Re: [Marxism] Tariq Ali on British riots: Why here and now?

[Gary MacLennan]

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Hi Stuart,

there is obviously a sense of continuity based on the continued
marginalisation of people of colour.  But it is also important to grasp the
rupture with that continuity.  In a very profound sense this is not the
1980s.  We are not just at the end of the Long Economic boom as we were
then.  Rather we have just ratcheted down one more spiral into the abyss of
a Great Depression.  That explains the necessity to refuse all liberal never
mind radical explanations of what is happening.

The broad consensus that this is about looting and looting only springs
directly from a fear of the Jacquerie. The international economy is out of
control and the austerian push is only going to make matters worse.

I'll say it again: I can smell the fear of the ruling class.  They are
powerless to exempt themselves from the drive to accumulate even though
there is a growing awareness among their intellectual strata that something
different must be done.

Because they are locked into mutually assured destruction they can do
nothing but make plans to produce more plastic bullets or even resort to the
fascist street thug option.

Interesting times indeed.

comradely

Gary

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Re: [Marxism] Egyptian bloggers critical of London riots

[Gary MacLennan]

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Thanks Tristan for that information  I would love to have an address for
Darcus so I could write and congratulate him on his dignity in the face of
racist smears.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 12:49 PM, Einde O'Callaghan wrote:

> ==**==**==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==**==**==
>
>
> On 10.08.2011 03:41, Tristan Sloughter wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> 'West Indian man'? That is CLR James great-nephew Darcus Howe :)
>>
>
> It is, however, the case that in the course of the interview he described
> himself as "an old  West Indian Negro" - and the ignorant racist that was
> "interviewing" couldn't even get his name right and introduced him as Darcus
> Dowe!
>
> Einde O'Callaghan
>
>
> __**__
> Send list submissions to: 
> Marxism@greenhouse.economics.**utah.edu
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>

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Re: [Marxism] Egyptian bloggers critical of London riots

[Einde O'Callaghan]

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On 10.08.2011 03:41, Tristan Sloughter wrote:



'West Indian man'? That is CLR James great-nephew Darcus Howe :)


It is, however, the case that in the course of the interview he 
described himself as "an old  West Indian Negro" - and the ignorant 
racist that was "interviewing" couldn't even get his name right and 
introduced him as Darcus Dowe!


Einde O'Callaghan


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Re: [Marxism] Barry Sheppard comments on Alan Wald article

[Mark Lause]

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It's often been observed that the danger of looking back on the experience
of former members of an organization like the SWP is most people tend to
want to date its degeneration from their own disaffection with it.  The
lines of the faction fight of 1971 or of 1973-74 were never clear save in
the minds of some of those engaged in the fight.   There were many reasons
for this, but the most important was that the leadership of the party saw
everything turning on an organizational triumph, even at the cost of
entirely smudging the argument.

Conversely, the defining position of the SWP, that prediction of a mass
rebellion of student youth detonating rebellions across the country . . . a
broadening and deepening radicalization that would continue until the
question of power was posed . . . that cornerstone position has somehow
disappeared faster than the SWP's dominance on the American far left.

Maybe there's a connection.

I'm always for keeping the record clear enough for critical thinkers to
unravel, but refighting old battles over organizations that are essentially
dead

Beyond some modest pains to keep the record straight, Marx never seems to
have been nostalgic or defense about organizations that he head joined,
founded, or with which he had been allied.  He understood them as tools with
very specific functions.  When he thought their utility was done, he went on
to do other things.

Not a bad approach.

ML

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[Marxism] Exchange on how the Bolsheviks elected their leadership

[John Riddell]

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The following exchange with a young Marxist named Binh took place on my
blog, www.johnriddell.wordpress.com.  

(See
http://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/fourth-comintern-congress-procee
dings/#comments)

Binh refers to an article he wrote on Louis Proyect's website, to which I
respond in my second post.

John

- - - - -


Binh 

Do these proceedings include vote counts and the minutes of various
sessions? I am looking for information as to how the ECCI was elected (by
slate, secret ballot [as the Bolsheviks did])? Any information would be
greatly appreciated.




John Riddell 

The proceedings contain minutes regarding decisions on all motions. Votes
are recorded, although sometimes in cursory fashion. ("Anyone opposed? No.
The motion is adopted.")
 
As for the election of the ECCI (Executive Committee): A slate was worked up
through discussions of a congress sub-commission in consultation with the
national delegations. The slate was presented to the congress, and
amendments were proposed. There was a discussion, followed by a vote on each
amendment and, finally, a vote on the slate as a whole. The Comintern had a
procedure for roll-call vote by delegations, in which the voting strength of
delegations was weighted - the small U.S. party had as many votes as the
party of Soviet Russia. That was intended for cases of major disagreements.
The election of the ECCI in the Fourth Congress was not marked by major
differences and was held by simple delegate-card vote.




