I don't think the discussion is helped by references to an emotion-laden term such as "Trotskyists."
On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Marv Gandall<[email protected]> wrote: > Shane writes: > >> So there is a "fascist" menace in America comparable, even in the > > slightest, to Hitler in 1931? And Obama leads a "working class > party?" Come on! > ====================================== > There is no fascist menace in America comparable, even in the slightest, to > Hitler in 1931, and I've consistently argued against those who have > suggested as such on this and other lists. There is, however, a large > contingent of non-fascist right-wing reactionaries within the ruling and > working classes who have energetically mobilized to block reforms demanded > by the left, and I think Julio is right in proposing the left should not > stand aloof from these struggles - particularly when they are today the only > social struggles being waged, the socialist movement effectively having > disappeared from the historical stage. > > I also agree that Obama leads a bourgeois liberal party, not a working class > one, as we understand the distinction. Whether to include bourgeois liberal > parties in coalitions against the right or to organize independently of the > liberals was a controversial subject within the workers' movement, with > Trotskyists like yourself the most prominent exponents of the latter > position. But even the Trotskyists, as I recall, never suggested that the > workers', while organizing independently of the liberal parties, should > concentrate their attacks on the leaders of those parties rather than > participating in a common defence against reactionary mobs or armies - a > notion which you introduced into the discussion and which makes little sense > to me. > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "All science would be superfluous if the form of appearance of things directly coincided with their essence." -- KM _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
