[Marxism] 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. * This piece by Tariq Ali (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n15/tariq-ali/diary) gives some useful details on who avoids tax in Greece, criminal corruption and ridiculous military spending: “Greece, in fact, has a lot of tanks, because the German and French arms industries, eager to get rid of surplus hardware in a world where wars are fought by bombers and drones, bribed the politicians. During the first decade of this century Greece was among the top five importers of weapons, mainly from the German companies Ferrostaal, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz. In 2009, the year after the crash, Greece spent €8 billion – 3.5 per cent of GDP – on defence. The then Greek defence minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who accepted huge bribes from these companies, was convicted of corruption by a Greek court in 2013. Prison for the Greek; small fines for the German bosses. None of this has been mentioned by the financial press in recent weeks. It didn’t quite tally with the need to portray Greece as the sole transgressor. Yet a Greek court has been provided with conclusive evidence that the largest tax avoider in the country is Hochtief, the giant German construction company that runs Athens airport. It has not paid VAT for twenty years, and owes 500 million euros in VAT arrears alone. Nor has it paid the contributions due to social security. Estimates suggest that Hochtief’s total debt to the exchequer could top one billion euros.” Facts are good to have at your fingertips when confronted by everyday questions about the “debt” that “Greece” allegedly owes. He also says: “On their first trip to Berlin on 20 February this year, Schäuble made clear to Tsipras and Varoufakis that their programme was incompatible with membership of the Eurozone. Tsipras agreed to put the programme on hold and was offered a few ‘concessions’: the Troika – the auditors representing the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF – was replaced with a structure that was supposedly more accountable and whose bureaucrats would not be allowed to enter Greek ministries. This was claimed by Tsipras and Varoufakis as a victory. The truth was the opposite. It is now known that Schäuble offered an amicable, organised Grexit and a cheque for 50 billion euros. This was refused on the grounds that it would seem to be a capitulation. This is bizarre logic. It would have preserved Greek sovereignty, and if Syriza had taken charge of the Greek banking system a recovery could have been planned on its terms. The offer was repeated later. ‘How much do you want to leave the Eurozone?’ Schäuble asked Varoufakis just before the referendum. Again Schäuble was snubbed. Of course the Germans made the offer for their own reasons, but a planned Grexit would have been far better for Greece than what has happened.” I think Shalva asked the question before, and nobody bit: in retrospect, would it have been better for Syriza to have accepted Schauble’s offer. Ali here suggests it was clearly a better alternative, even if he offered it of course “for his own reasons”. I’ll be devil’s advocate here: for the life of me, I can’t see how it couldn’t be. Can someone enlighten me? London Review of Books 30 July 2015 Diary Tariq Ali http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n15/tariq-ali/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] Cuba: Thow in relations with imperialism
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. * Full article here: http://www.leftvoice.org/Cuba-Thow-in-relations-with-imperialism-II What transition? In view of this strategic horizon, some hypotheses about the perspectives of the regime’s transition are interesting, that do not mean inexorably going to a liberal-bourgeois regime, as imperialism and the Latin American right wing would like, nor a simple copy of the Chinese political model of a single party either, contemplating other possibilities of evolution, like some variant of Latin American Bonapartism that will include a certain formal, controlled openness. Alfonso Dilla has suggested a parallel with Mexican PRI-ism (14). The Venezuelan, Ecuadorian and Bolivian regimes and their constituent processes could also be considered intriguing, from some ideas of Julio C. Guanche, who proposes a new socialist constitutionalism. (15) Although it would be possible to arm oneself with some democratic concessions and still maintain certain limits to imperialist penetration, its content would not be progressive for that reason, since its essence would be carrying out the demolition of what remains of the 1959 Revolution under the discursive cover of a XXI Century Socialism with a market and democracy, or with businessmen and foreign capital on an island from which they were expelled half a century ago. The tentative hypothesis that can be left for reflection is whether the evolution towards some variant of Bonapartism of a bureaucratic-bourgeois character would provide the political formula viable for going to the end on the road of the return to capitalism in the Cuban style. _ 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] Cuba: Thow in relations with imperialism
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 7/24/15 11:31 AM, Celeste Murillo via Marxism wrote: The tentative hypothesis that can be left for reflection is whether the evolution towards some variant of Bonapartism of a bureaucratic-bourgeois character would provide the political formula viable for going to the end on the road of the return to capitalism in the Cuban style. Well, clearly, the answer is for Nahuel Moreno's progeny to seize power in Argentina and invade the USA in order to impose a proletarian dictatorship to make the world safe for communism--unless they split into 20 sects again. _ 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] Stephanie Coontz - The Moynihan Family Circus
