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Marx and Engels were writing in the world where the "historic mission" of the Bourgeoisie was to develop the productive forces sufficiently to make it possible for the curse of necessity to be banished from the earth --- a development of the forces of production that made true civilization (ultimately communism) possible. Yet because socialism did not defeat capitalism in the 20th century, capitalism having long outlived its ability to merely develop the productive forces and having reached the stage of devouring the planet itself we are faced with an entirely different set of issues (I have argued -- and I know I get lots of flack for this -- that we got a taste of the changing reality with the rise of fascism and its particular German version, Naziism --- made possible IN PART by the inability of communists and socialists to unite against it --- with the regional and individual (for Jews, gypsies, gays, slavs, etc.) disasters ---) That set of isssues involves planetary destruction --- Many argue that the ONLY way to save the planet is to have a socialist revolution --- I argue that that MIGHT be true but since such a change seems more unlikely than getting the Democratic (and "democratic" with a small "d") to take the necessary steps to save the planet, it's better to bet on the Dems vs. Trump (and take your set of choices in the rest of the world as well) than to remain pure --- Don't think quoting Marx and Engels advances the argument given the current set of challenges.... BUT --- we are not talking about a "few reactionaries" -- we are talking about fascism ..... > > > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