Binh 

Thanks for the reply. I've been trying to research how the Bolsheviks and
the RSDLP elected their leadership. The slate system is what most "Leninist"
groups use today but from what I understand they used a secret ballot with
the top vote-getters being elected. (The question for me now is: how did
they determine how many slots were open?) I've written something in reply to
Paul LeBlanc about the issue, I would appreciate your opinion on it:
 
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/a-response-to-paul-leblancs-mar
xism-and-organization/
 
Thanks again.






John Riddell 

Dear Binh,
 
I read your interesting and thoughtful comments on the Proyect blog. On a
few topics you raise.
 
1. Slates for leadership bodies: Sometimes the argument for a slate is very
strong, as in the Comintern, for example, where it was important to have
balanced representation from different parts of the world. If this method is
chosen, two questions arise. (a) Who compiles the slate? (b) How is it
ratified? 

(a) In the Fourth Comintern Congress, the slate was compiled by a
sub-commission, in negotiations with the party delegations. That seems a
fair method, under the circumstances. In a national party, the slate can be
compiled by a panel of rank-and-file delegates (non-members of the previous
leadership) chosen by the local delegations. That method was employed in the
old U.S. SWP, as both Paul Le Blanc and Louis Proyect will recall. This
works well, provided that the leadership does not try to influence the
commission behind the scenes.
 
(b) In the Fourth Congress, the slate was submitted to discussion,
amendments, a vote on amendments, and then a hand vote on the list as a
whole. In the Bolshevik party's slate procedure, the vote was secret, a much
better procedure (but not so necessary in the Comintern). The U.S. SWP
followed that procedure. The secret vote can be used to register a protest
against an untrustworthy leader. There is a spectacular example: the nearly
300 votes against Stalin in the CPSU's 17th congress in 1934. See Roy
Medvedev, Let History Judge, p. 331ff.
 
I once witnessed a convention of an organization attempting to follow the
Bolshevik model in which election of the leadership took the form of an
unmotivated motion to reelect the previous leadership without change
followed by an immediate hand vote. I agree with your criticisms of such a
procedure, which arises not from the Bolshevik tradition but from the
pressures of small-group politics.
 
Briefly on a few other points:
 
2. In describing the Bolsheviks' pre-1917 strategy, you should include the
fact that they proposed a worker-peasant alliance, representing the vast
majority of the population. That seems to me to be the key point.
Furthermore, they proposed that this alliance establish a worker-peasant
government - the revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the proletariat
and the peasantry - to carry through the democratic revolution to the limit,
in other words, very far indeed. This is not a proposal to win power and
then surrender it to the capitalists. Lars Lih writes powerfully on this;
you might start with his Lenin Rediscovered.
 
3. With regard to the early Comintern, you lean toward the notion that the
Moscow leadership was running the affairs of th

Re: [Marxism] Tariq Ali on British riots: Why here and now?

[Stuart Munckton]

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Echoes of history as riots return

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/07/tottenham-history-rioting?intcmp=239

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Re: [Marxism] Egyptian bloggers critical of London riots

[Tristan Sloughter]

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'West Indian man'? That is CLR James great-nephew Darcus Howe :)

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Re: [Marxism] Egyptian bloggers critical of London riots

[Gary MacLennan]

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Actually the article is not as bad as the headline suggests.  Blogger
Elshamy is an idiot IMHO. Watch the video of a West Indian man trying to
explain what is going on and being mercilessly baited by the BBC
interviewer. the link is at Lenin's tomb.  You get a real sense of the
determination of the ruling class to describe the protesters as thugs for
purely political reasons.  Elshamy has bought into this and shame on him.

comradely

Gary

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[Marxism] Egyptian bloggers critical of London riots

[Louis Proyect]

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http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/egyptian-bloggers-parse-london-riots-in-real-time/


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[Marxism] London's burning

[Gary MacLennan]

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This is just a short note to urge listers to monitor Lenin's Tomb <
leninology.blogspot.com>. Richard Seymour is intellectually brilliant always
but there is something about a radical movement among the people that he
grasps in a very intuitive and instinctive way.  Makes me think he must have
an Irish Catholic ancestor tucked away somewhere :).

His posts have an urgency that matches this historical moment perfectly.

Comrades I am beginning to smell the fear of the ruling class. Of course it
will be expressed in the most brutal of put downs and vicious oppression.
Nonetheless the ruling class have built on sand the  house of neo-liberal
greed and moral corruption and now the youth will ensure they inherit the
whirlwind.

comradely

Gary

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[Marxism] Barry Sheppard comments on Alan Wald article

[Louis Proyect]

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In the July/August issue of Against the Current there is an article by 
Alan Wald titled “SWP Memories, A Winter’s Tale.” The article purports 
to be a review of Peter Camejo’s memoir North Star and a book by Leslie 
Evans, Outsider’s Reverie. But it is not a review of either, except in 
the most superficial sense.


