate two weeks ago, has now agreed
on a new version allowing the presence of the Syrian state in Afrin. Regime
forces are expected to head from Aleppo to Afrin in the upcoming hours,”
the Kurdish official said.

The latest development coincided Friday with a Syrian regime decision to
allow Kurds demonstrate in Damascus against the Turkish military operation
in northern Syria, carrying portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader
of the PKK.

Ocalan was arrested and then jailed on an island prison in Turkey, after
being kicked out of Damascus 19 years ago following a deal with Ankara.
Since 1999, Turkey considers Ocalan’s PKK party as a terrorist organization.

Kurdish officials said they had informed the US army about their contacts
with Damascus, adding that “the Americans did not mind.”

Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that Ankara had proposed to
Washington the deployment of Turkish-US forces in Manbij to kick out
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to east Euphrates.

The Kurdish official said that since the start of Turkey’s “Olive Branch”
operation, leaders from the YPG started to contact Damascus, asking the
regime to send its “Border Guards” to defend Syria’s northern border.

The official said that Russia had prevented Damascus from achieving such
mission, due to a deal signed between Turkey and Russia allowing Ankara to
protect its national security from northern Syria and stipulating the
withdrawal of Russian forces from Afrin to other areas."

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: The three degrees of separation between Lyndon LaRouche, the left, and the alt-right (part five)

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Thanks for the article. One question: You mention a connection between
Larouche and the Workers World Party, but I didn't see any documentation of
that.

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[Marxism] request for speakers

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This is a request to find speakers at the Left Forum meeting coming up this
June in New York for a panel I want to organize.


From the labor movement to the Civil Rights Movement to today, there has
long been a debate among socialists and, in fact, within the working class
about how to relate to the Democratic Party. The rise of DSA makes this
issue more central once again. It seems to me that there are three
different points of view:


One is that attempts to build an alternative have all failed and,
therefore, we should continue working within the Democratic Party to
strengthen it’s progressive wing. When and where we can, we should run our
own candidates as Democrats.


Another is that, yes, we need an alternative but we don’t have one right
now. We should work to build an alternative party and, meanwhile, support
at least some Democratic Party candidates. In fact, we can run our own
candidates on the Democratic Party ticket.


The third is that the weakness and confusion of the working class in US
society is epitomized by the absence of a working class party. Concrete
steps can and should be taken right now to build such a party. It is not
possible to start down that road while supporting ANY Democrats or running
candidates on the Democratic Party ticket.


The third is my view. I am looking for DSA members and/or union officers or
activists to represent the first two points of view (with myself
representing the third) in what I hope would be an important open
discussion. If anybody would like to do so, or has ideas for somebody who
might, please contact me.


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Re: [Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film, Marvel Grows Up and I Don?t Know How to Review It

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David Walters accuses Andy of "taking [Black Panther] far too seriously."
If He further comments: "The 'social significance' of this I have to assume
is irrelevant."  I have not seen that film nor do I intend to see it. In
fact, I don't even know very much about its plot. But I do think we should
take Hollywood movies seriously in the political sense.

We should not see propaganda as being purely what comes from the
communications officer of the Pentagon or the editors of the Wall St.
Journal or the New York Times. No more than we should think that political
views and cultural orientation are two totally separate things. I strongly
believe that what comes out of Hollywood is one of the most powerful
propaganda tools for capitalism that the US capitalist class has. Same for
the songs that are on the radio. I well remember, for example, when rap
music first hit the big time. One of the first big popular rap groups was
Grand Master Flash, and I remember their hit "New York, New York". Back in
those days, my neighborhood was known as "Funktown" after one of Oakland's
more prominent drug gangs. I can still hear that rap of Grand Master Flash
in my memory as it was played out on the streets outside my window over and
over. And what a powerful condemnation of capitalism it was, even though it
didn't propose a fight to oppose it.

So, what happened? In a very short time that sort of rap was replaced on
the radio by raps about a woman's "booty" or about getting rich.

All of this has a massive effect on the consciousness - in some ways even
more so than does the formal political propaganda. And that includes what
comes out of Hollywood.

John Reimann



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Re: [Marxism] Remembering the White Rose

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Good article on the White Rose, but it missed the best, the most moving
part: Sophie Scholl's last words:

*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”*

Next week marks the 75 anniversary of her execution. She deserves to be
remembered.

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Black Panther: Afrofuturism Gets a Superb Film, Marvel Grows Up and I Don?t Know How to Review It

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David Walters misunderstands what I'm saying. Nobody is proposing
"socialist realism" nor its cousin, "proletarian culture". But I think he
is being totally unrealistic to think that what people see on TV, the
images they "consume", don't affect their thinking. Does he really think
that all the TV shows that show cops protecting little children, that show
cops pushing around a serial child molester in order to get information on
where he's hidden his victims (thereby justifying police brutality) -- all
that sort of thing - does he really think those images don't affect the
thinking of millions of people?

Why does he think the automobile companies spend untold millions
associating their product with attractive young women or the cigarette
companies spend similar millions associating their product with healthy,
outdoor scenes? Does he think they just love to throw away their money? Or
is it possible that maybe - just maybe - they've actually commissioned
studies that show that these scenes actually work at some level, that they
actually succeed in getting these associations accepted?

Incidentally, even the Pentagon understands this. The book "The
Compassionate Instinct" recounts how the US military found that many US
soldiers resisted killing by intentionally aiming over the heads of the
"enemy" soldiers. So what they did was subject new recruits to scenes of
violence to help overcome that resistance. The authors theorize that the
increase in PTSD among vets since then is a result of the success of these
programs and soldiers doing things that violate what is really in the
"nature" of human beings.

Does he really think that the association of sex with domination doesn't
affect people's attitudes? I used to know a guy - a very nice and
thoughtful worker - who told me that when he was young, he'd watch scenes
on TV of a guy forcing a kiss on a woman who resisted and resisted and
then, suddenly - magically - she yielded and passionately returned the
kiss. This guy told me that for years he thought that that was true - that
if he forced a kiss on a woman, that at some point she'd want to kiss him
back. There was nothing unusual or psychotic about this guy, so there's no
reason to think he was unique.

Or take another example: They've done studies that show that watching porn
tends to increase the propensity towards sexual aggression. And if David
thinks that the idolizing of being rich doesn't affect the thinking, well
then, I think he's very wrong. Incidentally, the British left journalist
Monbiot wrote a very interesting piece on celebrity culture. It's directly
related to what we're discussing here. This is the link:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/celebrity-corporate-machine-fame-big-business-donald-trump-kim-kardashian

It is simply idealistic - non-Marxist - to think that what we see on TV
doesn't affect our consciousness.

As for rap music: David completely misses my point. That point was exactly
that rap originated as a form of expression of the experiences of life in
the inner cities and was then transformed by Hollywood.

My own personal belief is that all political movements are in a sense an
expression of the inner-most feelings and experiences of people and that
was true for the black revolt of the 1960s and '70s. When that revolt
declined and was crushed, then that self-expression found a different form,
one less overtly "political". That was what rap music originally was, as in
the example of Grand Master Flash. But even that was too dangerous so it
was taken over by Hollywood. I don't know about David, but I used to listen
to what my kids were listening to back in the late '70s and '80s when we
rode in the car together. I found it so distasteful that I'd make them turn
it off. If it were something that was overtly racist, we'd object. Why not
to music that's overtly sexist? What - we don't think that affects people's
thinking? Let's get real here.

John Reimann

-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Assata Shakur
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[Marxism] Gun regulation?

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I think socialists need to have a serious discussion about this campaign of
the youth in the US against the NRA and against assault weapons.

On the one hand, there are the arguments that the original gun laws were
introduced to take guns away from the newly freed slaves in the South after
the Civil War. And in the 1970s, gun laws in California were tightened up
to at least partially disarm the Black Panther Party. Equally important is
the fact that with up to 8 million assault weapons floating around in the
US, you're never going to get them out of circulation, so what is likely to
happen is that the far right, including fascist groups, would be the ones
who end up with them. In other words, you can't trust the capitalist state
to regulate guns.

Then there's the other arguments:
In the first place, while it's true that you can't trust the capitalist
state, still, we have all sorts of government regulations that we don't
want to see dismantled - environmental regulations, for example. Or who
would advocate eliminating speed limits, even though we know that they're
selectively enforced and used in a racist way? How about driving and auto
ownership - should that be completely deregulated? As for assault weapons:
Aren't there some limits we would advocate? Are we okay with people owning
mortars, bazookas, rpg's? How about owning a batch of sarin gas? If we just
say "no, no, no, no", do we really want to end up sounding exactly like the
NRA?

Sure, the issue of gun regulations of some sort only touches the surface of
the issue of mass shootings. What really needs to be addressed are the
issues of prevalent violence, alienation, narcissism, and the cheapening of
human life in US society. But given its prominence, we can't afford to
ignore the issue of gun regulation nor have a knee-jerk reaction.
Your thoughts?

John Reimann

-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
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Re: [Marxism] Gun regulation

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When I posed the question originally, I didn't mention the issue of
workers' self defense against the police and the state in general. Those
who raise this issue - and those who claim that "we" need guns to defend
"ourselves" against a repressive state - are simply playing make believe.
No amount of AR 50's and other assault weapons will stand up to the arsenal
that just the local police have, never mind the National Guard. It's like
the Native Americans fighting with bows and arrows against the cavalry with
their Gatling guns. That issue is simply make-believe.

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
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[Marxism] [UCE]

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Excellent article from Alliance of Middle East Socialists:

"Thus the need to oppose the Assad regime’s bombing of Eastern Ghouta and
Idlib is not only a concern for people in the Middle East but should also
be a concern for anti-racist activists around the world. Allowing Assad and
his allies to continue their massacres in the name of “fighting terror”
will greatly strengthen those who want to repeat that scenario in the U.S.
and Europe and elsewhere. It will have consequences for Black Lives Matter,
Latinos, all people of color, Muslims and Jews

"Since January 20 however, when the authoritarian government of Erodogan
intensified its ongoing war on the Kurds and attacked the Afrin canton with
support from Russia, and by using Syrian Arab fighters from the anti-Assad
Free Syrian Army and the Islamic fundamentalist forces, the PYD leadership
has openly asked the Assad regime to come to its aid How could a
butcher regime which is currently engaged in decimating the people of
Eastern Ghouta and has been responsible, for the past seven years, for the
murder of half a million mostly innocent civilians, be called upon to
“save” the Kurdish masses? This is also a regime with extreme Arab
nationalist and racist policies toward the Kurds, some of whom were not
even recognized as Syrian citizens until 2011."

https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/victory-assad-regime-ghouta-major-defeat-fighting-racism-capitalist-authoritarianism-globally/?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email


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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Gun regulation

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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David once again misunderstands what I was saying.

In the first place, regarding the alleged need to have guns to stand up to
a repressive government: The far right most certainly takes that position,
but they are not alone. I don't know where David has been, but I've seen
many on the left take a similar position. It is an absolute fantasy which
distracts from the classic Marxist position of winning over the "workers in
uniform" (most importantly the National Guard, but NOT the police, who are
not workers in uniform).

David goes on at great length about Robert Williams and similar figures. I
don't know what that has to do with what I wrote, unless he is implying
that I believe in nonviolence as a principle. I never implied anything of
the sort.

Most telling about what he writes is his comment that the (armed) Redneck
Revolt "were in Charlettesville [sic] during the car attack by the racist
far right." Far from strengthening his argument, it does the exact
opposite! What good did an armed group do there to prevent attacks on the
anti-racists? None, whatsoever!

