Re: [Marxism] Ecuador: 'We are not a colony!' Foreign minister denounces British threat to raid its embassy

2012-08-15 Thread Gary MacLennan
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The granting of asylum certainly moves this saga to another level.  I have
been very struck how liberals and many organised lefties have abandoned
Assange. At the moment in London his almost sole source of support has been
from Ciaron O'Reilly's Catholic Workers group.  They have maintained a
vigil outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and one here in Brisbane as
well.

The recent discussion on the list of the Bourgeois press came to mind when
I read the Guardian report on the granting of asylum.  They are really
pissed off that Assange seems to have stolen a march on the Brits etc.

What happens next will be very interesting.  I discount the storming of the
embassy by British police.  That would be a crass and politically stupid
thing to do.  Ditto for any move to cancel the embassy's lease. But you
never know. The storm outside the British embassy in Quito would not have
gone unnoticed.

For the moment Assange will just sit tight.  Reports from the Catholic
Workers are that his morale is very high and that he is being well treated
by the embassy staff.

comradely

Gary

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[Marxism] Protest erupts outside UK embassy in Ecuador

2012-08-15 Thread Peter Boyle
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Expect more angry protests outside British embassies around the world.
Protesters in front of the British Embassy in Quito, Ecuador after British
govt threatens to raid Ecuadorian Embassy in London to arrest Assange.

http://operamundi.uol.com.br/conteudo/noticias/23703/equatorianos+protestam+em+frente+a+embaixada+britanica+em+quito.shtml

Details of Sydney protest outside British consulate:

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51901

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Re: [Marxism] ISO

2012-08-15 Thread shacht
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-Original Message-
From: Angelus Novus 
To: Wayne M. Collins 
Sent: Wed, Aug 15, 2012 2:41 pm
Subject: Re: [Marxism] ISO


==
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A. Vasquez is touching on a serious problem of the Marxist left in this country 
and people may loose track of it in going through the comments 
about Joseph Hansen of the 4th Internationalist Web. The sectarian has to prove 
that his setarian view is the only view and that no view other than one 
informed by his sect is correct. For example, years ago Workers Power reviewed 
"Burn." The review attacked the film for the implication that colonial people 
could not lead their own revolt. Of course, to conclude this the reviewer had 
to ignore the beginning and the end of the movie. At the beginning, the native 
revolutionary, Sanchez, is being executed and the movement decapitated. British 
imperial, wanting an inroad, sends Brando there to foment a colonial 
revolution. He succeeds, develops a new colonial leader among the oppressed 
masses of color and a new populular, guerilla movement is on the verge of 
power.Brando then engineers a palace coup with the progressive bourgeois to 
oust the old colonial power. He leaves with the compradore bourgeousie intdactc 
and the guerillas antiipating joing rule in some form. Of course  the 
compradores seize all power, puit tdhrdough no reforms and the revolt resumes. 
The country is on the verge of a revolutionary takeover. This is not in the 
ineterests of British capital. Brando is sent back. Now he leads the crushing 
of the revolution, burning the forests to force the revolutionists into the 
open when they can be destroyed. His former prdotege is now killed. Brando 
leaves the island.   A Vasquez wrote:
Mission accomplished. But as he boards his ship, a porter offers to carry his 
bags - just as his protege once had, Brando hands him the bag, and the black 
man runs his machete through Brando's gut.

The revolution will return. That is the lesson of the movie, a brilliant 
example of combined and uneven development in the era of imperialism. The 
Workers Power reviewer couldn't even see this. That is the blindness of the 
sectarian.

The Amerian left once had good critics - James T. Farrell at his best, Kenneth 
Burke, Joseph Freeman, and Edmund Wilson belongs in that crowd as well. 
But...none of them were sectarians. 

> Personally, I don't like their film reviews, because all of them seem to boil 
down to: "This film isn't political enough".

utah.edu
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[Marxism] What's a good novel for 13-14 year olds?