ATC has yet to review Peter Camejo’s important memoir. It should do so, 
but I for one am not holding my breath awaiting such a real review. This 
is because the main editors of ATC hate the SWP of “The Sixties,” while 
Camejo embraces it. I did write a review of Peter’s book, and am 
appending it below. Evan’s book is not worth reviewing, as it is full of 
errors and arguments to buttress his conversion to an opponent of 
Marxism and an adherent of mysticism and Zionism.


The thrust of Wald’s article is to present his view of what went wrong 
with the SWP. I welcome his contribution and hope that others will also 
present their views on this important topic. My own views are contained 
in my political memoir about my time in the SWP, from 1960 through 1988. 
The first volume of my memoir covers the period of 1960-1973, “The 
Sixties,” and has been published. My second volume will cover 1973 
through 1988 and will be published this autumn.


Here I only want to take up a central theme in Wald’s article, his 
largely positive view of a small minority that developed in the SWP in 
1971, called the Proletarian Orientation Tendency. This tendency arose 
in opposition to the SWP majority’s position that the social movements 
of “The Sixties” – including the antiwar movement, the civil rights 
movement, the student movement, Black and Chicano nationalism, the 
women’s and gay movements and so forth were not “petty bourgeois” 
diversions from the struggle of the working class, but were part of the 
workers’ struggle which the workers’ movement and parties should 
champion. The majority’s views were codified in a resolution that was 
adopted by the SWP at its 1971 convention.


The minority presented its views in opposition to the majority’s in its 
resolution, “For a Proletarian Orientation,” which was soundly rejected 
by the SWP convention after a long and voluminous discussion both 
written and oral in the SWP branches.


Wald is light on presenting the POT position. He doesn’t discuss the 
main points of the POT resolution. I will do so here.


“For a Proletarian Orientation” spends three pages attacking Ernest 
Mandel’s important work in the 1950s and 1960s analyzing the big changes 
that took place in the composition of the working class internationally. 
It attacks the SWP for adopting Mandel’s analysis, a charge that was 
accurate. We did support Mandel’s analysis, as did the great majority of 
the Fourth International, but not Alan Wald and the POT he was part of.


The FAPO attack on Mandel is too long to quote here, but a few excerpts 
will give a feel for it:


“However, in the last several years Ernest Mandel has developed a theory 
which challenges these basic Marxist definitions [of the working class]. 
And the SWP leadership has neither criticized Mandel’s assertions nor 
analyzed the implications have for the strategy of the revolutionary 
party. In fact, our party has been following the logic of Mandel’s 
position without admitting it.”


As I’ve said, we did admit it.

“It is the implications of his analysis with regard to party strategy 
that Mandel fails to discuss, yet it is these implications that are the 
most dangerous part of his analysis. The logic of his position is clear. 
First, of his new ‘producers of surplus value’ – ‘laboratory assistants, 
scientific researchers, inventors, technologists, planners, project 
engineers, draftsmen, etc.,’ he asserts: ‘[They] can only enhance the 
impact of the working class and revolutionary organizations because they 
equip them with the knowledge that is indispensable for a relentless 
critique of bourgeois society, and even more for the successful taking 
over the means of production by the associated producers…’. Mandel is 
siding with the crassest anti-working-class petty bourgeois hacks who 
maintain that the workers are incapable of running the economy.”


“Mandel has an even softer spot for in his heart for the 
intelligencia-to-be, the students. He tells us that ‘…the student revolt 
can become a real vanguard of the working class as a whole, triggering a 
powerful revolutionary upsurge as it did this May [1968] in France.’ “ I 
note that all the POT leaders came from the student movement.


Having demolished Mandel, and revised the facts of what occurred in the 
greatest general strike in history up to then in France in 1968, the 
intrepid authors of FAPO turned their powerful minds to the charge that 
the SWP tu

Re: [Marxism] Cleveland Event: India, US & world economic crisis,

[jay rothermel]

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Speaker announced:

 Partho Ray of FOIL [Forum of Indian Leftists] will give an eyewitness
report on conditions in India and offer analysis of their global context.


 Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland
2728 Lancashire Road
Cleveland Heights, OH
Tuesday, August 16 · 7:00pm

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Re: [Marxism] October 6, 2011 Occupation of Freedom Plaza, Washington, DC

[Ganesh Trichur]

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Liked the website

Ganesh Trichur

 

 > Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 15:20:29 -0500
> From: tristan.slough...@gmail.com
> Subject: [Marxism] October 6, 2011 Occupation of Freedom Plaza, Washington,   
> DC
> To: tkgan...@hotmail.com
> 
> ==
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> 
> 
> http://october2011.org/welcome
> 
> Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu
> Set your options at: 
> http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/tkganesh%40hotmail.com
  

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[Marxism] Anonymous report on Syria political situation

[Fred Feldman]

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Published on The Nation http://www.thenation.com

What Lies Ahead in Syria?
Anonymous | August 9, 2011
Editor's Note: The identity of the writer has been protected at the author's
request.