We have to think this through. Imagine workers going on strike in an open
carry state, one where bearers of arms are allowed to shoot somebody who
presents a "danger" to them. Imagine open carry scabs trying to go through
a picket line and being confronted by striking workers. David can say,
"yes, but the strikers could carry guns too," but the reality is that in
most of those situations they would not be using the guns first. They would
be trying to block the scabs through physical resistance, through force of
numbers. In such a situation, the scabs would be completely legal in
shooting strikers. Yes, I know, they've done that many times before, but
the open carry laws and the "self defense" laws make that much, much easier.

There's another, all too real instance: Ferguson. There, shortly after the
first few days of the mass protests, the Oath Keepers descended, offering
guns to the "good people of Ferguson." What good would that have done? The
police unleashed tear gas barrage after tear gas barrage at night and used
the excuse that they'd heard gunshots. (I was there; the police were
lying.) The presence of guns on the part of the protesters would not have
helped in the least.

All this talk of guns, by the way, serves as a distraction from what was
really absent: The role of the unions, meaning the organized working class
(what little of it remains). One UAW member I met there told me that his
local leadership had told him, "This is not our fight". Can you imagine?
Had the union leadership turned its membership out, that would have made
the difference, not guns on the part of a few individuals.

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] A "rude" union member

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The following two conversations have to be kept in mind when we think about
how to fight the coming US Supreme Court Ruling against public sector
unions.

“My union representative told me I’m rude.” So spoke the checker at the
grocery store I usually shop at. She also told me that she hasn’t seen that
rep in the store in a long, long time. But I recalled the time, a few years
ago, when that same checker had told me about having a conflict with
management and that same union rep came in, spent 45 minutes conferring
with the manager, and then told the worker she was in the wrong. I raised
that maybe that was the reason she wasn’t so friendly with that union rep.
(She’s always very friendly with me, though.) She nodded in agreement

"All the rational arguments, all the appeals to legality and justice are
irrelevant. Power is what counts. Power, and power alone. The unions will
only get that power by first and foremost mobilizing their own members, and
then linking that up with the growing movements we are seeing develop. But
they cannot mobilize their own members as long as those members don’t see
the unions really fighting for them. Nor as long as the members are
convinced that the union cannot win real gains for them."

https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/02/25/a-rude-union-member/


-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Did Russian meddling swing the election? Does it matter?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Anthony Boynton quotes Mark Lause approvingly: "Although we can only guess
based on what we know, Trump's behavior makes him look guilty as hell By
guilty, I mean deep-rooted financial ties between Trump and his circle with
the Russian oligarchs, among others."

One thing we have to realize is that in Russia, the "oligarchs" and the
Russian mafia are more or less one and the same. And I don't think we
really have to "guess" about Trump's connections: Trump IS connected with
the Russian mafia, he HAS served as a money launderer for them for years,
and there IS so much publicly known evidence that we don't have to "guess".
This has been in the public record for at least a year, if not longer. (I wrote
about it

back last April.)

It is not surprising that the US capitalist class is trying to avoid the
issue. Not only would this depth of criminal behavior of a president be
embarrassing to them but, more important it would tend to open up a whole
other can of worms: The fact that the real estate industry is rampant
with money
laundering

for other such criminal syndicates, especially the drug cartels. Should
this start to be exposed in a big way, it could easily lead to a massive
political crisis for US capitalism. For one thing, the politics of most
major cities are dominated by the real estate industry. Imagine if it came
out that the major donors to many mayors and city council members were in
effect mobbed up, were involved in such money laundering.

So, it's no wonder this is being kept under wraps, but it is quite
disconcerting that the socialist left has more or less ignored this. Maybe
more of it than we know still has some romantic notions about the original
home of the workers state or some such. If that is the issue, then they are
living in the past.

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Gun control and assault weapons

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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We had a discussion the other evening among a small group about gun control
and the growing youth movement in favor of it. The issue got more
complicated by the minute. But in the end, I think the question boils down
to: “How should socialists relate to what seems to be a growing movement
among some high school students in favor of some sort of increased gun
regulation – in particular banning assault weapons?”

There was some disagreement, but in general we agreed that our society
would be better off if civilians did not possess assault weapons. We also
agreed that the police shouldn’t have them either.

Then matters get more complicated: How are you going to go about
confiscating them in the present political climate, where the NRA gun
fanatics/the racists are feeling so powerful and on the offensive? You are
going to end up with one shoot out after another, and with a rebellion from
among the police themselves, many of whom are also members of these racist
groups. Today, being armed to the teeth is normalized among many millions.
So, you have to reverse the entire political direction, the entire
political climate here in the US. That means developing a political
movement that takes up all the basic things that are bothering working
class people here – economics, racism, sexism, the environment, jobs... the
whole nine yards.
Such a political movement will only develop seriously if it is outside of
and opposed to the Democratic Party, which would welcome it in in order to
smother it. So, that means taking the first steps towards building a mass
working class party to oppose both the parties of big business.
Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/01/some-thoughts-on-gun-control/


-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Did Russian meddling swing the election? Does it matter?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I was just trying to be cute, but I guess it came across differently. Sorry
about that.

Although one point where we may have a real difference is in the final
sentence that "better days are coming". They might be at some point, but I
think that in the forseeable future things could get a whole lot worse.
Maybe this new youth movement against assault weapons plus the new "me too"
movement are the forerunners to a broader movement. If so, then he's very
possibly right about better days coming. But these movements could also be
flashes in the pan, in which case it's very possible that a lot WORSE days
are coming.

John Reimann

On Thu, Mar 1, 2018 at 1:01 PM, Anthony Boynton 
wrote:

> John Reiman has misquoted me and misunderstood what I said in my recent
> post (and probably what Mark Lause said as well). We can only guess why,
> but to be charitable, he was probably just overly hasty to make a good
> point.
>
>
>
> And that is too bad, because I agree with his good point. Here it is
>
>
>
> “One thing we have to realize is that in Russia, the "oligarchs" and the
> Russian mafia are more or less one and the same. And I don't think we
> really have to "guess" about Trump's connections: Trump IS connected with
> the Russian mafia, he HAS served as a money launderer for them for years,
> and there IS so much publicly known evidence that we don't have to "guess".
> This has been in the public record for at least a year, if not longer.”
>
>
>
> Just for the record, here is John’s unfortunate Bowdlerization:
>
>
>
> "Anthony Boynton quotes Mark Lause approvingly: "Although we can only guess
> based on what we know, Trump's behavior makes him look guilty as hell
> By
> guilty, I mean deep-rooted financial ties between Trump and his circle with
> the Russian oligarchs, among others."
>
>
>
> But I did not write anything like that! Here is what I wrote,
>
> “I agree with Mark Lause when he writes,
>
>
>
> ‘“I tend to think the entire issue (Russian intervention in the 2016 US
> elections) as much more important than we tend to credit it. (But I tended
> to think that we underestimated the importance of the impeachment question
> on Nixon, too.)  Although we can only guess based on what we know, Trump's
> behavior makes him look guilty as hell, and I'd bet that Mueller has
> serious evidence against him . . . and is currently working to make the
> case watertight.  By guilty, I mean deep-rooted financial ties between
> Trump and his circle with the Russian oligarchs, among others.”
>
> ‘“The Republicans have generally demonstrated a complete lack of party
> independence from the head of state . . . and the Democrats have shown a
> complete inability to tie their shoes and take the most rudimentary steps.”’
>
>
>
> “But, I think he misses what is happening in the world when he continues,
>
> ‘“All of which underscores the opportunities of which we could be taking
> advantage, if we had genuinely independent social movements of any
> persistence and scale . . . or any organizations more substantial than
> social democratic bowling leagues.”’
>
>
>
> “The fact of the matter is that a mass and multi-faceted social democratic
> movement is growing
>
> ​in ​
>
> the United States that includes the women’s rights movement (much more
> than #MeToo), Black Lives Matter, the immigrants’ rights movement, the
> $15/hour movement, the anti-gun movement and a much broader and deeper
> ferment.
>
> ​
>
> “That deeper ferment is in part centered on the issue of democracy​ and is
> deeply offended by the fact that Trump is in the White House despite having
> lost the popular vote and patently having manipulated the vote in illegal
> ways and with the aid of a foreign power.
>
>
>
> “However you define “we” –the very broad left, the revolutionary left, the
> Marxist left….- “we” are growing rapidly and are taking advantage of
> opportunities. IMHO “We” includes much more than the old codgers who
> graduated from the New Left of the 1960’s: “We” includes the new generation
> of the left that is just coming to grips with the struggle.
>
>
>
> “Rather than “Cheers”, I have to say, CHEER UP MARK, better days are
> coming.”
>
> Anthony
>



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*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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[Marxism] interview with striking W. VA. school teacher

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/02/interview-west-virginia-teacher-discusses-strike/

Here's an interview I did with a striking school teacher in West Virginia.

-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Fwd: [Critical-Syria] SOAS Syria Society Lecture - Monday March 5th 7pm

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Those living in London might be interested in this notice. I see that
Higgins is the founder of Bellingcat, which is the main source for
debunking all the propaganda that Assad is not responsible for the various
poison gas attacks. (The name "Bellingcat" evidently comes from the
practice of putting a bell on a cat to prevent it from sneaking up on
birds.) Here's what the Facebook "events" page has to say about him:
SOAS Syria Society has the pleasure to invite you to talk by Eliot Higgins
(Brown Moses) to discuss the use and role of Open Source Investigation and
cross-border collaboration, and present his work on Syria.

Eliot Higgins is the founder of Bellingcat and a visiting research
associate at Kings at the Department of War Studies. In 2014 he started the
website Bellingcat, which applies the use of open source investigation to a
range of topics.

His work on Syria focuses on the authentification of weapons and planes,
including the monitoring of the use of barrel bombs and chemical weapons.
Through Bellingcat, he was involved in documenting the most recent chemical
attacks in Syria and the geo-tracking of airstrike targets and sources.

-- Forwarded message --
From: Eliot Higgins 
Date: Sat, Mar 3, 2018 at 8:34 AM
Subject: [Critical-Syria] SOAS Syria Society Lecture - Monday March 5th 7pm
To: Critical Syria 


Hi all,
This Monday I'll be in London giving a free lecture on the use of open
source investigation, with a particular focus on the conflict in Syria.
More details are here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2028388807374102/

Feel free to share the link with anyone who might be interested. My
presentations are always very well reviewed, and I don't do many public
lectures anymore, so don't miss out!

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*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: How to change the course of human history | Eurozine

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Louis Proyect writes: "I am
surprised that Graeber does not bother to engage with Marxist
anthropology and focuses his article on answering Jared Diamond."

What about Diamond does Louis disagree with and can he give some links to
some basic articles criticizing Diamond from the left.

-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] How to change history (AKA Jared Diamond)

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Yes, Diamond ignores imperialism. In one particularly disgraceful example: When 
“explaining” why Haiti is so poor he doesn’t mention how they had to buy their 
way to freedom from the French and how the US imposed “sanctions” on the 
country for decades after the Haitian revolution.

But, then, I didn’t read “Guns, Germs, and Steel” to understand class struggle 
or imperialism; I read it to try to figure out why industrialization got its 
major boost where it did. In this, Diamond’s explanations made sense to me. At 
the very least, I think Marxists cannot fault his method. He explicitly rejects 
any explanation that starts by putting “culture” first. For example, any 
“explanation” that claims that it was because those cultures involved more 
curiousity or some such nonsense. As he points out, even if that were true 
(which it isn’t), it explains nothing because then you’d have to ask why those 
cultures value curiousity. He also rejects explanations that center around 
colder climates.

I do think that his explanations that center around geography, for one, make a 
lot of sense. His explanations may be mistaken, but I think his method is 
right. 

