[Marxism] Brexit and Labour Party crisis in twitterdom

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hi Jamie

thank you for posting a reply.  It's great to get acknowledgment. As for
how many were there at the rally it is impossible for me to even guess.
But one report had the police saying 10, 000 and I have never in all my
protesting days which now stretch over half a century seen the police
exagggerate about the  number of protesters.

Be that as it may,  it is clear that political time  in the UK  has escaped
the clutches of chronological time. No one is sure at all of what will
happen.

Comradely

Gary

On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 7:48 AM, jamie pitman via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
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> Hi Gary,
>
> I went to the protest tonight; at about 7 o’clock when I left I think it
would be more accurate to say there was more like 1,000 people there.
>
> (As I’m sure you’re aware) there’s an argument Corbyn has lost support
due to the lacklustre campaign he ran to stay in the EU. The counter
argument is that Corbyn’s reserved endorsement for remain was more in tune
with a sceptical Labour base than many of his MPs (who painted the EU as a
land of milk, honey and worker’s rights). It’s completely conceivable
Corbyn did lose some support from some of his young supporters who were
overwhelmingly in favour of remaining. But his mandate was such it is
unlikely that it has made much difference (given the lack of support the
others received). And so its also unlikely that this coup will be
successful. But I’m beyond doubtful this has translated into much public
support outside of the membership – I.e. in terms of Corbyn being able to
win a general election – and the likelihood is we may well face a snap
election this year to give Cameron’s successor a proper mandate to
negotiate Brexit and, most likely, reboot Osborne’s austerity programme.
>
> Jamie
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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> From: Gary MacLennan via Marxism
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[Marxism] Brexit and Labour Party crisis in twitterdom

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I am in a remote part of Australia (again) and am following the crisis in
the Labour Party on Richard Seymour's twitter feed.  (I can picture Lou's
eyes rolling in horror)  Twitter is of course the most infuriating means of
communication yet invented. But it does convey something of the ferment of
what is happening. Compared to the comatose, zombie like state of
Australian politics, it provides like a wonderfully invigorating rush of
excitement and a by the second proof that the status quo is in danger.

I have read Richard's blog on the Verso site and as always it is very
thought provoking. But it is too early to say whether his guess is correct
and that the coup against Corbyn has been bungled.  My selection for the
anti-Corbyn candidate still remains Andy Burnham, though he has tweeted
that he will not support the coup.  If he will not stand, then the coup
could collapse.

So, the plotters against Corbyn will get their vote while thousands of his
supporters chant outside. Did the plotters underestimate Corbyn?  It would
appear so. Richard's analysis is that they want their party back
irrespective of the damage this does.  But as the coup drags on and the
plotters are forced out of the corridors and the back rooms and into the
streets, it is now clear that they will encounter real popular anger.  And
I don't think the likes of Hilary Benn or Alan Johnson will be prepared for
what will happen.


all fascinating.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] the British Labour Party crisis

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I support Corbyn in his affair as I am sure most people on the list do. I
have been re-watching the Godfather movies and as always they have been a
great help in understanding politics, so some of what I say here reflects
that belief.

The coup against Corbyn has been planned for a long time.  The right wanted
"their" party back from this leftist upstart and they simply needed a
trigger.  They initially thought the local government elections would give
them that but the Labour Party did quite well.

Then the trigger moved to the Mayoral elections in London, but Labour won
that.  So it all became about the referendum on Europe.

When Brexit movement won, the coup plotters got their stalking horse Hilary
Benn to be the first to stab Corbyn.  Then they staggered the resignations
to maximize the coverage and the sense of crisis and the cascade of
imitation effect.  Finally they dragged out the Dumb Deputy Leader, Tom
Watson, to perform the coup de grace.

Despite having the media on their side including the liberal Guardian,
which I read, they still have not as yet pressured Corbyn into resigning.
There will be a vote of no confidence, and that might spark a leadership
contest.

Throughout it all Andy Burnham, who had previously stood for the
leadership, has refused to resign and has stayed "loyal" to Corbyn. He is
in all probability waiting in the wings to emerge as the candidate that
will heal, and be the compromise, the candidate with no blood on his hands,
seemingly.  My guess is that this role for Burnham has been in the planning
for a long time.

Can Corbyn tough it out?  Will the party and the country support him?
Where will that leave the Parliamentary Party? It is impossible to say,
especially from Down Under.  But I hope he does tough it out and he takes
it to the people and they vote massively for him.

Whatever happens waves of instability will break over the British political
scene in the short and at least medium terms.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] BREXIT

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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It is difficult to comment on things from afar, but the urge to forget
about Australia's election next week is very powerful, especially as we are
drifting towards the re-election of the neoliberals who like to masquerade
as conservatives.

Because Australia dodged a bullet in the Great Recession by spending hugely
we have not got around to the politics of the festering resentment of the
despairing - but we will get there, have no fear.

So people can still sleep walk to their doom.

BREXIT was different somehow.  It was like a stampede over the cliff.
Something unique to our species - (lemmings don't do it y'know!).
Consciousness is needed for such an act of self harm, of going along with
the racist scum of UKIP and worse.

Now the sharks are circling Corbyn.  Hilary Benn, the idiot son of a great
man, has endeavoured to do an imitation of Brutus, but really he is just
the envious Casca.

Corbyn will survive because if the party gets to vote on a leader they will
give him an even bigger majority. The plotters know that, I think, so they
wage a guerrilla war of increasingly outright disloyalty and media sniping.
Their aim above all is to prevent a Left victory.  If necessary they will
split the Labour Party but they would rather not do that as they will end
up losing their seats.

So we will be subjected to endless plots and ambushes. All designed to
break Corbyn's nerve.

In the mean time, what of the people? In the twitter sphere we hear reports
of emboldened acts of racist bastardry.

We have the situation of a failure of hegemony from the elites. They wanted
to Remain in the EU. But they have been met with counter-identification or
primitive rebellion by the OUT vote.  That is the kind of rebellion which
takes all its references from what it is supposed to do and turns them into
negatives.  Like the school kids who are told no earrings and put in
earrings etc. Told to stay in, the people voted to leave.

But the kind of rebellion that we seek is the refusal of ruling hegemony as
the point of reference and the moving towards a politics of
dis-identification - the politics of revolution. Nothing appears less
likely at present, but nothing less will do, so we must keep on trying.

comradely

Gary

To be honest we seem far away from such a departure.
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Radical Leisure by Eva Swidler • Monthly Review

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Yes it is an interesting article, and we do need to be much more ambitions
and Utopian in our politics.  But the problem is that unemployment is not
leisure. Work and leisure exist together in a complex dialectic, and
Swidler sort of admits that.

The toxic impact of the destruction of the Indigenous economy here in
Australia has contributed to a dreadful situation in the former reserves.
In community after community there have been no jobs for decades.

Might return to this topic if I get the time.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Jun 18, 2016 at 2:27 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> Why work sucks and why academic leftists pay little attention to that fact.
>
> http://monthlyreview.org/2016/06/01/radical-leisure/
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[Marxism] Sanders and Clinton

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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So the breaking news has it that Sanders says he will work with Clinton to
ensure the defeat of Trump.  So much for "Feeling the Bern".  All that
delirium of the brave to get Hilary Clinton into the White House.

It is hard to resist "I told you so".

As for working with the Democratic part my thoughts are summed up by what
Long John Silver said to Jim Hawkins "you can't touch pitch and not be
mucked, lad". Or as my mother used to say, "If you lie down with a dog,
you'll get fleas".