2012-08-15 Thread johnedmundson
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A teacher's forum I'm on had a request for a novel dealing with communism for
kids of about 13-14 years old. of course everyone has trotted out Animal Farm
but I wondered if anyone could suggest something a bit more sympathetic.
Cheers,
John


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[Marxism] Ecuador: 'We are not a colony!' Foreign minister denounces British threat to raid its embassy

2012-08-15 Thread Stuart Munckton
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Britain has threatened to raid the Ecuadorian embassy in London if
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is not handed over, Ecuador's foreign
minister says.

At a media conference in Quito, Ricardo Patino said the position taken by
the British government was "unacceptable".

"Today we've received a threat by the United Kingdom, a clear and written
threat that they could storm our embassy in London if Ecuador refuses to
hand in Julian Assange," he said.

"We are not a British colony."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-16/britain-threatens-to-raid-ecuador-embassy-for-assange/4201880
-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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[Marxism] Talking Marxism in Kerala.

2012-08-15 Thread Vijay Prashad
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In Malayalam, http://www.madhyamam.com/weekly/1536.



Sent from Planet Earth (maybe)


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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread Mark Lause
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. .. which is, of course, why there is absolutely nothing original in
the approach.  The AFL-CIO has put all of its eggs into the Democratic
Party basket. If has been doing this more and more since the 1940s,
but especially since the 1970s.

Resources that should have been going into organizing and winning
concessions here and there has been put almost entirely into the
Democrats as a kind of defensive bulwark, despite every indication
that the current "mainstream" Democratic politician will through them
to the sharks at the first sign of any controversy.

As to the top of that party formation, the Black Agenda Report has
consistently hammered away that point that Obama has proved to be the
most effective figurehead for reaction the ruling class could have at
this point.,

ML


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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread aaron s. amaral
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The fucking reason we have a "groundhog day" moment every four years is
precisely dependent on, and a result of, the profound strategic error
represented by Fletcher's argument. And his reliance on a  narrative about
race, completely ignores empire's dependence on a virulent islamophobia to
support the further militarization of the state, its ongoing wars, and the
nationalism which fertilizes the right-wing populism Fletcher is so fond of
decrying. (and lets not talk about the ever further militarised police
forces which kill black folks at a race of one less than every 36
hours
this
past year). Infuriating...

This is not about the discrete act of casting a ballot, this is giving
ideological cover to the $400 plus million  dollars the AFL-CIO plans to
spend to elect a candidate and a party who not only support the war on
workers, but whose very strategy lays the ground for ever further moves
rightward
arg

-asa

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Thomas Bias  wrote:

> ==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==
>
>
> Sad to say, that comparison was used in 2004 by Tariq Ali, when he was
> arguing that Americans should vote for Kerry to get Bush out of office. He
> argued that both were representative of the Empire, but that being ruled by
> Claudius would be better than being ruled by Caligula (who preceded
> Claudius) or Nero (who succeeded Claudius). I'm not sure that for a slave
> or
> for a proletarian (which is what free workers were called) that it made a
> damned bit of difference then, any more than it does now. ~Tom
>
> -Original Message-
>
> One thing that struck me about the Fletcher-Davidson article is the
> comparison of Republicans to Caligula.
>
>
>
> 
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>



-- 


 Seek for food and clothing first, then
the Kingdom of God shall be added unto you.
   Hegel, 1807

  The class struggle, which is always present to a historian influenced by
Marx, is a fight for the crude and material things without which no refined
and spiritual things could exist. Nevertheless, it is not in the form of
the spoils which fall to the victor that the latter make their presence
felt in the class struggle. They manifest themselves in this struggle as
courage, humor, cunning, and fortitude. They have retroactive force and
will constantly call in question every victory, past and present, of the
rulers. As flowers turn toward the sun, by dint of a secret heliotropism
the past strives to turn toward that sun which is rising in the sky of
history. A historical materialist must be aware of this most inconspicuous
of all transformations.

-Walter Benjamin, Spring, 1940

NYCSOCIALIST.ORG

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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread Mark Lause
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It's probably fair to give much more in terms of eccentricity points
to foreign observers.