Damascus, Syria
Damascus's Tahrir Square is empty. The royal blue street signs directing
traffic to the roundabout-modest compared to its world-famous Cairo
counterpart-look increasingly ironic. For residents wishing for a quick and
cathartic revolution like Egypt's, the insignificance of their Liberation
Square is salt in a long-festering wound. For others who fear the unknown
alternative that would replace the flawed but familiar status quo, it is a
relief.
 From life-as-mostly-normal Damascus, the Egyptian square seems only
slightly further away from the city that has rapidly become the figurative
Syrian Tahrir:

Hama, to the north, a city as famous for its beautiful watermills as it is
for unpunished massacres, past and present. News reports estimated 200 dead
in Hama this past weekend alone. As forces crack down on other cities, so
far more than 2,000 Syrians have died at government hands. 
Throughout the actual spring and now summer of the insipidly named "Arab
Spring," many Damascenes have been watching wearily, battered by a series of
obfuscating narratives cultivated by a regime that is fighting for domestic
not international legitimacy. Every day, through its state-owned TV and
newspapers, the Assad regime broadcasts to Syrians its justifications for
the brutal military crackdown on their fellow Syrians. They proffer evidence
that ongoing protests against the government have been orchestrated-or
infiltrated-by foreign-armed terrorists. We are treated ily to alleged
confessions by Syrians who are supposedly paid to be terrorists; bedside
interviews with allegedly wounded Syrian soldiers, with zoomed-in shots of
bloodstained sheets; videos of alleged arms caches; and footage of alleged
protestors, their weapons circled in red.

The foreign plot/paid to protest narrative has not been as easy for Syrians
to dismiss as it was when similarly invoked by dictators in Tunisia, Egypt,
Yemen, and Libya. There are many reasons for this: a lack of independent
journalists reporting on the situation while a sophisticated Syrian
propaganda machine operates at full force; the relative sanity and charisma,
compared to other authoritarian leaders, of Assad and his Vogue-worthy wife;
the disorganization of the demonstrators and opposition (and the possibility
some of them are indeed armed). And then there is the argument that Western
democracies lie and commit atrocities too without being stripped of their
mandate to govern-"weapons of mass destruction" and the invasion of Iraq
being the favored examples.

Thus the discussion among Syrians hesitating to join the protests, aside
from a well-justified fear of being shot dead or disappeared, is not whether
Assad is in power legitimately-most concede he is not-but rather, whether he
is really the biggest evil they face. Wedged between Beirut and Baghdad,
Syrians do not take the relative security provided by the regime for granted
and many are loathe to give it up-even if it has come at the expense of
their basic rights and liberties and potentially worse, a politically
neutered population.
Aside from introducing considerable doubt about who the protestors are, the
regime has also called into question what it is they really want. 
The not-so-implicit suggestion is that they won't stop until they achieve
some sort of extreme Salafist Sunni theocracy, where minorities will be
slaughtered or else severely repressed

For Christians, they need look no further than recent church burnings in
Egypt or the near extinction of Christians in Iraq for what some consider
credible precedent for what could happen to them. Among Alawites, who to
many Syrians are synonymous with the regime, there is the dread that they
can only survive if they continue to rule the country, because payback-forty
years in the making-will be merciless.

Yet, at the same time, the regime is attempting to appeal to a
pan-ethnic/pan-sectarian Syrian nationalism, through messaging that is
visible on backlit billboards and posters throughout the country. For
someone who doesn't read Arabic, these might look like ads for consumer
goods rather than an "education" campaign designed to keep the public
uneducated and quiet. Glossy pictures, national colors, and friendly fonts
infantilize the Syrian people by telling them, for example, that no matter
our station in life, our politics or our age, we are all "With the law" or
"With Syria." Other messages include "No to Sectarianism" or "Yes to
Dialogue, No to Violence," with no acknowledgment of the violence the
government has committed against its people. The posters are o

[Marxism] Anonymous report from Syria on political situation

[Fred Feldman]

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Published on The Nation (http://www.thenation.com)

What Lies Ahead in Syria?
Anonymous | August 9, 2011
Editor's Note: The identity of the writer has been protected at the 
author's request.


Damascus, Syria
Damascus’s Tahrir Square is empty. The royal blue street signs directing 
traffic to the roundabout—modest compared to its world-famous Cairo 
counterpart—look increasingly ironic. For residents wishing for a quick 
and cathartic revolution like Egypt’s, the insignificance of their 
Liberation Square is salt in a long-festering wound. For others who fear 
the unknown alternative that would replace the flawed but familiar 
status quo, it is a relief.
From life-as-mostly-normal Damascus, the Egyptian square seems only 
slightly further away from the city that has rapidly become the 
figurative Syrian Tahrir:


Hama, to the north, a city as famous for its beautiful watermills as it 
is for unpunished massacres, past and present. News reports estimated 
200 dead in Hama this past weekend alone. As forces crack down on other 
cities, so far more than 2,000 Syrians have died at government hands. 
Throughout the actual spring and now summer of the insipidly named “Arab 
Spring,” many Damascenes have been watching wearily, battered by a 
series of obfuscating narratives cultivated by a regime that is fighting 
for domestic not international legitimacy. Every day, through its 
state-owned TV and newspapers, the Assad regime broadcasts to Syrians 
its justifications for the brutal military crackdown on their fellow 
Syrians. They proffer evidence that ongoing protests against the 
government have been orchestrated—or infiltrated—by foreign-armed 
terrorists. We are treated ily to alleged confessions by Syrians who are 
supposedly paid to be terrorists; bedside interviews with allegedly 
wounded Syrian soldiers, with zoomed-in shots of bloodstained sheets; 
videos of alleged arms caches; and footage of alleged protestors, their 
weapons circled in red.


The foreign plot/paid to protest narrative has not been as easy for 
Syrians to dismiss as it was when similarly invoked by dictators in 
Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya. There are many reasons for this: a 
lack of independent journalists reporting on the situation while a 
sophisticated Syrian propaganda machine operates at full force; the 
relative sanity and charisma, compared to other authoritarian leaders, 
of Assad and his Vogue-worthy wife; the disorganization of the 
demonstrators and opposition (and the possibility some of them are 
indeed armed). And then there is the argument that Western democracies 
lie and commit atrocities too without being stripped of their mandate to 
govern—"weapons of mass destruction" and the invasion of Iraq being the 
favored examples.


Thus the discussion among Syrians hesitating to join the protests, aside 
from a well-justified fear of being shot dead or disappeared, is not 
whether Assad is in power legitimately—most concede he is not—but 
rather, whether he is really the biggest evil they face. Wedged between 
Beirut and Baghdad, Syrians do not take the relative security provided 
by the regime for granted and many are loathe to give it up—even if it 
has come at the expense of their basic rights and liberties and 
potentially worse, a politically neutered population.
Aside from introducing considerable doubt about who the protestors are, 
the regime has also called into question what it is they really want. 
The not-so-implicit suggestion is that they won't stop until they 
achieve some sort of extreme Salafist Sunni theocracy, where minorities 
will be slaughtered or else severely repressed


For Christians, they need look no further than recent church burnings in 
Egypt or the near extinction of Christians in Iraq for what some 
consider credible precedent for what could happen to them. Among 
Alawites, who to many Syrians are synonymous with the regime, there is 
the dread that they can only survive if they continue to rule the 
country, because payback—forty years in the making—will be merciless.


Yet, at the same time, the regime is attempting to appeal to a 
pan-ethnic/pan-sectarian Syrian nationalism, through messaging that is 
visible on backlit billboards and posters throughout the country. For 
someone who doesn’t read Arabic, these might look like ads for consumer 
goods rather than an “education” campaign designed to keep the public 
uneducated and quiet. Glossy pictures, national colors, and friendly 
fonts infantilize the Syrian people by telling them, for example, that 
no matter our station in life, our politics or our age, we are all “With 
the law” or “With Syria.” Other messages include “No to Sectarianism” or 
“Yes to Dialogue, No to Violence

[Marxism] October 6, 2011 Occupation of Freedom Plaza, Washington, DC

[Tristan Sloughter]

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http://october2011.org/welcome

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[Marxism] Open The Rafah Crossing Permanently And Unconditionally

[fesen joon]

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http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/call-gaza-open-rafah-crossing-permanently-and-unconditionally

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[Marxism] From safety net to dragnet: Criminalization of poverty

[Fred Feldman]

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http://www.salon.com/news/great_recession/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/08/09/america_crime_poverty
Tuesday, Aug 9, 2011 12:10 ET
How America turned poverty into a crime
By Barbara Ehrenreich

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Caption: "Elias Pirela, 6, right, holds his brother Ahmad Phillips, 
center, as he stands with his mother Latasha Phillips, 33, left, before 
leaving for the first day of school from his temporary home at the 
Community Partnership for Homeless in Miami, Monday, Aug. 23, 2010


This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch. It is excerpted from 
Barbara Ehrenreich's new afterward to the 10th anniversary edition of 
her bestselling book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America."


I completed the manuscript for "Nickel and Dimed" in a time of seemingly 
boundless prosperity. Technology innovators and venture capitalists were 
acquiring sudden fortunes, buying up McMansions like the ones I had I 
had cleaned in Maine and much larger. Even secretaries in some hi-tech 
firms were striking it rich with their stock options. There was loose 
talk about a permanent conquest of the business cycle, and a sassy new 
spirit infecting American capitalism. In San Francisco, a billboard for 
an e-trading firm proclaimed, "Make love not war," and then -- down at 
the bottom -- "Screw it, just make money."


When "Nickel and Dimed" was published in May 2001, cracks were appearing 
in the dot-com bubble and the stock market had begun to falter, but the 
book still evidently came as a surprise, even a revelation, to many. 
Again and again, in that first year or two after publication, people 
came up to me and opened with the words, "I never thought..." or "I 
hadn't realized..."