What he has to say about social development AFTER the rise of industrialization 
and capitalism is a different story.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Visiting W VA

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I am in W VA. Here are a few preliminary thoughts.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/07/visiting-the-strike-of-west-virginia-teachers/

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[Marxism] Ongoing strikes and women's struggles in Iran

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From the Alliance of Middle East Socialists

March 8, 2018

Ten weeks after a wave of nationwide popular demonstration called for the
overthrow of the Iranian regime and an end to its military intervention in
the region,  the  uprising is continuing in a different form:  Multiple
labor strikes, labor actions,  women’s protests against the compulsory
hijab and other discriminatory laws,  actions by families of political
prisoners,  Sufi Dervishes, and  environmental protests.  The state has
also stiffened its crackdown on women activists, workers, environmental
activists and Sufis.   Several detainees,  including a professor and
environmental activist, Kavous Seyed Emami,   a Sufi Dervish, Mohammad
Raji,  and  young protesters such as Sina Ghanbari and Vahid Heydari   have
been killed in state custody, and their deaths have been attributed to
 “committing suicide.”

In this article, I would like to focus on labor protests, women’s protests,
and ways in which international socialists and progressives might be able
to  express their solidarity with them.

*I. Labor Protests/Strikes Everywhere*

Currently various labor protests and strikes in steel, sugarcane, oil and
petrochemicals, machinery  production as well as telecommunications,
railways,  construction, transportation,  education, healthcare, municipal
services,  and carrying of cargo (by porters) are taking place on a daily
basis.The protests also involve retirees,  the young unemployed,  and
the disabled.

These labor actions are mostly demanding the payment of back wages and
benefits (anywhere from one month to two years)  and oppose the lack of job
security in an economy in which the majority of those employed are
contract-employees with few or no benefits.   The employers are mostly
either directly part of the state and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
and other parastatal foundations, or indirectly related to the state in the
form of  contractors.

The  protests have mostly taken place in the province of Khuzestan in the
south.  Khuzestan is one of Iran’s  industrial centers,  has a majority
Arab population and has been experiencing severe environmental problems
related to  the drying up of bodies of water and marshes caused by
government policies aimed at maximizing short-term profits and the
monopolization of resources for the capital and the provinces of Central
Iran. Strikes and labor protests are also taking place in the provinces
of Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Lorestan, Isfahan, Fars, Markazi and Tehran as
well as others.

The most prominent strikes are currently the following:

   1. National Steel strike in Ahvaz, Khuzestan over the non-payment of
   wages/benefits involves 4000 workers and is in its seventeenth day.   On
   Thursday, March 1,  security police attacked the homes of ten workers,
   arrested them for “illegal” protest activities and later set a $10,000 bail
   for each.  The strikers have been marching around the city of Ahvaz  to
   demand their release and have been joined by their wives and other family
   members at a protest in front of the state house.
   2. The Haft-Tapeh Sugarcane strike in Khuzestan over the non-payment of
   wages/benefits and the precarious conditions of contract workers and day
   laborers. This strike also demands the legalization of independent unions.
 It involves several thousand workers,  including retirees and has faced
   multiple attacks by security forces as well as arrests of workers.  The
   Haft Tapeh workers have been some of the most militant during the past
   several years.
   3. The Hepco machine workers’ strike in Arak, Central Province, over the
   non-payment of wages/benefits, massive lay offs (reducing the number of
   employees from 4000 to 1000) and a major cut in production

*II.  How to Express Solidarity with Iranian Labor and Women’s Struggles?*

For those socialists and progressives who wish to express their solidarity
with these struggles, while also opposing any imperialist intervention in
Iran, here are some ways in which you can make a difference:

   1. If you know someone who speaks Persian, ask them to help you follow
the website of the  *Free Union of Iranian Workers*  which has  been
   the best at reporting current labor struggles there.   Go to
   http://ettehad-e.com/

You can also go to the weblog of the *Association of Electrical and Metal
Workers of Kermanshah*:  anjomanbfk.blogfa.com

or the website of the *Tehran Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate*

http://vahedsyndica.com/



You can also contact the *International Alliance in Support of Workers in
Iran* which is an organization of socialist and labor activists based in
Ca

[Marxism] That Southern Poverty Law Center article

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Mention was made on this list of the SPLC article on the links between the
far right and the left and the fact that the article was removed when Max
Blumenthal complained. To my recollection, that article was never printed
here. Evidently somebody found it in some archives or something, and here
it is. Nothing really new, but very detailed and revealing.

http://glykosymoritis.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-multipolar-spin-how-fascists.html

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Question re pro Assad lefts

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I was recently asked about supporting the slogan US out of Syria. (My response 
was yes if we include all imperialist forces, especially Russia and Iran, who 
are really the main actors there.) But I got to thinking: Since the US has 
intervened so decisively on the side of the Kurds, who are uncritically admired 
by these same lefts, what has been their position? Are they demanding that US 
troops leave Afrin and stop aiding the Kurds? Does anybody know? (I know they 
were silent about US military action in Raqqa.)

John Reimann 
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Re: [Marxism] Question re pro Assad lefts

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I note that Carl skirts the question of whether he calls for the US to stop
arming and aiding the Kurds (including having US troops in their
territory.) That, after all, is the real main thrust of US involvement. But
it also leads to another question: Does Karl consider the PYD control over
Rojava to be legitimate? In that case, then their having invited in the US
troops in makes the US presence "legitimate".

Or take another example: The Mexican and Colombian governments have
"invited" US forces in to spray huge swaths of land to get rid of poppy and
marijuana crops. I suppose that makes their actions there "legitimate" too?

This whole claim about "legitimace" or "legality" really shows how far the
apologists for Assad & Putin have strayed from the most basic socialist
ideals. Here you have a brutal, repressive regime, one that has been a
stooge for the World Bank and whose economic policies could have been taken
straight out of the pages of "The Shock Doctrine", one that survives by
bombing and gassing its own population - never mind mass torture - and it
asks for military help from another right wing regime. Since the laws of
capitalist legality make that OK, then according to Estabrook and similar
people, there's nothing to be argued with.

John Reimann

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 12:05 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> US out of Syria would include ending US support - or indulgence - for its
> NATO ally, Turkey, who should also exit Syria.
>
> Russia - legitimately in Syria - seems to have placed limits on Turkish
> action in Syria.
>
>
> > On Mar 7, 2018, at 3:34 AM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
> >
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
> > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
> > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
> > *
> >
> >
> > I was recently asked about supporting the slogan US out of Syria. (My
> response was yes if we include all imperialist forces, especially Russia
> and Iran, who are really the main actors there.) But I got to thinking:
> Since the US has intervened so decisively on the side of the Kurds, who are
> uncritically admired by these same lefts, what has been their position? Are
> they demanding that US troops leave Afrin and stop aiding the Kurds? Does
> anybody know? (I know they were silent about US military action in Raqqa.)
> >
> > John Reimann
> > Sent from my iPad
> > _
> > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
> > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/
> options/marxism/galliher%40illinois.edu
>
>


-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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Re: [Marxism] Question re pro Assad lefts

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So, in other words, Carl Estabrook has no objection to US troops in Rojava.
Nor, I take it, to the US bombing of Raqqa in preparation for the Kurdish
forces to take over that area. Some "anti US imperialism"!

It leads to another question: Does he have any opposition to the US's role
in Mosul?

John Reimann

On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 8:11 AM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> I think PYD control of Rojava is legitimate, and the (Syrian) Kurds should
> be part of the general peace in Syria that the Russians have been trying to
> arrange - and that the US has been frustrating. Rojava has asked for
> Damascus troops to aid its battle against the Turks invading Afrin, thereby
> acknowledging its participation in the government of Syria.
>
> Obama’s attack on Syria is comparable to Clinton’s attack on Serbia,
> another less than admirable regime where the US 'presence' was
> illegitimate. —CGE
>
>
>
> On Mar 14, 2018, at 9:36 AM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I note that Carl skirts the question of whether he calls for the US to
> stop arming and aiding the Kurds (including having US troops in their
> territory.) That, after all, is the real main thrust of US involvement. But
> it also leads to another question: Does Karl consider the PYD control over
> Rojava to be legitimate? In that case, then their having invited in the US
> troops in makes the US presence "legitimate".
>
> Or take another example: The Mexican and Colombian governments have
> "invited" US forces in to spray huge swaths of land to get rid of poppy and
> marijuana crops. I suppose that makes their actions there "legitimate" too?
>
> This whole claim about "legitimace" or "legality" really shows how far the
> apologists for Assad & Putin have strayed from the most basic socialist
> ideals. Here you have a brutal, repressive regime, one that has been a
> stooge for the World Bank and whose economic policies could have been taken
> straight out of the pages of "The Shock Doctrine", one that survives by
> bombing and gassing its own population - never mind mass torture - and it
> asks for military help from another right wing regime. Since the laws of
> capitalist legality make that OK, then according to Estabrook and similar
> people, there's nothing to be argued with.
>
> John Reimann
>
> On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 12:05 PM, Carl G. Estabrook  > wrote:
>
>> US out of Syria would include ending US support - or indulgence - for its
>> NATO ally, Turkey, who should also exit Syria.
>>
>> Russia - legitimately in Syria - seems to have placed limits on Turkish
>> action in Syria.
>>
>>
>> > On Mar 7, 2018, at 3:34 AM, John Reimann via Marxism <
>> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>> >
>> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
>> > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>> > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
>> > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
>> > *
>> >
>> >
>> > I was recently asked about supporting the slogan US out of Syria. (My
>> response was yes if we include all imperialist forces, especially Russia
>> and Iran, who are really the main actors there.) But I got to thinking:
>> Since the US has intervened so decisively on the side of the Kurds, who are
>> uncritically admired by these same lefts, what has been their position? Are
>> they demanding that US troops leave Afrin and stop aiding the Kurds? Does
>> anybody know? (I know they were silent about US military action in Raqqa.)
>> >
>> > John Reimann
>> > Sent from my iPad
>> > _
>> > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
>> > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/opt
>> ions/marxism/galliher%40illinois.edu
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
> willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
> sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
> thousands of people are awakened and stirred to ac

Re: [Marxism] Question re pro Assad lefts

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I think ALL imperialist forces should be withdrawn. that also includes
Russian and Iranian. And they, after all, are the ones doing the most
damage as far as human suffering. But what does human suffering matter when
they are there "legitimately" according to capitalist law?

John

On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 8:31 AM, Carl G. Estabrook 
wrote:

> I think all US troops (and weapons) should be withdrawn from Syria (and
> Iraq). Don’t you?
>
> And the US should insist its 'NATO ally,’ Turkey, leave as well.
>
>
>
> On Mar 14, 2018, at 10:21 AM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So, in other words, Carl Estabrook has no objection to US troops in
> Rojava. Nor, I take it, to the US bombing of Raqqa in preparation for the
> Kurdish forces to take over that area. Some "anti US imperialism"!
>
> It leads to another question: Does he have any opposition to the US's role
> in Mosul?
>
> John Reimann
>
> On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 8:11 AM, Carl G. Estabrook 
> wrote:
>
>> I think PYD control of Rojava is legitimate, and the (Syrian) Kurds
>> should be part of the general peace in Syria that the Russians have been
>> trying to arrange - and that the US has been frustrating. Rojava has asked
>> for Damascus troops to aid its battle against the Turks invading Afrin,
>> thereby acknowledging its participation in the government of Syria.
>>
>> Obama’s attack on Syria is comparable to Clinton’s attack on Serbia,
>> another less than admirable regime where the US 'presence' was
>> illegitimate. —CGE
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 14, 2018, at 9:36 AM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I note that Carl skirts the question of whether he calls for the US to
>> stop arming and aiding the Kurds (including having US troops in their
>> territory.) That, after all, is the real main thrust of US involvement. But
>> it also leads to another question: Does Karl consider the PYD control over
>> Rojava to be legitimate? In that case, then their having invited in the US
>> troops in makes the US presence "legitimate".
>>
>> Or take another example: The Mexican and Colombian governments have
>> "invited" US forces in to spray huge swaths of land to get rid of poppy and
>> marijuana crops. I suppose that makes their actions there "legitimate" too?
>>
>> This whole claim about "legitimace" or "legality" really shows how far
>> the apologists for Assad & Putin have strayed from the most basic socialist
>> ideals. Here you have a brutal, repressive regime, one that has been a
>> stooge for the World Bank and whose economic policies could have been taken
>> straight out of the pages of "The Shock Doctrine", one that survives by
>> bombing and gassing its own population - never mind mass torture - and it
>> asks for military help from another right wing regime. Since the laws of
>> capitalist legality make that OK, then according to Estabrook and similar
>> people, there's nothing to be argued with.
>>
>> John Reimann
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 12:05 PM, Carl G. Estabrook <
>> galli...@illinois.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> US out of Syria would include ending US support - or indulgence - for
>>> its NATO ally, Turkey, who should also exit Syria.
>>>
>>> Russia - legitimately in Syria - seems to have placed limits on Turkish
>>> action in Syria.
>>>
>>>
>>> > On Mar 7, 2018, at 3:34 AM, John Reimann via Marxism <
>>> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
>>> > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>>> > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
>>> > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
>>> > *
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > I was recently asked about supporting the slogan US out of Syria. (My
>>> response was yes if we include all imperialist forces, especially Russia
>>> and Iran, who are really the main actors there.) But I got to thinking:
>>> Since the US has intervene