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] We stand with Martin Hirst

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Good on you John.  Well said.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 6:41 AM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
> This dark environment at Australian Universities is the consequence of the
> ongoing and deepening commodification of higher education, a process both
> major parties have been deeply involved in. When your Grundnorm is profit,
> ideas which challenge that, however expressed, are a threat to the very
> essence of the machine that is now the University sector. That machine is
> destroying the University as the seeming bastion of difference and the
> dissemination of often currently unconventional and unpopular ideas. To
> defend academic freedom we must defend Martin Hirst.
> http://enpassant.com.au/2016/06/11/we-stand-with-martin-hirst/
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[Marxism] Roberts on Venezuela

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I am typing this with one finger at the airport. I have been on the road
for over a month (seems longer) and  I haven't had time or regular internet
access to put in a proper post. But the latest Roberts piece on Venezuela
did call for a comment. It struck me as if he had given it away and was
waiting for the "inevitable" military coup.   This goes for me to the heart
of my disagreements with Roberts, brilliant and all that he is.  It seems
to me that there is  streak of determinism in his approach. Probably this
is due to his adherence to the need to isolate a LAW that will enable him
to predict. There is I think, a tendency in this approach to forget that
all laws are tendencies that operate in open systems(see Bhaskar).

in any case the fate of the Bolivarian Revolution will be decided in
struggle and the price of commodities will be only one factor in
determining the outcome. Will try and return to this if there is any
interest.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: 'Neo-Maoist' higher ed is gaining ground in China

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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As someone who has taught at a tertiary Institution in China (admittedly a
provincial and not very prestigious one!) I find  this extremely
interesting.  I was in China for all of 1990.  The climate was marked by
post Tienanmen Square tension, and the prestige of the Communist Party and
Marxist ideas  was very low indeed.  There was also a very dominant
rejection of Maoist type aesthetics among the students.  Both staff and
students placed emphasis on the formal features of poetry such as meter and
rhyme. These are of course the features that most people find boring or
uninteresting.  But my students had had enough of social content and
context. So my lectures on the sociology of poetry were regarded as a great
disappointment.

I did though score heavily with my rendering of Blake's Tyger. when asked
to do a guest lecture on a course on English poetry.  I had been told that
Ginsberg had a triumph with his reading of this in his visit to Beijing. He
did not understand though the source of the triumph and in his following
lectures he brought up the subject of homosexuality and even I was told
drew diagrams.  His audience were suitably shocked.  My informant who had
been there did not elaborate on the content of the drawings and I was
afraid to inquire.

In any case I did what I thought was an imitation of Ginsberg reading
Tyger, Tyger. I have since had the occasion to listen to a tape of Ginsberg
reading Blake and I doubt very much if there was any similarity at all
between our renderings of the great poem. But we take our triumphs where we
find them and my version of the poem did to some extent make up for the
abysmal flop of my lecture series.

comradely

Gary

On Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 10:03 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> “Over the past decade or so, there’s been a push on the part of the
> Chinese Communist Party to retell its origin story, its founding myths,”
> Blanchette says.
>
> One plank of this plan has been an effort to revive the study of Marxism,
> partly to counter the spread of liberal and religious thought. Last year,
> Peking University began the construction of a new building to house its
> Marxism department -- ironically funded by a bank.
>
> full:
> https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/29/neo-maoist-higher-ed-gaining-ground-china
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[Marxism] a snip

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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"The material conditions that generate the need for people to look for
substitutes for their agency—distress and oppression on the one hand,
married to feeling relatively powerless, on the other—all of that continues
to exist in late capitalism both because of, and despite the miscarriage of
concrete utopia."

I snipped the above from Lou's post.  I do so look forward to reading the
fuller version of his analysis of Stalinism.  I was especially intrigued by
the relevance of this remark for an understanding of the phenomenon of Left
Nietzscheanism or to be more exact the refuge by defeated leftist
intellectuals in the paranoid boasting that was the staple of Nietzsche's
offerings.

Someday I may get the time to do a full exploration of the duality of
Stalinism and Nietzscheanism. I am thinking especially of the fact that the
turn to Nietzsche in the 60s in France was partly sparked by the fear of
the PCF coming back into government in the Union de la Gauche.  So to
prevent that we had the rubbish about "There is no such thing as the truth
(Is that true?) the "End of the Grand Narratives" and the ontology of the
"rhizome" - (The potato rules). All would be risible if they had not been
taken so seriously and gone on to infect a whole generation of students.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] on being Trumped

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Yesterday, piqued by my increasing (from a low base, mind you) interest in
the US presidential elections, I decided to break a deep sworn vow and went
on youtube in search of Trump in his reality tv mode. I loathe reality tv
and have sworn to go to my grave with the boast that I have never watched a
Big Brother show, Master Chef, Australia's Got Talent or a 60 Minutes
episode.

But I yielded to temptation and searched for Trump and "you're fired". I
came across a 7 minute compilation of the "best" of Donald Trump.  Alas,
words fail me here like they did when I tried so hard as a young man to
become a poet and a novelist.

I had always imagined that Narcissus would be a pretty boy like in those
old classical paintings,  kneeling by the water side and languidly
contemplating his own beauty.  But no, here he was - ugly, red faced, bug
eyed and it all topped with that hair-do.

This Narcissus was not drunk on beauty but on the the grossest  and most
arbitrary displays of his own power. "You're fired" he would snarl and
almost without exception they would whimper, apologize and slink out of the
throne room. There were two exceptions. One of the contestants glared in
deep hatred but said nothing.  A young woman defied the Emperor and tried
to defend her leader who was about to be fired. Trump's wrath was almost
incandescent.

Icarus plunged to earth when he got too near the sun, but these poor souls
had gone down into Hades to become victims of the wrinkled lip and sneer of
cold command.

I tried to work out what viewing the tape meant to me other than fill me
with despair at the sad search for 13 minutes of fame that has so many in
thrall. This post is, I suppose, part of that working out. As a teenager I
remember being deeply puzzled and depressed by the Marabar Caves episode in
Foster's *Passage to India*. Mrs Moore goes into the caves and experiences
some kind of nervous breakdown when the echo in the cave seems to say to
her, 'Everything exists, nothing has value'. Mrs Moore leaves India,
decides not to write to her children and she then proceeds to die. Thank
you Mr Foster! Watching the youtube tape I wondered if this would
become my Marabar Caves moment?

I have, though, since read Vasant A. Shahane's Zen Buddhist reading of the
Marabar Caves incident. For him, Mrs Moore encounters the Void and comes to
understand the essential meaningless of life.  BTW I am not absolutely
convinced by Shahane's insistence that his reading is an optimistic one.

I can accept the proposition that all that Trump stands for - his wealth
and power and vulgarity contain nothing of value. I can understand that for
him to be strutting the airways is a sign of the almost absolute decay and
decomposition of late capitalism. But I feel that what Trump represents
must be actively resisted. It is necessary to be horrified at the spectacle
of him doing dirt on life, but it is not sufficient.  Instead of quietism
and acceptance, we must stoke the fires of revolutionary resistance.  it is
necessary to say once more
*encore un effort.*

comradely

Gary






Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 31, No. 2/3, E. M. Forster Issue (Summer
- Autumn, 1985), pp. 279-286
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[Marxism] A thought on the US elections

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Of course, I agree that Sanders is no Debs.  Is he even an Upton Sinclair?
I also believe there will be no progress in America until the Democratic
Party is destroyed and that for a radical to run as a Democrat is to give
the enemy credibility. That is the ethical and cognitive aspects of my
thinking at work.

Having said that however, there is a certain aesthetic pleasure in watching
the Clintons squirm with anxiety that maybe, just maybe the PRIZE is
slipping away from them.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Straight from the horse's mouth; what the ruling class really thinks of us

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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When I watch this, and it is priceless, I hear the rattle of the wheels of
tumbrels.  Indeed it is looking more and more like the best of times (for
them) and the worst of times (for us).  But we know how that story turned
out do we not?

