Marv Gandall writes: "John Reimann, despite his laudable best efforts, considers his paltry vote total in his mayoralty campaign against the Democratic party establishment in Oakland as somewhat encouraging rather than a sign of just how isolated he and we truly are." Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. I've explained that every socialist group and individual in the east bay would have nothing to do with my campaign. This is not a personal issue; it's a political issue which flows from their ties to the union bureaucracy and the NGO's. Right now, East Bay DSA is mobilizing its members in support of some liberal Democrats. Were they and others to combine a serious effort for an anti-Democrat and working class socialist campaign for local office, it would have actually attracted some real attention and a significant number of votes. It would have been the basis for the start of a local organizing effort to start (note: *start*) to build a working class alternative to the Democrats. Unfortunately, because none of them is willing to do so, a campaign along those lines remains isolated in the bigger scheme of things. All it can do is set an example.
There is actually a tremendous opportunity for exactly such an effort, through the Palestine solidarity movement. Recently here in the Bay Area we have seen demonstrations of tens of thousands. There were two of several thousand each here in Oakland. It would be completely natural to raise the issue of a working class party in those protests since the entire Democratic Party is collaborating to one degree or another with Israel. (Even the "peace and justice" Representative and Democratic primary candidate for the senate, Barbara Lee, supports US aid to Israel.) But nobody except for a few isolated (there's that word again!) individuals raise the issue. Why? Because once again the organizers of these events are tied either to the NGO's or to the union bureaucracy or both, and those forces represent the Democratic Party within both the working class and the protest movement. Unfortunately, all too many "Marxists" are unwilling to openly express their differences with them and advance their own point of view in the presence of these union bureaucrat/NGO linked lefts, as opposed to in the safety of isolated "revolutionary" circles. John Reimann -- *“Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.” *Felicity Dowling Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29077): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29077 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104479559/21656 -=-=- 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. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
