[Marxism] Fwd: Peter Pomerantsev · Diary: Iammmmyookkraaanian · LRB 19 February 2015
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * But as the old state clings on, a sort of parallel, civil-society government has been self-organising. It feeds and equips the army, provides legal and social services to internally displaced refugees, brings medical aid to those who are stuck in war zones both on the Ukrainan and the rebel-held side. For all the bad news there appears to be some sort of social miracle taking place. ‘We’ve had our February Revolution – we’re still to have our October Revolution,’ a magazine editor I met joked. There is talk of a ‘third Maidan’, but even serious political analysts are wondering whether the next one would be orchestrated by Moscow: having calculated that they can’t suppress the Ukrainian talent for revolution, Moscow might instead try to control the next Maidan from within. And it’s in Moscow that the main counternarrative to the revolution has been developed. There are many geopolitical dividends Putin might hope to draw by sponsoring, arming and manning the rebellion against Kiev in east Ukraine, but there is an important narrative trick the Kremlin is trying to pull off too: revolution is meant to equal chaos and war, framed not merely as pointless but as downright bad. Kremlin spin doctors put Maidan in one line of disasters along with Syria and Libya (all organised by the CIA), and ultimately question whether the fall of the Berlin Wall was such a great thing after all. The idea is to undercut any desire for revolution at home, which also means policing the stories that are told. On 30 December, Teatr.doc, Moscow’s first documentary theatre in a tiny cellar off the Patriarch Ponds, screened a Ukrainian film about the Maidan which didn’t fit with the Kremlin’s preferred picture. The theatre was immediately raided by the police and the intelligence services. full: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n04/peter-pomerantsev/diary _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] In Alabama, a Quiet Fight to Marry
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * NY Times Op-Ed, Feb. 11 2015 In Alabama, a Quiet Fight to Marry By JEAN MILLS and CAROL EICHELBERGER COKER, Ala. — MONDAY morning began like any other morning on our little farm in Alabama, where we have lived together for more than three decades. We already knew that Roy S. Moore, the chief justice of the State Supreme Court, had commanded the state’s probate judges to refuse to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But turning on the radio, we learned that the judge in our county, Tuscaloosa, home to the state’s flagship university, had decided to go along with him. We yelled at the radio — and decided to do something about it. Being a lesbian couple in small-town Alabama has its pluses and minuses, for sure. In most ways, we fit in here. Jean was born and raised in Coker; Carol is a relative newcomer, having moved from Texas 40 years ago. People know us and have the grace and mercy to show acts of kindness regularly. At the same time, Alabama is hardly an easy place to be gay. Marriage Equality and the Rule of Law in AlabamaFEB. 10, 2015 This is a state where it has been widely held that folk like us are degenerates, and going to burn in hell. A state where there is a law making same-sex marriage illegal and where, for good measure, citizens have also passed a constitutional amendment to the same effect. Occasionally we pause to wonder how, specifically, our relationship threatens other individuals, their relationship with God, or the institution of marriage, but we don’t make waves. We have never been activists; we’ve never pushed for marriage equality. But still, in 2006, when the little church in our little community posted, on their brand-new marquee, an appeal to vote for that amendment to ban same-sex marriage, we were stung. Many of the church’s members and leaders were our neighbors, whom we shared food from our gardens with, visited when sick, lent generators in power failures, invited to our home. It was a personal, painful reminder that we were not to be thought of or treated as equals. Openly being denied marriage equality was starting to make us uncomfortable. We visited the pastor and implored him to promote goodness and good will toward all people. The post stayed on the church marquee through Election Day. The amendment passed by a landslide 81 percent. Afterward, we went on. Like most people our age, we’ve gone through some difficult times — breast cancer, death of parents and friends, natural disasters in our community. But we’ve gotten through it together and managed to keep our focus on the good stuff: We know that we are dearly loved by family and by friends of all walks of life who are spread across this country. We live on a beautiful farm, in a house we built with our own hands. We’ve been able to earn our living doing the things we love and that fit our values, operating one of Alabama’s first commercial organic vegetable farms and working for