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 12:33 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
>
> This33 second video of Sir Alan James Carter Duncan, KCMG <
> https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153675647741939/?fref=nf>in
> the UK House of Commons recently, defending David Cameron’s tax dodging,
> shows what the ruling class really thinks about us. Low achievers of the
> world unite!!!
>
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2016/04/12/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-what-the-ruling-class-really-think-about-us/
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Re: [Marxism] Thompson on Morris

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I have been very influenced by Tamas' remarks about Thompson in his great
essay Telling the Truth about  class"  <
http://www.grundrisse.net/grundrisse22/tellingTheTruthAboutClass.htm>.  the
following excerpt is very interesting, I feel.

comradely

Gary

"All versions of socialist endeavour can and should be classified into two
principal kinds, one inaugurated by Rousseau, the other by Marx. The two
have opposite visions of the social subject in need of liberation, and
these visions have determined everything from rarefied epistemological
posi­tions concerning language and consciousness to social and political
attitudes concerning wealth, culture, equality, sexuality and much else. It
must be said at the outset that many, perhaps most socialists who have
sincerely believed they were Marxists, have in fact been Rousseauists.
Freud has eloquently described resistances to psychoanalysis; intuitive
resistance to Marxism is no less widespread, even among socialists. It is
emotionally and intellectually difficult to be a Marxist since it goes
against the grain of moral indignation which is, of course, the main reason
people become socialists.

One of the greatest historians of the Left, E.P. Thompson, has synthe­sized
what can be best said of class in the tradition of Rousseauian socialism
which believes itself to be Marxian.1 The Making of the English Working
Class is universally – and rightly – recognized to be a masterpiece. Its
beauty, moral force and conceptual elegance originate in a few strikingly
unusual articles of faith: (1) that the working class is a worthy cultural
competitor of the ruling class; (2) that the Lebenswelt of the working
class is socially and morally superior to that of its exploiters; (3) that
regardless of the outcome of the class struggle, the autonomy and
separateness of the working class is an intrinsic social value; (4) that
the class itself is constituted by the autopoiesis of its rebellious
political culture, including its re-interpretation of various tradi­tions,
as well as by technology, wage labour, commodity production and the rest.
Whereas Karl Marx and Marxism aim at the abolition of the proletariat,
Thompson aims at the apotheosis and triumphant survival of the proletariat.

Thompson’s Rousseauian brand of Marxism triggered a sustained critique by
Perry Anderson, one that is now half-forgotten but still extremely
impor­tant. Although his terms are quite different from mine, Anderson
sought to show that Thompson’s conviction that he was a Marxist was
erroneous.2 Thompson had participated in a number of movements and
intellectual adventures inspired by Marxism, and his fidelity to radical
socialism – under twentieth-century circumstances – meant loyalty to
Marxism’s revolution­ary legacy. But Thompson had to ignore the
Faustian-demonic encomium of capitalism inherent in Marx, and so he had to
oppose ‘critical theory’, and then theory tout court.3 Anderson later
described this decomposition of ‘Western Marxism’ – away from class to ‘the
people’ – in conceptual terms,4 a diagnosis that has been proved right by
events since."



On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 3:36 AM, Andrew Pollack via Marxism <
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>
> New at MIA:
> https://www.marxists.org/archive/thompson-ep/1951/william-morris.htm
> Thanks to Paul Flewers for transcribing this.
> I'd be interested to hear from him and others with more knowledge of the
> period in general and Thompson and/or Morris in particular, what they make
> of this piece.
> On the one hand it's an inspiring appeal for mass agitation on the
> nonmaterial, morally and culturally uplifting features of socialism a la
> Morris's dreams.
> On the other it tries to minimize or deny Stalinist crimes, and thus makes
> me wonder what Thompson in his post-Stalinist days made of Morris (and
> whether his attachment to Morris helped him break from Stalinism).
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Re: [Marxism] Jacobin editor urges voting for Clintony in swing states

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Well, Michael, I can inagine circumstances in which I would pull the lever
on the whole Clinton clan!

comradely

Gary

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>
> This isn't surprising. What is surprising is why anyone would take
Sankara's political pronouncements seriously. His resume is incredibly
thin.  A self-admitted hustler, successful in building Jacobin's
subscriptions, which is to be applauded, given that the magazine publishes
some decent pieces. But hustlers are always short on principles, and he is
no exception. Who could actually pull that lever for Clinton? Under any
circumstances.
>
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[Marxism] Another Roberts blog

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Roberts concludes his latest Jeremiad with this

"Monetarist solutions to the global slowdown have failed; Keynesian fiscal
solutions are not being introduced and would not work in the long run
anyway.  The only way out is another slump."

This sounds similar to the advice Mellon was supposed to have given Hoover
-"Liquidate".

Maybe I have become a softie, but I am hoping that we will not go over the
edge and that fiscal initiatives will be launched. I am too old to be
worried by the claim that Keynesian solutions "will not work in the long
run".  There is no long run as far as I am concerned.

If the austerians have their way and they cut taxes and government
spending, then we will simply head into the Slump. Then the suffering will
be terrible.

At times like this Roberts sounds almost cold-blooded and he reminds me a
lot of the characters that ran the ISO tendency here. Having said that, I
would repeat his blog is invaluable as a window into the current debates.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] Ten Days in Brisbane

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Ten Days in Brisbane

The saga of Baby Asha is over for the moment.  She was a two year old
Nepalese girl, born in Darwin to parents who sought refugee status.  The
parents were transferred to the refugee detention centre on Nauru Island in
accordance with the policy which sees the Australian government process
applicants for refugee status off-shore at Nauru and Manus Islands. Asha
suffered burns on Manus Islands and was transferred to the Lady Cilento
Hospital in Brisbane.  The doctors treated her and then refused to release
her because her safety could not be guaranteed at the refugee centre. This
stance sparked a spontaneous swell of support from hundreds of Brisbane
residents.  Brisbane is a conservative city in a conservative state in a
conservative country.  The sight of so many people making signs and rushing
to the hospital to defend the child was a deeply moving experience for
myself who has been a life-long card carrying member of the “Judea National
Liberation Front”, and who has attended more demonstrations (tiny) than I
care to recall.



In face of the demonstrations the Government backed down and allowed Asha
and her parents to be placed in community detention here in Brisbane.  It
is election year after all.

The Asha Affair has to be placed in the context of the attempt by all
Australian governments to discourage refugees from coming here in boats.  Our
former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, even went to the UK and advocated his
policy of ‘stopping the boats’ as a solution to the refugee crisis in
Europe. Lest one questions the relevance of turning back boats in the
landlocked countries of Europe, one needs to understand that what Abbott
was advocating was a policy of extreme cruelty backed up by a determination
to preserve the “cultural basis” of Europe.  Australia history is one of
being a white colonial settler nation, where the local Indigenous
population have often  been treated with extreme brutality. The
constitution drawn up in 1901 also declared that Australia was White
country and accordingly non-whites were excluded.  This status was only
changed in 1972.

Consequently, there is a populist basis for racist rhetoric around “rag
heads” and “boat-people”. Both major political parties Liberal and Labor
have vied with each other to capture this inherently racist sentiment.
Xenophobia and paranoia have been milked ruthlessly for votes by Prime
Minister Howard, and Abbott on the Conservative side and by Prime Ministers
Rudd and Gillard on the Labor side.  For most Australians the refugees are
the Feared Despised Other and seemingly there was no policy too cruel that
was not electorally popular.