[Marxism] debate with "left" Assad supporter

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"

*I had an online debate with a long time former friend and comrade about
Assad and Syria. Important enough as the issue of the disaster in Syria is,
there’s a deeper issue too: In following the simplistic conspiracist
theories like those of Michael Chussodovsky (quoted below), socialists and
others have completely lost their way; they have fallen into the same
methods of the Trump supporters – ignoring or outright denial of proven
fact, considering everything that’s inconvenient to be fake news, refusing
to consider the class forces at work. On this basis, a real working class
socialist movement will never be built.*


*Response to pro-Assad “left”*I’m in West Virginia right now and lack the
time and energy to respond point for point to D__s “history”, but I can’t
let it go unanswered. Yes, US imperialism had its conflicts with Assad,
although they also worked closely together as Assad’s Syria was a favorite
end point for Bush’s extraordinary rendition program.
D__ makes much of some supposed involvement of US imperialism in the Syrian
uprising and seems to be saying it was all a part of a US plot. When I was
in Egypt during the Arab Spring, I met some Egyptians who had connections
with the Republican (Party) Institute. Does that mean the Arab Spring in
Egypt was all part of a plot by the Republican Party? Ridiculous. Of course
US imperialism – like ALL imperialist powers – would try to find some
crevice where they could find a handhold, but that doesn’t mean they ran
the operation.
D__ gives quote after quote from Michael Chussodovsky. Chussodovsky  is a
super conspiracy theorist who never, ever considers the working class as an
actor on the stage of history. In this, he is just like the Arabists, who
are the strategists for US imperialism who specialize in studying the Arab
world. They, too, only see the different imperialist and sub-imperialist
powers.  D__ and other “lefts” mimic Chussodovsky and the Arabists in this.
They too in effect deny the role of the Syrian masses"

Full article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/14/debating-the-pro-assad-left/


-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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[Marxism] East Ghouta: Should socialists call for US intervention?

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"The widespread confusion about the respective motives and affiliations of
the key players in the Syrian conflict, from the Americans to the Russians
to the Turks and the Kurds, is not surprising. Part of the explanation is
an entirely misplaced reflex reaction by sections of the left of defence of
the Russian gangster regime against US imperialism, an indefensible
nostalgic overhang from the Cold War days; but it is also due to the
confused and constantly shifting situation itself.

Just as US imperialism at one time supported Saddam Hussein, using him as a
surrogate in his war with Iran, and later turned against him and waged
full-scale war to destroy his regime; just as it bombed Gaddafi in the
1980s, targeting him personally and branding him the fount of all
subversion, then made him its accomplice in the practice of extraordinary
rendition, and finally intervened militarily to overthrow him; so too US
imperialism has switched eclectically from one zig-zag to another in
relation to the Assad regime. Along with Israel, it opposed Assad as an
ally of Iran and the godfather of Hezbollah; then it gratefully used his
services (along with Gaddafi’s) as a favourite torture rendition agent;
then, as in Libya, it exploited the revolt against him; now it is giving
him tacit support in the current civil war, largely through its support of
the Kurds. And yet in 2012 it was openly preparing to intervene militarily
against Assad, and was prevailed upon to draw back only when the British
parliament voted against collaborating with it. Now, however, while fearing
the enhanced influence of Russia and Iran under Assad’s regime, there is no
doubt that the USA is once again tactically supporting him as the best
defence against revolution, as well as against the Islamic State.

“Regime Change”?
It is a lazy reflex default position on the left to assume that US
imperialism’s prime objective is the removal of Assad, and that all reports
of atrocities in the Syrian civil war can be discounted as black
propaganda, like Saddam’s alleged “weapons of mass destruction”. Perhaps
also some on the left have a vague memory of the sharp turn of Assad senior
in the 1970s to state ownership of the entire economy, and are unaware of
the current regime’s switch to wholesale privatisation. Finally, the
horrific antics of the fascist Islamic State – so much more luridly
publicised than the monstrous, virtually genocidal acts of Assad’s bombing
campaigns – only helped blur scrutiny of the true nature of the Syrian
government.

The question is now raised of whether or not to call for military aid to
the Syrian resistance from capitalist governments. This is especially being
pressed due to the slaughter being carried out by the forces of Assad and
Putin in E. Ghouta.

In one form or another, this is a question that arises repeatedly in all
but those rare and brief periods when the proletariat is conscious enough
and organised enough to intervene directly on the historical stage.

Of course, it is all too easy to issue pious “Marxist” platitudes from afar
while workers are facing extermination. Nevertheless, it does no harm to
start by restating first principles. Imperialism, after all, is the
problem, not the solution. There have been countless cases of military
interventions from outside which may initially have appeared to offer
immediate relief to mass suffering, but which actually solved nothing. It
has been shown again and again that calls for intervention in local or
regional conflicts by world imperialism (whether under the flag of the
United Nations or otherwise) have been misplaced. There are several
parallels within living memory of military interventions from outside which
initially appeared to provide immediate relief to mass suffering, but which
solved nothing and often led to more intractable forms of oppression.

Northern Ireland
When an uprising began on the part of the oppressed Catholic minority in
Northern Ireland in 1969, the Catholic population initially welcomed the
arrival of British troops, expecting them to rescue them and protect them
from Loyalist persecution. It didn’t take long before they were bitterly
resisting what soon turned out to be a hostile occupying army"

Read full article
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/20/east-ghouta-support-us-intervention/


-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 

[Marxism] protest in Oakland: A new movement struggling to be born?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Are the recent protests against gun violence another sign of a new movement
struggling to be born?
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/03/25/march-against-violence-another-sign-of-coming-movement/

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] To combat left anti-semitism, Corbynism must change the way it sees the world

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I think the New Statesman article is horrible, to put it mildly.

In the first place, there are far, far worse examples of anti-Semitism on
the part of the Tories. But the capitalist press and their "left"
supporters ignore that. They are looking for anything they can find to
undermine Corbyn and the left of the LP and to help the Blairites
reestablish their domination of the LP. This article helps them do that.

I'm not saying that Corbyn is above criticism, especially around the issue
of Assad and Syria. But any criticism of him must be put in the context of
explaining what a tremendously positive role he has played in British
politics. Otherwise, like this New Statesman article, it is simply adding
to the Tory/Blairite chorus.

My suspicion is that Corbyn simply wasn't paying much attention and he
signed on to the objection against wiping out this mural. I can't say about
Britain, but in my experience here in the US - and speaking as one who is
of Jewish descent - I really have not encountered very much anti-semitism
on the left here. I think the idea that it's rising on the left is largely
a myth perpetrated at least indirectly by those who equate opposition to
Zionism with anti-semitism.

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Assad and the racist far right, again

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Not really news, but still:

"
'Earlier this month, a group of far-right German politicians from the
far-right Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) traveled to Syria on a
curated “fact-finding” tour, looking to make the case that things are safe
enough for refugees to be forcibly repatriated now. At a cafe in the
government-controlled city of Homs
,
the group sat down to big glasses of orange juice and posted the scene to
Facebook, complaining that they had to pay for their beverages—supposedly
unlike the “so-called refugees from Homs drinking coffee in Berlin at the
expense of the German taxpayer.”

“It is frustrating, because he [Christian Blex, the regional AfD lawmaker
who organized the trip] is showing half of the truth,” says Malek of the
orange-juice posts. “He has the right to give an opinion—if you are scared
of refugees, then say it—but do not to give an alternative reality.”
read entire article:
https://amp.thedailybeast.com/the-european-far-rights-sick-love-affair-with-bashar-al-assad?ref=author&__twitter_impression=true


John Reimann
-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Ukranian steel workers seeking international solidarity

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Dear all,
Please visit the appeal by Arcelor Mittal steelworkers in Ukraine at
https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2018/04/04/ukrainian-unions-
unite-in-major-dispute-with-global-corporation-arcelormittal/

They are especially keen to get in touch with Arcelor Mittal steelworkers
in India and elsewhere in order to set up solidarity links,


-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] exchange with Assadist

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The Hurriyya email list is a pro-Assad list. I was curious how they would
take the recent flap over Trump's proposal to remove US troops from Syria,
so I sent them the following note and got this "reply":

From me:
"I am curious how you see the latest conflict between Trump and the
Pentagon. As you know, Trump is calling for the removal of all US troops
from Syria on the grounds that those troops original mission - to defeat
ISIS - has been accomplished. On the other hand, the Pentagon is saying
that the troops should stay since ISIS can make a comeback.

Many on the left say that the purpose of US intervention in Syria is regime
change. But doesn't this conflict contradict that view?"

"Reply":
*IMHO, Trump's waffling on Syria indicates a conflict between his own view,
expressed in the campaign, that our wars of choice in the Middle East are a
glorious waste of money and that we should extract ourselves from them as
soon as possible. However, he's getting a lot of pressure from the military
establishment, the Israel lobby and the newly revived Neocons (one in the
same?), to continue the war in Syria until Assad is removed and a puppet
leader, suitable to us, Israel and Saudi Arabia, is installed. However,
choosing Bolton and Pompeo, hard right Zionists and Neocons, flies in the
face of this theory. It may be that these choices were made to secure
dearly-needed Sheldon Adelson money for the upcoming midterm elections and
that their influence, at least re: ME policy, will still be severely
limited in the long run. Worst case, however, would be that Trump is
serious about waging war with Iran and North Korea and not just saber
rattling as part of his tough guy, foreign policy positioning. The more he
is backed into a corner by the Mueller investigation, the more likely this
second scenario becomes.*

*Other thoughts on this?*

I sent the following response:
"thank you for your comments, Gene. However, the problem is that the US
troops have consistently been used to attack ISIS, and ISIS alone. Also,
Trump has consistently identified ISIS and "Islamic terrorism" as the
enemy. (He's even said that "we" should be supporting Assad!) It's true
that you could say that that's just a cover for his real aim, but in the
first place his actions don't seem to confirm that. Also, by creating this
mood against Islamic fundamentalism, it makes it all the harder not to
attack their forces."


There have been no replies since then. My suspicion is that somebody on
that email list sent a private note to Gene suggesting that he not write
any further, since I'm known on that list to disagree with their party
line. I also sent the note to Jane Stillwater, who is a noted Assad
supporter out here. She didn't comment.

Sometimes facts can be uncomfortable things.

John Reimann
-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] On Dennis Kucinich's dodgy politics

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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And don't forget that Kucinich traveled to Syria with Tulsi Gabbard and
toured the country (or parts of it) under the wing of the fascist Syrian
Social Nationalist Party.