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. * How a fifty-year-old report on the black family and poverty continues to distort American social policy http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/022_02/14579 _ 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: China’s Global Ambitions, With Loans and Strings Attached - The New York Times
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. * While China has substantial funds to withstand serious financial shocks, its overall health matters. When China swoons, the effects are felt worldwide, by the companies, industries and economies that depend on the country as the engine of global growth. In many cases, China is going where the West is reluctant to tread, either for financial or political reasons — or both. After getting hit with Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Russia, which is on the verge of a recession, deepened ties with China. The list of borrowers in Africa and the Middle East reads like a who’s who of troubled regimes and economies that may have trouble repaying Chinese loans, including Yemen, Syria, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. With its elevated status, China is forcing countries to play by its financial rules, which can be onerous. Many developing countries, in exchange for loans, pay steep interest rates and give up the rights to their natural resources for years. China has a lock on close to 90 percent of Ecuador’s oil exports, which mostly goes to paying off its loans. “The problem is we are trying to replace American imperialism with Chinese imperialism,” said Alberto Acosta, who served as President Correa’s energy minister during his first term. “The Chinese are shopping across the world, transforming their financial resources into mineral resources and investments. They come with financing, technology and technicians, but also high interest rates.” China also has a shaky record when it comes to worker safety, environmental standards and corporate governance. While China’s surging investments have created jobs in many countries, development experts worry that Beijing is exporting its worst practices. Chinese mining and manufacturing operations, like many American and European companies in previous decades, have been accused of abusing workers overseas. China’s coal-fired power plants and industrial factories are adding to pollution problems in developing nations. full: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/business/international/chinas-global-ambitions-with-loans-and-strings-attached.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
Re: [Marxism] Anti-Semitism: the Zionism of fools?
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. * Joseph Catron said: This knuckle-dragging settler paper mistakenly thinks Jews in the US Congress have more loyalty to Israel than their non-Jewish colleagues: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198582 I hope their entire strategy moving forward is based on this idiotic notion! * * * * * * Ken Hiebert replies: Unless I failed to access the full article, I cannot agree with your reading of it. I see statements like this, Alan Lowenthal and another 17 like him will be forced to make the painful decision between loyalty to Israel and loyalty to US President Barack Obama's Democratic party. I did not see any statement indicating that Jews in the US Congress have more loyalty to Israel than to the US or to their various parties. _ 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] Anti-Semitism: the Zionism of fools?
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. * This knuckle-dragging settler paper mistakenly thinks Jews in the US Congress have more loyalty to Israel than their non-Jewish colleagues: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198582 I hope their entire strategy moving forward is based on this idiotic notion! -- Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. _ 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] On the dangers of faux statehood
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. * Sweden recognizes Palestinian citizenship http://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/Becoming-a-Swedish-citizen/Nyheter/2015-03-30-Sweden-recognizes-Palestinian-citizenship.html The actual policy changes, you'll notice, make the lives of (some) Palestinians living in Sweden considerably harder. Aside from longer waits for citizenship, they were just demoted from one of the world's best passports to one of its worst: http://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php The improvements, meanwhile, are exactly zero. -- Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. _ 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 defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect
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. * Louis Proyect said (in part): On June 25th a guest post by Amith Gupta appeared on my blog criticizing Jewish Voice for Peace’s decision to terminate relations with Alison Weir, a supporter of Palestinian rights because of her appearances on the radio show of Clay Douglas, a reactionary racist according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Since their objection is not so much about what she said in the interview but about her mere appearance on the show, it begs the question about her views. Are you to judge someone by the venue they appear on or write for? I ask because I have now been Weired, to coin a term. * * * * * Ken Hiebert replies: For whatever reason (perhaps lack of computer skills on my part) I could not comment on the CP site, so I am commenting here. ...Clay Douglas, a reactionary racist according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Does the qualifying phrase according to the Southern Poverty Law Center... mean that you want to look into the question for yourself and not simply accept the statement of the SPLC? You have every right to make your own judgement. When you have had a chance to do that, I look forward to your characterization of Clay Douglas. In the meantime, the statement of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation offers some useful information. http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4510 Your second paragraph offers your reading of the JVP statement. My own reading is different. As a courtesy to your readers, I suggest you provide a link to the JVP statement. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/blog/jewish-voice-for-peace-statement-on-our-relationship-with-alison-weir _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * At 15:54 24-07-15 -0400, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote: http://louisproyect.org/2015/07/24/in-defense-of-counterpunch/ This is just unbelievable. Louis' reaction to an honest (and I believe accurate) evaluation of Counterpunch must fit the classical pattern of denial; anyone will be able to see that except, of course, the subject. I recall so many times him complaining about the reactionary content on Counterpunch, incredulous that a nominally left-wing newsletter/website would be open to such anti-revolutionary crap. I didn't pay too much attention nor did I pay too much attention when he ceased from that sort of criticism. But now come to think of it, that was at about the time that the Counterpunch editors, rather than defending their editorial policy, wisely granted him carte blanche to post his own material on the site. Which I was usually glad to see appear there, but of course it doesn't undo the damage caused by the right-wing inspired material also present; now I can see that his participation arguably lent legitimacy to Counterpunch as a left-wing outfit while barely changing the proportion of right-wing content (disguised as anti-imperialist, anti-liberal, libertarian, skeptical, etc.). And more egregiously it managed to transform him into part of the problem. It's not unlike the scenario where a long-time member of a stalinist (or stalinistic, y'know) party gets expelled for disloyalty. And then is finally given a chance to rejoin and redeem himself. Of course he now proves his loyalty to the max by denouncing other disloyal members. I can't hate that person; it's just sad. Sad. And At 14:47 24-07-15 -0700, Ken Hiebert via Marxism wrote: For whatever reason (perhaps lack of computer skills on my part) I could not comment on the CP site, so I am commenting here. Ha. nothing wrong with your computer skills Ken. I tried to comment too, but it seems that commenting was disabled for this particular post. Funny thing though: Louis always used to complain about the Counterpunch site not allowing comments! Unlike MOST left websites where we value discourse and democracy, Counterpunch disallows that. I guess it would be too embarrassing if someone like Paul Craig Roberts could be challenged by ordinary readers. So now all of a sudden Louis' blogpost has been set to read-only. Figures. :-( - Jeff _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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 7/24/15 6:21 PM, Jeff via Marxism wrote: It's not unlike the scenario where a long-time member of a stalinist (or stalinistic, y'know) party gets expelled for disloyalty. And then is finally given a chance to rejoin and redeem himself. Of course he now proves his loyalty to the max by denouncing other disloyal members. I can't hate that person; it's just sad. Sad. Jeff, you are a trained scientist. Can you take those statistics seriously? They are an insult to one's intelligence. Based on the attack on Counterpunch, someone who is not a regular reader would conclude that rightwing articles outnumber those of the left. That is simply a filthy lie and anybody who gives credence to that is worse than a Stalinist. _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * Also, I am surprised that any long-time subscriber to Marxmail could conclude that I did a 180 degree reversal on CounterPunch just because I would write articles bashing Alexander Cockburn from time to time. Just go to http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.politics.marxism.marxmail and do a search on articles that contain Counterpunch written by Proyect. There are literally hundreds of them going back to 2002. In fact next to the NY Times, this is the website I refer to more than any other. _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * here here. and really jeff i noticed you went quiet when your bald assertion that no one called cp a white supremacist periodical was flatly rebutted in the conclusion of her rant. this has all the earmarks of the lamest of lame attempts at a takedown. i don't think you all jumping on this bandwagon really care what the evidence is. Can you take those statistics seriously? _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * At 19:10 24-07-15 -0400, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote: her choice of rightists is questionable. As I pointed out, Paul Larudee and Franklin Lamb are Baathist propagandists, not conservative or libertarian ideologues. Hmmm, you just made me realize that I have no idea whether those individuals are right or left. AFAIK they only address middle-east issues in ways which are common to some leftists (sadly) but also rightists (both properly defining the Syrian and Iranian regimes as right-wing, and also noting the prominent transformation of yesteryear's far-right antisemites into more respectable anti-zionists following a literal stroke of genius). So I'm wondering: have YOU (or anyone else on this list) seen other writings by either of these two where they deal clearly with class issues that would place them on the right or left? My general rule, as when I looked through the website of that eastern-Ukrainian pro-Russian party that erroneously had socialist in its name, is that if you can write volumes yet never