a nonprofit that promotes sustainable farming. We were not looking to get involved in this particular cause, but it has found us. While marriage may not be needed to make us feel more fulfilled, alas, we are pragmatists. As we grow older, the not-so-romantic benefits of marriage are becoming important. A few years back we learned that Carol had inherited her father’s Huntington’s disease. Her symptoms have progressed to the point that we now have to begin thinking more seriously about health care, end-of-life and financial security issues. Recently we began to think about how being married would make it easier when dealing with medical and legal institutions. We began to think about the survivor benefits opposite-sex married couples have access to. We began to recognize how legal marriage would make this new era of our lives easier to navigate. And so we decided that, once the smoke cleared this summer from what is likely to be a favorable decision by the United States Supreme Court, we would wait for the dust to settle here in Alabama, and then sit down with a few legal and financial experts to see if marriage makes sense for us. Romantic, eh? Then late last month, to our surprise, a federal judge struck down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. But we stayed in wait-and-see mode. We knew that ruling would not be the final word. Sure enough, then came our probate judge’s announcement that he would not obey the federal court ruling. That did it. Other couples simply went to one of the 15 counties where judges are granting licenses. But we could not allow this judge in our home county to deny us our rights. Our decision was made: We will
[Marxism] Corey Robin - when conservatives did not get tough on crime
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[Marxism] SUPPORT SYRIZA! DEMO TODAY: Feb 11, 6PM at 666 3rd Ave, NYC
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://www.facebook.com/events/830638833661834/ Wednesday, February 11 at 6 p.m. DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE UNITED NATIONS 666 Third Avenue (between 42nd and 43rd St.) Popular Mobilization in Cities Across Greece and Europe as European Union Ministers Meet in Brussels on Greek Debt Question On February 11th, hundreds of thousands will gather in cities across Greece and Europe to demand an end to the EU austerity policy that for years has subjected millions of people to a humanitarian crisis. Following the election of the radical left in January, the new Greek government is set to challenge EU policy at the finance ministers' meeting in Brussels. A strong popular mobilization can make a difference! Demand an End to Austerity Policies! We call on our friends in New York to show solidarity with the people of Greece and Europe. We invite all allies and all media in all languages. Greece Solidarity ad hoc committee List of endorsers in formation: AKNY-Greece Solidarity Movement SYRIZA NY ANTARSYA NY PODEMOS USA MENA Solidarity Network US Gezi Platform NY The Ionian Cultural Federation Campaign for Peace and Democracy Socialist Alternative NY International Socialist Organization Occupy Astoria LIC _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: (681) SYRIZA: From Hope to Event? | Peter Bratsis - Academia.edu
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[Marxism] Fwd: Fwd: Tariq Ali on Greece
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * *TARIQ ALI,***Writer, Filmmaker, Activist: /*SYRIZA VS THE EXTREME CENTRE*/ Friday, February 20th, 6:00 PM New York University Eisner Lubin Auditorium at the Kimmel Center, 4th Floor 60 Washington Square South ( LaGuardia Place) New York, NY 10012 Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than two dozen books on world history and politics, and seven novels (translated into over a dozen languages) as well as scripts for the stage and screen. His works include:/The Extreme Center/, /The Obama Syndrome/, and /Speaking of Empire and Resistance/. He is an editor of /New Left Review/ and lives in London. This talk is made possible by the generous support of the Provost’s Global Research Initiatives http://www.facebook.com/events/1532966236991952/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Durban's township Occupy experience Re: Three Inquiries in Disobedience and Factories of Knowledge, Industries of Creativity
