[Marxism-Thaxis] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
The huge mass that was once dubbed the reserve army of labor, was called such precisely because it was a reserve to be thrown into the battle for production during peak period of production. No level of production and consumption today can throw this huge mass of labor into the production process, because of what Marx called "the progress of industry." This mass of labor has been rendered superfluous to the production of capital as an expanded value in the absolute sense. Here is the 800 lb. gorilla in the living room many deny exist, with other claiming it is not really a gorilla at all. From reserve army to a permanent caste of proletarians shut out the civic society of the bourgeoisie. ^^ CB: True. But there never is a time when there hasn't been mass unemployment, even in the boom phase of cycles. Bourgeois economics defines "full"employment as 4% unemployment. Maybe the lowest percentage will get bigger under your analysis ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
Obama has not been in office very long and his bipartisan rhetoric, will in practice be jettisoned; is being jettisoned as he pointedly state "I won the election," and the real Obama will emerge. The real Obama is of course the CEO for capital, and everything he stated and promised in the election campaign. His job is to institutionalize the new/changing social relations of production, expressing this new stage in the decay of capital and the technological revolution. As a traditional Roosevelt type Democrat he will expand the social safety net, primarily for what in all his campaign speeches, he calls the hard working middle class and sections of the poorest workers. Interestingly, Bush W. and Reagan's administration "busted the budget" and "expanded government," only directing government funds where they wanted them. The Democrats want a different direction. Only social revolution can stop certain things. The huge mass that was once dubbed the reserve army of labor, was called such precisely because it was a reserve to be thrown into the battle for production during peak period of production. No level of production and consumption today can throw this huge mass of labor into the production process, because of what Marx called "the progress of industry." This mass of labor has been rendered superfluous to the production of capital as an expanded value in the absolute sense. Here is the 800 lb. gorilla in the living room many deny exist, with other claiming it is not really a gorilla at all. From reserve army to a permanent caste of proletarians shut out the civic society of the bourgeoisie. Change most certainly must be from the bottom up. Here is the bottom. Below is how the late Comrade Mark Jones described this mass Oct. 1998 - a description I agreed with and wrote about alongside him in 1999/2000. "The precocious success of 'decarbonisation' and dematerialisation has produced this outcome, one where the greatest reserve army of labour in history -- more than half of humankind: confronts the greatest accumulation of productive power known to history, across a social nomansland which leaves each inaccessible to the other and has resulted in locking the majority of humankind out of the benefits of production and indeed out of society and in a sense, out of history. (Note: "inaccessible to the other and has resulted in locking the majority of humankind out of the benefits of production" = locked out the civic society of the bourgeoisie = from reserve of industry to permanent outcast) "Any real new upswing or serious resumption of production (I do not mean the kind of illusory boomlets which always occur within real depressions, and did for example throughout the 1930s, when the 'turning of the corner' was monotonously proclaimed and always proven wrong within days or weeks) is certain to be short-lived since it must press against the absolute limit of valorisation inscribed within the mode of production itself, and which history has now as it were brought to the surface." (end quote) (Note: "is certain to be short-lived since it must press against the absolute limit of valorisation inscribed within the mode of production itself," = the historical limit of capitalist production). WL. This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from _http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm_ (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm) The most noteworthy aspect of taking the "high road" is that Obama can appear, and probably believes he is, totally nonpartisan, bipartisan, or whatever, CB: Well isn't he ? That's basically what you say here. all along being forced to take more liberal or social democratic measures to correct the heinous state of affairs he has bequeathed. A shift in the overall political direction of the country won't depend on him, but if popular pressure forces him to move to the left, he would do so. ^^ CB: Which is what he says. Changes comes from the bottom up. **Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your neighborhood today. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Filing&ncid=emlcntusyelp0004) ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
The most noteworthy aspect of taking the "high road" is that Obama can appear, and probably believes he is, totally nonpartisan, bipartisan, or whatever, CB: Well isn't he ? That's basically what you say here. all along being forced to take more liberal or social democratic measures to correct the heinous state of affairs he has bequeathed. A shift in the overall political direction of the country won't depend on him, but if popular pressure forces him to move to the left, he would do so. ^^ CB: Which is what he says. Changes comes from the bottom up. And that's the only way any president gets anything done, whether it be Lincoln, FDR, or LBJ, the only presidents good for anything since the "Founding Fathers". ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