To my own amazement, "Nickel and Dimed" quickly ascended to the 
bestseller list and began winning awards. Criticisms, too, have 
accumulated over the years. But for the most part, the book has been far 
better received than I could have imagined it would be, with an impact 
extending well into the more comfortable classes. A Florida woman wrote 
to tell me that, before reading it, she'd always been annoyed at the 
poor for what she saw as their self-inflicted obesity. Now she 
understood that a healthy diet wasn't always an option. And if I had a 
quarter for every person who's told me he or she now tipped more 
generously, I would be able to start my own foundation.


Even more gratifying to me, the book has been widely read among low-wage 
workers. In the last few years, hundreds of people have written to tell 
me their stories: the mother of a newborn infant whose electricity had 
just been turned off, the woman who had just been given a diagnosis of 
cancer and has no health insurance, the newly homeless man who writes 
from a library computer.


At the time I wrote "Nickel and Dimed," I wasn't sure how many people it 
directly applied to -- only that the official definition of poverty was 
way off the mark, since it defined an individual earning $7 an hour, as 
I did on average, as well out of poverty. But three months after the 
book was published, the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., 
issued a report entitled "Hardships in America: The Real Story of 
Working Families," which found an astounding 29 percent of American 
families living in what could be more reasonably defined as poverty, 
meaning that they earned less than a barebones budget covering housing, 
child care, health care, food, transportation, and taxes -- though not, 
it should be noted, any entertainment, meals out, cable TV, Internet 
service, vacations, or holiday gifts. 29 percent is a minority, but not 
a reassuringly small one, and other studies in the early 2000s came up 
with similar figures.


The big question, 10 years later, is whether things have improved or 
worsened for those in the bottom third of the income distribution, the 
people who clean hotel rooms, work in warehouses, wash dishes in 
restaurants, care for the very young and very old, and keep the shelves 
stocked in our stores. The short answer is that things have gotten much 
worse, especially since the economic downturn that began in 2008.


Post-Meltdown Poverty

When you read about the hardships I found people enduring while I was 
researching my book -- the skipped meals, the lack of medical care, the 
occasional need to sleep in cars or vans -- you should bear in mind that 
those occurred in the best of times. The economy was growing, and jobs, 
if poorly paid, were at least plentiful.


In 2000, I had been able to walk into a number of jobs pretty much off 
the street. Less than a decade later, many of these jobs had disappeared 
and there was stiff competition for those that remained. It would have 
been impossible to repeat my "Nickel and Di

[Marxism] Bard trustee Stewart Resnick: a real-life Noah Cross

[Louis Proyect]

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On July 26th the New York Times reported on the problems of water 
banking in California:


	Peter Key knew something was strange when the water levels in his 
tropical fish tank began to go down last summer. Then the washing 
machine took 40 minutes to fill, and the toilets would not flush.


	But even as Mr. Key and neighbors spent $14,000 to deepen their 
community well here, they had identified a likely culprit.


	They blamed water banking, a system in which water-rights holders 
— mostly in the rural West — store water in underground reservoirs 
either for their own future use or for leasing to fast-growing 
urban areas.


	So the neighbors’ small local water utility has gone to state 
court to challenge the wealthy farming interests that dominate two 
of the country’s largest water banks.


	Viewed as test cases for the size and scope of water-banking 
operations, the lawsuits claim that enormous withdrawals of water 
by the banks lowered the water table, causing geological damage, 
service disruptions and costly repairs.


	Water managers and the farmers they serve have long been major 
political players here in Kern County, a center of conservative 
political power. But even inside these tight circles, there is 
increasing friction as governments, businesses — especially 
agriculture — and a population that has swelled by 26 percent in a 
decade all compete for water. Even a trendy fruit, the 
pomegranate, plays a role in these water wars.


The minute I saw the word pomegranate I knew instantly that Bard 
College trustee Stewart Resnick had to be implicated in the 
inability of Peter Kay to flush his toilet. Sure enough, the 
article goes on to report:


	Pumping out huge amounts of stored water in dry years was thought 
to have little impact on the underground geology — at least until 
Mr. Key’s shower head sputtered. Now engineers believe it reversed 
the area’s underground hydraulic gradient, turning a hill-shaped 
water table, accessible by shallow wells, into a valley. The 
trigger for the huge withdrawals was a drought that began in 2007. 
Kern County’s allocation of water from Northern California was 
cut. Then, in the 40 months beginning in March 2007, roughly half 
the banks’ capacity was pumped out to keep fruit and nut trees alive.


	“I don’t think anyone fully appreciated the magnitude of the 
impact they would have,” said Mr. Averett of the Rosedale-Rio 
Bravo Water Storage District.