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * (No mid-afternoon doldrums here...) Occupying Umlazi: Hesitant Steps Towards Political Ideology in a Durban Township http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589346.2014.975930#abstract China Ngubane http://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?Contrib=Ngubane%2C+C pages 355-370 View full text http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589346.2014.975930#abstractDownload full text http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02589346.2014.975930 Free access * *DOI:*10.1080/02589346.2014.975930 On 2014/02/10 03:58 PM, mckenna...@aol.com wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Adam Morris on Occupy: Three Inquiries in Disobedience and Factories of Knowledge, Industries of Creativity Disobedience Miseducation: Occupy and the Academy January 28th, 2014 Los Angeles Review of Books THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT, while fading from the popular press, is perhaps only now being thoroughly metabolized in the fussier corners of academic thought. This seems fitting when we consider Hegel’s philosophy of history, which helps legitimate the university’s function as a sacred space for slow and deliberate contemplation and academic freedom. Hegel would have it that phenomena such as Occupy are only fully understood when they have worked through their formative contradictions, dissipated their energies, and reached their conclusion. The owl of Minerva flies at night, in other words, but Occupy: Three Inquiries in Disobedience tolls not the witching hour of the Occupy movement so much as the doldrums of mid-afternoon. full: http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/disobedience-miseducation-occupy-academy _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Three Muslim students dead in North Carolina shooting as suspect arrested | US news | The Guardian
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[Marxism] Fwd: America’s “Prince” problem: How Black people — and art — became “devalued” - Salon.com
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[Marxism] Fwd: Podemos’ Pablo Iglesias Amy Goodman - Left Forum Co-Organized Event, Next Tuesday
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * * Pablo Iglesias of PODEMOS, introduced by Amy Goodman (Democracy Now)* * Hope is Changing Sides: Understanding Spain’s Political Change* *Proshansky Auditorium,* *CUNY Graduate Center* *365 5ath Avenue* *Tuesday, February 17th, 1-3pm.* Within just one year of its existence, PODEMOS has shaken politics in Spain. Started in January 2014, as a “citizens tool”, as a “method to turn indignation into political change,” and to challenge the existing Spanish political system, PODEMOS has become an unprecedented political phenomenon. In just four months, PODEMOS grew spectacularly, achieving 1.2 million votes in the May 25 European Elections, and gaining five seats in the European Parliament. Since then, PODEMOS has continued to increase its presence and gain further support. Opinion polls anticipating the upcoming November elections, indicate PODEMOS would be the second most voted for political option. On January 31st, a 'March for Change' organized by PODEMOS gathered hundreds of thousands in Madrid. Its success can certainly be explained by the dire economic and social situation the Spanish people have been experiencing since 2008: austerity measures in healthcare and education, a housing crisis, and an unemployment rate that has risen to 25%. But other factors contribute to the explanation of PODEMOS’ growth, such as its innovative use of political language and media visibility and its ability to relate to the preexisting horizon of social and economic discontent and desire for political change opened by the 15M movement in May 2011, and successive waves of citizen mobilization. Why and how did PODEMOS emerge? From where has it come? What are the reasons for their spectacular growth? What are their methods and their political alignments? What is PODEMOS’ relation to Spain’s social movements? How does PODEMOS relate to existing political forces? What are the main proposals of their political program? Introduced by Amy Goodman (Democracy Now), PODEMOS’ General Secretary Pablo Iglesias will address a NYC audience in a special opportunity to understand the political, social and economic context of PODEMOS’ emergence as a rising political force, and a unique political phenomenon. *THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC* *ORGANIZED BY* Left Forum http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127336qid=908116 Center for Place, Culture and Politics (Graduate Center, CUNY) http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127337qid=908116 *SPONSORED BY* Advanced Research Collaborative (Graduate Center, CUNY) http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127338qid=908116 Left East http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127339qid=908116 Urban Democracy Lab (NYU) http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127340qid=908116 Verso Books http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127341qid=908116 Situations http://www.leftforum.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=127342qid=908116 365 Fifth Avenue CUNY Graduate Center, c/o Sociology Dept. New York, NY 10016 United States Click here http://www.leftforum.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1jid=1073qid=908116h=be8479dd63abd1b4 to opt out of future Left Forum emails. Click here http://www.leftforum.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1jid=1073qid=908116h=be8479dd63abd1b4 to opt out of this list only. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] In Alabama, a Quiet Fight to Marry