That seems to have changed with the Asha affair. I believe that calls for
some reflection and what follows is an attempt to begin the conversation. I
would like to initiate what hopefully will become an exchange by
contrasting two positons on what it is to be human. Firstly we have that
articulated most forcibly by Alain Badiou[1] <#_ftn1>, who incidentally is
a fearless campaigner for the rights of migrants in France. Badiou wrote

This systematic killer [‘the human animal’] pursues in the giant ant hills
he constructs, interests of survival and satisfaction neither more nor less
estimable than those of moles or tiger beetles. He has shown himself to be
the most wily of animals, the most patient, the most obstinately dedicated
to the cruel desires of his own power.[2] <#_ftn2>

 The above quote reads as a blunt neo-Nietzschean inspired attack on
humanist ethics.  But, Badiou is above all a subtle thinker and he does
leave the door ajar with his affirmation that humanity has an impulse that
seeks to take it beyond ‘being-for-death’ and towards immortality[3]
<#_ftn3>. We note, with considerable gratitude, the rejection of the
Heideggerian dogma of ‘being-for-death’ as the defining characteristic of *homo
sapiens*. Nevertheless, Badiou’s argument that it is the attitude towards
truth which will facilitate the opening towards immortality and
transcendence is at best obscure. It does though have tantalising echoes of
Bhaskar’s characterization of meta-Reality as a philosophy not of being but
as a ‘philosophy of truth’[4] <#_ftn4>

What is missing is a theory of human nature which allows for a tendency
towards decency to assert itself and also a theory which sees the moral
evolution of humanity as open[5] <#_ftn5>.  But Badiou’s radical
anti-ethical position prevents him from making such a move.  By contrast,
Bhaskar, especially in his meta-reality moment, has no such difficulty.
When  on Sunday, the 21st February, the authorities informed Asha’s mother
that she was going to be taken 

[Marxism] The Asha saga

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Listers may know about the little refugee child , Asha, who is holed up in
the hospital here in Brisbane - the Lady Cilento Hospital.  The doctors
refuse to release her to be returned to the refugee detention centre.  She
had burned herself in  an accident.  John has posted about this earlier.
The Waterside Union -the MUA, led by a great socialist Bob Carnegie, has
thrown its support behind the crowd who have gathered around the hospital
in support of the doctors and Asha. ,

Tonight it seems the authorities intend making an attempt to seize the
child.  A crowd of over a thousand, very big for Brisbane, has been
marshaled via the social media and the police seem stymied at the moment.

I will try and get time to write a more reflective piece about all this.
For the moment I will just say that I think there has been a significant
shift in public opinion around the refugees. The fate of Asha seems to have
struck the inner humanity of Australians and they do not want her sent back
to prison.

As I write this over my phone I can hear the crowd singing Amazing Grace in
an effort to access their ground state of love and solidarity, as Bhaskar
would have put it,  in the face of the power of the State. To listen to the
singing is a deeply moving and humbling experience.

Perhaps we might make it as a speciesPerhaps

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: NYT Rounds Up ‘Left-Leaning Economists’ for a Unicorn Hunt — FAIR

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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This was a very good article.  Good on Doug; his acerbic wit reminds me
forcibly of our very own specialist in morally inspired vitriol. John
Passant.  Long live this list. Where else would one go to find such
passionate decency?
comradely

Gary

On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 6:22 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
>
>
> http://fair.org/home/nyt-rounds-up-left-leaning-economists-for-a-unicorn-hunt/
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Re: [Marxism] Why did Turnbull dump the proposed GST increase?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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John wrote

"It was our basic class gut instincts that stopped Malcolm Turnbull
bringing home the GST bacon for his class."

I agree totally with this, and in itself the reaction of the workers is
worth considering.  the First Budget of the right wing Coalition government
was rejected though the opinion polls.  this rejection stayed the course
for two years until the change in leadership of the Coalition Government.

Class rejectionism retreated and the Coalition government surged in the
polls.  But a return to a GST to fund tax cuts for the wealthy was too much
and class rejectionism looked set to return to centre stage. that spooked
Turnbull and he retreated.

But the problems of funding education and health services remains. And it
is the cuts in these areas that will mean that the class once more will
need to become active.

But all this happens in a very Australian way.  Compulsory voting in
Australia erodes the apathy that the ruling classes in USA and the UK
depend on so much. Correspondingly electoralism seems so much more
powerful.  What is so needed is a transition from class rejectionism in the
opinion polls to rejectionism in the streets.

comradely

Gary

On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 4:52 AM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
> Why did Turnbull dump the proposed GST increase?
>
> You can put lipstick on a pig but most of us are not going to buy it. It
> was our basic class gut instincts that stopped Malcolm Turnbull bringing
> home the GST bacon for his class.
>
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2016/02/11/why-did-turnbull-dump-the-proposed-gst-increase/
>
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Re: [Marxism] What Norman Thomas told Upton Sinclair

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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very powerful rhetoric really.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 9:10 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> (From Greg Mitchell's "Campaign of the Century")
>
> Words are symbols. You alone, or you with the help of a certain number of
> California voters, cannot make the word Democratic a symbol for Socialism.
> That word with its capital D is a symbol for the party which bitterly
> discriminates not only against Negroes but white workers in the South, for
> the party of Tammany Hall in New York, and Hague in New Jersey. There are
> not words enough in the dictionary for you to explain to the great masses
> of common folk who have looked to your books for leadership the different
> sense in which you are Democrat. Still less will you be able to explain
> your defection to the multitudes in Europe who have hailed you as prophet
> and spokesman of their hopes.
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Re: [Marxism] Mike Alewitz on Bernie Sanders

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Well I have to confess, to a sneaking pleasure that Sanders was doing
well.  I know, I know. My Bad.

But there is an absolute dearth of anything like the Good News. Here in
Australia a billionaire Tory phoney has the liberal progressives in a
swoon. The Arab Spring was strangled in the cradle. Syriza cut its own
throat. And the sight of Putin in Moscow makes me want to retch. I won't go
on.

Alewitz is absolutely correct, (unfortunately).  And I have been pulled
into line, and I promise I won't backslide...still

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 3:25 AM, Michael Yates via Marxism <
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>
> From the fine artist, Mike Alewitz's Facebook page:
> UNDERSTANDING THE SANDERS REVOLUTION
> Let me see if I get this correctly:
> Bernie Sanders went on demonstrations in the early 1960s, but then took a
> 50-year break until 2014.So he skipped the anti-Vietnam War movement, the
> women’s movement and the other critical social movements of his
> generation.Now he supports working people, but thinks its ok to bomb them
> in other countries.And he’s for democracy, but he supports monarchies and
> Israeli apartheid.He’s for government transparency, but wants Snowden to
> stand trial.He’s independent, but has always supported the corporate
> Democratic Party candidates.He’s against police violence, but thinks the
> police are a socialist institution.He voted against the Iraq War, but then
> voted to fund it.He’s battling the Washington establishment, but he’s a
> lifelong professional politician.He’s against Hillary Clinton, but has
> pledged to support her after she wins the primary.He’s a democratic
> socialist, but assures us he will not threaten capitalism.And he has
> proclaimed that his vote in Iowa was the beginning of a Political
> Revolution...So - he’s getting movement activists off the streets and
> signing them up to strengthen the Democratic Party, a party that destroys
> progressive movements, so he can lead the revolution that will end
> Democratic Party politics, in order to move to a kind of socialism that
> preserves capitalism?
> Makes total sense.___
> What a complete waste of time by left-liberals devoting their energies to
> tweeting and facebooking every ten seconds during Sanders-Clinton debates,
> going on and on about a Sanders' revolution. Meanwhile, death and
> destruction are rained down upon people all over the world, ignored by both
> candidates, who would do nothing to end it. And the environment gets more
> unlivable by the month, and again neither candidate gives a shit about it
> and has no plan to change things. Just as those who support, directly or
> indirectly, butchers like Assad and Putin should be shunned, so too should
> those who more or less demand that leftists support Sanders be, scorned and
> shunned. They are enemies of the left and make no mistake about it.
>
>
>
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: After Iowa, building an unstoppable revolution - Jill2016

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Wonderful statement.  It is easy to preach from afar, but really by now
everyone should be over the Democrats.  I recall a conversation with a
young visiting American Student who asked me who I would vote for and I
said 'Nader' and he replied "A vote for Nader is a wasted vote" - a classic
piece of fast thinking.
I would like to meet him again and ask him how voting for Gore went.

Somehow and no matter how painful it might seem, we have to break with the
good cop, bad cop nonsense that is the Republicans versus the Democrats.

comradely

Gary

On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 12:55 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> Jill Stein speaks.
>
> http://www.jill2016.com/after_iowa_building_an_unstoppable_revolution
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[Marxism] Michael Roberts' latest

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/152a6df7e15c1c99

This will shortly appear on the list 'nae doot' but I thought I would get
in with an early, if ill-informed, comment.  This it seems to me was
Roberts at his very best.  His strengths are his grasp of empirical
detail.  There are enough graphs to make the most empirically minded of
moderators happy.