John Reimann

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Chemical weapons redux: taking the world to the brink of annihilation | MR Online

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Monthly Review always had soft Maoist politics. In other words, Stalinism.
All the Stalinists and "ex" Stalinists are now returning to their roots as
far as the war in Syria is concerned. The role of the capitalist class in
the ex-colonial world? Yes, they can play an independent and progressive
role. Class struggle in the ex-colonial world? It doesn't exist. The
independent role of the working class there? Also non-existent.

What's so disgraceful is all the supposed "Trotskyists" who have adapted to
this situation and in practice are taking the same position when it comes
to Syria. I had a long time "Trotskyist" tell me that the Syrian capitalist
class is "different" from the capitalist class in Saudi Arabia. The clear
implication was that the Syrian capitalists can play an independent role.
This same person accused me of taking the same position in relation to
Syria as Max Schachtman took in the Vietnam War. As older comrades will
probably know, Schachtman - the former Trotskyist turned hard core
anti-Communist - supported the US invasion of Vietnam. There is just one
little problem with that accusation - well, actually one of several: For me
to be taking the Schachtman position, then Assad must be playing the same
role as Ho Chi Minh!

These comrades have been hanging out with the Stalinists too long.

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Chemical weapons redux: taking the world to the brink of annihilation | MR Online

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Totally right.

It just shows the utter confusion of all too many "socialists". It's like
they don't even read the newspaper.

John reimann

On Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 5:51 PM, mkaradjis  wrote:

> Not only would Assad need to be playibg the same role as Ho Chi Minh, but
> Russia would need to be playing the same role as the USSR, whereas in fact
> Russian imperialism un Syria is playing the same role as US imperialism in
> Vietnam. Not that the US is playing the role in Syria that the USSR played
> in Vietnam;on the contrary,  it was USSR supplied anti aircraft
> weaponry that helped the Vietnamese bring down hundreds of US warplanes,
>  whereas in Syria the US has gone out of its way to block every possible
> avenue for delivery of anti aircraft weapons to the rebels.
>
> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 10:41 AM John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
>> #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>> #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
>> #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
>> *
>>
>>
>> Monthly Review always had soft Maoist politics. In other words, Stalinism.
>> All the Stalinists and "ex" Stalinists are now returning to their roots as
>> far as the war in Syria is concerned. The role of the capitalist class in
>> the ex-colonial world? Yes, they can play an independent and progressive
>> role. Class struggle in the ex-colonial world? It doesn't exist. The
>> independent role of the working class there? Also non-existent.
>>
>> What's so disgraceful is all the supposed "Trotskyists" who have adapted
>> to
>> this situation and in practice are taking the same position when it comes
>> to Syria. I had a long time "Trotskyist" tell me that the Syrian
>> capitalist
>> class is "different" from the capitalist class in Saudi Arabia. The clear
>> implication was that the Syrian capitalists can play an independent role.
>> This same person accused me of taking the same position in relation to
>> Syria as Max Schachtman took in the Vietnam War. As older comrades will
>> probably know, Schachtman - the former Trotskyist turned hard core
>> anti-Communist - supported the US invasion of Vietnam. There is just one
>> little problem with that accusation - well, actually one of several: For
>> me
>> to be taking the Schachtman position, then Assad must be playing the same
>> role as Ho Chi Minh!
>>
>> These comrades have been hanging out with the Stalinists too long.
>>
>> John Reimann
>> _
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>> options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com
>>
>


-- 
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willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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[Marxism] Douma gas attack: What is Trump likely to do?

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"As Trump prepares what is a likely attack on Assad’s airfields, socialists
should start by looking at the underlying issues.

First: Was there really a poison gas attack on Douma on Saturday, March 7,
and if so, was Assad the perpetrator?

The evidence is overwhelming. Look, for example, at these photos take by
people on the ground:


*Assad says it’s a “hoax”*On the day after the attack, Assad said

 that such claims were a “hoax”, fabricated by the rebels who controlled
Douma. In other words, that it never happened, or else that the rebels
themselves were the perpetrators. Putin backed up this claim.

Report after report, photo and video after photo and video document that
this chemical attack did, in fact, happen. Bellingcat.com
,
for
example, has put together a number of such videos


*What will Trump do?*What is the likely reaction of Trump? He has to
pretend he’s a humanitarian, and he already carried out one half-hearted
raid – the one in response to the Khan Sheikhoun sarin attack. In that
case, he let Assad know what he planned, through Assad’s main puppeteer:
Putin. The result was… nearly nothing. Within 24 hours the airfield Trump
bombed was back up and running. (Not that socialists should demand he do
more; but let’s face facts.)

So, this time he’s likely to do a little more. Maybe attack a few of
Assad’s airfields. But Assad has already moved his fighter jets to Russian
airfields, which will not be attacked. One thing is almost sure: Trump will
not do anything to seriously cripple the Assad regime. After all, Trump has
said again and again that the main enemy in Syria is the Islamic State and
that “we” should be supporting Assad. And it’s most likely that, given the
all-out attack on the real rebels, that the Islamic state that would
benefit militarily if the Assad regime were weakened"

read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/04/13/douma-gas-attack-what-is-trump-likely-to-do/

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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[Marxism] Putin, Assad and the Syrian Disaster

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Today, when US warships are steaming towards Syria and a conflict with
Russia seems even more likely, it is even more necessary to understand the
background, including why so much of the "socialist" left has joined forces
with the far right in at least giving Assad/Putin/Rouhani a pass if not
outright supporting him.

Blind to Syria?
• Why the Syrian revolution matters to the world workers’ movement
• How and why Putin is drawing together the many racist and chauvinist
forces in the West
• How an alliance of some of the most racist and chauvinist forces supports
Assad
• Why some socialists are tending to get drawn into this right wing web

"Introduction

We have to combine the drive to “do something”, the drive to change the
world, with an equal drive to understand the world. Otherwise, we just end
up running up one blind alley after another.

During the 1930s and onward, Stalinism came to dominate the socialist
movement. That was inevitable, given the bureaucratic domination of the
Soviet Union, as represented by Stalin. Not only did Stalinism dominate the
socialist movement organizationally, it also did so politically; it was
responsible for a total perversion of the ideas of revolutionary socialism,
of Marxism. It was left to Trotsky and a small group around him to fight
for the real ideas of Marxism. Although they remained in a small minority,
the task of continuing the real traditions of Marxism for future
generations to learn from and utilize was a vital one.

Today, despite the fact that the bureaucracy upon which Stalinism was based
is gone, many of the basic ideas of Stalinism still remain and are
influential. As we explain in this pamphlet, they have become just as
pervasive but even more damaging. Even many of those who consider
themselves to be supporters of the ideas of Trotsky have been influenced by
these false methods. For example, they (maybe unconsciously) discount the
very idea that there is a class struggle in Syria, and that our task is to
support the working class – international working class solidarity, in
other words.

This situation may continue for some time, and might get even worse. It is
very possible that it will take giant and even stunning events to shake up
and transform it. But exactly such shocks are inherent in the present world
situation.

Meanwhile, we can – we must – continue to struggle to apply the Marxist
method to the present crisis – a crisis not only in capitalism but in the
socialist movement. That method starts with struggling to understand the
nature of this situation and how we got here, based on understanding actual
concrete events.

We hope that this pamphlet makes a contribution to that task.

We also hope that this pamphlet can help the movement take a practical
first step: In the context of the attacks on immigrant rights, we should be
fighting for the US to admit the Syrians who are refugees from the brutal
attacks of Assad and company, as well as from the attacks of the Islamic
fundamentalists

Read entire pamphlet here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/04/13/putin-assad-and-the-syrian-disaster/
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[Marxism] [UCE] Oppose US bombing of Syria; oppose ALL bombing of Syria

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"Trump has launched his second attack on the Syrian government, this time
by reportedly bombing chemical weapons facilities, including a chemical
research facility. (We say “reportedly” because we don’t know for sure
exactly what the US missiles attacked.)

We have to be clear what the aims as well as the constraints are: The aim is
 *not* to overthrow the Assad regime. US Secretary of “Defense” James
Mattis made this clear. He said

 “Right now this is a one-time shot and I believe it has sent a very strong
message to dissuade him, to deter him from doing it (chemical weapons
attack) again.” So, Mattis, Trump and US imperialism in general have no
objection to Assad’s murderous assault on the people of Syria. They have no
objection to his imprisoning thousands, torturing opponents to death,
bombing hospitals, schools, residential neighborhoods and public markets.
Nor any objection to the ethnic cleansing that is being carried out. No,
all of that is okay. Their problem is that chemical weapons are too much of
a no-no. It’s too embarrassing. Murdering hundreds of thousands is okay,
just don’t embarrass us, is the position of US imperialism.

US imperialism of course supported Assad’s neoliberal economic attacks on
the Syrian workers and peasants, the attacks carried out in the run-up to
the Arab Spring (2011). These were the same “reforms” that enormously
enriched a little clique around Assad"
Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/04/14/oppose-us-bombing-of-syria-oppose-all-bombing-of-syria/

-- 
*“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone
willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine
sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us
thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” *Sophie Scholl,
executed by the Nazis 2/22/1943. She was 21 years old.
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Re: [Marxism] Assad of Syria has learnt never to compromise ? or to fear the west

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"I have heard people who are no fans of Bashar al-Assad argue that it is
absurd to blame him for the suspected gassing. What interest did he have
in crossing a western red line when no one was calling any longer for
his demise? The attack, the theory goes, must have been staged by the
opposition."

By that logic, then the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a
false flag operation carried out by the Russians. After all, the US was
winning that war.

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Critics Slam Viral Stories Claiming Douma Chemical Attack Victims Died from 'Dust'

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A thought: It's long been said that US imperialism supports Assad. If
that's so, then so does British imperialism. And so we have a major
"mainstream media" - the Independent - running columns from a reporter who
is really simply promoting Assadist propaganda. Isn't that one more piece
of evidence that US and British imperialism DO, in fact, support Assad?

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] A Letter Concerning Afrin Message:

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Yassin-Kassab mentions that some of the signatories to that letter had in
the past condemned the FSA as tools of US imperialism when the FSA sought
US arms. Do you know which of the signatories those are? Does it include
Chomsky?

John Reimann
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[Marxism] [UCE] Theory of permanent revolution and Syria

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*Introduction*

Listen to audio here:
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

*Oaklandsocialist has had a series of articles and pamphlets on the
revolution and the counter-revolution in Syria. Part of what’s needed is a
general theoretical understanding of what happened with the Arab Spring and
the Syrian revolution. Leon Trotsky’s theory of permanent, or
uninterrupted, revolution explains why capitalism can never accomplish in
the underdeveloped world what it accomplished in the advanced capitalist
countries. How does that apply to Syria? Capitalism has meant crisis and
disaster without end in the former colonial world. Wars, mass slaughter,
repression, poverty have all been the order of the day. Why has this been
so? The theory of permanent revolution helps explain this.*

*What follows is based in a presentation made to a small group of
socialists in Oakland. That presentation was recorded and can be heard
above.*

*We should start by commenting that theory is not some principles derived
by contemplating one’s navel. It is just distilled history, so it’s history
we have to look to. The history of Syria exemplifies Trotsky’s theory.*


*The capitalist revolution*In Western Europe, the capitalist class
originally played a most revolutionary role. They united the different
little feudal fiefdoms into large land masses – the nation states. By doing
this, they created large markets needed for the capitalists to develop the
factories. They overthrew the feudal landlord aristocracy and redistributed
the land to the peasants. In order to be able to develop science and
technology they limited the superstitious beliefs (religion) that had
dominated feudal society and, as a concession to the masses, they
established some limited democratic norms.