once speak about clearly left-wing concerns (the interests of the working class and labor issues, fighting sexism and the patriarchy, opposing nationalism with international solidarity, etc.) then I have no reason to call you a leftist. But again, I won't rush to judgement about these two They write the same kind of junk as Tony Greenstein Except Tony Greenstein is a COMMUNIST and could well be a member of this list! Yes, it's sad that some communists would write about Syria in the same terms as the rightists -- we've all been struggling with that. But it's a totally different struggle against the ENEMY which supports Assad BECAUSE he's a fascist. I don't know whether Franklin Lamb and Paul Larudee fall in that category, but I'd sure want to find out before I entered into comradely discussion with them. Wouldn't you? - Jeff _ 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] When the Young Lords Were Outlaws in New York
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. * (Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/arts/design/when-the-young-lords-strove-to-change-new-york.html to see some of the art discussed in this article.) NY Times, July 24 2015 When the Young Lords Were Outlaws in New York By HOLLAND COTTER On July 26, 1969, a group of young Latinos stood in the band shell in Tompkins Square Park, in the East Village, and made an announcement. They were founding a New York branch of a revolution-minded political party called the Young Lords. Inspired by the Black Panthers and an earlier street-gang-turned-activist Young Lords group in Chicago, their purpose was to gain social justice for New York’s working-class Latino population, then largely Puerto Rican and treated with contempt by the city government. Most of the members onstage that day were recent college graduates well versed in leftist political theory. To gain the trust and cooperation of Latino communities — concentrated in the East Village, East Harlem and the South Bronx — they knew they needed to get their feet on the street, and they wasted no time. The next day they started a “garbage offensive” in East Harlem, the Barrio, pulling mounds of trash left festering by the city’s sanitation department into the middle of Third Avenue and setting the refuse alight. Local residents pitched in. In October of that year, the Young Lords teamed up with a band of mostly black and Latino hospital personnel to force improvements in labor conditions and medical services for the poor at Gouverneur Hospital on the Lower East Side. (Six months later, they would take over Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx for the same reasons.) In December, they occupied an East Harlem church and, until the police evicted them, turned it into a food dispensary and free clinic by day and a performance space for music, poetry readings and history lessons at night. By that point they had started a newspaper, Palante. (The name, a contraction of “para adelante,” means “forward” or “right on.”) Bilingual and published every two weeks, it was a color tabloid with some of the jazziest graphics around. You’ll find dozens of copies covering the walls in the tripartite exhibition “¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York.” Spread over three institutions — the Bronx Museum of the Arts; El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem; and Loisaida Inc., a cultural center in the East Village — this show departs from straight political history by presenting the Young Lords as a cultural phenomenon as well as an ideological one, with a highly developed instinct for visual self-projection, right down to having an official party photographer, the gifted Hiram Maristany. Each of the show’s three parts is more or less self-contained, giving a general picture of the party’s brief history while centering on events specific to each venue. The Bronx Museum portion, for example, organized by two New York-based art historians, Johanna Fernández and Yasmin Ramirez, focuses on the July 1970 takeover of Lincoln Hospital, which is not far from the museum, but also touches on developments elsewhere in the city. It gives particular attention to links between the Young Lords and Taller Boricua, a print workshop started in East Harlem in 1970 by a group of Puerto Rican artists — Marcos Dimas, Adrián Garcia, Carlos Osorio, Manuel Otero, Martin Rubio and Armando Soto. Still in operation in a converted public school building at 106th Street and Lexington Avenue, the workshop was originally across the street from the barrio headquarters of the Lords, who occasionally appropriated prints for Palante covers. Mostly, though, the exchange was in the form of aesthetic influence: The workshop’s presence seemed to inspire members of the party who were artists. Denise Oliver-Velez, an African-American member of the Lords who designed several Palante covers, was one. She was also one of the few women to gain a place in the party’s governing hierarchy. Like many other male-dominated radical groups, the Young Lords were inherently sexist and promoted a form of revolutionary machismo in their original statement of purpose. She would have none of it. Under pressure from her and another female member, Iris Morales, the group revised the statement to read: “We want equality for women. Down with machismo and male chauvinism.” Those words appear in the Bronx show and again in the installation at El Museo del Barrio, organized by Rocio Aranda-Alvarado and sharply designed by Ignacio Vázquez-Paravano. There are brilliant, monumental prints here by Antonio Martorell, Juan Sánchez and Rafael Tufiño, although the
[Marxism] Fwd: Slavoj Zizek: How Alexis Tsipras and Syriza Outmaneuvered Angela Merkel and the Eurocrats - In These Times