	POM Wonderful, part of the fruit-drink empire owned by Stewart 
and Lynda Resnick, makes its profits from pomegranate trees kept 
green by the Kern Water Bank Authority. The authority, technically 
a public agency, is controlled by the Paramount Farming Company, 
which like POM, is a subsidiary of Roll Global, a company owned by 
the billionaire Resnicks.


If you’ve seen Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown”, you will be reminded 
of the malevolent water utility baron Noah Cross who was guilty of 
diverting precious water resources to the benefit of agribusiness 
when he wasn’t busy screwing his daughter, played by Faye Dunaway. 
Now I have no reason to believe that Stewart Resnick is screwing 
his daughter (don’t know if he has one), but there is little doubt 
that he is just as greedy and evil as Noah Cross.


full: 
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/bard-trustee-stewart-resnick-a-real-life-noah-cross/



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[Marxism] JACQUES RANCIÈRE - STAGING THE PEOPLE: THE PROLETARIAN AND HIS DOUBLE (Verso)

[VersoMail Verso]

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STAGING THE PEOPLE: THE PROLETARIAN AND HIS DOUBLE

BY JACQUES RANCIÈRE


PUBLISHED: 10 JULY 2011

---

These essays from the 1970s mark the inception of the distinctive project that 
Jacques Rancière has pursued across forty years, with several interwoven 
themes: the study of working-class identity, of its philosophical 
interpretation, of “heretical” knowledge and of the relationship between work 
and leisure.

For the short-lived journal Les Révoltes logiques, Rancière wrote on subjects 
ranging across a hundred years, from the California gold rush to trade-union 
collaboration with fascism, from early feminism to the “dictatorship of the 
proletariat,” from the respectability of the Paris Exposition to the 
disrespectable carousing outside the Paris gates. Rancière characteristically 
combines telling historical detail with deep insight into the development of 
the popular mind.

In a new Preface, he explains why such “awkward words” as “people,” “factory,” 
“proletarians” and “revolution” must regain their currency.

---

PRAISE FOR JACQUES RANCIÈRE

“Forceful…persuasive…surprising…penetrating” – GUARDIAN

“Rancière’s writings offer one of the few conceptualizations of how we are to 
continue to resist.”  SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK

“An heir to Foucault” – ALAIN BADIOU

One of our most stimulating thinkers” PARIS MATCH

“It’s clear that Jacques Rancière is relighting the flame that was extinguished 
for many – that is why he serves as such a signal reference today” – THOMAS 
HIRSCHHORN

“In the face of impossible attempts to proceed with progressive ideals within 
the terms of postmodernist discourse, Rancière shows a way out of the malaise” 
– LIAM GILLICK



PRAISE FOR HATRED OF DEMOCRACY:

A piercing essay on the definitions and redefinitions of the term "democracy" … 
the present catastrophe in Iraq provides more than ample proof of Rancière's 
bold assertion that we need to rethink the relationship between democracy and 
power before setting in motion any more wars in the name of "freedom".” TIMES 
HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

“This tastily sardonic essay is partly a scholarly sprint through the history 
of political philosophy, and partly a very enjoyable stream of insults directed 
at rival penseurs.” GUARDIAN



PRAISE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE:

“Like all of Jacques Rancière's texts, THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE is vertiginously 
precise” LES CAHIERS DU CINEMA

“A series of gratifyingly knotty and close discussions of 19th- and 
20th-century literature, film and painting” GUARDIAN


---

JACQUES RANCIÈRE is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris 
VIII. His books include THE EMANCIPATED SPECTATOR, THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE, 
HATRED OF DEMOCRACY, ON THE SHORES OF POLITICS AND PROLETARIAN NIGHTS.

---

ISBN: 978 1 84467 697 2 / $29.95 / £19.99 / $37.50CAN / Paperback / 240 pages

---

For more information about STAGING THE PEOPLE: THE PROLETARIAN AND HIS DOUBLE
or to buy the book visit:
http://www.versobooks.com/books/964-staging-the-people

---

Visit Verso’s website for information on our upcoming events, new reviews and 
publications and special offers: http://www.versobooks.com

Become a fan of Verso on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Verso-Books/205847279448577

And get updates on Twitter -  @VersoBooks
http://twitter.com/VersoBooks



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[Marxism] US credit rating downgrade?

[Debordagoria]

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Anyone seen any good leftist takes on this?

m


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Re: [Marxism] BBC racist interviews Darcus Howe

[Mark Lause]

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And it illustrates how even the best of the commercial news media has
embraced a view of "journalism" that doesn't want to report what did or
didn't happen until the official government position is established.

ML

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[Marxism] Number One Problem Economy in Europe

[Angelus Novus]

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"Slothful school holidays are upon us, but it's never too late for a geography 
test. So let me begin: which country has the fastest-growing inequality and 
poverty of any developed economy, according to the heavyweight OECD thinktank?

"Let me guess – you're thinking Broken Britain, or post-Dubya America. Wrong: 
it's in the euro. And – one final clue – workers here are paid some of the 
lowest wages in western Europe.

