That was refreshing, and a validation of the reasons that I rejected
anything calling itself 'vanguard' or marxist, or leninist, or
trotskyist, or maoist, or any other ism or schism organization since I
came of political 'age' in my teens. I considered them to be
oppressors-in-waiting, and now, I'm prone to thinking of them as clowns
without the funny shoes.
A (very) rough sketch of the dilemma as I see it:
Without egalitarianism (or socialism if you prefer) guiding human
interaction within a culture or society, Marxism is doomed to failure.
A non-dysfunctional society or community is based on cooperation with a
group to the benefit of the whole group, not the individual... to whom
the benefit may often just trickle down un-noticed, and less frequently
be just what the individual needs.
In a hyper-competitive, self-centric population, that belief system is
unacceptable, and destructive. In that type of culture, marxism won't
work a dang bit better than any of the other isms, like capitalism,
unless you are comfortable with stalinism and totalitarianism.
My impression of Stan Goff's 'politics' is neo-tribal (the roots of
which probably originate from his miltary experience), not 'left'
politics as practiced in America.
Stan Goff, at a philosophic level, 'tolerates' politics, but, like old
Herbert Marcuse said... Business POLITICS poverty and oppression are
what need to be eradicated.
Sorry... don't have any snappy grundisse quotes, this will have to do.
"The roots of repression are, and remain real roots; consequently, their
eradication remains a real and rational job.
What is to be abolished is not the reality principal, not everything,
but such particular things as business, politics, exploitation, poverty.
To forget this is to mystify the possibilities of liberation." --Herbert
Marcuse
The mystification of the possibilities of liberation is exactly what the
western 'vanguard' wants... without that, after liberation, they might
have to operate an f-cking engine lathe, or pick up the trash.
Leigh
Julio Huato wrote:
You may know Stan Goff. He's a serious radical activist and essayist
with an interesting and diverse life experience. Every now and then,
he publishes articles on the Huffington Post. I respect him deeply.
He just wrote a very rich and thoughtful essay, where he submits his
personal rejection of organized Marxism in the U.S. In his writing,
he refers another essay, this one written by Joaquín Bustelo, another
serious guy -- also from the South. As far as I know, Joaquín used to
post on Louis Proyect's listserv, a member of the same political group
as Yoshie -- or correct me if I'm wrong.
I come from a completely different background than both of them, but I
take their reflections very seriously into consideration, not only
because I respect these guys' wisdom, but also (mainly) because they
arise from a genuine effort to rationalize our struggle, the struggle
for socialism, against all forms of exploitation and oppression, the
struggle of the working people -- as I keep thinking of it. Stan's
essay can be read here, along with some very thoughtful comments:
http://stangoff.com/?p=423