If you have Americans our age--often good folks in other
regards--jumping up and down and shrieking the same goddamned script
they used in 1964, we probably need to start being  less indulgent.
Clearly it takes more than experience to shake them from that script.

Perhaps a political equivalent of the Monty Python fish-slapping dance.  :-)

ML


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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread Thomas Bias
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Sad to say, that comparison was used in 2004 by Tariq Ali, when he was
arguing that Americans should vote for Kerry to get Bush out of office. He
argued that both were representative of the Empire, but that being ruled by
Claudius would be better than being ruled by Caligula (who preceded
Claudius) or Nero (who succeeded Claudius). I'm not sure that for a slave or
for a proletarian (which is what free workers were called) that it made a
damned bit of difference then, any more than it does now. ~Tom

-Original Message-

One thing that struck me about the Fletcher-Davidson article is the
comparison of Republicans to Caligula. 




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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread Mark Lause
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I think the idea of not basing a decision on Obama's record says it all.

ML


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Re: [Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread jay rothermel
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I some rough notes on a "walk through" of the article:
http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/2012/08/imperturbable-opportunism-walk-through.html


One thing that struck me about the Fletcher-Davidson article is the
comparison of Republicans to Caligula.  At first I thought I read it wrong
and they were referring to someone else!  Caligula is a lot for Mitt Romney
to aspire to.

Comradely,
Jay

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[Marxism] Glenn Greenwald - The sham "terrorism expert" industry

2012-08-15 Thread Dennis Brasky
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http://www.salon.com/2012/08/15/the_sham_terrorism_expert_industry/

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[Marxism] Who or What is the 1%

2012-08-15 Thread Douglas Greene
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Who or what is the 1%?


By Evan Sarmiento

The Occupy Together movement politically divides the population 
between the 1% and the 99%. Yet, while we arguably understand the 99% as 
signifying those Americans of the working class, middle class, and even small 
business owners, it is in fact the 1% that defines—no, 
creates—the identity of the 99%.

Whatever the many differences that exist amongst the 99%, the one 
thing that we share in common is our opposition to the economic and 
political power of the 1%.

Investigating the 1% is difficult because, in its essence, it is like a magnet. 
Consider two magnets on a flat surface. If you reverse one 
magnet, it repels the other’s magnetic field by distorting its shape. 
Isn’t this exactly how the 1% operates in our lives? It presents itself 
as a constraint on possibilities, the very essential distortion which to a 
great degree patterns our lives, choices, incomes, and employment 
possibilities. The 1% manifests itself everywhere in our lives.

I will investigate the 1% in terms of what it is concretely, a body 
of wealthy corporations and business interests, but also what the 1% is 
politically—how the 1% produces itself within the government and the 
current Obama administration.

http://bostonoccupier.com/2012/08/15/who-or-what-is-the-1/

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Re: [Marxism] ISO

2012-08-15 Thread Angelus Novus
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A Vasquez wrote:


> Personally, I don't like their film reviews, because all of them seem to boil 
> down to: "This film isn't political enough".

Ha!  That's basically every film or novel review to ever appear in any 
newspaper sponsored by a "Leninist" micro-sect.

No matter how brilliant and relentless a depiction of capitalist reality 
something is, it always falls short if it isn't some homily wherein the workers 
discover the importance of collective action and organization in the end.


I can only imagine how such hacks would regard a neo-Brechtian masterpiece like 
Paul Schrader's "Blue Collar."


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[Marxism] The Left, the Jews and Defenders of Israel

2012-08-15 Thread Dennis Brasky
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On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 12:16 PM, Middle East Report Online <
meronline-serv...@merip.biglist.com> wrote:

> Since the dawn of the Zionist project in Israel-Palestine, there has been
> a tension between the aim of building a Jewish state and the aim of
> building a democracy. Some have sought to resolve this tension by seeking
> to restore what they view as a more democratic Israel; others have
> deflected the tension outward, by claiming that critics of Israel are
> perforce anti-Semitic.
>
> Joel Beinin reviews books by Peter Beinart, Jeremy Ben-Ami and Robert
> Wistrich in "The Left, the Jews and Defenders of Israel," now available in
> Middle East Report Online:
> http://www.merip.org/mero/interventions/left-jews-defenders-israel
> .
> Middle East Report Online is a free service of the Middle East Research
> and Information Project (MERIP).
>

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Re: [Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread Louis Proyect

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On 8/15/12 3:55 PM, Tom Cod wrote:


The SWP's Intercontinental Press was similar in that regard.


