Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Tea Party
>>I have been scouring websites in the USA to try to find a good socialist critique of the ideology of the Tea Party. But so far I have found nothing. The WSWS website says absolutely nothing to critique the ideology of the Tea Party. It seems that many on the left are adapting to the reactionary ideas of white sociologically working class men.<< There is no real Tea Party. It's the usual instigators trying to get white working class to vote Republican. The basic idea is that playing up nationalism, anti-immigration, and anger over economic malaise can keep these people voting Republican, especially in the South and the West. It's the usual 'insider as outsider' story of right wing politics. This time around the interests that fund such activities had to go outside the Republican Party mainstream, at least during the primaries, in order to get more people involved. Because quite a few are right-wing independents, that strategy actually makes good sense. Republicans, however, are often running against their own party. That is because they are pork barrel politicians locally, with pork barrel being where the pork is--military and security budgets. Ideologically such conservatives will say they are fiscal conservatives but they will actually compete for the federal budgets to go to their states, their voting districts and about the only thing they will actually agree on with their colleagues in the House and Senate is the need to increase the military budgets so everyone gets what they want--more spending in their state and local districts. The significant shift this time around, and one that means quite likely that Obama is a one-term president, is that so many governorships went Republican. That means they will control the voting in the presidential election. It will take some doing to unseat the president and his party from the executive branch. I'm not sure though that Obama can use the same strategies that kept Clinton in the WH. About the only thing remarkable about Clinton when you get right down to it is that boy sure knew how to win elections. I wonder if the challenge to the Republican establishment won't come from the Palin types but rather the Bloomberg types. OTOH, neither party has really managed to keep everything stitched together when a white male ETHNIC is involved--Iacocca, Cuomo, Giuliani, now Bloomberg. If he challenges as an Independent, he could spend billions in futility. If he tries to integrate into the Republican Party, they will have a hard time selling him and branding him for the nationwide election. If Obama had been caucasian (e.g., dark-featured caucasian, like some Arabs or Turks or Persians), that combined with his funny name would have doomed him. A plurality of American voters tends to not like ethnic Catholics, ethnic Jews, and African-American politicians (the ones with real African-American community roots, like slave ancestors, like parents and uncles and aunts who participated in the civil rights movements, etc). But Obama was seen as an 'African-American' who said 'white Anglo-Saxon' things most of the time and this made him the darling of a temporarily expanded Democratic Party, in which young and African-American and even anti-war lefties participated for the presidential election. That he managed to split the independent vote to favor the Democrats also helped. The guy had a lot of things to say when he was running, most of which I didn't think much of at the time. Now it seems he doesn't even have much to say. As for a Palin presidency--she is about as qualified as anyone else the Democrats or Republicans are going to let into the race. I don't think even the Republicans can sell and brand a woman though, especially one who can't read the script much of the time and extemporizes. What self-respecting Repug man would want to be her VP candidate? CJ ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Wall Street doesn’t hurt when Main Street bleeds
Wall Street doesn’t hurt when Main Street bleeds http://peoplesworld.org/wall-street-doesn-t-hurt-when-main-street-bleeds/ assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedImage6060-sam.jpg by: Sam Webb November 9 2010 tags: economy, capitalism, financial crisis, Republicans emptyhouse Las Vegas money isn't betting on a speedy economic recovery, I suspect. Self-sustaining growth doesn't seem in the cards. If anything, the results of last week's elections probably lengthened the odds. Here's why. The economy shows few signs of vigor. Economic growth is anemic and official unemployment is stuck at 10 percent. Wages are in a rut, but employers, still not satisfied with their bottom line (are they ever?), are insisting on concessions from their employees. Consumer spending is stalled as millions of people struggle to pay down their accumulated debt. Home sales and prices continue to fall, while foreclosures are increasing, thanks in no small measure to the refusal of banks to renegotiate mortgage terms. Export markets aren't much help either. And little change is expected, even if the dollar slides in value compared to other currencies, for the simple reason that world economic growth remains slow too. In contrast to the previous two global slowdowns, no bubbles are on the horizon and no country has the capacity to reinvigorate the world economy as the U.S. - mainly by means of speculative bubbles and unsustainable debt - did in the 1990s and most of this decade. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of Americans who account for almost 40 percent of all wealth are doing quite well, and the top corporate elites are sitting on $2 trillion of cash, which they only dip into to chase speculative investment opportunities abroad. What makes this seemingly intractable situation worse is that the government's traditional anti-cyclical tools - fiscal and monetary policy - are ineffective, but for different reasons. The Federal Reserve Bank entered the security and bond markets last week, thereby pushing down interest rates and pouring money into the economy. This will help, but its positive impact is limited by the fact that interests rates were already close to zero. Pushing them further down, while necessary in these circumstances, won't throw the economy on a self-sustaining growth trajectory. As for fiscal policy, Republican obstructionism has crippled its potential as a counter-recessionary tool. The Republicans reject out of hand even modest government spending on jobs, infrastructure, education