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Thanks so much for posting this, Louis. Carol and Jean are good and old friends from my 41 years living and working in Tuscaloosa Al. They were/are wonderful organic farmers and enriched the lives of many of us with their knowledge and efforts. Their joy in each other and in life (for them, farming), their quiet but dogged determination, and their extraordinary kindness and pleasantness come through loud and clear in this op-ed piece. In solidarity, Wythe From: Marxism marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu on behalf of Louis Proyect via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 10:52 AM To: Wythe Holt jr. Subject: [Marxism] In Alabama, a Quiet Fight to Marry POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * NY Times Op-Ed, Feb. 11 2015 In Alabama, a Quiet Fight to Marry By JEAN MILLS and CAROL EICHELBERGER COKER, Ala. — MONDAY morning began like any other morning on our little farm in Alabama, where we have lived together for more than three decades. We already knew that Roy S. Moore, the chief justice of the State Supreme Court, had commanded the state’s probate judges to refuse to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But turning on the radio, we learned that the judge in our county, Tuscaloosa, home to the state’s flagship university, had decided to go along with him. We yelled at the radio — and decided to do something about it. Being a lesbian couple in small-town Alabama has its pluses and minuses, for sure. In most ways, we fit in here. Jean was born and raised in Coker; Carol is a relative newcomer, having moved from Texas 40 years ago. People know us and have the grace and mercy to show acts of kindness regularly. At the same time, Alabama is hardly an easy place to be gay. Marriage Equality and the Rule of Law in AlabamaFEB. 10, 2015 This is a state where it has been widely held that folk like us are degenerates, and going to burn in hell. A state where there is a law making same-sex marriage illegal and where, for good measure, citizens have also passed a constitutional amendment to the same effect. Occasionally we pause to wonder how, specifically, our relationship threatens other individuals, their relationship with God, or the institution of marriage, but we don’t make waves. We have never been activists; we’ve never pushed for marriage equality. But still, in 2006, when the little church in our little community posted, on their brand-new marquee, an appeal to vote for that amendment to ban same-sex marriage, we were stung. Many of the church’s members and leaders were our neighbors, whom we shared food from our gardens with, visited when sick, lent generators in power failures, invited to our home. It was a personal, painful reminder that we were not to be thought of or treated as equals. Openly being denied marriage equality was starting to make us uncomfortable. We visited the pastor and implored him to promote goodness and good will toward all people. The post stayed on the church marquee through Election Day. The amendment passed by a landslide 81 percent. Afterward, we went on. Like most people our age, we’ve gone through some difficult times — breast cancer, death of parents and friends, natural disasters in our community. But we’ve gotten through it together and managed to keep our focus on the good stuff: We know that we are dearly loved by family and by friends of all walks of life who are spread across this country. We live on a beautiful farm, in a house we built with our own hands. We’ve been able to earn our living doing the things we love and that fit our values, operating one of Alabama’s first commercial organic vegetable farms and working for a nonprofit that promotes sustainable farming. We were not looking to get involved in this particular cause, but it has found us. While marriage may not be needed to make us feel more fulfilled, alas, we are pragmatists. As we grow older, the not-so-romantic benefits of marriage are becoming important. A few years back we learned that Carol had inherited her father’s Huntington’s disease. Her symptoms have progressed to the point that we now have to begin thinking more seriously about health care, end-of-life and financial security issues. Recently we began to think about how being married would make it easier when dealing with medical and legal institutions. We
[Marxism] St. Petersburg's Channel Five shows how Russia can easily invade the whole of Europe