But in the colonial world it was different. Capitalism was imposed from the
outside – by the colonial invaders. These colonial powers built a base in
their colonies from the old landlord classes that were already in
existence. Where such a class didn’t exist, they colonialists created it.
Then, some of this landlord class developed into a capitalist class, but
their ties to the landlord class remained. Because they were tied to both
the imperialists and to the old landlord class, they were unable to play
the role that had been played in the already developed capitalist world.
And because the working class already had its own traditions on a world
scale, they lived in perpetual dread of that class.


*The peasantry*As for the small farmers – the peasants – they were
scattered and also their overriding goal was to get their own land. While
they could play a revolutionary role, they could not *lead* a revolution
against imperialism and for a modern, capitalist democracy.


*The working class*That task falls to the “proletariat”, the working class.
But once started down that road, having seized power, they cannot stop half
way. If they do, then the capitalist class will intervene and crush them.
They must continue all the way and overthrow capitalism without
interruption. Thus the theory of “uninterrupted” or permanent revolution.

But there is another necessary step: Capitalism is a world system. It
cannot exist in just one country. Neither can socialism. A socialist
revolution can start in one country, but it must spread.

Syria is a case in point.


*Ottoman Empire*In the 19th century, what is now Syria was dominated by the
Ottoman Empire. In the late 1800s, that empire instituted a land reform
that was called Tanzimat. They transferred the land from the state to
private landlords. They did this to create a landlord class that, they
hoped, would serve as a bulwark against the capitalist revolutions that had
swept Europe. So we see already under Ottoman domination the reactionary
role of imperialism.
Entire article:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/04/26/theory-of-permanent-or-uninterrupted-revolution-and-syria/
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Re: [Marxism] Socialist Action reports on anti-bombing protests

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"I would add that another factor explaining the very modest turnout is the
virtual absence of the organized labor movement. Incapable of defending its
own interests, not to mention the interest of workers under attack by
imperialism in other countries, the terribly bureaucratized, pro-capitalist
and often corrupt labor fakers contributed nothing to this worthy national
effort, that included a major focus on defending working people in every
aspect of social life.

" At best their [the Alameda County Central Labor Council's] token
resolution brought a mere handful to the Oakland protest. The labor
council’s virtually exclusive effort of late has been to mobilize, finance
and elect warmongering Democrats to office."

If I weren't in the midst of gagging, I'd really be laughing at these
complaints. Their "exclusive effort *of late*"?? Please, when wasn't it
that? I was a delegate to that central labor council back in the 1990s, and
it was no different then.

For years and years, Socialist Action and similar "socialist" groups have
been kissing up to the Alameda County Central Labor Council and all sorts
of other "progressive" union leaders. They get the same sort of "token"
support for event after event, the same token support that never brings
more than a handful of union members because the overwhelming majority of
the union membership never hears a thing about it. But it's never been
mentioned in the past. Never a criticism of these "progressive" union
bureaucrats. And the price for this, the dirty deal, is that these same
socialists never do anything to help the rank and file members organize to
fight to make their unions really fight for them.

But now, now that the ability of these groups to turn people out seems
fading, now they suddenly discover what's been out there in plain daylight
all along.

Oh, and by the way, I was at the Oakland rally. I seriously doubt there
were more than 750 at it, and maybe well less than that. And most of them
were older folks, like myself.

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] The DSA and the Democratic Party

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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A few months ago, Gayle McGloughlin spoke at a meeting on "independent
politics" sponsored by several "socialist" groups here in Oakland.
McGloughlin said that she plans to base her campaign organizationally on
Sanders' "Our Revolution" groups throughout the state. In other words,
organizationally she is tying herself to the "left" wing of the Democratic
Party. And since she is not explaining the class nature of that party, nor
the need for a working class party, her campaign serves as a conduit into
the Democrats.

The other candidate out here that should be mentioned is Jovanka Beckles,
who like McGloughlin, comes from the Richmond Progressive Alliance. Beckles
is running for state representative as a Democrat.

The current leadership of East Bay DSA maneuvered an endorsement for both
these candidates and is organizing all-out support for them. When you
combine this with their uncritical support for the proposal of the liberal
Democrats in California to create a state-wide health insurance plan, and
their uncritical support for the call to end the state wide ban on local
rent control, you can see where this is heading. No, I take that back;
where it's already gone to. As far as these two issues, one of the main
points is that the Democrats will not pass either of these. It is strictly
bait for the hook, and the current East Bay DSA leadership is trolling that
hook in the waters, attracting as many fish as it can.

One sign of hope is that five members from an opposition slate just got
elected to the new leadership.

John Reimann
Oakland CA
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[Marxism] [UCE] Douma and Guernica

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is an article explaining how reports on the fascist bombing of
Guernica, Spain, were manufactured. It has very clear echoes for today:

"EIGHT DAYS AFTER the attack, when fascist forces occupying Guernica had
removed evidence of German munitions and filled in craters, foreign
journalists were taken on a guided press tour of the town. Like some
Western reporters taken to Douma last month under Russian military escort,
many of the reporters who visited Guernica with Spanish fascists in 1937
duly filed reports casting the cause of its destruction as a possibly
unsolvable mystery.

"A Times of London correspondent embedded with fascist forces, James
Holburn, reported after the fascist-led tour of Guernica that he had been
unable to find the expected signs of heavy bombardment there and blamed
fire for most of the damage. What Holburn seemed unaware of was that, as
his colleague Steer had already reported, the German and Italian pilots who
destroyed the town had dropped a large number of incendiary bombs — several
of which, bearing German markings, had failed to explode and were seen by
Steer and three other reporters in Guernica on the night of the attack"

Robert Fisk: The James Holborn of today.

It is not simply a matter of Douma and Assad; it's a matter of political
method. The people who fall for the modern day James Holborn's will never
get any complex issue right.

https://theintercept.com/2018/05/02/8-decades-syrias-civil-war-spanish-fascists-claimed-guernica-false-flag/
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[Marxism] Michael Cohen and the Mueller "investigation"

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Is the Mueller investigation into Trump real or is it just nibbling around
the edges of the real issue?

Consider the questions Mueller wants to ask Trump. According to the NY Times
,
they cover the following subjects:

   - *Michael Flynn*
   - *James Come*
   - *Jeff Sessions*
   - *Trump campaign coordination with Russia*

The subject matter of these questions should be considered in light of
Trump’s association with Michael Cohen, Trump’s long time “fixer”, and the
recent FBI raid on Cohen’s office. That raid was not carried out by
Mueller’s team, but clearly it is related to the Mueller investigation.
Again, the NY Times revealed

who
Cohen is. He seems to have been involved in all sorts of scams, including
insurance fraud. But the aspect of Cohen that is most relevant to Trump is
Cohen’s real estate wheeling and dealing.


*Cohen real estate investments*The Times explains: “His companies would buy
a building, often in cash. Soon after, they would flip the building in
another all-cash deal for four or five times the previous purchase price.
The buyer was generally another limited liability company.
Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/06/michael-cohen-and-the-mueller-investigation/

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Unionism: Selfishness will be our death

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The Seattle Times reports

 that Ironworkers from Local 86, mobilized by that noted humanitarian Jeff
Bezos, went and shouted down Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant as
she tried to speak in favor of a proposed tax on Seattle businesses. The
tax would be used to build housing for the homeless. What happened was that
Amazon shut down a major construction project for a day so that the
ironworkers could go campaign on their behalf.  As led by their “business
manager” Chris McClain, the ironworkers were swallowing whole the claim of
Amazon that if the tax goes into effect then Amazon will build less in
Seattle, causing these ironworkers to lose work.

This is not only swallowing whole the claim by big business that we must
help them make ever greater profits in order to have work; it’s even worse:
It’s a total reversal of any sort of class solidarity. Where are these
union members for the homeless or for other more oppressed layers of the
working class?

This thinking reminds one of the position of the building trades regarding
the construction of the Oakland A’s stadium right across the street from
Laney Community College in Oakland. (See this article.
)
That it would have destroyed Laney didn’t matter. As  Rafael Gonzalez,
President of Laborers Local 304 said at the time: “We’re going to support
wherever they (the A’s) want to build.” Where that thinking leads was shown
by Abraham Parra, labor relations representative for Laborers Local 304:
When asked if the laborers’ union (LIUNA) would then support building
Trump’s wall if it meant jobs, he said “on behalf of LIUNA I can’t answer
that.” Andreas Cluver, secretary-treasurer of the Alameda County building
and Construction Trades Council, also made the thinking clear. “Yes, we are
slaves in the capitalist economy to the financiers,” he said

Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/06/unions-selfishness-will-be-our-death/
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[Marxism] Trump pulls US out of Iran nuclear deal

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"There is more to Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal than meets
the eye – in terms of the long term world relations, in terms of the world
economy, and (what must be emphasized) in terms of coming shocks to the US
working class and how those shocks may transform the mood here at home.

"Make America Great Again
Trump’s withdrawal will tend to be seen as simply the another stupid
blunder of an ego-maniacal, eccentric lunatic. But the very fact that such
a lunatic is president says a lot: He was elected based on his promise to
restore the American Dream at home and, at least as important, restore the
domination of US capitalism around the world (“make America respected”).
But the decline in US domination is a long term process that cannot be
reversed. Even the US Army’s Strategic Studies Institute has recognized
that."

read full article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/10/trump-pulls-out-of-iran-deal-will-there-be-war/
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[Marxism] Three different kinds of journalism

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Here is a video I made about six months ago for a journalism class I took.
It shows 3 different kinds of journalism: (1) the capitalist journalists;
(2) the left critics of the capitalists; (3) working class journalism made
by those who actually participate in the workers' struggles. We use
coverage in Syria and in Ferguson (from back in 2014) to show the
differences.
https://youtu.be/4fOCx8_gX3g


-- 
*“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
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[Marxism] Ironworkers leader replies

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"A week ago, Oaklandsocialist wrote an article on how Ironworkers Local 86
was supporting Amazon against the homeless in Seattle. We sent it to Chris
McClain, business manager of Ironworkers Local 86. We received the letter
below from McClain – or at least we assume it was from him. It’s not
signed, but it came from his e mail address.

"Most of the reply is a long “rags-to-riches” tale by McClain. This is the
typical kind of thing that the capitalists themselves like to talk about.
“Anybody who works hard and applies themselves can make it in America,” is
the moral. So, before McClain took the side of Amazon and Corporate America
in practice. Now, he’s doing it in the realm of ideas

"Instead of demonstrating to boost the profits of one of the richest
companies in the world – Amazon – building trades workers should be
organizing to picket Amazon all across the country as a way of pressuring
them to pay up."
See full article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/15/seattle-ironworkers-mcclain-responds/

-- 
*“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black
Jacobins" by C. L. R. James
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[Marxism] Revolution and counter revolution in Syria: A reply to R.L. Stephens

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"

*Note: We attempted to get this article, plus a shortened version of the
same article, published on the DSA blog site as a reply to an article by
R.L. Stephens, who is also the editor of that site. So far, the editor has
not published it, so we are doing so here.*

In the summer of 2017, the US Department of Defense’s Strategic Studies
institute published a report called “At Our Own Peril”
 in which they
outlined the global threats facing US capitalism. A central feature of
those threats as these strategists for US imperialism saw it, involved both
the rise of the Islamic State and the threat of the Arab Spring –
tendencies which they say emanate from the Arab world but may “metastasize”.

In other words, these strategists for US capitalism see the crisis in Syria
as being at the center of the political crisis of world capitalism. They
may be right. That is why it is crucially important that socialists
understand the nature of this crisis. Unfortunately, the article
written by R.L. Stephens of the DSA NPC
gets it wrong on almost every count.

.
Like much of the left, R.L. Stephens largely pictures the situation as an
inter-imperialist rivalry. He also sees the position of US imperialism as
being similar to that in Iraq, as being a position of “regime change”. This
is entirely mistaken.