That is not so. It aggregated the radical press, to its credit a large 
amount of it was not Fourth International stuff. Joe Hansen was very 
inclusive and saw IP as a way for people to check out different 
perspectives. Admittedly it did not include Kremlin or Maoist articles 
but the Fidelista current, Sinn Fein, the ANC was well-represented.




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Re: [Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread Tom Cod
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The SWP's Intercontinental Press was similar in that regard.

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 12:20 PM, Louis Proyect  wrote:
>
> Einde is exactly right. They are mostly an aggregator of the bourgeois press
> with their own "isn't capitalism awful" frosting on top.


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Re: [Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread A Vasquez
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Personally, I don't like their film reviews, because all of them seem to
boil down to: "This film isn't political enough". They are often fun to
read though. I think they jumped the shark when someone on that site
reviewed the Wu Tang Clan's Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers). Also,
everything that they write ends in a sort of leftist version of "you kids
get off my lawn".

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 2:20 PM, Louis Proyect  wrote:

> ==**==**==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==**==**==
>
>
> On 8/15/12 10:43 AM, Einde O'Callaghan wrote:
>
>> The WSWS website has an undeserved reputation based on its news coverage
>> - although to be honest this seems to be simply a digest of the best of
>> the bourgeois press. the only thing really worth reading on that website
>> are the film reviews!
>>
>
> Einde is exactly right. They are mostly an aggregator of the bourgeois
> press with their own "isn't capitalism awful" frosting on top. Also, David
> Walsh--who is really good--reviews one film to my ten and that is not even
> my main activity.
>
>
>
> __**__
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Re: [Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread Louis Proyect

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On 8/15/12 10:43 AM, Einde O'Callaghan wrote:

The WSWS website has an undeserved reputation based on its news coverage
- although to be honest this seems to be simply a digest of the best of
the bourgeois press. the only thing really worth reading on that website
are the film reviews!


Einde is exactly right. They are mostly an aggregator of the bourgeois 
press with their own "isn't capitalism awful" frosting on top. Also, 
David Walsh--who is really good--reviews one film to my ten and that is 
not even my main activity.




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Re: [Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread Einde O'Callaghan

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On 15.08.2012 16:01, audrada...@aol.com wrote:


Posted by: jay rothermel

Written by David Walso of ICFI

the International Socialist Organization ... that conceive[s] of the ?left? as 
a lobby within the Democratic Party orbit.

That is a lie.

It beats me why anybody would believe anything written by WSWS (aka 
ICFI) about another left group. They and their predecessors from the 
Healyite tradition have a long ignoble record of slandering leftists 
they disagree with, most notoriously their allegation that Joseph Hansen 
was a police agent


The WSWS website has an undeserved reputation based on its news coverage 
- although to be honest this seems to be simply a digest of the best of 
the bourgeois press. the only thing really worth reading on that website 
are the film reviews!


Einde O'Callaghan


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[Marxism] Experience -- and Story Telling

2012-08-15 Thread Hunter Gray
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(Stimulated by an RBB discussion -- always more often than not very 
stimulating.)

Born in 1934, I've been privileged by History to have had a good number indeed 
of very valuable first hand experiences in a number of realms: Native 
Americans, union labor, civil rights, civil liberties -- and "outdoor matters" 
such as wilderness, wildlife, hunting, forest fires and the closely related 
matter of traditional firearms. And there are some other things as well.  Those 
varied experiences are foundational.  And I have also "read the literature" on 
those extensively.  If our home up here is slightly threatened by fast growing 
vegetation -- e.g., imperialistic and, despite the drought, fast growing 
Russian Olive trees et al -- it's also threatened internally by a really vast 
accumulation of books and large collections of very primary materials.