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KGa9baVh2k *Channel Five: The Victory Parade Can Happen in Warsaw, Berlin, and even Washington* Journalists at Petersburg Channel Five have endorsed the idea of a number of western leaders of moving the WWII Victory Parade to Poland. In her program, TV presenter Nika Strizhak said that Russian tanks could easily reach not only Warsaw but also Washington. According to the broadcast segment, it is only 1,300 kilometers from Moscow to Warsaw, so the T-90 tank could enter the suburbs in less than twenty-four hours. During this time, airborne troops, who need only two hours for redeployment, would be able to rehearse the parade, rest, iron their parade uniforms, and cook a festive meal of buckwheat porridge and stewed meat. The TV journalists also reminded viewers that it is only 1,800 kilometers to Berlin: For a modern army, that is no distance, all the more so because many Russian officers know their way around the city. Well, and Prague, Helsinki, and Vilnius are all very close, so the Russian Army could go there on foot, the journalists added. Channel Five also pondered more distant routes, such as London and Washington. Planning for them will have to be done well in advance, and here one cannot dispense without the air force and navy. But there is still time, and applications are being accepted, it says in the segment. http://lenizdat.ru/articles/1126992/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Identity, migration, multiculturalism, emancipation
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Why, then, have we come to imagine that we are living in particularly plural societies, in which our cultural identities are all-important? The answer lies in a complex set of social, political and economic changes over the past half century, changes that include the narrowing of the political sphere, the collapse of the left, the demise of class politics, the erosion of more universalist visions of social change. Many of these changes helped pave the way for multicultural policies. At the same time, the implementation of such policies helped create a more fragmented society. Or, to put it another way, multicultural policies have helped create the very problems they were meant to have resolved. I want to demonstrate this through two examples. The first is a riot in Britain, of which you may not have heard, the second a cartoon crisis in Denmark, about which everyone has heard. . . From Kenan Malik, full at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/whats-wrong-with-multi-culturalism/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] St. Petersburg's Channel Five shows how Russia can easily invade the whole of Europe
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * they started the celebration early in the ukraine. *Channel Five: The Victory Parade Can Happen in Warsaw, Berlin, and even Washington* ccording to the broadcast segment, it is only 1,300 kilometers from Moscow to Warsaw, so the T-90 tank could enter the suburbs in less than twenty-four hours. During this time, airborne troops, who need only two hours for redeployment, would be able to rehearse the parade, rest, iron their parade uniforms, and cook a festive meal of buckwheat porridge and stewed meat. The TV journalists also reminded viewers that it is only 1,800 kilometers to Berlin: For a modern army, that is no distance, all the more so because many Russian officers know their way around the city. Well, and Prague, Helsinki, and Vilnius are all very close, so the Russian Army could go there on foot, the journalists added. Channel Five also pondered more distant routes, such as London and Washington. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] SYRIZA Verolufakis Confessions of an Erratic Marxist
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Proyect wrote: Well, I am not interested in email debates to tell you the truth. What in the world can anybody get out of anything you have written here, messages devoid of data or evidence or statistics or the rich historical and social fabric of Greek society? When I am interested in airing my views, I do it on my blog and usually after having read a substantial amount of material as I did the other day on Syriza. I read at least 25 articles to put together a decently researched article, mostly based on first-rate reporting from Links in Australia. Right now I am researching an article on the Greek economic problems that is based on articles I have already read by Elmar Altvater, Stathis Kouvelakis and Stavros Mavroudeas. I am following up with reading every article that Michael Roberts has written about Greece. When I began writing about Ukraine, it was only after reading books on Crimea and Ukraine and about 20 articles. That is because I take my ideas seriously whether you agree with them or not. Your problem is that your contributions to this forum are superficial and utterly lacking in substance. This would not be a problem if you weren't so god-damned provocative. Not everybody has the motivation to go to a research library or pour through articles on the net to make a contribution but at least they are sensible enough not to pretend that they are making a contribution to Marxism based on a 200 or 300 word email. Provocation can sometimes be in the eye of the reader. Some might say that hurling epithets--sectarian, Spartacist, ignoramus-- as a first reply to what began as a series of angular but fairly polite comments from me, might have had something to do with the escalating acerbity of this exchange. A sectarian is apparently anyone who disagrees with Louis from the left, an ignoramus