There is of course just a touch (justifiable) of *Schadenfreude*, when he
contemplates the wreckage littering the wake of neo-classical economics.
His commentary bites hard when he considers Zero Interest Rates,
Quantitative Easing, and now the new entry into the field - Negative
Interest Rates.  He quotes Richard Koo to good effect that these policy
shifts are all signs of increasing desperation.

But Roberts is nothing if not consistent.  The crisis is on us because the
rate of profit is tending to fall.  He will have nothing of the theory of
underconsumptionism and so there is nothing that can be done bar bring on
the revolution.  As a closeted underconsumptionist, I think this is a bit
hard.  I hope to see the state adapt fiscal measures, but strange as it may
seem the political crisis is not as deep as the economic one and so we will
not get a return to Keynes just yet, if at all.

Whatever the case, I am not looking forward to the 'creative destruction'
that Roberts mentions in his last paragraph.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Two-state, one-state

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I agree with you Phil that the Israeli state is brittle.  The problem is
the at the Zionist enterprise "a land without a people for a people without
a land" was always a fiction, as was the central myth that there were
returning to the Mother Country (Israel) from the Diaspora. the existence
of Palestinians in Palestine (!) meant that ethnic cleansing was always, as
in always, a necessary condition for success.

A second round of ethnic cleansing is absolutely necessary for the Zionist
project, but the political conditions for that project are not there.
Netanyahu is on record at regretting the opportunities that have been
missed- the Six Day war was one such opportunity but it was over so quickly
that the Israelis did not have the time to organize the ethnic cleansing.
So like the Protestants of Ulster they have a demographic time bomb ticking
away.  The two state solution was meant to solve that. But the Greater
Israel mob remain in the political ascendancy and the territorial swaps
needed to make both states viable cannot be sold to either side.

So we have a long lasting "peace process" punctured regularly by slaughter
to test the Palestinian will.  But against all the odds it is increasingly
clear that the Palestinians are heroically staying the course. Gradually as
well the reputation of Israel has begun to stink until now it a scandal
unto the nations and without a moral centre it cannot survive.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 12:13 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
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>
> I used to tend to think of the Israeli government as pretty shrewd
> operators.  However, these days they seem to have maybe screwed up.  Arafat
> effectively surrendered to them and was willing to be their stooge - but
> they destroyed him.  They have done the same thing with the Palestinian
> Authority.
>
> The Brits always played stooges and handed authority over the oppressed to
> the stooges at some point.  Ireland is a classic example.
>
> Most recently, the Brits figured out who in the Provos' leadership was up
> for a deal and fastened on Adams (and McGuiness) and did a deal with them.
>
> But the Zionist leaders just don't seem interested in deals and handing
> over some authority to stooges as the price for maintaining the overall
> set-up - the method of reworking the set-up by a bit of exclusive
> inclusiveness as it were.  They just seem to want to humiliate *all* the
> Palestinians, even the most supine people like the Fatah leaders.  It's all
> stick and no carrot, which doesn't seem a very clever and sophisticated way
> for oppressors to operate.
> On the other hand, folks like Netanyahu received their political education
> in the US, whose rulers are less sophisticated operators than the old
> British and French imperialists were.  Since the stick usually worked well
> for the US imperialists - well, up until Vietnam - perhaps they never
> really learned the importance of the carrots, and so the Zionists they
> trained didn't either.
>
> I think another element is that the Zionist state is, of necessity, pretty
> brittle.  It's one thing to use carrots when you're British imperialism and
> your colonies are thousands of miles away, or across a stretch of sea in
> the Irish case; it's quite another thing to use the carrot when the people
> you're oppressing are among you and next to you.  It seems that the Zionist
> state, by its very nature, may have little negotiating room, little 'give'
> in it.
>
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/is-there-a-two-state-solution-to-israel-palestinian-conflict-2/
>
> A couple of other pieces on Redline folks might be interested in:
> For a campaign of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle:
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/for-a-campaign-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-struggle/
> NZ interview with Leila Khaled:
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/nz-solidarity-activist-interviews-leila-khaled-2010/
> Veteran Israeli Marxist Moshe Machover on Does Israel have a future?:
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/does-israel-have-a-future/
> Veteran British anti-imperialist and working class activist Tony Greenstein
> on Israel: world's most racist state?:
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/08/15/israel-worlds-most-racist-state/
> 

Re: [Marxism] The War for the West Rages On

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Well said!

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 3:35 AM, Michael Yates via Marxism <
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>
> I have spent a great deal of time in Utah over the past ten years or so.
> And in may other Western states as well. There is a great deal of federal
> (public) land in the West, especially in Utah. The Bundys and others of
> their ilk, many of them Mormons, have no real concept of land belonging to
> all of the people. And it seems that some here can't conceive of this
> either. We should all take the view that this is, as Woody Guthrie sang,
> our land. It must be protected by all of us, and we must demand that
> wildlife be protected on such land and that it must not be logged, mined,
> and ranched, creating a situation where those who lease such land and who
> pay very little for this privilege come to believe that this land is
> theirs. The Mormons who run Utah lock, stock, and barrel, lust to control
> federal lands in the state. And I can guarantee you that if they did gain
> control over it, they would soon enough sell or lease it to private
> corporations who would mine, frack, and ranch it to its death. Already the
> once clean air in southern Utah, home to five splendid and amazing national
> parks and several national monuments, is almost always hazy and polluted.
> If the state gets the land, the air, water, and soil quality will diminish
> beyond recognition and good luck to the animals, other than cattle. Edward
> Abbey, who has been mocked by certain "left liberals" who neither know nor
> care about these matters but who waste their days bashing Hillary Clinton
> and praising Bernie Sanders (neither of whom give a shit about the
> environment either) was always willing to stand up to the cattle interests
> and the state and federal policies that have subsidized them for so long.
> We should emulate Abbey and stand up to all of the crackpots and
> capitalists whose very essence wreaks havoc on Mother Nature and demand
> that these lands belong to all of us and must be preserved, expanded, and
> cared for for all time. The Bundys and all like them belong in prison. The
> sooner the better.
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Re: [Marxism] Is 'two-state solution' dead?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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We should be clear that it is the Israeli government that has killed the
two state solution and not the Palestinians.  The corrupt ninnies that
constitute the Palestinian regime have been so outmaneuvered by the
Zionists that the most radical  way forward and the one most likely to
achieve victory  may be unavoidable. All in all it makes for a strange
dialectic.  We could have a unitary *de facto* state with the Palestinians
demanding universal franchise. Now wouldn't that be embarrassing for the
"only democracy in the Middle east"?

comradely

Gary

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 2:21 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
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>
> At the Palestine Solidarity Campaign AGM last weekend in London, the
> Palestinian ambassador to Britain declared that the two-state solution was
> dead and actually called for a unitary state.
>
> Interesting given that the Palestine Authority that he represents are
> two-state quislings.
>
> Whatever about Palestinian quislings - yesterday, today and tomorrow - the
> Zionist state has made a two-state solution impossible anyway.
>
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/is-there-a-two-state-solution-to-israel-palestinian-conflict-2/
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Re: [Marxism] Mainstream economics finally recognizes that unequal power produces unequal income and wealth

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Comrade Shalva,

thanks for the link.

I think though you are a little unfair to Michael Roberts. His argument, as
far as I understand it, is that capitalism is fatally flawed (Tendency of
the Rate of Profit to Fall) and must be replaced by socialism.

His anti-Keynesianism does at times seem to put him on the side of the
right-wing anti-Keynesians in that he argues the state cannot do anything
and they argue the state should not try.

Compromisers like myself, think that a bout of Keynesianism would be a very
good thing for the poor whose plight is increasingly desperate. I am too
old now to wait for an economic Armageddon which will put a radical
alternative in place.

