Right, breath of fresh air. What's that I smell? The clean, crisp scent of endorsing Democrats? Isn't/wasn't that part and parcel of Goff's refreshingly, brisk, bracing critique.
It's not the theory I object to, criticizing the rigidity of current Marxist organizations, it's the practice-- the practice that takes you to endorsing Democrats, scorning actual class analysis, thumping the King Hubbert bible of Peak Oil, etc. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leigh Meyers" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <PEN-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU> Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2007 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Rampage Across Athens > On 6/23/07, Julio Huato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Leigh wrote: > > > > > I don't know what "Weatherman > > > tendency" is, except perhaps as > > > embodied within the "Days of > > > Rage" melee in Chicago 1969 > > > which for many of the people I > > > knew considered worthless, and > > > did not participate or condone... > > > or vilify. > > > > > > That's still my view. > > > > I find Leigh's hostility to Marxism very disconcerting. But I'm > > entirely sympathetic with this view: not condoning, but neither > > vilifying. > > > > Actions that result from people discontent with the status quo, > > especially young people (e.g. students), are mostly debits of the > > status quo, even if those actions leave much to be desired on tactical > > or strategic grounds. > > > > I rather have students who protest, even if their protests take forms > > I consider political immature and counterproductive, than students who > > acquiesce or remain impassive in the face of injustice, or students > > who take action to defend an unjust status quo. > > > > Absolutely. > > My objection to Marxism lies not so much in Marx or his writings > (honestly, I've read more Engels, Marcuse, than Marx), but in what I > see as a perverse culture that has arisen in the U.S. due to... I > dunno... interpretation through the physical isolation from the rest > of the world... American exceptionalism.... > > Cf. the legitimate practice of the Hare Krishna practitioners of the > Hindu faith in India compared to the den of junkies, mobsters & > thieves it became when exported west. The concept 'Demi-god' and > American culture clash dramatically leaving the group wide open for > people who are seeking to reinforce their belief that they are > better... more worthy than their fellow humans, and entitled to do > whatever they like no matter the effect on the other person. > > To continue the comparison as philosophers and religious figures go, > George Gurdjieff was much wiser (IMVHO) than Srila Prabhupada. He > partnered up with a Russian Roman Catholic scholar, to meld a version > of the Sufi/Dervish faith that the western mind could 'wrap it's mind > around' with less distortion to the original concepts. > > In summation, it's not the theory, it's the people, and I see little > change in the underlying socializations(sic), strategies and tactics > (the inability to form coalitions of convenience without needing to > control/micromanage/critique-to-the-point-of-disrupting the rest of > the coalition, *excessive* emphasis on theory whether or not it works > in practice (and Marx never saw the fruition of his theories in > practice). > > Stan Goff's renunciation of Marxism a while back was a breath of fresh > air for me, a written vocalization of a litany of criticisms I've had > in regard to (not just) Marxism and it's practitioners (worshipers) > over the years, long years, 14 to (now) 53. > > Leigh > > "The industrial utopia imagined by Marx and touted by Lenin (who even > embraced the soul-killing efficiency doctrine of Frederick Winslow > Taylor) is not possible in the real world, and less so each day, and > it is a Man's world in any case, a notion based fundmentally on the > patriarchal belief in Man-Nature dualism (and the gendered pronoun is > not an accident, nor has it ever been neutral). It is the Marxist > method of inquiry that exposes the fetishism of the machine — the idea > that technology is innocent of the social system that produced it, and > that a factory under socialist control works differently than one > under capitalist control, even though the spirit-murdering machinery > of capitalism remains unchanged." > <http://stangoff.com/?p=423> >