anyone who ventures to express an opinion without offering a 10,000-word disquisition . Since my previous post did not make it onto Marxmail in its entirety, I will reiterate here that the sectarian Weekly Worker is far less impatient of debate than the dedicated anti-sectarian, Louis Proyect. Louis emphasizes the importance of background knowledge, and his diligence in acquiring information is commendable. As a former computer programmer, he is no doubt data-driven. He seems not to appreciate, however, that data are only useful in so far as they can be deployed within a logical framework. He has thus far failed to bring his factual knowledge to bear within the framework of the questions I have raised and the arguments I have presented.His only conceptual gauge--and basis for political allegiance--seems to be the narrow quantitative one congenial to a man of his metier: the number of followers and/or votes a given leftwing party or personality is able to attract. The facts are indispensable. But a tangle of logically disconnected and undigested facts can obscure rather than reveal. I believe this insight is expressed in a saying about forests and trees. Since this thread seems to me to have run its course, I will make no further postings to it. I would only point out that the question underlying this exchange--one that Louis dismisses as of no interest to anyone but diehard sectarians like me--is one that has preoccupied Marxism since its birth: reform or revolution. If Louis thinks this question has been settled by history in the way that liberal opinion assures us that it has been settled-- by the triumph of neoliberalism and the collapse of the Soviet Union-- he might do us the favor of saying so. Absent such a white flag, it is unclear from what heights of empirical wisdom he deems this question unworthy of discussion or.why, for that matter, he continues to style himself a Marxist. Eduard Bernstein, after all, ultimately discarded the label. For my part, I am convinced that the question remains pertinent, and will inevitably pose itself again in the events now unfolding in Greece and Europe. Jim Creegan Reply Forward James Creegan sectaria...@gmail.com 5:04 PM (3 minutes ago) to marxism-request _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Syriza, socialists and the struggles ahead
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Roundtable http://socialistworker.org/2015/02/11/syriza-and-the-struggles-ahead SYRIZA, socialists and the struggles ahead February 11, 2015 Greece's left-wing government is on a collision course with the rulers of Europe over the commitment of the Coalition of the Radical Left, or SYRIZA, to reverse drastic austerity measures imposed under the Memorandums negotiated with the European Union (EU). SYRIZA won a tremendous victory in the January 25 elections because it promised an alternative to the catastrophic economic and social crisis that Greece has endured for more than five years. But with the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras only two weeks old, the political and financial elite of Europe, from Germany's Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble to Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), have rejected all proposals to negotiate Greece's huge foreign debt or relax the austerity conditions imposed as a condition for the bailout of the country's economic system. With a showdown approaching, all eyes are on the struggle in Greece and the hope it hold for the future. Antonis Davanellos and Sotiris Martalis are members of the Greek socialist organization Internationalist Workers Left (DEA), a co-founder of SYRIZA a decade ago and now a leading force in the Left Platform inside SYRIZA. Both are members of SYRIZA's Central Committee. On February 7, Antonis and Sotiris spoke to an audience of socialists in the U.S. via videoconference about SYRIZA's election victory, the first days of the new government and the struggles that lie ahead. After an opening presentation, the two responded to numerous questions from the audience. Here, we publish their comments, edited and supplemented for publication at SocialistWorker.org. http://socialistworker.org/2015/02/11/syriza-and-the-struggles-ahead _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] SYRIZA Verolufakis Confessions of an Erratic Marxist