So I have no hesitation whatsoever in bringing in that personal experience and 
related written material into the things of which I write and speak. 

I am a born story teller -- stories with appropriate context and very pertinent 
points.  I do come out of two very rich story telling traditions:  Native 
American and Western American rural.

But there are many things of which I know too little.  And in those instances, 
such as Middle Eastern matters, I am reluctant to comment beyond, say, a few 
general observations and tentative opinions.  I do keep learning as much as I 
can, right to the present moment -- when the person providing information and 
analysis is well versed in the respective field.

I have found that most people, whatever their background and "place", 
appreciate that personal experience very much indeed. Occasionally, it's 
resented by those who are short experience-wise in the areas of my "expertise." 
 But whether the setting was that of the very cordial Arizona Mine-Mill Council 
or a personally unfamiliar but receptive setting such as the board of Pacific 
Northwest Bell or very racially and diverse grassroots people in a myriad of 
campaign struggles, or a truly vast number of students of every conceivable 
background -- well, I go over pretty well.  I have never been at all short with 
respect to interested individuals and audiences.  I continue to speak and write.

As a side note, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized fairly early on the value of 
Native oral history -- when the Native historian was genuinely well versed -- 
in cases involving treaties and land claims where it is necessary to determine 
exactly What the signatory Natives felt they were signing when they signed.  It 
was recognized by the Court that the treaty talks were conducted on government 
(often military) turf and that the interpreters were paid by the government.  
Jones v Meehan (1899) and Tulee v Washington (1942) are landmark cases 
underscoring the admissibility of genuinely informed oral history in the Native 
context.

I close this little discourse thusly -- from my very large piece on Community 
Organizing:

"For my part, I have taught community organizing [while continuing my own 
organizing on the side] in every one of the far-flung colleges and universities 
at which I've sojourned.  While on some occasions, it's been an added dimension 
to a course formally on another topic, it's also been, in the main, as its very 
own course.  These have carried both undergraduate and graduate credit 
depending on the specific student.   And, of course, I've also taught it, as a 
working organizer, to grassroots people and other organizers as well -- in all 
sorts of workshops and conferences.

And, wherever I've taught community organizing, academic or grassroots or 
whatever, every single person -- bar none -- has wanted a practical, down to 
earth approach with as many personally experiential case histories of campaigns 
that I can provide. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough.  [This also 
includes the personal histories of various protagonists.]  And I do have a 
great many of these personal accounts -- and there are others who do as well.  
At this juncture, I have several rich decades of them.

But faithfully remember: a really first-rate organizer / teacher always -- 
always -- learns much from his / her grassroots colleagues and classroom 
students.

And, although I have my own somewhat eclectic Vision and am not oblivious to 
theory [I got along nicely and profitably in Sociological Theory], I've never 
found theory by itself -- and certainly not heavy ideology -- to be especially 
interesting to those to and with whom I talk. That poses no problem for me.  
The genuinely radical Southern poet, the late John Beecher, an old friend over 
many decades, commented approvingly and publicly of me that "he wears no man's 
collar."


In Solidarity,

Hunter 

Re: [Marxism] The geopolitics of the Syrian uprising/insurgency | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

2012-08-15 Thread Andrew Pollack
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Well as a matter of fact the bourgeois press is increasingly running
stories quoting rebels complaining that the supposed massive Saudi/Qatar
arms shipments are nowhere to be seen. They're pissed about that, and the
interviews often end with these rebels saying, "so fuck the US and its
promises!"

In the meantime the rebels seem to be making do primarily with arms seized
or brought by defectors.

So it's NOT that unrealistic for us to say to them: you've come this far
without imperialist aid, you can make it all the way!

Of course those who similarly saw the people of Haiti and Libya as
incapable of liberating themselves will dismiss this as pie in the sky...

But don't get me wrong: one of the blessings of the Arab Revolution is the
potential it holds for cross-border solidarity and support. At a certain
point those facing the direst relationship of forces will be able to count
on aid from other Arab fighters -- NOT "Islamists," but leftist
revolutionaries.

