I think Doug is right here and have held similar views on this point for a long time. The desire to relive the 30's scenario -capitalism has to be saved from itself and we're the ones to do it --has some bad political consequences other than the ones Doug mentions. This is a problem that extends well beyond the Marxist left. For example, this way of thinking gave cover to those who, for cynical reasons, wanted to support the IMF quota increase last year. The story was: the system is in danger of collapse, we need "government intervention" to save it. "Government intervention" turned out to be the IMF, and of course what was saved was the interests of international investors, not the interests of people in the crisis countries. People in these countries would have been much better off with national and regional remedies, such as the Asian Monetary Fund, and debt negotiations outside the IMF's orbit, as happened subsequently in Korea and Russia -- it was precisely to prevent such national and regional remedies that the IMF bailouts were organized. Of course, these was not the real motor of the cave on the liberal side -- the real motor was that the AFL cut a deal with the Administration to support the quota increase. The caving of the Congressional liberals followed. (Many people outside the Beltway probably don't realize that the AFL -- far from being "too close" to the Democrats, exerts a _rightward_ pull on them. If AFL policy were determined by a free vote of Congressional Democrats, it would improve dramatically.) But the ideological affection for catastrophism provided useful cover. You see this in the writing of Greider, Borosage, etc. from that time. A similar dynamic -- including the role of the AFL and many "liberals" in promoting the idea that the Social Security system is in "crisis" -- is afoot in the Social Security "debate." See e.g. the Greenstein/Weisbrot exchange in the Nation. At 04:04 PM 6/29/99 -0400, you wrote: >By the way, here's the piece I wrote for LM that made Lou Proyect >sick. This is what I sent them; there may have been minor edits in >the published version. > >Doug > >---- > >IN LOVE WITH DISASTER >by Doug Henwood > ------------------------------- Robert Naiman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Preamble Center 1737 21st NW Washington, DC 20009 phone: 202-265-3263 fax: 202-265-3647 http://www.preamble.org/ -------------------------------