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * On 2/11/15 5:10 PM, James Creegan via Marxism wrote: Provocation can sometimes be in the eye of the reader. Some might say that hurling epithets--sectarian, Spartacist, ignoramus-- as a first reply to what began as a series of angular but fairly polite comments from me, might have had something to do with the escalating acerbity of this exchange. A sectarian is apparently anyone who disagrees with Louis from the left, an ignoramus anyone who ventures to express an opinion without offering a 10,000-word disquisition . I don't think you are an ignoramus. You probably went to Harvard, based on your air of superiority. It is just that nobody can learn anything from your messages here. Frankly, if you are too lazy to research Greece, you could simply crosspost what other more committed people write with your own 2 or 3 sentence intro. Eduard Bernstein, after all, ultimately discarded the label. Well, this is really the bottom line, isn't it. I am Eduard Bernstein? Well, that's a relief from being Christopher Hitchens. And what does that make Creegan? Rosa Luxemburg? He keeps whining about being pilloried here when the poor soul only seeks to draw razor-sharp class lines between himself and me. Maybe I was mistaken to define the parameters of Marxmail 15 years or so ago: MODERATION PRINCIPLES: The Marxism mailing list is extremely permissive. There are a couple of things that are frowned upon strongly. If you come to the list with the attitude that you are a true Bolshevik, who needs to convert 'Mensheviks' to your beliefs, you will be unsubbed. http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm It is possible that Creegan never read this. But nevertheless that's the guidelines I established. Every so often someone gets the trapdoor opened up beneath them when they decide that they are issuing communiques from Coyoacan. I suspect that most of the 1500 subscribers to Marxmail feel that it meets their needs so I only show people to the door once or twice a year. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it is that some subscribers have to be kept on a short leash since they are habitually prone to thinking of Marxmail as a costume party where they can come dressed as Leon Trotsky or VI Lenin. We are in dangerous and critical times and need to keep the focus on serious discussion that does not state implicitly or explicitly that the list must be divided into reformist and revolutionary wings--that is if you want to remain a subscriber. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Eurozone leaders believe Syriza must fail and be seen to fail - Telegraph
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11406154/Eurozone-leaders-believe-Syriza-must-fail-and-be-seen-to-fail.html _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] L.A. Unified sides with farmworkers union in dispute with grower
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-unified-backs-ufw-20150210-story.html The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday sided with United Farm Workers in its dispute with an agricultural firm, calling on the company to honor a labor contract. The vote was 6 to 0, with one abstention, and was greeted with rousing approval by dozens of union members who were on hand. The resolution called on Gerawan Farming “to comply with state and federal laws, including labor relations, anti-discrimination, and minimum wage and hour laws, and to immediately implement the agreement issued by the neutral mediator and the state of California.” The resolution also directed district staff to review the company’s “compliance with fair labor practices” should it be part of any potential contracts with the L.A. Unified School District. “Gerawan already owes its thousands of workers millions of dollars in pay raises and other benefits,” UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez told the board. “Yet Gerawan fiercely resists its workers at every turn, committing some of the most flagrant labor law violations in California history.” In an interview, the company’s co-owner denied any wrongdoing and challenged the validity of the contract. There is no contract,” said Dan Gerawan. “There is a government order.” Gerawan insisted that most of the company’s employees side with management. He wrote to the board, defending the company's practices and compensation package. He urged L.A. officials to stay out of the dispute, but the labor-friendly body showed no hesitation deciding which side deserved its support. There are charges of unethical conduct on both sides and a disputed union election. The Fresno company employs 5,000 and grows peaches, plums, nectarines and grapes. “This is not something we can look away from,” said board member Steve Zimmer, after donning a red farmworkers T-shirt. “Our contracts are our values.” Zimmer said the nation’s second-largest school system can and should use its influence to promote the best labor and environmental standards. Board member Tamar Galatzan abstained. A spokeswoman said Galatzan doesn't believe the matter is an issue for the board because Gerawan is not a district vendor. Gerawan has supplied a relatively small amount of produce as a district subcontractor in the past. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Intelligent voice from France on Ukraine
