On 11/19/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yoshie, now:
> Struggles are composed of individuals who lead and join struggles in
> various capacities. It seems to me to be impossible to separate the
> two in the sympathy department, though it is possible to do so in the
> analysis department. While one can never base politics on feelings
> alone, feelings are part of politics. Abstractions minus feelings --
> including feelings about individuals involved in struggles -- seldom
> move people.
In which case, it's the _masses_ who we should sympathize with, not
the self-appointed leaders.
What if a majority of the masses we presumably sympathize with
actually supported their leaders? In that case, the leaders aren't
self-appointed.
me:
> > People make errors, believe in conflicting ideals, etc.
Yoshie:
> Yes, but errors, contradictory ideas, etc. don't necessarily
> contradict sympathy for people who make them.
the left is _against_ oppression.
What if we couldn't address all oppressions at the same time and had
to prioritize which oppression to fight first? For instance, Omar
Mukhtar might have been a patriarchal oppressor of women, for all we
know. Given his time, most likely he was, though we do not know if he
was better or worse than a common run of men of his time.
The leaders are typically
surfers on the wave of history, trying to exploit the mass movement to
empower themselves.
So, leaders have no useful role to perform?
I think I get what Yoshie is talking about with this "Western
Leftists" crap. EG, >Were Omar Mukhtar alive today and leading
resistance anywhere, it would be unlikely for him to receive much
sympathy in the West.< I think she's saying that the "WL" is infected
with racism, so we would reject Omar Mukhtar even though we support
Hugo Chavez. There are too many fallacies involved in that argument to
count.
It seems to me that many leftists in the West used to be weary of Hugo
Chavez, thinking he was merely an old-style caudillo. To this day,
some on the far left think that. Chavez, however, fortunately is not
a Muslim. :->
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