All of these marxist reference points are of historical value, only. And the various political sects are only good for distributing literature to the tiny number of people interested in these perspectives, plus coalition action which everyone does anyway. This financial crisis points the way towards the obsolescence of capital as the engine of jobs, prosperity, and wage labor, but nobody is prepared to go there. The very notion is taboo. Yet this ridiculous stimulus package opens up the entire system to scrutiny. But that also means we are at a juncture of great danger. The bourgeoisie itself is probably divided between the thugs of the far right and the sensibly bourgeoisie that wants to see Obama succeed, sensitive to the severe consequences of his failure. Obama will hold the class structure of America together as best he can, and his self-deceiving ideology is the engine by which he got there and will proceed, with all the ridiculous Americanist rhetoric intact. The most noteworthy aspect of taking the "high road" is that Obama can appear, and probably believes he is, totally nonpartisan, bipartisan, or whatever, all along being forced to take more liberal or social democratic measures to correct the heinous state of affairs he has bequeathed. A shift in the overall political direction of the country won't depend on him, but if popular pressure forces him to move to the left, he would do so. And that's the only way any president gets anything done, whether it be Lincoln, FDR, or LBJ, the only presidents good for anything since the "Founding Fathers". Reply Agreed. 100% This thing about the "founding fathers" and their wisdom is not everyone's story. :-) WL. **Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your neighborhood today. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Filing&ncid=emlcntusyelp0004) ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
All of these marxist reference points are of historical value, only. And the various political sects are only good for distributing literature to the tiny number of people interested in these perspectives, plus coalition action which everyone does anyway. This financial crisis points the way towards the obsolescence of capital as the engine of jobs, prosperity, and wage labor, but nobody is prepared to go there. The very notion is taboo. Yet this ridiculous stimulus package opens up the entire system to scrutiny. But that also means we are at a juncture of great danger. The bourgeoisie itself is probably divided between the thugs of the far right and the sensibly bourgeoisie that wants to see Obama succeed, sensitive to the severe consequences of his failure. Obama will hold the class structure of America together as best he can, and his self-deceiving ideology is the engine by which he got there and will proceed, with all the ridiculous Americanist rhetoric intact. The most noteworthy aspect of taking the "high road" is that Obama can appear, and probably believes he is, totally nonpartisan, bipartisan, or whatever, all along being forced to take more liberal or social democratic measures to correct the heinous state of affairs he has bequeathed. A shift in the overall political direction of the country won't depend on him, but if popular pressure forces him to move to the left, he would do so. And that's the only way any president gets anything done, whether it be Lincoln, FDR, or LBJ, the only presidents good for anything since the "Founding Fathers". -Original Message- >From: waistli...@aol.com >Sent: Feb 27, 2009 10:40 AM >To: marxism-thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu >Subject: Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Black History Month 2009 Change and >continuity: 4 > >As much as I love Billy Stewart, even he's not helping draw whatever >conclusions I'm supposed to draw from Obama. > >I'm not seeing anything here but a political vacuum for the communist >alternative you're talking about. Everybody in America believes in >capital, jobs, >and wage labor. > > >Reply > > >Yo . . . what is meant by a communist pole - polarity is a politic held >together by the simple belief that society most provide for people who have >little or no money and cannot pay their bills. That's it. The only way for >people >to have socially necessary means of life, when people cannot buy them due to >lack of money, is for society to give them these things. That it! > >All that cramp about glorious workers, and workers councils and workers >democracy; Stalin vs Trotsky and so on is useless and means nothing. The >masses >themselves are going to strive for greater political liberty as a spontaneous >impulse. > >As a fight I am feeling economic communism as stated above. Everything else >as political ideology is more or less useless. I believe this is the stage we >are at. ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
As much as I love Billy Stewart, even he's not helping draw whatever conclusions I'm supposed to draw from Obama. I'm not seeing anything here but a political vacuum for the communist alternative you're talking about. Everybody in America believes in capital, jobs, and wage labor. Reply Yo . . . what is meant by a communist pole - polarity is a politic held together by the simple belief that society most provide for people who have little or no money and cannot pay their bills. That's it. The only way for people to have socially necessary means of life, when people cannot buy them due to lack of money, is for society to give them these things. That it! All that cramp about glorious workers, and workers councils and workers democracy; Stalin vs Trotsky and so on is useless and means nothing. The masses themselves are going to strive for greater political liberty as a spontaneous impulse. As a fight I am feeling economic communism as stated above. Everything else as political ideology is more or less useless. I believe this is the stage we are at. WL WL. **Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your neighborhood today. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Filing&ncid=emlcntusyelp0004) ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
As much as I love Billy Stewart, even he's not helping draw whatever conclusions I'm supposed to draw from Obama. I'm not seeing anything here but a political vacuum for the communist alternative you're talking about. Everybody in America believes in capital, jobs, and wage labor. Reply Most in America passively and aggressively supported Jim Crow until than magnificent struggle broke out on DECEMBER 4, 1955 in Montgomery Alabama. Then it would take a decade of intense struggle to outlaw lynching and get the Voting Rights Act and later fair housing legislation. Then it would take another twenty years for blacks to become fused into the national political sphere. Then it would take another 20 years to get our first Black President. We are at the very beginning and Obama's election might be analogous to something like Montgomery 1955. To optimistic? WL. **Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your neighborhood today. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Filing&ncid=emlcntusyelp0004) ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