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. * Krugman’s point is that grexit is also an impossible-real that can happen with unpredictable consequences and which, as such, can be risked: All the wise heads saying that Grexit is impossible, that it would lead to a complete implosion, don’t know what they are talking about. When I say that, I don’t mean that they’re necessarily wrong — I believe they are, but anyone who is confident about anything here is deluding himself. What I mean instead is that nobody has any experience with what we’re looking at. While in principle this is true, there are nonetheless many indications that a sudden grexit would lead to utter economic and social catastrophe. Syriza economic strategists are well aware that such a gesture would cause an immediate further fall of the standard of living for an additional, at minimum, 30 percent, bringing misery to a new unbearable level, with the threat of popular unrest and even military dictatorship. The prospect of such heroic acts is thus a temptation to be resisted. Then there are the so-called “left” calls for Syriza to return to its roots: Syriza should not become just another governing parliamentary party, the true change can only come from grass-roots, from the people themselves, from their self-organization, not from the state apparatuses. This is another example of empty posturing, since it avoids the crucial problem, which is how to deal with the international pressure concerning debt, or, more generally, how to exert power and run a state. Grass-roots self-organization cannot replace the state. The question is how to reorganize the state apparatus to make it function differently. It’s nonetheless not enough to say that Syriza put up a heroic fight, testing what is possible. The fight goes on, in fact it has just began. Instead of dwelling on the “contradictions” of Syriza policy (after a triumphant “no,” Syriza accepts the very program that was rejected by the people), and of getting caught in mutual recriminations about who is guilty (did the Syriza parliamentary majority commit an opportunistic “treason,” or was the Left irresponsible in its preference for grexit), one should focus on what the enemy’s actions. The “contradictions” of Syriza are a mirror image of the “contradictions” of the EU establishment as it gradually undermines the very foundations of a united Europe. In the guise of Syriza “contradictions,” the EU establishment is merely getting back its own message in its true form. And this is what Syriza should be doing now. With a ruthless pragmatism and cold calculation, it should exploit the tiniest cracks in the opponent’s armor. It should use all those who resist the predominant EU politics, from British conservatives to UKIP in the UK. It should shamelessly flirt with Russia and China, playing with the idea of giving an island to Russia as its Mediterranean military base, just to scare the shit out of NATO strategists. To paraphrase Dostoyevsky, now that the EU God has failed, everything is permitted. full: http://inthesetimes.com/article/18229/slavoj-zizek-syriza-tsipras-merkel _ 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: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * http://louisproyect.org/2015/07/24/in-defense-of-counterpunch/ _ 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: Will Daesh have its day? | GulfNews.com
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://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/will-daesh-have-its-day-1.124 _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * At 18:35 24-07-15 -0400, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote: Jeff, you are a trained scientist. Can you take those statistics seriously? No, and I know for a fact that the author isn't very comfortable with those statistics (the left vs. right article count) either but it was the best she could do (I learned first-hand how hard it was to accurately query the Counterpunch site by author in order to get such figures) and was an honest attempt to quantify the problem. She worked yet harder to look through articles for their attitudes toward Ron Paul, Gilad Atzmon, and the Israeli lobby controls American foreign policy line (in the other tables). If someone believes that she intentionally biased the results (so-called cherry-picking) then they should repeat the exercise and report their figures. But you're missing one important point here: someone who is not a regular reader would conclude that rightwing articles outnumber those of the left. If they thought Counterpunch had published less than 1000 articles total they might have thought that. Otherwise they'd realize that this was a sample of some prominent rightists vs. leftists but a small minority of the total publication. A lot of the articles on Counterpunch aren't even political enough to classify and aren't by known figures. But the main statistic that I think DOES need to be heeded is that she identified 674 (but given an updated count, actually over 1000) articles written by infamous figures who should NEVER appear ONCE on a truly left wing publication (except possibly with a disclaimer in order to illustrate what the enemy is saying). No, the claim isn't that right wing articles outnumber the legitimate articles, but that there is a systematic attempt to inject such material and especially that this corresponds to the Querfront strategy of the right where they attempt to garner left support for their own purposes. Like the German fascists wisely calling themselves National Socialists to gain the legitimacy conferred by the latter term, and countless other examples. - Jeff _ 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] Fwd: In defense of Counterpunch | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant 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. * so you're vouching for her honesty now? i call bullshit on that. i for one question the honesty of the methodology. the cherry picking of the selection is exactly what's at issue. as louis already pointed out not only does she ignore the majority of articles written for cp to conjure an impression