That does not make me a reformist.  I have no doubt that capitalism must be
replaced in *toto. *
But we need broad fronts and general movement and that is why I welcome the
Kuttner article, though one is tempted to say "Duh!" at the spectacle of a
liberal trying to work out capitalism.

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Jan 26, 2016 at 7:14 AM, Shalva Eliava via Marxism <
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>
> This article isn't really all that interesting for radicals, but it did
> have one line that I liked, since it highlights the affinities between the
> latter-day falling profit rate fundamentalists and the neoclassicists:
>
> "On the inequality conundrum, conservative economists divide four ways.
> Some are denialists. Rising inequality is simply a mirage if you make the
> right adjustments to the data. Scott Winship of the Manhattan Institute
> operates a small cottage industry purporting to demonstrate that if you
> correct for a variety of factors ranging from household size to counting
> health insurance as income, the statistical rise in inequality mostly
> vanishes."
>
> - this is exactly the argument that Kliman and his disciples (e.g. Michael
> Roberts) make...just so they can rule out "underconsumption" as a factor of
> crisis.
>
> http://prospect.org/article/new-inequality-debate-0
>
>
> Отправлено с Айтелеграфа
>
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Re: [Marxism] Ricardo Duchesne

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Lou wrote:
 I went to the Wiki entry on him and was shocked to discover that this
sociology professor, who was born in Puerto Rico, has become a full-tilt
racist.  Duchesne is a vehement critic of immigrant
multiculturalism[17][18][19] and political correctness in academe.[20]
Since the publication of his 2011 book, Duchesne has been arguing that the
multicultural interpretation of the West is part of a wider effort by
established elites to create heterogeneous race-mixed societies inside all
European-created nations through the promotion of mass immigration."

My comment:  Let me make a wild crazy guess:  His career has taken off.

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> I don't know how many Marmmailers or PEN-L'ers are familiar with this guy
> nowadays since he is no longer much of a presence on the Internet. He was
> never on Marxmail but on PEN-L where he first came to my attention as a
> vehement defender of the Brenner thesis. After a number of years, he swung
> completely in the other direction and began attacking it. As I began
> reading the chapter on the divergence of West and East of
> Anievas/Nisancioglu's "How the West Came to Rule", I was surprised to see
> him mentioned as a defender of the idea that the West became hegemonic
> because of its "higher intellectual and artistic creativity". I went to the
> Wiki entry on him and was shocked to discover that this sociology
> professor, who was born in Puerto Rico, has become a full-tilt racist.
>
>
> Duchesne is a vehement critic of immigrant multiculturalism[17][18][19]
> and political correctness in academe.[20] Since the publication of his 2011
> book, Duchesne has been arguing that the multicultural interpretation of
> the West is part of a wider effort by established elites to create
> heterogeneous race-mixed societies inside all European-created nations
> through the promotion of mass immigration.
>
> full: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Duchesne
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[Marxism] a query

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Lenin's Tomb has gone into semi-permanent recess, alas.  UK subscribers  to
Lou's list seem to be most noticeable by their silence, alas again.  Does
anyone know of a source (Leftist of course and preferably not ISO) which
comments regularly on UK politics?  Would be grateful for a pointer.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] 2016?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I woke up this morning to a warning in the Guardian from the Bank of
Scotland's (RBS) economists.  We are all to eliminate our share portfolios
except for Government bonds.

I did not feel the need to call my broker as I am too broke to have a share
portfolio.

Still I think it is very interesting to pair The RBS's warnings with the
alarums and excursions coming out of Michael Roberts.  I am particularly
interested in the impact of the collapse of crude oil prices.  Maturo in
Venezuela may have been the first victim, but it might be worth keeping
one's eye on Saudi Arabia. the Royal Family is already muttering about the
need for Thatcherism. The recent mass executions  might also signify a
nervous ruling elite.

If they apply Thatcherism inside the Kingdom, then I think all bets are
off. The Royal Family survives because of its capacity to bribe. If that
capacity is diminished by the fall in the price of crude, then it is just
possible we could be in for a Second Wave of the Arab Spring.  And it might
be one that takes out the most corrupt leadership in the world - the Saudi
royal family.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Labour parties and their left oppositions

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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It all reminds me of the immortal lines

Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite them, and little fleas
have lesser fleas, and so

*ad infinitum.*


*comradely*

*Gary*

On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 8:58 AM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
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>
> Just as, in the imperialist countries, the ruling class requires a 'loyal
> opposition' in the form of Labour parties - indeed, today LPs are generally
> an integral part of capital's political establishment, not oppositional in
> any sense - so Labour parties require internal loyal oppositions.
>
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/labour-parties-and-their-left-oppositions/
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Deconstructing cannibalism | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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So beautifully written.  Thank you.

What though of Caliban's great speech? -

*CALIBAN*

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

​There is so much in this.  To begin with we have the achievement of
subject-object identity where Caliban feels and knows and lives the truth
that nature is enchanted. Then we have the highlighting of the fears and
hostility of modernity towards nature. These vary same fears lie behind the
war we have declared on nature.  This, as all on this list know, is a wear
nature will win.

But even more remarkable for me is the construction of Caliban, only for a
moment admittedly, as the moral and aesthetic superior of the colonist,
because in Caliban's speech the moral and the aesthetic come into harmony

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Is there a brig big enough for Briggs?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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John asked:


"Over to you Mr Turnbull. Or are you just a smarmy version of Tony Abbott?"

Now, that's what I would call a rhetorical question!

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Jan 3, 2016 at 8:13 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
>
> Is there a brig big enough for Briggs?
>
> Why did former Australian government Minister Jamie Briggs distribute a
> photo of the female victim to colleagues before and after this blew up? Did
> he discuss the photo with anyone? If so, what was the nature of those
> discussions?
>
> We know from the Royal Witch Hunt into Trade Unions that this is a
> government keen on stamping out bullies and referring all 'errant'
> behaviour to the relevant authorities. Well Mr Turnbull, here is your
> chance. Refer the photos and their leaking to the Australian Federal Police
> and Fair Work Australia for investigation.
>
> The AFP can see if taking the photos, distributing them to colleagues and
> leaking them to the press are crimes, and who did what in relation to the
> leaking and publication. Fair Work can protect the female victim from the
> bullying that is the leaking of the photos and their publication by finding
> and then taking punitive action against the bullies.
>
> Over to you Mr Turnbull. Or are you just a smarmy version of Tony Abbott?
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2016/01/03/is-there-a-brig-big-enough-for-briggs/
>
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Re: [Marxism] Coming in at number 4 in my top ten of 2015 – Jeremy Corbyn through my Australian eyes

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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John's comments on the absence of a Corbyn figure in the Australian Labor
Party are so very true.  Partly I suspect because any such figure would
have been de-selected long, long ago.

That is not to say however that if events become so traumatic as they have
in Spain, Ireland, Scotland and Greece that there will not be an enormous
shake up that will be reflected in the Labor Party.  Should such occur,
then we would need to abandon any simplistic formulations (& I am sincerely
not suggesting John does this) or apriori assumptions about what is likely
to happen.

But such a fluid, and dynamic situation does not exist at present.

comradely

Gary

On Thu, Dec 31, 2015 at 5:18 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
> Coming in at number 4 in my top ten of 2015 – Jeremy Corbyn through my
> Australian eyes
>
> I wrote this in September in response to the enthusiasm for change that
> Jeremy Corbyn's campaign for and stunning election to the leadership of the
> British Labour Party inspired. It compares that enthusiasm and upsurge in
> Labour Party membership to the insipid Labor Party here. I say in part:
>
> 'Many of my readers will be hoping for a Jeremy Corbyn in Australia to
> move the Labor Party here to the left. There is no Corbyn in the
> Parliamentary Labor Party. The Labor left, such as it is, is thoroughly
> imbued with the logic of neoliberalism. In the main it is a tribal
> allegiance rather than an ideological ferment of ideas to challenge
> capitalism. You never hear the S word from these very models of a modern
> major general of capital. None of the possible contenders for Corbyn down
> under have the same track record as Corbyn in opposing austerity or
> fighting against social and political injustice. Indeed people like
> Albanese and Plibersek have been Ministers in Labor governments that have
> implemented neoliberal policies and attacked public services and workers’
> rights and conditions. They are part of the very problem Corbyn is fighting
> against.'
>
> To read the whole article click here.
>
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/12/31/coming-in-at-number-4-in-my-top-ten-of-2015-jeremy-corbyn-through-my-australian-eyes/
>
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Re: [Marxism] Lenin on Clausewitz

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Andrew

thank you ever so much for the link.  I have been doing some studies in
Clausewitz myself and am particularly interested in how the US War College
approaches him.