Ah: Greece, Portugal or another of those eurozone basket cases in dire straits? 
Nope. Try: Germany."

Full article: 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/number-one-problem-economy-europe




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[Marxism] Socialist and feminist fighter Eva Chertov has passed away

[Fred Feldman]

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I received this message from Joaquin Bustelo:

Those of us who were in the SWP in the 60s or 70s will probably remember Eva
Chertoff. I received this note written by Kipp Dawson that was forwarded to
me by David Thorstad:

Judi sent this today: "I wanted to send you a personal note. Eva passed away
last night around 11:15. Steve and I went to see her on Saturday and despite
holding her hand and telling her I loved her she remained in a deep sleep.
There will be a memorial meeting, proably in New York. I'll keep you in the
loop."

If anyone hears anything about the memorial meeting, please let me know.

Joaquín


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[Marxism] What's new at Links: Malaysia, Haiti, Iceland, Swaziland, SACP, Cuba, US deficit deal, keep oil in the soil

[glparramatta]

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What's new at Links: Malaysia, Haiti, Iceland, Swaziland, SACP, Cuba, US 
deficit deal, keep oil in the soil


* * *
Subscribe free to Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal - 
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373


You can also follow Links on Twitter at 
http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism or on Facebook at 
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643


Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed 
(http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to

consider an article, please send it to li...@dsp.org.au

*Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in Links.

* * *


   Malaysia: Socialists had no case to answer
   

By the *Socialist Party of Malaysia*
August 2, 2011 -- Parti Sosialis Malaysia -- The release of six Parti 
Sosialis Malaysia (PSM, Socialist Party of Malaysia) detainees five days 
ago does not signal the return of sanity and goodwill to the government. 
It was a calculated move to minimise the damage done to the country's 
image at home and abroad.


 * Read more 


   Fact-finding delegation reports on post-earthquake Haiti
   

July 26, 2011 -- Three Canadian solidarity activists conducted a 10-day 
fact-finding and solidarity mission to Haiti from June 20 to 30, 2011. 
The delegation, organised by Haiti Solidarity BC, the Vancouver 
affiliate of the Canada Haiti Action Network, travelled throughout the 
earthquake zone, including Port-au-Prince, Léogâne and Jacmel.


 * Read more 


   Iceland's loud 'No!': Can't pay, won't pay
   

By *Silla Sigurgeirsdóttir* and *Robert H. Wade*

August 2011 -- The people of Iceland have now twice voted not to repay 
international debts incurred by banks, and bankers, for which the whole 
island is being held responsible. With the present turmoil in European 
capitals, could this be the way forward for other economies?


 * Read more 


   South Africa: ANC government shuts door on Swaziland democracy
   movement 

August 5, 2011 -- South Africa's African National Congress government 
has defied supporters of democracy in Swaziland and granted the 
repressive absolute monarchy a five-year, R2.4 billion loan. The 
bailout, which was announceded by King Mswati III on August 3, has been 
condemned by the Swazi democracy movement and its supporters in South 
Africa. While its conditions do not require democratic reforms, the 
Swazi people will be subject to harsh austerity in order for the regime 
to repay the loan.


 * Read more 


   South African Communist Party at 90: Is it still relevant? Two views
   

By *Jeremy Cronin*
This weekend [July 31] the South African Communist Party (SACP) marks 
its 90th anniversary. But it would be a mistake for us to celebrate the 
occasion as mere ritual.


 * Read more 


   Cuba: National Assembly approves economic changes; Raul Castro's
   speech 

   /"More than once, I have stated that our own worst enemy is not
   imperialism but our own errors and that these, if they are deeply
   and honestly analysed, can be transformed into lessons in order not
   to fall into them again." -- /*Raúl Castro*

*[For more analysis and discussion on the economic changes in Cuba, and 
assessments of the sixth congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, click 
**HERE.] * 


By *President Raúl Castro*

/Speech given by President Raúl Castro Ruz, president of the Councils of 
State and Ministers, to the 7th ordinary session of the 7th legislature 
of the National Assembly of People's Power, August 1, 2011. The 
parliament earlier that day also adopted the amended / Guidelines of the 
Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution/as state 
policy/.


 * Read more 


   United States: The deficit deal -- We got taken
   

By *Martin Hart-Landsberg*
August 2, 2011 -- The US Congress has finally agreed 
 on 
a deficit reduction plan that President Barack Obama supports.As a 
result, the debt ceiling is being lifted, which means that the Treasury 
can once again borrow to meet its financial obligations.


 * Read more 


   Leaving oil in the soil, from Durban's coast to Ecuador's Amazon
   

By *Patrick Bond*, Durban*
*

August 2, 2011 -- There's no way around it: to solve the worsening 
climate

Re: [Marxism] Socialist Worker on Verizon Pickets

[Angelus Novus]

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Dan,

this article was actually number 15 of the top stories on Reddit when I checked 
this morning!




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