and aid to strapped state and local governments - not to mention a second stimulus bill which, if large enough, would stand a chance of reinvigorating the economy and reducing unemployment. A sour, stagnant economy suits the Republican right. In fact, a faltering economy and the bulging deficits that accompany it are the Republicans' "field of dreams" - giving them an opportunity, they believe, to slash, burn and privatize public sector jobs and, at the same time, win the presidency and control of both chambers of Congress in 2012. Wall Street doesn't hurt when Main Street bleeds either. In fact, if statistics don't lie, Wall Street profits, bonuses, perks and structural dominance continue with hardly a blip. Contrary to conventional thinking, capitalists can keep accumulating capital (for profit-taking) in a slowing, even stagnant economy. A fast-growing, dynamic economy is not a necessary condition for profitability for the corporate exploiters of wage labor or speculators of fictitious capital (capital with no underlying value). They may prefer one or the other - growth or stagnation - at a particular moment, but it depends on the political and economic conditions at that moment. For now anyway, the comfort level of the main sections of capital, much like right-wing extremism that does its bidding, is with a slow-growth economy. This sounds grim for American workers, especially in the wake of last week's elections. But before anyone throws up their hands, keep in mind that the elections were a setback, but not a complete defeat. The people's coalition retains bases of power to fight from and the political prospects going forward are better than they were in 1994 when the Republican right, fresh from its sweeping victory in the mid-term elections (both chambers of Congress went Republican), proclaimed the beginnings of a social revolution to scale back government and its social obligations. History tells us they failed, and, of course, regaining the high ground and initiative in current circumstances won't be easy. But it can be done. But only if we build broad democratic unity, energize the grass roots, reject the mistaken and dangerous notion that the president and his party are the main obstacle to progress, embrace broad strategic and tactical concepts of struggle, and, above all, take action. Photo: An empty home in Minneapolis. Andrew Ciscel CC 2.0 ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailin
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] critique of the ideology of the Tea Party needed
full: _http://www.lrna.org/2-pt/articles/v20ed5art5.html_ (http://www.lrna.org/2-pt/articles/v20ed5art5.html) Small Government, Big State: Southern Program Points the Way It is conceivable that fascism could proceed as a movement to defend democracy and a return to the principles of the Constitution, a refrain that is being heard more and more stridently from the South, particularly in the calls for secession and states’ rights, and from the organizers of the Tea Party movement. The calls for small government, less taxation, deregulation, and an anti-union environment characterize the form of rule of the Southern states even as it is paired with accelerating the process of privatization and outright corporate welfare. Like any movement, the Tea Party movement is a mixture of various forces still in motion, with myriad groupings and individuals contending for leadership. There are the entrenched establishment who fund and play a role in organizing, such as, Dick Armey (Freedom Works), Ralph Reed (formerly of the Christian Coalition), Ron Paul and his son Rand (libertarians), Newt Gingrich, and Phil Gingrey, both from Georgia. There are the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs, all of whom compose the ideological shock troops to advance their objectives. And there are a myriad of other organizations, such as, the The Oath Keepers with their roots in the military and prepared to take up arms, the Fair Tax Nation that calls for replacing all taxes with a national sales tax, and anti-immigration nativists who demand that the undocumented be hunted down and deported in the name of national security. They elevate the Constitution to the level of a sacred religious text, with particular emphasis upon the 10th amendment, which supposedly provides for the supremacy of states rights. This was also the basis of the Southern defense of slavery and the framework for the secession and formation of the Confederacy. Today it is utilized to resist federal government stimulus funds, as well as to oppose the establishment of national health insurance. The State is being reshaped to serve the interests of the ruling class in the defense of private property. This is not simply a set of policy choices. In a time in which the mode of production itself is shifting to accommodate the decline of value brought on by laborless production, the State is moving to direct control by the corporations, and privatization and the shrinking of the public sector is a necessary consequence of this process. It is experienced by the masses as the destruction of society itself as we know it. The focus of the American revolution now underway is centered squarely upon the question of the role of government. This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from _http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm_ (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm) ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Abraham Lincoln on labor
Abraham Lincoln on labor (Emphasis mine): "The world is agreed that labor is the source from which human wants are mainly supplied. There is no dispute upon this point. From this point, however, men immediately diverge. Much disputation is maintained as to the best way of applying and controlling the labor element. By some it is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital – that nobody labors, unless somebody else owning capital, somehow, by the use of it, induces him to do it. Having assumed this, they proceed to consider whether it is best that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them to it, without their consent. Having proceeded so far, they naturally conclude that all laborers are naturally either hired laborers or slaves. They further assume that whoever is once a hired laborer, is fatally fixed in that condition for life; and thence again, that his condition is as bad as, or worse than, that of a slave. This is the "mud-sill" theory. But another class of reasoners