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 10:56 AM, Andrew Stewart via Marxism <
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>
> It occurs to me that part of the dialogue re: Syria must include an
> understanding about statecraft and practicality. I would refer folks to
> Lenin's study of Clausewitz and war so to grasp what is at stake. The
> discussion is not about who is better than other, it is about who is
> getting backing from state powers and what will happen as an aftermath of
> the war's end. Is a neoliberal like Obama going to support a libertarian
> communist project like that in Rojava or is he going to do the same as he
> did in Libya?
>
> http://www.clausewitz.com/bibl/DavisKohn-LeninsNotebookOnClausewitz.pdf
>
> --
> Best regards,
>
> Andrew Stewart
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: The Boston branch of the Socialist Workers Party shuts down | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I think it is important to point out here, Lou that the Boston closure is
at a time when the interest in socialism is seemingly at an all time high.
They wheel out Bernie Sanders and him with one foot in the proverbial, and
he attracts thousands of young people.  Ditto for Corbyn in the UK.

It is the vanguard "thang" that no one wants a part of any more.

comradely

Gary


On Wed, Dec 23, 2015 at 7:13 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> On May 15, 2015 I reported on my time in the Houston branch of the SWP
> that had just been closed down by the leadership in NY. If you could map
> the decline of the SWP in an Excel spreadsheet bar chart since the time I
> left 36 years ago, it would look like a Michael Roberts falling rate of
> profit graphic. If some vulgar Marxists predict the growth of the radical
> movement as an inverse function of the FROP, this is about as good an
> argument against vulgarity I can think of.
>
> A comrade who tracks the implosion of the SWP a lot closer than me
> reported the latest branch going under on the Yahoo group I set up just to
> allow former members to wisecrack and gossip about the cult. This time it
> was Boston. He gleaned its departure from its absence in the Militant
> newspaper’s directory of local distributors, which is a guide to where
> party branches exist. It is too soon to say whether there will be a report
> on its closing in the Militant as there was for the Houston branch but you
> can be sure that for old-timers in the party, a qualitatively bigger hole
> has been left in political terms. The Houston branch existed for 45 years
> while the Boston branch dates back to the 1920s before there was an SWP.
> That’s nearly a century.
>
> full:
> http://louisproyect.org/2015/12/22/the-boston-branch-of-the-socialist-workers-party-shuts-down/
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[Marxism] blast from the past

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I do hope the moderator will indulge me here.  I have been going though my
old floppy discs and have rescued some files from oblivion.  Among them was
a 1998 polemic with Professor Carl Plantinga of Calvin College.  I reviewed
his book on documentary film on the film philosophy list and he wrote back
an angry reply, which I cannot find.  But the substance of our disagreement
was Plantinga's gushing praise of Ed Murrow and his attack on McCarthy. So
I wrote back attacking on the philosophical and political fronts and below
is the political onslaught. If I may say so myself, it reads pretty well
some 17 years later. I would only harden it today.

comradely

Gary

24.3.98


Of Politics and Objectivity: Responding to Carl R. Plantinga





1. Introduction



I was delighted to be informed by Daniel that Carl R. Plantinga was going
to reply to my and Jay Raskin's review of his book, _Rhetoric and
Representation in Nonfiction Movies_,

However Plantinga did not like my review of his book, tending to see it as
a "political diatribe".  Admittedly there was political comment in my
review but there was also a good deal more philosophy.  Ah well, that's all
one.  "If you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen", I say.



Now there are two distinct areas of concern - political and philosophical.
To be frank I am anxious about pursuing political discussions on a list
devoted to film and philosophy, but I trust the moderator will bear with me
a little if I reply to the main points that Plantinga has made before
plunging into matters philosophical.



I would advise the reader who is not interested in political discussion to
skip the politics and head straight to the philosophy.  There by drawing
upon the work of Roy Bhaskar, Andrew Collier and William Outhwaite, I
provide what I would argue is the solution to the objectivity problem.





2. Politics



Let us go back to the source in some attempt to achieve clarity. Plantinga
wrote:-



"In this broadcast (Report on Senator McCarthy) Edward R. Murrow, at great
personal risk, stepped out of his institutional role as "objective" news
broadcaster to take on the powerful Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and his
irresponsible red-baiting". (Plantinga, 1997: 210)



I wrote



"Moreover Plantinga's characterization of McCarthyism as "irresponsible
red-baiting" (: 210) should not be allowed to go unchallenged.  The “red
baiting” consisted in the terrorizing and intimidation of thousands, the
wrecking of lives and the vicious persecution of progressive minded people,
and the destruction of decent trade unionists. "



I then attempted to illustrate the inadequacy of Plantinga's formulation of
the nature of McCarthyism by drawing upon the standard philosophical
instance - Isaiah Berlin's argument concerning correct perlocutionary force.



I wrote



"I am reminded here of Isaiah Berlin's famous comparison between the
following sentences about Nazi rule in Germany.



a. The country was depopulated.

b. Millions of people died.

c. Millions of people were killed.

d. Millions of people were massacred.

(In Bhaskar, 1979: 75)



All of these sentences are true but only d. is acceptable as it alone pays
some tribute to the dead.  The victims of Auschwitz deserve better than
"depopulated". Similarly those who suffered at the hands of Joseph McCarthy
(and President Truman) deserve better than "irresponsible"."



Plantinga lost the plot here.  He suggests that I am proposing an
"analogous understatement about the Nazi Holocaust".  He seems to be
unaware of the import of Berlin's example.  Thus he accuses me of inferring
that he is a Nazi apologist. I did no such thing.  If I had had the thought
or even a slight suspicion that Plantinga was a fascist I would not have
paid a penny for his book, never mind the $95 it cost me.  Nor would I be
bothering with a reply.



I must, though, confess that before I opened Plantinga's book, I was
expecting him to be a liberal- a typically apolitical product of the
Carroll-Bordwell school of thought. Now it is true that I indulged in some
tautology and described him as a "naive liberal".  That was a little wicked
of me but in my defence I would point out that I could have compounded the
tautology by saying "naive American liberal".  Howsoever I could have
characterized his politics, the truth is that nothing in Plantinga's book
or reply has shaken my initial expectations.



Let me try and clarify my original point.  Plantinga was wrong to state
that McCarthyism was "irresponsible red-baiting".  It was much, much worse.
Moreover I say this with some force for the point is an important one.  From
1947 onward the Left in the USA 

[Marxism] From the Death of the Arab Spring to the Defeat in Venezuela

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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One could add Syriza's disastrous capitulation to the above heading. Not
good, is my first reaction.  Those who thought (and I include myself among
them) that the periphery in South America or in the Arab World would give
birth to a new revolutionary tide are licking their wounds.

It is true that now my attention is swinging back to Europe. I do hope that
is not my Pangloss Reflex in action.  But for all the setbacks, and I do
not deny the seriousness of the  defeats in Egypt, Greece and now
Venezuela,  I still do not believe that in the current period the
Bourgeoisie have won a decisive epoch defining victory. The crucial
battlefield is Europe.  I know that might sound like my Eurocentric
tendency taking hold.  Perhaps, but the Scottish, Spanish, Irish,
Portuguese working classes are still close to revolt.

"It is possible, possible, possible. It must be possible".