*“Regime Change” or Assadism without Assad?*The example of Egypt is
instructive: When the Arab Spring first arose, the position of the US
regime at first was to support Mubarak. Quite quickly, Obama saw Mubarak as
being an obstacle to capitalist stability and called for him to step down.
In Syria, things were a little more complex but essentially the same. That
was why Obama called for Assad to step down, but what he never ever did was
in any way call for “regime change”. In other words, similar to in Egypt,
what the US regime wanted was “Assadism” without Assad. They never had any
intention of carrying out the sort of regime change purge that they carried
out in Iraq."

see full article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/19/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-syria-a-reply-to-r-l-stephens/
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[Marxism] W. Washington carpenters reject contract

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"Congratulations to carpenters in Western Washington State. About a week
ago, they rejected a contract proposal by about 2-1. This came after a
“teleconference” in early May in which some 3,000 union members
participated.

The “teleconference” is kind of like a controlled meeting. The leadership
gets to try to sell its bill of goods and can somewhat control who gets to
speak. Equally important, by not physically being in the same hall
together, the members don’t get to feel their collective power. But
according to reports, the mood against the conference was so powerful that
even in that teleconference some carpenters called in and spoke against the
contract proposal.

The original proposal was for a $2.00 increase in wages and $1.00 for a
401K. After that was voted down, the Regional Council leadership came up
with a new proposal which basically shuffled a very similar package
around"

Read more:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/19/western-washington-carpenters-vote-contract-down/
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[Marxism] Israel as an extreme case of the crisis of capitalism

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"On Monday, May 14, we were treated to the scenes of tear gas, massive
smoke, thousands protesting… and massive violence by the Israeli army, as
some 60 Gazans were killed and over 2500 wounded or treated for tear gas.

Meanwhile, just 49 miles away, the “graceful” Ivanka Trump (as one
newspaper referred to her) and Jared Kushner were living in a different
world as they presided over the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem.
The opening and closing benedictions (what happened to the separation of
church and state?) were given by the fundamentalist preachers Robert
Jeffress and John Hagee. The presence of Hagee, who has said that the
Holocaust was part of god’s plan, was welcomed by Netanyahu and company.
After all, these religious bigots and fanatics are Netanyahu’s closest
allies in the United States.

However, these twin events have set off tremors throughout the world,
especially the Muslim world. Even Netanyahu’s ally Erdogan in Turkey felt
forced to recall the Turkish ambassador to Israel in protest. This shows
the enormous anger that must be felt by Muslim people the world over at
what the racist, expansionist state of Israel is doing.

How did we get to this point, where is it headed, and what is the socialist
position on this? To answer that, we have to see the situation not as
something unique to Israel. Rather, what is happening in Israel and the
role Israeli capitalism is playing is the most extreme, the most
concentrated expression of the crisis of world capitalism."
Read entire article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/24/israel-as-the-most-extreme-expression-of-the-crisis-of-world-capitalism/

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Israel as an extreme case of the crisis of capitalism

[John Reimann via Marxism]

mperative no state can
> endure and we are witnessing that now in Israel in that every day it
> becomes clearer that it is a scandal and a blight unto the nations.
>
> But I think we also need to factor in the truth that Israel as a nation is
> not economically viable. It only exists through the most massive
> subsidisation by the USA. This has a primarily military front but it
> extends to other aspects of the Israeli economy.  At the heart of this
> failure is that Israel exists as an imperial force in the region and cannot
> be integrated into the regional economy other than through conquest. Every
> Zionist victory makes this failure to integrate even worse. It is also here
> that the BDS movement can have the greatest purchase.
>
> Before this post degenerates into a ramble, let me say that the
> contradictions, including the economic,  of the  Zionist project are a
> subset of the contradictions of the entire capitalist system. We will leave
> it there for now.
>
> Comradely
> Gary
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 25, 2018 at 5:34 AM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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>> #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
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>> *
>>
>>
>> "On Monday, May 14, we were treated to the scenes of tear gas, massive
>> smoke, thousands protesting… and massive violence by the Israeli army, as
>> some 60 Gazans were killed and over 2500 wounded or treated for tear gas.
>>
>> Meanwhile, just 49 miles away, the “graceful” Ivanka Trump (as one
>> newspaper referred to her) and Jared Kushner were living in a different
>> world as they presided over the opening of the new US embassy in
>> Jerusalem.
>> The opening and closing benedictions (what happened to the separation of
>> church and state?) were given by the fundamentalist preachers Robert
>> Jeffress and John Hagee. The presence of Hagee, who has said that the
>> Holocaust was part of god’s plan, was welcomed by Netanyahu and company.
>> After all, these religious bigots and fanatics are Netanyahu’s closest
>> allies in the United States.
>>
>> However, these twin events have set off tremors throughout the world,
>> especially the Muslim world. Even Netanyahu’s ally Erdogan in Turkey felt
>> forced to recall the Turkish ambassador to Israel in protest. This shows
>> the enormous anger that must be felt by Muslim people the world over at
>> what the racist, expansionist state of Israel is doing.
>>
>> How did we get to this point, where is it headed, and what is the
>> socialist
>> position on this? To answer that, we have to see the situation not as
>> something unique to Israel. Rather, what is happening in Israel and the
>> role Israeli capitalism is playing is the most extreme, the most
>> concentrated expression of the crisis of world capitalism."
>> Read entire article here:
>> https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/24/israel-as-the-most-e
>> xtreme-expression-of-the-crisis-of-world-capitalism/
>>
>> John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] The Red-Brown zombie plague

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In today's paper, there are reports about Italy's inability to form a new
government. the leader of Italy's far right League is quoted as saying “The
gravest fact is that the president of the republic chose the European
markets ahead of the Italian people.” In other words, he is posing as the
only force that opposes the neoliberal economic attacks that are
coordinated by the EU. The fact that any individual nation is subject to
these attacks today, regardless of whether they're in the EU or any other
economic bloc, is of course obscured. So, what happens is that the far
right is seen as the only real force to oppose neoliberalism.

Greek workers tried to fight it through Syriza, and we all saw how that
worked out.

On top of that is the "demise of the nation state
"
as that article in the Guardian pointed out. (If you haven't read that
article, you should.) Capitalism in the industrialized world has its
political base through the nation state. Nearly every member of any nation-
whether it's the US, Germany, or even Luxembourg - identifies first and
foremost as being a citizen of "their" nation. Now, with the globalization
of capitalism as well as the huge masses of refugees being driven to Europe
and elsewhere, the native-born of each country feels - correctly - that
"their" nation is crumbling. In the near total absence of any truly
international socialist alternative, increasing numbers are being driven to
seek a return to the "good old days" of relative security and stability.
(Or so they thought.)

These two developments mean that a further rise of right wing nationalism,
and even fascism, seem to be nearly inevitable.

Paralleling that is the theoretical collapse and the opportunism of much of
the socialist left. Much of it, for example, supported the nationalist
"solution" of Brexit. It's hard to see, therefore, why there won't be a
continued overlap, in fact an increased overlap, between these sectors of
the left and the far right. In other words, the red brown alliance.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] "Markets will teach Italians how to vote..."

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"Yes, he actually said that – Gunther Oettinger, senior member of the
European Commission. The “markets will teach Italians how to vote.” In
other words, the blind, impersonal forces of global capitalist finance will
punish any nation which elects leaders that don’t favor economic
“discipline”, meaning austerity.

Workers in the US should pay attention because events in Italy – the ninth
largest world economy – will affect global capitalism, not only
economically but also politically."

read more:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/05/30/markets-will-teach-italians-how-to-vote/
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[Marxism] Left Forum

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I attended the Left Forum in New York this last weekend. Some experiences:

A coalition of opponents to Assad organized a series of workshops. The
first one, specifically on Syria itself, was attended by two left Assadist
sects, one of which was the Internaionalists. For starters, they both were
quite disruptive and as the chair I had to be quite firm as far as not
letting them just shout out whenever they wanted to. There were 2 decisive
events as far as their attitude:

One was their denunciations of the White Helmets as being agents of US
imperialism. We had a Syrian guy on Skype and towards the end of the
session he was asked about his experiences with the White Helmets. Just as
he was about to answer, the Internationalists got up and left. They know so
much that they didn't have to hear the experiences on the ground.

Second was their refusal to answer the simple queston: "Do you side with
the Syrian revolution or the counter revolution?"

We organized a walkout when Ajamu Baraka spoke at the final plenum. I heard
some of what he said as we left, plus read a piece of his on his web page.
He is every bit as bad as everything I'd heard about him. A complete and
total practitioner of the red brown alliance, including him quoting "The
American Conservative" approvingly. His view seems to be pretty prevalent
in the Greens as they organized a workshop on "peace" or some such and he
was the featured speaker for them.

The arguments those like Baraka use are little different from those used by
the Stalinists and their apologists back in the 1930s and '40s. What is the
difference between their claiming opposition to US imperialism to refuse to
deal with the crimes of Stalin and the present situation - except for the
fact that at least Stalin wasn't presiding over a fascistic capitalist
regime? So, on top of their unprincipled betrayal of working class
solidarity, they are living in the past, refusing to recognize the
fundamental change from the Soviet Union to capitalist Russia. In other
words, what the present new age Stalinists are doing is even worse!

In my opinion, much of the left reflects the generally low level of
consciousness and militancy in the working class as a whole. But it
reflects it in a twisted and distorted way, as if in a fun-house mirror.

I think this may not change until there is a massive change in the working
class consciousness, and I think that won't change without some huge shock.
The only consolation is that that shock is coming.

John Reimann
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Re: [Marxism] Left Forum

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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First of all, I do think that Baraka still holds to his Assadist position.
Take this article from August of 2017, for example:
https://www.ajamubaraka.com/blog/?offset=1502994128250

Also, he is a leading member of the Black Alliance for Peace, which is most
definitely an Assadist group. It also seems to me that he still holds to
the conspiracist approach.

Secondly, I am not as confident as is Louis regarding the position of the
left on Syria and, beyond that, in a red brown alliance. I think it's all
of one piece. And I do see a general tendency to completely dismiss any
claims as to the real role of Putin. It may be that some of the soft left
journals like "The Nation" have shifted their view, but as far as the
so-called peace groups, they're almost all still strongly Assadist. In
April, these groups held nationwide peace marches. They were in general
very poorly attended. However, what will happen if Trump attacks Iran, or
something like that? Then a whole new layer of young people will become
active. Where will they go? Will the Assadist UNAC, for example, be able to
draw them into their orbit? I think that is very possible.

So, I hope Louis is right that the Assadist "left" is a spent force, but
I'm not so optimistic.

John Reimann
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[Marxism] Jack Johnson, Alice Johnson but no Kevin Cooper

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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"On May 24 of this year, Donald Trump “pardoned” the deceased former
heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. A couple of weeks later, he
commuted the sentence of convicted drug dealer Alice Johnson.

"What’s going on here? Has Trump suddenly developed a sense of justice? Has
he suddenly developed an opposition to the racism of the criminal “justice”
system?"

Full article
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/06/07/alice-johnson-jack-johnson-but-no-kevin-cooper/
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[Marxism] [UCE] strikes in Iran

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Article from Alliance of Middle East Socialists on the strikes in Iran:
What Are Iran’s Labor Protests/Strikes Demanding? What Are the Barriers to
a Revolutionary Socialist Direction? What Kind of International Solidarity
Is Needed?

Jun 13, 2018 | 0 comments


Below is the text of Frieda Afary’s presentation to a group of
international  labor activists on June 10, 2018.

The mass protests that began in Iran on December 28, 2017 and have
continued in the form of smaller nationwide protests and strikes, have been
unprecedented in scale since the 1979 Iranian revolution, a revolution that
was soon transformed into its opposite, the Islamic Republic.

The December protests that were started by mostly unemployed youth in
smaller cities demanded the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and the
withdrawal of Iran’s military and paramilitary forces from Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq and Yemen.