that it's primarily a white supremacist rag but she even picks writers who have not written for cp and suggests their absence means counterpunch is rightist. so what about naomi klein and howard zinn (really any of the names on the left she searched)? She counted zero articles from these two commentators. what she doesn't address at all is how many articles these people submitted to cp. and why? is it possible it's because they submitted zero articles? we don't know and likely ms. hendrick doesn't know either because she didn't say anything about it. is this what you mean by honest? with ms. klein it isn't hard to figure out why she doesn't have any articles on counterpunch. alex cockburn was rather harsh on her shock doctrine, saying that it completely disregarded the rise of india. she's found other outlets. why submit to a rag that found her lightweight? but no! it was because cp are closeted white supremacists! i might have expected to find howard zinn on counterpunch but there's nothing in ms. hendricks article that could even address that his absence is because cp is hostile to him. rather, when you search cp you find that they gave voice to many expressions of admiration for zinn. could his absence from cp possibly be because he was generally loyal to zcom and the progressive and toward the end gave mostly interviews anyway? no! it had to be because he was shunned due to cp's racism! and of course, this is it what it means to meet your standard for honesty. look, cp is far from perfect. i never liked paul craig roberts and nothing's changed in that regard. but alex found he liked his take on neocon economics and i suppose enjoyed the irony of a former reaganite pounding the bush administration. i also suppose that alex had an appreciation for being the resident socialist on the wsj editorial board and felt that his readers too could benefit from hearing from a broader political criticism at a time the left had become pretty much impotent. that this somehow became an advance of a third position looks pretty much like some masochistic fantasy. there are loads of problems with hendrick's piece that destroy all claims of honesty. but i quit. i feel like i've wasted time arguing about something that's obvious on it's face. Jeff, you are a trained scientist. Can you take those statistics seriously? No, and I know for a fact that the author isn't very comfortable with those statistics (the left vs. right article count) either but it was the best she could do (I learned first-hand how hard it was to accurately query the Counterpunch site by author in order to get such figures) and was an honest attempt to quantify the problem. She worked yet harder to look through articles for their attitudes toward Ron Paul, Gilad Atzmon, and the Israeli lobby controls American foreign policy line (in the other tables). If someone believes that she intentionally biased the results (so-called cherry-picking) then they should repeat the exercise and report their figures. _ 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] [UCE] ANA-MPA: Austerity only can't work, 3 top German economists tell ANA-MPA
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Greek Prime Minister Asked Putin For $10 Billion To Print Drachmas, Greek Media Reports | Zero Hedge
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. * Here's the FT's version: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2a0a1d94-3201-11e5-8873-775ba7c2ea3d.html 23 июля 2015 г., в 10:11, Louis Proyect via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu написал(а): 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. * I don't know if any of this is true (except that Putin was not particularly interested in helping Greece out) but if it is, it should drive the nail into the coffin of Russian anti-imperialism. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-21/tsipras-asked-putin-10-billion-print-drachmas-greek-media-reports _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/shalva.eliava%40outlook.com _ 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] Reuters: German privatisation agency poor model for Greece
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[Marxism] Fwd: NetRoots Nation Confrontation Wasn't About #BlackLivesMatter At All | Black Agenda Report
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[Marxism] Review: ‘Dylan Goes Electric!’ Considers Folk, Rock and a ’60s Divide
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. * (Elijah Wald is a great writer and a solid leftie. I plan to read and review this book the first chance I get but I doubt it will do much to change my mind about Bob Dylan, who I regard as a great songwriter and performer until he lost his voice.) NY Times, July 24 2015 Review: ‘Dylan Goes Electric!’ Considers Folk, Rock and a ’60s Divide By Janet Maslin DYLAN GOES ELECTRIC! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties By Elijah Wald Illustrated. 354 pages. Dey St. $26.99. Saturday night is the 50th anniversary of Dylanageddon: the night Bob Dylan savaged the Newport Folk Festival by making loud, electrified noise at a sanctuary that had never been thus sullied. The story of his 1965 assault on Newport is very well known. Its effects have been contemplated ad nauseam. Its details show up in every Dylan biography. It’s so essential to the Dylan story that it may even have engendered folk songs of its own. So the idea of a book to commemorate this geezer milestone seems unnecessary, to put it kindly. But what a surprise “Dylan Goes Electric!” turns out to be. This splendid, colorful work of musicology and cultural history is written by Elijah Wald, whose broad range of other books (“Narcocorrido,” “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll” and “Global Minstrels”) allows him to approach Newport with a broad base of knowledge. He is perhaps best known for “The Mayor of Macdougal Street,” a collaboration with Dave Van Ronk that became Mr. Van