As much as I love Billy Stewart, even he's not helping draw whatever conclusions I'm supposed to draw from Obama. I'm not seeing anything here but a political vacuum for the communist alternative you're talking about. Everybody in America believes in capital, jobs, and wage labor. -Original Message- >From: waistli...@aol.com >Sent: Feb 27, 2009 9:31 AM >To: marxism-thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu >Subject: Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Black History Month 2009 Change and >continuity: 4 >. Obama’s campaign momentarily created a gravitational pull strong enough to pull a large section of our working class spontaneously gravitating to the right, as their first political impulse. This is due precisely to the fact that labor is tied to capital by a thousand threads and the impulse to recapture economic security - a job, means spontaneously recreating the capital-labor bond. The spontaneous impulse to recapture a lost past and stability. Here is where we meet the fascist danger in the flesh. This does not mean pushing Obama to the "left," but rather establishing economic communism, devoid of its historic ideology as a form of Sovietism, as a political pole. Obama and no one else is to be "pushed to the left." Rather, establishing a communist polarity will compelled everything in the middle to seek refuge with this pole as a consistent fighter against fascism. Obama has to be quantified while knowing such quantification is bound to be wrong, outside stating he is the chief political representative/executive of imperial capital. This of course is no quantification but a qualification or quality. Obama is capital personified. Knowing this and a "dime" "won't even shine ones shoes, on Broadway." Obama also brings to an end the peculiar phenomenon of the black leader. A historical character that pushed himself unto history as the product result of open fascism in the Jim Crow South and his police state cousin in the North’s Negro conclaves. At the close of the Civil War the blacks began their spontaneous drift throughout American society. With the overthrow of Reconstruction and the institution of fascism and Jim Crow the structural relations within and between classes in America were recast. The black leader emerges as the "go between" - navigator, between the structures separating black society from white. Between 1865 and the 1890’s there were leaders and political leaders in government that were black. These leaders were not the peculiar phenomenon of the black leader. The counter revolution was the condition for the birth of the Black leader. ___ 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] Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: 4
Obama is - expresses, this changed reality, and was called forth to do the impossible. Obama supersedes and leaps over the long night, that was the era of the rise and fall of the black political leader. A peculiar political phenomenon brought to life by Jim Crow segregation. Black History Month 2009 Change and continuity: The election of Barack Obama By Waistline2 Obama: Change or continuity? (Part III) By Elíades Acosta Matos raises a question whose answer is "both!" _http://progreso-weekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=800&Ite_ (http://progreso-weekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=800&Ite) Part 4 Death of a Salesman. The election of Barack Obama closes out a period of American history and opens the door to the Third American Revolution: proletarian revolution, because of time, place and space outlined in part 1. Barack Obama has the demeanor, oratory and uses much of the language symbols of the black leader in American history. Or does he; or is it American history, with its persistent recycling of "Give me liberty or give me death?" Obama, rather than President Barack Obama, has a personal familiarity to it that can be quite discomforting, but is called forth due to his personal qualities and living link as momentary American history. Obama resurrected the dead undying Lincoln. "Towards a more perfect Union." Communists rooted in American history fail to appropriate this same history at their peril. Obama collected the dreams and realized dreams of an older generation that is our nation of immigrants. And former slaves. "Don’t matter what kind of ship carried you to America, we are all in the same boat." Who lacks the courage or manliness to apply this formula on a class basis and bias? Here is the real cultural war being waged against a certain infantile 1960ish counter culture amongst the left. Obama’s wielding of the "politics of change" is not reducible to demagogy, although electoral politics and much of all politics involves demagogy in the shape of the inspiring but unachievable driving vision. This includes communist politics and the demand for economic communism, whose emancipation of the proletariat is forever blocked, from full realization by an existing material configuration that is division of labor and productive force development; even after the criminal bourgeoisie has been swept from the furthers corner of earth. Even Jesus wept. . . . . Over the barriers. . Marx shifted his projection of world revolution as a doctrine of combat. Marx faced his very own quantifying dilemma. Engels explained why the programmatic demands of the Manifesto were obsolete. Lenin’s lament, built iron and steel socialism. Then the loop of logic carries us back to the future/present Marx; world revolution for this generations. It is precisely because Marx himself could not quantify the progression of the proletarian revolution the he and Engels wrote numerous prefaces to the Communists Manifesto, after the fact. These prefaces alone are worth their weight in good to the communist revolution. Voting America expressed its desire for real change, which it cannot yet define or articulate as a coherent vision because of its lack of class consciousness. At least this is how the American people understand their own actions expressed in Obama’s election, I would dare say. Therefore Obama is to be quantified, with instruments from the previous configuration of American history. To do such is to leave - liquidate (Lenin’s word) the last period, this time forever. Peering through the surface of the process dialectic of vision, cause and change; is the machinery of society; the outer expression of the underlying revolutionary process, felt and experienced as the fight in the political sphere. What Marxists generally call the superstructure, the ideological battle and what Americans once and generally call - with contempt, politics and "arguing religion." Politics in our country at all times express shifting political alliances and shifting structural relations or the living institutions that hold together the unity of the productive forces and the social relations - (if you will), of living economic and political America. This shifting always is bound up with the North/South political axis, due to slavery. Obama in the flesh completes a social and political process, which actually matured with the Clinton administration. This period actually begins with Bush 1, but he was quickly silenced after floating the concept of the "new world order." No political grouping or social movement in America can accomplish any of its goals without impacting and carrying with them 50 - 70 million people as a political and social base. Obama must be quantified. He will be quantified. The last period liquidates itself on the basis of itself