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * The French writer Jacques Sapir provides some very welcome respite by way of analysis of Ukraine compared to the drivel of the likes of the NPA and Fourth International. There is much to be challenged in Sapir's proposed solutions to the war in Ukraine. Some are downright delusional, such as his proposal for a UN peacekeeping force headed by India and South Africa, and, with respect to NATO, his proposal that the imperialist alliance either bring Russia into its fold or be replaced by a new, Europe-wide military alliance to include Russia. But regardless, his view of the fundamental causes and dynamics of the Ukraine war as well as the possible solutions are a breath of fresh air and indisputable. We must state again here that the behavior on the terrain of some of the Kiev forces amounts to war crimes. The solution of a 'simple' federalism, which would have been possible in March or April 2014 is today dead. The violence of the Kiev forces and the thousands of dead of Donetsk and Lugansk have made it impossible. We must meditate on this fact: what would have been possible at the beginning of the conflict, without the disproportionate usage of violence of which the Kiev forces made themselves guilty, is no longer possible now. Full article: Moscow, Munich and Minsk, by Jacques Sapir, Feb. 9, 2015. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Greek bailout talks fail to make progress
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/us-eurozone-greece-idUSKBN0LF1CE20150212 http://www.wsj.com/articles/greek-finance-minister-faces-toughest-day-yet-1423658778 On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 9:56 PM, Dayne Goodwin daynegood...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/feb/11/eurozone-ministers-braced-for-crunch-talks-with-greece-live-updates# _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Chapel Hill Shooting: Here is the Syria campaign that the victims were working on
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/syrian-dental-relief/206249 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] A note on the Spartacist Tendency
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * One of the websites I follow is that of the Spartacist Tendency. http://www.icl-fi.org/index.html I thought I would checkout their various publications. Here's what I found. U. S. - up to date UK - up to date Canada - up to date France - up to date Germany - up to date Mexico - nearly up to date. The issue that shows up on the website is dated June 2014, but there is an issue for October 2014 which you can find in the archive. Australia - the issue is labelled Spring 2014, but one of the articles appears to be more recent. Poland - April 2014 Italy - October 2013 South Africa - Winter 2013 Japan - 2012 Greece - no apparent publication, but a mailing address and a phone number. I'm not sure what is happening, but advertising regular publications and then not keeping to schedule can only undermine their credibility. ken h _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Is Rupert Murdoch inching towards Labor and class collaboration?
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Is Rupert Murdoch inching towards Labor and class collaboration? They may only be straws in the wind but two recent pieces in The Australian suggest Rupert Murdoch might have realised his preferred Abbott government and its open attacks on the poor and working class has been a failure. He might be inching towards a more cooperative approach with labour and Labor.The union movement (especially the remaining rank and file) should remember the lessons of the Accord. There is an alternative to supping with the devil, whether that devil be a smiling ALP or a scowling Liberal Party. That alternative is to fight against the attacks of the bosses and their politicians on wages, conditions, safety, jobs. If you don't fight you lose. http://enpassant.com.au/2015/02/11/is-rupert-murdoch-inching-towards-labor-and-class-collaboration/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Greek bailout talks fail to make progress
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/feb/11/eurozone-ministers-braced-for-crunch-talks-with-greece-live-updates# _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Why is Latin America's soft left aiding the imperialist occupation of Haiti?
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * The Uruguayan Marxist Fernando Moyano writes a lengthy article in Truthout on why that country has been a steadfast footsoldier in the ten-plus year imperialist occupation of Haiti. Uruguay is by far the largest per-capita participant in MINUSTAH among Latin American countries. Its participation in the imperialist led force, like that of Brazil, Ecuador, Chile (and Bolivia!) is a stain on the continent. By contrast, Cuba, Venezuela and the social organizations of Latin American countries including those participating in an imperialist occupation have shown a different path, one of internationalist solidarity. Article here: http://truth-out.org/news/item/29011-uruguay-in-haiti-the-poorest-president-of-a-mercenary-army If you missed, it, the lengthy article which I co-authored on the state of affairs in Haiti, five years after the 2010 earthquake, is here: http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/28494-haiti-s-promised-rebuilding-unrealized-as-haitians-challenge-authoritarian-rule RA _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
