Part II. How is the new logic against the poor - destitute proletarians, being expressed? The health Care debates are instructive. Over and over older workers rallying against a single payer system - on Medicare, are asked why they oppose single payer. "I do not want government control over my life." But ask the commentator, "Are you receiving Medicate and do you support that." "Yes, I am on Medicare and love it but do not want socialism." But pleas the commentator, "Medicare is socialism." A section of society is expressing an impulse that says the poor should not have Medicare or a single payer system paid for by the American people, but it is alright for "hard working older Americans to have socialism." The outer form of this propaganda is tinged with and expresses the color factor in our history but the attack is against the most destitute sector of the proletariat without regard to color. The organized mass sent to town hall meeting to protest and oppose a single payer system - not the organized Nazi and KKK groups, are opposing plans to aid the majority, and the majority support a single payer health care system. Which way for America The fascist movement is arising in America as a political response to the changes underway in society. The ruling class cannot rule in the old way and the developing fascist movement offers the means by which the masses of Americans can be turned toward supporting the ruling class in its efforts to transform society to protect its property and power. But, they are moving against the tide of history. The new means of production confront society with the question: Either the continuation of private property with a fascist state to govern society or the creation of a cooperative society based on public property organized to distribute the abundance created by these new tools. At times of extreme shifts in wealth and class formation, as we are witnessing today, movements surge to rally the working masses around their vision and solutions to society's problems. The big question today is which ideology will express and guide the rising movement of the workers today: an ideology that will crown a fascist movement with power, or an ideology that will crown the movement for a cooperative society? Tactics and strategic thinking The American people cannot afford the rising cost of health care. Public option means single payer system or government foots the bill for many. Those forces attacking single payer and/or public option is a combination of reactionary and fascist forces. One line of thinking says "we progressives and communists" should confront and counter the reactionaries or "ultra rights." This approach will lead to our immediate defeat, not to mention tear us off the path of fighting to form class conscious concepts and perception amongst every layer of the working class. The fight is along the path of the fight running through the political middle. This means fighting to win the workers over to what we know is in their class interest. The workers instinctively sense what is in their class interest. I am of the opinion that we should under no conditions engage the "ultra-right" or level our attack against them. Our approach has to be defense of the most poverty stricken of the proletarian masses and their needs. The Obama campaign and victory polarized the left and set the basis for a further spilt between the progressives and communists. However, the progressives seek to use us because they fear the working class, seek to maintain only their privileges and will not do the work. This class logic is expressed in the ideological arena and within Marxism. During and following the Obama victory a section of Marxism began launching a massive attack against the communists under the banner of "fighting the ultra left." The "ultra left" were dubbed anyone on the left the did not support Obama hook, line and sinker. Although these Marxists will deny it, their attack under the banner of fighting the "ultra left" and fighting the "ultra right" was in retrospect part of the precondition for what is taking place today in the town hall meetings. To my knowledge none of the advocates of fighting the "ultra right" have stepped forth to do just that. Rather they campaign against their supposedly communist brothers and then demand that we fight the ultra right. This logic has played itself out in the real world in Detroit at a frightening pace, predating the Town Hall meetings. A little over six months ago the "political middle" - (expressed in the union bureaucracy and the "political class") organized a rally in Lansing - 20 minutes outside of Detroit and state capital of Michigan. John Conyers and Jesse Jackson were on the roster and spoke. Some of us old heads attended with signs supporting H.R. 676 or the single payer health care bill introduced by Conyers and supported by 86 Senators. Believe it or not we were mildly attacked for supporting 676 and deviating away from the Obama approach. As we later escalated the campaign around H.R. 676, going into union meeting we faced stiff resistance from the local union leaders and in retirement meeting. We were basically told our actions were "ultra left" and that we were opening the door to the "ultra right." This made no sense to our way of thinking inasmuch as there are still roughly 5 different bills floating our and 676 is already written and supported and makes an excellent starting point in the battle for single payer system. In June the Chrysler retired workers had their dental and vision plans taken away and a wave of protest washed through the union. The retired workers are now the largest section of the UAW Chrysler. A section of the union leaders went from attacking us because we dared to speak of health care outside the bounds of the Obama administration to calling us and giving us the nod. What happened is that these reps were not pushed to the left. Politics do not work in such a way as to push a coherent political entity to the left or right. Certain union leader opened some political space for us because they had to in order to remain in the capacity of liars, crooks and thieves. If these fellows think we can be maneuvered into fighting the "ultra right" they are mistaken because our job I is to educate the workers so as to allow them self organization on their own behalf. The subtle shift allowing us to openly distribute literature about H.R 676 is not going to be used to be drawn into a direct confrontation with the "ultra right," because that is the wrong line of march. The road to Rome is through the political middle, carrying the voice and demands of the most poverty stricken and not attacking the "ultra right, because the "political middle" stands in our way and are the political and social prop of capital. This does not mean we attack the political middle with insults. We have to learn how to be about the business of "representing" as the young folks say. The reactionary fringe groups are fighting to capture the loyalty of the political middle by attacking its leaders. My thinking at this time is to treat the politically middle and better situated workers the same way Lenin looked at the peasants as a class: to swing them to the side of the real proletariat, rather than viewing the best paid workers in unions as the vanguard of the social revolution of the proletariat. This is not to say we ignore these workers. Rather, we have to face things in their concreteness. As the auto workers are pushed lower and into the unemployment they bring with them a new sense of organization, collectivity and fighting capacity. The retired workers are beginning to play a new role in the life of our country. Things have changed and old formula is useless. Attacking the "ultra right" is nothing more than a clever way of demanding unconditional support of the Obama administration, even as they escalate the war and waver on a single payer system. My opinion is that the Obama administration is not reactionary as defined in this article. We have entered deeply into the undiscovered country and have to learn how to think on our feet. WL. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) To change your options or unsubscribe go to: _http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis_ (http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis) This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from _http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm_ (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)
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