And yes, it's true the Syrian revolution is at the moment not led by a
Lenin, and the nationwide coordination of the LCCs and similar groups is
rudimentary and has huge gaps. But that is all the more reason for them to
hear from their allies abroad encouragement to forge a unified, principled
leadership.

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 10:13 AM, Louis Proyect  wrote:

> ==**==**==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==**==**==
>
>
> On 8/15/12 9:54 AM, Andrew Pollack wrote:
>
>> So what's your gripe? And what does anything Michael wrote have to do with
>> Pham Binh's article?
>>
>
> The ongoing issue seems to be the quandary of where the FSA is supposed to
> get its weapons. Given the geopolitical realities, it is a foregone
> conclusion that it will not be from the BRIC/Axis of
> Good/Anti-imperialist/Former Soviet Union/Non-aligned countries/Che Guevara
> Appreciation Society.
>
> There is a touch of unreality about the position, best articulated by John
> Rees, that the anti-Assad movement remain as pure as the driven snow while
> facing jets, armored helicopters, tanks, etc.
>
> I suppose that one can hypothesize a 1917 type revolution in which the
> army turns against the ruling class (which has occurred to some extent) but
> you are not dealing with a movement led by Lenin. In fact it is led by
> nobody.
>
> I think that the Rees article is meant more for domestic consumption in
> the English-speaking left. Except for the unfortunate and frequently
> ludicrous Angry Arab, there is little support for this posture. Just check
> jadaliyya.com on a regular basis for confirmation of that.
>
>

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[Marxism] Fletcher/Davidson versus Occupy

2012-08-15 Thread Andrew Pollack
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Now I admit I've still only had time to skim this overly (and needlessly)
long piece, but I'll be damned if I can see any mention in it of the Occupy
movement. (Nor was there any mention of OWS in a recent Portside email with
three positive reviews of it.)

Which is important because Occupy puts the lie to many of their claims
about the supposed nonexistence of a mass base for independent politics.

My friends and comrades in Occupy (and readers of my recent article on
anarchism and the Spanish Civil War) know that I have no truck with the
antipolitical character of anarchism. But the astounding, consistent,
almost unanimous sentiment among Occupiers against having anything to do
with the Democratic Party is a huge step forward for US politics.

>From the very start, and right to today, thousands of Occupiers just in NY
have said, and they mean it, that the DP can kiss their ass.

And the fact that so many could stay so free of bourgeois politics for so
long is symptomatic of underlying alienation from the system.

Obviously the rejection of the DP is only the beginning of political wisdom.

But among these thousands of day-in, day-out activists are where we will
find eventual allies for building a genuinely-independent, working
class-based party in this country.

This is what scares the shit out of Bill and Carl, and why they've put such
frantic effort into trying once again to hold us back.

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Re: [Marxism] The geopolitics of the Syrian uprising/insurgency | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

2012-08-15 Thread Louis Proyect

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==


On 8/15/12 9:54 AM, Andrew Pollack wrote:

So what's your gripe? And what does anything Michael wrote have to do with
Pham Binh's article?


The ongoing issue seems to be the quandary of where the FSA is supposed 
to get its weapons. Given the geopolitical realities, it is a foregone 
conclusion that it will not be from the BRIC/Axis of 
Good/Anti-imperialist/Former Soviet Union/Non-aligned countries/Che 
Guevara Appreciation Society.


There is a touch of unreality about the position, best articulated by 
John Rees, that the anti-Assad movement remain as pure as the driven 
snow while facing jets, armored helicopters, tanks, etc.


I suppose that one can hypothesize a 1917 type revolution in which the 
army turns against the ruling class (which has occurred to some extent) 
but you are not dealing with a movement led by Lenin. In fact it is led 
by nobody.


I think that the Rees article is meant more for domestic consumption in 
the English-speaking left. Except for the unfortunate and frequently 
ludicrous Angry Arab, there is little support for this posture. Just 
check jadaliyya.com on a regular basis for confirmation of that.




