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On 12/04/2010 14:37, Louis Proyect wrote: > It’s quite obvious really – why give yourself a name that > sounds very old-fashioned when you are new and looking to the > future? And why choose a name that sounds like every little > left-wing group there’s ever been? > *shrugs*... I mean, really, Louis. Who /isn't/ looking to the future? Do you know anyone who explicitly says they're looking to the past? Or who claims to want to imitate the failures of the past? Doesn't every politician in the world castigate the past relentlessly? Tired solutions, thereof. Failed remedies, thereof. Outmoded ideas, thereof. The future, by contrast, is just as glam as can be. The Idiot's Guide to PR surely has a section all of its own about how marvellous and estimable the future really is. It's just like someone saying they oppose the bad and admire the good. It's platitudinous public relations twaddle, designed to simulate openness, reflectiveness, and new thinking. More to the point, the name doesn't make the difference in this respect. What the name does is concisely communicate the nature of one's politics. It doesn't prevent one from being stuck in a time-warp, it doesn't differentiate one from Bob Avakian's gang, it doesn't stop one from being dogmatic, and it doesn't stop one from circling the drain just like previous sects. And, again, the idea that calling oneself a socialist is inherently more dated than calling oneself conservative or liberal or social democratic or Christian Democratic (etc etc etc.) is trite. No offence to my ex-comrades, but for all the emphasis they have placed on dynamism, verve and various cognate terms, I am even less impressed by the quality of their current strategic thinking than I was when they were still comrades to man. -- Richard Seymour Writer and blogger Email: leninstombb...@googlemail.com Website: http://www.leninology.blogspot.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leninology Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Seymour_(writer) Book: http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/s-titles/seymour_r_the_liberal_defense_of_murder.shtml ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
