http://www.driftline.org/cgi-bin/archive/archive_msg.cgi?file=spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1998/marxism-thaxis.9803&msgnum=457&start=30478&end=30526
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:27:56 -0500 From: Charles Brown
<charlesb-AT-CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us> Subject: M-TH: A vulgar marxist here By
vulgar marxism I mean a constructive critic of fancy marxism and its
left-liberal cousins. My general attitude is to extract the rational kernel
from the modern and post-modern left neo and paleo liberals from Hegel to
post-Foucaultists. So, I like the kernel of truth metaphor used in the list
discussion in the last day. As to the true universal Doug asked Yoshie for, I
would build it. not on a new idea, but Marx and Feuerbach's species-being. All
of the workers and other people represented by other social movements are human
species-beings. Although biiology only limits us human beings because we have
culture (super-natures and natures ) this contradiction between biology and
culture is still where it is at in generating universals or big generals. Being
determines consciousness is still a focal rule of thumb (guide to action) for
building a universal, real common interests among huge numbers of people, the
masses. My first post-Marx development of species-being is to derive women's
libertion organically from historical materialism's premises, as Marx and
Engels derive workers' liberation from those species-being historical premises.
It is a correction of classical Marxism, but based on Marxsim's own premises.
In ways its too vulgar for pomos and fancy marxists. However, the pomos and
their old cousins, Frankfurt school, Gramsci, exitentialists, et al. all the
fancy marxists have taught us something: being determines consciousness
discontinuously, intermittmently, rarely. Through most of the actual time of
history, consciousness and being are reciprocally determining. Only rarely, in
revolutions, primarily and ultimately does being utterly determine
consciousness. Today, that means that the direct naked appeal to the working
class' class self-interest is inadequate in itself-necessary but not sufficient
in the formal logical sense -to inspire revolution. That appeal cannot be
dropped - the vast majority are working class, wage laborers - but must be
complemented with appeals to other consciousness, other consciousness
determined by being (gender, for example) and consciousness that is determined
more by consciousness. Overall one wants to change the world based on
interpreting it, changing it through practical-critical activity, a unity of
theory and practice still. All Power to the People as a whole. Charles Brown,
your new comrade --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Sent from my iPhone
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