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[Marxism] The ISO

2012-08-15 Thread audradavid
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Posted by: jay rothermel

Written by David Walso of ICFI


the International Socialist Organization ... that conceive[s] of the ?left? as 
a lobby within the Democratic Party orbit.


That is a lie.

David Berger

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[Marxism] How New Italian Far-Right Group Copies From the Left

2012-08-15 Thread Paul Flewers
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How a new far-right group in Italy copies its approach from the left:

'You'd be forgiven for thinking that a group of zine-publishing techie
squatters into rock music, baiting the state and defending the working
class were part of the anarchist left. But, writes the Moyote Project,
Italy's Casa Pound movement is symptomatic of the radical right's
growing ability to assimilate progressive agendas into a toxic and
populist political brew.'

Continued here < http://libcom.org/library/casa-pound-new-radical-right-italy >.

Paul F


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Re: [Marxism] The geopolitics of the Syrian uprising/insurgency | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

2012-08-15 Thread Andrew Pollack
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Louis, maybe I'm reading you wrong, but why are you baiting GLW? Michael
wrote an extremely thorough and useful piece documenting the interests,
words and actions of all the major players. And his own political position
is the same as what I thought yours was: support the revolution, but oppose
intervention.
So what's your gripe? And what does anything Michael wrote have to do with
Pham Binh's article?

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Louis Proyect  wrote:

> on 8/15/12 12:50 AM, Michael Karadjis wrote:
>
> "As such, the only thing that must be done is to maintain and step up
> total opposition to any deeper imperialist intervention for allegedly
> “humanitarian” purposes, which would in fact be catastrophic, while not
> giving an inch to the view that one must become a cheer squad for the
> murderous Assad regime."
>
> I wonder what the Green Left Weekly said or would have said about the
> "Hands Off Syria" demonstration in Australia organized by pro-Assad Syrians.
>
> Here's Binh's take on that:
>
> http://www.thenorthstar.info/?**p=1827
>
>
> __**__
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Re: [Marxism] The geopolitics of the Syrian uprising/insurgency | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

2012-08-15 Thread Louis Proyect

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On 8/15/12 12:50 AM, Michael Karadjis wrote:

As such, the only thing that must be done is to maintain and step up 
total opposition to any deeper imperialist intervention for allegedly 
“humanitarian” purposes, which would in fact be catastrophic, while not 
giving an inch to the view that one must become a cheer squad for the 
murderous Assad regime.


---

I wonder what the Green Left Weekly said or would have said about the 
"Hands Off Syria" demonstration in Australia organized by pro-Assad Syrians.


Here's Binh's take on that:

http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=1827


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[Marxism] There's a Labor Party Left?

2012-08-15 Thread En Passant with John Passant
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Surely now that the complete degeneration of Labor as a social democratic party 
has become clear to almost everyone else in Australia, those good people in the 
left of the ALP should be rethinking their approach. They should re-evaluate 
both their commitment to reformism and look again at the alternative, 
revolutionary socialism. It is to suggest they leave the ALP and join the 
revolutionary left or at least work closely with us.

That way we can fight together for immediate reforms, for refugees, for equal 
love, for better wages and conditions, in defence of jobs, for better 
government services together, without the left in the ALP being shackled to the 
reactionaries. And with the ultimate goal in mind - socialism, a democratic 
society where production is organised to satisfy human need.  See more at:

http://enpassant.com.au/2012/08/15/theres-a-labor-left/

John Passant

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[Marxism] Zimbabwe: Corporate collaboration lets Mugabe continue abuses | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

2012-08-15 Thread glparramatta

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By *Patrick Bond*, Zimbabwe*
*

August 15, 2012 -- Zimbabwe's political-economic crisis continues 
because dislodging decades of malgovernance has not been achieved by the 
Government of National Unity that began in early 2009, civil society 
activism or international pressure, including this week's Maputo summit 
of the main body charged with sorting out democratisation, the Southern 
African Development Community (SADC). With a new draft constitution 
nearly ready for a referendum vote, followed by presidential and 
parliamentary elections by next April, the period immediately ahead is 
critical.


Full article at http://links.org.au/node/2990

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