hold the opinion that there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed; that there is no such thing as a free man being fatally fixed for life in the condition of a hired laborer; that both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them groundless. They hold that labor is prior to, and independent of, capital; that, in fact, capital is the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed; that labor can exist without capital, but that capital could never have existed without labor. Hence they hold that labor is the superior – greatly the superior – of capital. They do not deny that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital. The error, as they hold, is in assuming that the whole labor of the world exists within that relation. A few men own capital; and that few avoid labor themselves, and with their capital hire or buy another few to labor for them. A large majority belong to neither class – neither work for others, nor have others working for them. Even in all our slave States except South Carolina, a majority of the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters. In these free States, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with their families – wives, sons and daughters – work for themselves, on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hirelings or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor with capital – that is, labor with their own hands and also buy slaves or hire free men to labor for them; but this is only a mixed, and not a distinct, class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. Again, as has already been said, the opponents of the "mud-sill" theory insist that there is not, of necessity, any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. There is demonstration for saying this. Many independent men in this assembly doubtless a few years ago were hired laborers. And their case is almost, if not quite, the general rule. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This, say its advocates, is free labor – the just, and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way for all, gives hope to all, and energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to all." Who's going to say that today? Barack Obama? John McCain? Joe Biden? Sarah Palin? More Lincoln: "All that harms labor is treason to America. No line can be drawn between these two. If any man tells you he loves America, yet he hates labor, he is a liar. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool." ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Tea Party
On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 4:42 PM, wrote: > In a message dated 11/8/2010 8:20:54 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > _cb31...@gmail.com_ (mailto:cb31...@gmail.com) writes: Tea Party Election > Results > Diluted in Highly Populated States By Tom Moroney and Terrence Dopp - Nov 5, > 2010 > > Tea Party supporters boasted of their 28 victories in U.S. House races. > What the election results also made clear was that their appeal stopped at > the border of the most densely-populated states and metropolitan areas. > Republican _Carl Paladino_ > > Comment > > As I understand the results, the "blue dog democrats" took the big hit > losing 23 or their 54 official caucus members, or 48% of the Democrat party > House loses. > > Michigan governor race was another Democratic Party loss. > > Rick Snyder (R-MI) 1,879,499 Votes 58% > Virg Bernero (D-MI) 1,278,566 Votes 40% > > > And the beat goes on. > > WL > CB: Yeah. Bernero ran very left. He said he was going to take state money out of banks that didn't carry out the mortgage modification plan, put a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures, made Mainstreet vs Wall Street v his campaign theme, picked a Black woman mayor as his running mate. I was in Bert's at karaoke on the Saturday before the election. I was going to say vote for Bernero before I sang. Next thing I know there's Verg Bernero coming into the bar saying a few words. Anyway, the Republicans won all state offices and majorities in both Houses of the legislature. So, it is squarely on them to balance the state budget. How they will cut taxes on business and do that too will be quite a trick. And then how are they going to fix the economy ? Isn't it the Republican idea that government should stay out of the economy ? Let the economy fix itself ? Free enterprise and the free market. Yet, this Republican is elected on the promise of fixing the economy _as governor_, which means by government means in derogation of the Republican fake free market ideology. But hey, Mr. Capitalist ( Snyder is a middle sized capitalist), show us how to use the government to fix the economy. That'll be a form of socialism. And if the economy doesn't get better, there will be clearly only one party to blame in Michigan. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] critique of the ideology of the Tea Party needed
On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 10:10 PM, Phil Walden wrote: > I have been scouring websites in the USA to try to find a good socialist > critique of the ideology of the Tea Party. But so far I have found > nothing. The WSWS website says absolutely nothing to critique the ideology > of the Tea Party. It seems that many on the left are adapting to the > reactionary ideas of white sociologically working class men. ^^^ CB: TP ideology is not different from standard rightwing US ideology since Reaganism. Balancing the budget, yet cut taxes . That's the supply side economics/Laffer curve of Reagan; cut government social and welfare spending based on the budget not being balanced; that's Reaganite deficit hawkism. Racism, while denying that they are racists; that essential Reaganism. The same critique that Marxists and Communists have been doing for thirty years of the rightwing applies to the TP. They are a fake "new" whatever. They aren't new. They are the same ole-same ole. ^^^ > If no good socialist critique of the Tea Party is written, you are going to > end up with Sarah Palin as President. > > Can someone let me know where I can find a good socialist critique of the > ideology of the Tea Party? Here's some Marxist critique of Tea Party http://www.peoplesworld.org/ginning-up-racism-its-winners-and-losers/?commentStart=10 > > Worried, even from England, > > Phil Walden > ___ > Marxism-Thaxis mailing list > Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis > ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