They were preceded by over a year of persistent protests among workers,
teachers, nurses, retirees, as well as hunger strikes by political
prisoners and years of various forms of women’s struggles against gender
discrimination. They were caused by economic, political and social reasons
and were the product of the dissatisfaction of a young,  literate
population that is connected to the world through the Internet and is fed
up with poverty, repression, gender and ethnic discrimination as well as
discrimination against religious minorities.

read more:
https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/what-are-irans-labor-protests-strikes-demanding-what-are-the-barriers-to-a-revolutionary-socialist-direction-what-kind-of-international-solidarity-is-needed/?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

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[Marxism] The refugee camps in Greece: One person’s experience

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" We interview Jo Morales, who has been working in refugee camps and
solidarity spaces in Greece for the last three years. Unlike the NGO
workers, who often use the work in these camps to build their careers, Jo
is doing it, yes to help, but also is drawing political conclusions from
it. She is also helping others do the same. She talks with Oaklandsocialist
about her experiences there.

"Syrians, she explains, are not the only refugees from the Syrian war. For
example, thousands of Afghanis have fled their country and gone into Iran.
There, if caught, they are drafted to fight on the front lines in Syria.
They are given lower pay than are the Iranian soldiers. They are also often
promised that they will get legal papers and that their families will be
taken care of if anything happens to them. Neither of these promises is
always honored

"Among Syrian refugees there tends to be a mood of exhaustion and defeat,
but they also see events in Syria as part of a long process that could
continue. The mood also varies from day to day. “It’s hard to keep hope
when your families are being murdered….” Jo said. “The answer [for a
renewed struggle] might be in the diaspora….. People are so exhausted…. But
people have organized against the Assad regime in the streets in Athens…
for opening the borders and for opening the camps…. Stand against the Assad
regime as well as nihilistic Islamic groups like Daesh.”

Anti-capitalism
"We asked Jo how much there is a view that the heart of the problem is
capitalism itself. She commented: “It’s not the dominant view… (but) they
will talk about the neoliberal policies of the Assad regime. They will talk
about inequality, and how the was one of the catalysts for the revolution.
And they see solidarity (with) the European working class.”

"She went further, explaining that there is needed a political struggle to
clarify that neoliberalism is simply a symptom of the crisis of capitalism
itself. This view “is not the majority…. the majority will tell you that
the revolution was for freedom…. it was against people being tortured to
death.”

read full article here:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/06/13/the-refugee-camps-in-greece-one-persons-experience/


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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: The Fake Left at the Left Forum: The Attack against Ajamu Baraka

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I used to have a lot of respect for the Black Agenda Report in general, and
for Glen Ford in particular. That has changed.


The vitriolic and demagogic attack by Haiphong is only the tip of the
iceberg. That attack, by the way, reminds me of some of the attacks of the
Stalinists of the 1930s and ‘40s against “Trotskyists”, attacks that
preceded physical assaults. It would not surprise me at all if the present
vitriol opens the way to similar assaults. On the purely political level,
the fact that BAR would publish an article that is little but name calling
and “imperialist” baiting, an article that contains no actual facts, says a
lot about BAR.


I was one of those who distributed the leaflet that Haiphong attacked, as
well as the author of the DSA article (
https://www.dsausa.org/the_us_turn_to_assad) he mentioned but completely
glossed over. Our leaflet was attacked for, among other things, claiming
that Baraka supports Trump. That is not what we wrote. What we did write
was that both Baraka and Stein had pictured Trump as the lesser evil during
the election campaign - a subtle but critical difference.


This lesser evilsm stems from seeing the neo liberals as THE enemy, the one
and only enemy. A recent article by Glen Ford shows this same tendency:


 Ford writes about the meeting of Trump and Kim
https://www.blackagendareport.com/chaos-imperial-big-house. He seems to be
caught between wanting to call Trump the lesser evil and the overt racism
and jingoism of Trump. So he vacillates back and forth. On the one hand, he
pays tribute to the obligatory denunciations of Trump, calling him “the
arch racist and usurper of the Republican Party” and “an intellectually and
emotionally retarded spawn of super-privilege”.


But then he goes on to attack the Democrats. As one who has not supported
any Democratic candidate for office since I was young and uneducated (back
in the 1970s), I have no problem with attacking the Democrats. In fact,
I’ve done it time and again on my blog, including attacking the “left” wing
of the Democrats, Bernie Sanders included. But consider what Ford says:

   - He says the Democrats “have become overt partisans of the War Party”,
   as if the Republicans are any better.
   - He in effect denies the link between Trump and the Russian oligarchs,
   and praises Trump for his close ties with Putin, praising Trump for his
   “wholly unexpected appeal for peaceful relations with Russia.” He
   continues, “If white Republicans were not wedded to the permanent war
   agenda… then where was the mass constituency for the bipartisan War Party?”
   The only possible interpretation of this is that the connection between
   Trump and the totally reactionary Putin regime, an imperialist regime based
   on chauvinism and reaction, is a positive thing. This does not mean that
   socialists should support US imperialism in its rivalry with Russian
   imperialism, but neither should we support collaboration between these two
   reactionary imperialist powers.
   - Ford seems to be supporting Trump’s ‘vacillat(ion) on “free trade”.
   This can only mean supporting Trump’s imposition of tariffs. This is a
   reversal of everything that socialists have stood for regarding tariffs,
   and there is a good reason to oppose them. Tariffs are a first step towards
   outright trade wars, which are a step towards military wars. Instead,
   socialists should be explaining that neither “free trade” nor tariffs will
   serve the working class; that the issue of international trade of goods and
   services cannot be resolved in the interests of workers within the
   capitalist system; that the problem is the crisis of the very existence of
   the nation states in the era of global capitalism.

It may seem very radical to picture neoliberals and the Democrats as THE
enemy, but in fact it is the opposite. Its basis is the idea that
neoliberalism is the chosen policy of a wing of the capitalist class. In
other words, they have an option. On the contrary, neoliberalism simply is
the necessary direction of capitalism at this stage of development. The
former position opens up the left to collaboration with the far right; the
latter means opposition to ALL capitalist representatives, including Ron
Paul.


We can see that most clearly in the case of Haiphong, himself: This Assad
supporter is most definitely part of the red brown alliance, whose
existence he (naturally) denies. The most clear example is his association
with the Ronpaulinsitute. (See for example:
http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2018/april/26/cruise-missile-left-complicit-in-american-escalation-toward-world-war-iii/
)


Ha

[Marxism] DSA member Ocasio-Cortez elected

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The Wall St. Journal editors didn’t mince their words: “Republicans are
chortling after Tuesday’s primary defeat of New York Democratic
Congressional baron Joseph Crowley by Sandernista Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
but they might want to hold the Schadenfreude [pleasure from somebody
else’s misfortune],” they wrote

What does the election of DSA member Ocasio-Cortez mean? What does it show
about the mood in the US? How will it affect the Democratic Party. And,
most important of all: Does this provide a way forward for the working
class?

see:
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/06/28/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-elected-what-does-it-mean/
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Re: [Marxism] DSA member Ocasio-Cortez elected

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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It depends on what you mean by "legit". For those of us who see politics in
class terms (which is to say, those of us who are Marxists), the real issue
is the development of a mass working class political party - as explained
in the article. Ocasio-Cortez's election will not lead in that direction.

John

On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 11:03 AM, A.R. G  wrote:

> Great interview
> <https://theintercept.com/2018/06/12/watch-glenn-greenwald-interviews-democratic-primary-challenger-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-of-new-york/>
> by Glenn Greenwald with Ocasio-Cortez prior to her amazing success. Note
> also that she is willing to defend Palestine
> <https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/supporter-palestinian-rights-wins-huge-upset-new-york-election>
> so you know she's legit (hooray!).
>
> Amith R. Gupta
>
> On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 1:49 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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>> *
>>
>>
>> The Wall St. Journal editors didn’t mince their words: “Republicans are
>> chortling after Tuesday’s primary defeat of New York Democratic
>> Congressional baron Joseph Crowley by Sandernista Alexandria
>> Ocasio-Cortez,
>> but they might want to hold the Schadenfreude [pleasure from somebody
>> else’s misfortune],” they wrote
>>
>> What does the election of DSA member Ocasio-Cortez mean? What does it show
>> about the mood in the US? How will it affect the Democratic Party. And,
>> most important of all: Does this provide a way forward for the working
>> class?
>>
>> see:
>> https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/06/28/alexandria-ocasio-co
>> rtez-elected-what-does-it-mean/
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>> ions/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com
>
>
>


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Re: [Marxism] DSA member Ocasio-Cortez elected

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The momentum of anybody involved in politics must be taken into account.
Or, put another way, one's program, one's past. That is what has a huge
impact in determining what direction one will take in the future.

Ocasio-Cortez ran as a Democrat. She clearly proposed that the future is
through the Democratic Party. Her involvement in DSA does not lead her away
from the Democratic Party; on the contrary, it helps bind her to that party
since DSA is controlled by those who believe in working within the
Democrats. Even if it weren't, we have to recognize that when she gets to
congress, she'll be forming all sorts of connections. In a thousand
different ways, she'll be edged closer and closer to the Party.

The Democratic Party operates as a powerful pole of attraction in
"progressive" politics. Unless one has a clear base built around opposing
this pole, one will get pulled ever more into its orbit. And that is doubly
true for an elected official such as Ocasio-Cortez.

This is not a "formal" question. As we try to explain in the article, the
absence of a mass working class political party in many ways defines the
present political situation in the US today. Filling this vacuum is the #1
task for the present period. The election of people like Ocasio-Cortez
actually makes that task more difficult, not less.

As for the individual issues, from environmental to Palestinian rights to
strengthening the unions - the Democratic Party will not be a vehicle for
any of those. Trying to do so through building the "progressive" wing of
the Democrats is like chasing the end of a rainbow.

John Reimann

On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 11:37 AM, A.R. G  wrote:

> It seems like the primary problem described in the article is formal, not
> substantive. That is, that OC will not be able to make these changes
> because she is running as a Democrat.
>
> A genuine question: What difference does it make if she isn't dependent on
> the Democratic Party structure? She is clearly depending on the wider Left
> and indeed she has been publicly attacked by the Democrat Establishment at
> every step of the way, from Pelosi to Gillibrand and others. The people who
> are actually propping up her campaign are DSA members, not the Democrats.
> So why does it matter?
>
> In Bernie's case, the reason it ended up mattering is because he still
> needed the party establishment to clinch the primary, and they not only
> used the superdelegate system to undermine his abilities, but also had the
> DNC undermine his campaign at every stage. OC has already gotten past those
> restrictions as far as a Congressional seat is concerned.
>
> If she were running for President I might share your pessimism but she is
> running for a Congressional seat. If other challengers surface in other
> parts of the country they can form an opposition bloc that will prevent the
> Establishment Democrats from continuing to make concessions to Trump. If
> they need a party to provide infrastructure then DSA will still be there
> and is likely going to grow as a result of these kinds of upsets.
>
> Amith R. Gupta
>
> On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 2:31 PM, John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> It depends on what you mean by "legit". For those of us who see politics
>> in class terms (which is to say, those of us who are Marxists), the real
>> issue is the development of a mass working class political party - as
>> explained in the article. Ocasio-Cortez's election will not lead in that
>> direction.
>>
>> John
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 11:03 AM, A.R. G  wrote:
>>
>>> Great interview
>>> <https://theintercept.com/2018/06/12/watch-glenn-greenwald-interviews-democratic-primary-challenger-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-of-new-york/>
>>> by Glenn Greenwald with Ocasio-Cortez prior to her amazing success. Note
>>> also that she is willing to defend Palestine
>>> <https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/supporter-palestinian-rights-wins-huge-upset-new-york-election>
>>> so you know she's legit (hooray!).
>>>
>>> Amith R. Gupta
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 1:49 PM, John Reimann via Marxism <
>>> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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