Ronk’s posthumously published memoir. That book reads like a labor of love. This one does, too. Mr. Wald is a superb analyst of the events he describes. And his analyses fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Even his introduction includes enough startling context to indicate “Dylan Goes Electric!” will be seeing the old story with new eyes. What if Mr. Dylan, with his new non-folk songs “Maggie’s Farm,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” was not presenting something mind-blowingly visionary, as he is in most versions of the Newport myth, but signaling a retreat into solipsism and selfishness instead? “In most tellings, Dylan represents youth and the future, and the people who booed were stuck in the dying past,” Mr. Wald writes. “But there is another version, in which the audience represents youth and hope, and Dylan was shutting himself off behind a wall of electric noise, locking himself in a citadel of wealth and power.” The Bob Dylan who became the spirit of the 1960s — that is, the hipper second half of the decade — was part phantom, after all. He had his motorcycle accident, holed up in Woodstock and in 1968 asked an old friend “How do you know I’m not — for the war?” Mr. Wald knows that it is impossible to think about the Dylan of the Newport Folk Festival — the one who arrived as a new deity in 1963, the one who supposedly divided the place into a battlefield of angry factionalism two years later — without thinking equally hard about Pete Seeger: the folk music movement that Seeger built, the ideals it nurtured, the ways it spun away from those ideals as folk turned commercial, the story of “what Newport meant to him, and the lights that dimmed when the amplifiers sucked up the power.” And although Mr. Wald tries his best to resist oversimplifications, he’s just too good at creating and parsing them. Yes, Seeger can be seen as having tried to use folk music to accomplish an ideal of democracy, of people working together in a spirit of optimism; and, yes, Mr. Dylan can be seen as the loner, the cynic following a path all his own. There are big flaws in these stereotypes, which Mr. Wald acknowledges, but not in the larger truth that Newport drew an idealistic young audience that could be either crushed or encouraged, depending on what kinds of messages an ever more commercialized folk music craze delivered. Mr. Wald does a fascinating job of describing the ways Seeger’s hard lessons about the collision of ideals and commerce came into play here. By the time of Newport, he had seen both extremes of commercial success: chart-topping as one of the Weavers, then being blacklisted. For all of his self-sacrifice, he was a man with both a family to support and a message to communicate, and he was at a pinnacle of respect and success in 1963, when he was welcomed into the Newport fold. (The famous photograph showing Newport royalty — Seeger; Joan Baez; Odetta; Peter, Paul and Mary; the Freedom Singers; and the newbie Bob Dylan — linking arms to sing Seeger’s version of “We Shall Overcome” includes Theodore Bikel, who died on Tuesday. This major
[Marxism] Fwd: Commie bastard Jeremy Corbyn is freedom-hating pinko KGB terrorist, confirm opponents
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Re: [Marxism] Turkey and ISIS
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. * #Turkey https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/turkey?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328 23.07.15: Under the pretext of an anti-ISIL operation Turkish security forces have conducted raids in 13 provinces - most of the areas raided are left-wing strongholds. A female member of DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party Front) has been killed by security forces in #Bağcılar https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/ba%C4%9Fc%C4%B1lar?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328 , #Istanbul https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/istanbul?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328. Heavy clashes reported in #Gazi https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/gazi?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328 and#Tarsus https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tarsus?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328 -#Mersin https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/mersin?source=feed_textstory_id=910606255652328. 251 detainees but the number is rising, the vast majority of the detainees are members of Kurdish and leftist groups and organizations. Unsurprisingly there are no confirmed reports of any arrests of ISIL members. _ 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: Politicians think Puerto Ricans are dumb. But we know the debt crisis is their doing | Julio Ricardo Varela | Comment is free | The Guardian
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. * (Amazing how similar the Puerto Rican situation is to Greece.) Spending and borrowing were always part of the island’s political culture, and Wall Street banks were always more than happy to lend. But having borrowed too much for decades, having spent just as much, having American companies leave after tax incentives expired in 2006, getting hit by the Great Recession and still borrowing more money from Wall Street, no one should be surprised that Puerto Rico is teetering on the brink of financial ruin and draconian austerity measures. Wall Street firms have already made $1.4bn in fees off of the 86 bond deals Puerto Rico executed to avoid tackling its massive debt problems between 2006 and 2013; firms continued to lend Puerto Rico money despite the risks of a default precisely for the massive profits. But how do you think these firms got the access to sell Puerto Rico a bad deal in the first place? The island’s political class. full: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/23/politicians-puerto-ricans-debt-crisis-at-fault _ 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] Guardian: Grillo calls for nationalisation of Italian banks and exit fr
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. * Not quite sure I'd welcome Grillo as an anti-austerity ally... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/23/beppe-grillo-calls-for-nationalisation-of-italian-banks-and-exit-from-euro _ 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] Guardian: US deal with Turkey over Isis may go beyond simple use of an airbase
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[Marxism] Fwd: The Female Power of Danish Noir
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. * CounterPunchers, particularly those who watched those Marxist Swedish television detective series I recommended last year, will likely appreciate “Dicte” and “Borgen”, two shows that appeared originally on Danish television. Both feature superb writing and performances even if the artistic teams behind them are not exactly Marxist. As Joe E. Brown said in the final seconds of “Some Like it Hot”, nobody’s perfect. full: http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/24/the-female-power-of-danish-noir/ _ 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] After Defeat, Britain’s Labour Party Argues Over Its New Leader
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. * (I wonder what British comrades think about this.) NY Times, July 24 2015 After Defeat, Britain’s Labour Party Argues Over Its New Leader By STEVEN ERLANGER LONDON — Having suffered a shocking defeat in May’s general election, its worst result since 1987, the British Labour Party is busily ripping itself apart over the choice of a new leader. The battle is less over personalities than the direction of the party, with some arguing that Labour should move more toward the center, as it did under Tony Blair, and some arguing that it should move farther to the left, to re-engage with its working-class roots. But the result has been messy, with numerous insults (“moron” is the latest). Labour has even been unable to unite in parliamentary opposition to Conservative-proposed welfare cuts. While the consensus of political analysts is that Labour must move toward the center, where most British voters are, wounded party activists are turning toward an old-style socialist, Jeremy Corbyn, 66. Mr. Corbyn, articulate and straightforward, only reluctantly entered the contest, nominated by some Labour legislators “to broaden the debate.” But he got a big lift when Britain’s largest trade union, Unite, a crucial financial backer of the Labour Party, came out in strong support. Mr. Corbyn upsets “the ruling elite,” said the Unite leader, Len McCluskey. “They try and rubbish it, they try to turn it into a joke, but secretly they will be worried sick that ordinary people are suddenly given something to inspire them and something to link onto.” Outside the party, Mr. Corbyn is considered unelectable, and hence a great gift to the Conservative Party, and when the Labour Party finally decides, in September, that may emerge as the prevailing wisdom. But his rise — with some polls of party members showing him leading — has served only to emphasize the depth of Labour’s confusion about its future. As telling, perhaps, Liz Kendall, 44, the only one of four candidates considered close to the policies of Tony Blair — who led centrist “New Labour” to three general election victories — is running a poor last. On Thursday, she angrily rejected pressure to quit the race to forestall the rise of Mr. Corbyn. Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, resigned immediately after this year’s defeat, and the party that once praised him now blames him for all its troubles. No fan of Mr. Blair, Mr. Miliband pushed the party to the left, but voters rejected him. Labour won more votes in England than in 2010, but it was slaughtered in Scotland, losing all but one seat there and 26 seats over all. The other two contenders, who are more conventional, are Andy Burnham, 45, born in Liverpool, who was the party’s designated, or “shadow,” health secretary, and Yvette Cooper, 46, the shadow home secretary and former shadow foreign secretary. Ms. Cooper is married to Ed Balls, who was shadow chancellor but lost his seat in May, marking the depth of Labour’s troubles. Mr. Balls is keeping out of the way while Ms. Cooper tries to become Labour’s first female leader. Mr. Blair, who is widely disliked in the Labour Party for having led the country to war in Iraq on erroneous claims about Iraqi unconventional weapons, was no fan of Mr. Miliband. The prospect of Mr. Corbyn, who is even farther to the left, prompted another Blair intervention on Wednesday, a warning that “an old-fashioned leftist platform” would mean Conservative rule for the next 15 years. “When people say, ‘My heart says I should be with that politics,’ well, get a transplant, because that’s just daft,” Mr. Blair said. “You win from the center, you win when you support business as well as unions. You don’t win from a traditional leftist position.” Mr. Blair’s advice to the party: “Move on — but for heaven’s sake don’t move back.” But moving on to what exactly? Mr. Corbyn is clear about what he wants — an end to austerity, a big tax-and-spend state. But Mr. Burnham and Ms. Cooper are trying to thread the needle between an appeal to Labour members, who think Mr. Miliband was not sufficiently left-wing, and the larger public, including Liberal Democrat voters and centrist Conservatives, who want a society with more social justice but one that also lives within its means and rewards success. On Thursday morning, Ms. Cooper, who worries the Conservatives the most, floundered under tough questioning about her policy positions, causing a BBC interviewer to say that she was good at the rhetoric of unity but that she was reluctant to take firm positions, leaving many unclear as to what she actually stood for.