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] The people's climate march in Canberra

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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These marches were of the same size as the huge rallies before the 2nd Gulf
War.  Those marches were ignored and no peace movement rose subsequently.

Will the same fate befall the climate change movement?  Impossible to tell,
really.  But at a guess I think not. Principally, because we are further
down the road towards a severe crisis of legitimacy.

Our leaders appear more and more detached from the lived experience  of the
vast majority. In the mean time the Number One Hegemon, the USA, seems
crazier and crazier.  Trump, Carson & co seem barking mad, not to put too
fine a point on it.

My feeling is that the next economic crisis will be a down turn too far.
That will create two, three many Syrizas and then it will be a case of no
more water, the fire next time.

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Nov 29, 2015 at 7:35 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
>
> The people's climate march in Canberra
>
> Given the vested interests involved, and the short termism that engulfs
> both business and governments, coupled with each country battling for a
> competitive advantage over the others, I do not think capitalism can solve
> the crisis of climate change. Our marches show we can raise our voice for
> action. However to win our demands for real results ('Turn bull into
> action' was one clever sign at the Melbourne Rally) we need to have a say
> in the outcomes. That means in my opinion not making polite representations
> to the representatives of a system addicted to and dependent on fossil
> fuels but fighting for greater democracy to win real action on climate
> change.
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/11/29/the-peoples-climate-march-in-canberra/
>
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[Marxism] the anti-Reclaiming Australia rally

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I was wheeled out of semi-retirement to speak at the counter rally this
afternoon.  Odious opportunists that they are, the "Reclaim Australia"
bunch of crazies held rallies in the major cities here today. The following
report is quite reasonable coming as it does from a mainstream source

<
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/reclaim-australia-rally-drowned-out-in-brisbane-20151122-gl4xmn.html
>

We outnumbered them and out-chanted and out-sung them.  Even more important
we held the high ground both literally and metaphorically.  The
anti-Muslims are a pathetic lot here.  Everyone knows that anti-Muslims
sentiments would cripple key industries  in Australia.  The tertiary
education sector would probably collapse and live agricultural exports
would be wiped out.So an anti-Islam movement is not a viable option for the
ruling class and the above report reflects that.

What was most heartening for an old leftist like myself was the atmosphere
of bright cheerful militancy among so many young people.

As the poet said "It is [still] possible, possible, possible. It must be
possible".

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] on being sacred

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Recently I was in a remote Indigenous community and was reflecting on the
presence of a sacred mountain nearby.  There are sacred mountains in the
APY lands of Northern South Australia and in the Northern Territory. The
concept of a sacred mountain is not that new to me.  When in Tromso, Norway
for a Critical Realist Conference in 2006, I remember with fondness a
dinner where my 64 birthday was celebrated by many of the leading critical
realists including my dear departed friend Roy Bhaskar. We were met in the
shadow of a sacred mountain of the Sami people.



As I sat meditating on all this I thought of  how Indigenous Australians
had still a concept of life and nature as being of value and, as Bhaskar
put it, enchanted. I then thought of the absence of sacred sites for
Non-Indigenous Australians.  There seems no part of this land that
mainstream Australians won’t have nuclear bombs set off on it or dug up for
minerals.



Immediately, though, the thought came to mind that, if non-Indigenous
Australia had a sacred site, it was in Anzac Cove, Gallipoli Turkey, where
Australian and New Zealand troops (The Anzacs) were defeated by the Turkish
Army in WW1 1915-1916.  I asked myself how could it be that the sacred site
for White Australia was somewhere thousands of miles from Australia, and
the site of a WW1 disaster.  The answer came much later when re-reading the
following poem by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915), who died of sepsis on his way
to Gallipoli.


I recall admiring this poem as a high school student.  I also recall a
university tutorial where we all declared that we thought it was a great
poem.  Then our tutor set about a close reading of the poem.  He asked each
one of us to consider what the words ‘a richer dust concealed” might mean.  I
know now that the tutor was rechannelling Leavis’ criticism of the Georgian
poets.  But at that time the tutorial had a profound impact on me. The
conclusion, that English dust was richer than foreign dust could only
spring from a colonial racist mentality, was shocking for me, at the age of
18.  That a foreign land was made more valuable because an Englishman died
there spoke wonders about the imperial mindset and my education which until
then had failed to point this out.



Now my mind takes me to Anzac Cove and I wonder to what extent it is sacred
to Australians because there is within that dust a richer dust concealed.

He wrote



If I should die, think only this of me;

That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England.  There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped and made aware,

Gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of England’s breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.



And think ,this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sound; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven



I recall admiring this poem as a high school student.  I also recall a
university tutorial where we all declared that we thought it was a great
poem.  Then our tutor set about a close reading of the poem.  He asked each
one of us to consider what the words ‘a richer dust concealed” might mean.  I
know now that the tutor was rechannelling Leavis’ criticism of the Georgian
poets.  But at that time the tutorial had a profound impact on me. The
conclusion, that English dust was richer than foreign dust could only
spring from a colonial racist mentality, was shocking for me, at the age of
18.  That a foreign land was made more valuable because an Englishman died
there spoke wonders about the imperial mindset and my education which until
then had failed to point this out.



Now my mind takes me to Anzac Cove and I wonder to what extent it is sacred
to Australians because there is within that dust a richer dust concealed.
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[Marxism] Australia's Far Right looking for a home

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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The "Reclaim Australia" rallies appear to have been real fizzers,
especially in Brisbane.  Thee is a real dilemma for the Far Right.  It is
absolute craziness to try and pin the blame for Australia's woes on the
Muslim population (around 2%).  that of course in itself is no obstacle to
right wing politics.  But the real problem is that economically, especially
in tertiary education and agricultural exports, Australia needs the Muslim
markets. That limits their usefulness to the ruling class. Without the
sponsorship of a section of the dominant class, the Far Right look like the
pathetic losers that they are. Apparently they have made an effort to clean
up their act and put the swastika tattoos on the back burner away from the
cameras, but that appears to have made little difference.

At present,. the Far Right seem principally to produce elan among the far
left. And that is the worst of all results for the powerful.  One should be
careful, though, not to exaggerate the rise on the Left, but it is a long
time since I attended a rally where I was almost overwhelmed by a resurgent
militancy among the young.

In the mean time, the agenda of the ruling class lies elsewhere with the
attacks on the welfare state being led by a smooth and polished multi
millionaire, Malcolm Turnbull. He is the very embodiment of cultural
capital and his impressive facade on social issues is for the moment
working to lull the public into a feeling that all is well.  But, of
course, it isn't and that will soon become apparent when the next Turnbull
government produces its first budget. That will come after what looks like
will be  a landslide victory to the Tories.

In the mean time, the Labor opposition is like the kangaroo trapped in the
head lights and destined only to be road kill.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] No Jeremy Corbyn in the NZ Labour Party

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I snipped this from Comrade  Duncan's fine post

"Whether unemployment goes up or down under the next Labour government
won’t have anything much to do with the Labourites but will be the result
of the boom-and-bust global capitalist economy, the New Zealand section of
which Labour is totally committed to *managing*." (my emphasis)

I actually do not think Labor is committed to managing anything.
Management in this period would entail a fiscal policy to address the
"liquidity trap" or "secular stagnation".  In other words it would require
at least a turn to Keynesianism.  NZ Labor do not seem to have made that
turn.  In any case their counterparts over here in Oz, certainly have given
no indication that they will do anything other than stay on the "Reform"
bandwagon, that is they remain committed to neo-liberalism.

So they will not manage capitalism.  They will let it rip and drag us into
another Great Depression.

What Corbyn has done is to run up the Keynesian flag. Whatever one thinks
of that, it is at least a departure from the politics of Hayek and Friedman.

Why is there no anti-austerity party in Australia?  Why is there no sign of
one in New Zealand? Fruitless questions, I know. Yet, the dialectics of
stagnation  have set me muttering them like a fool.  And then I add
"Westward lo! the land is bright". The battle for Europe is far from over.
And who knows perhaps the Old Mole is grubbing away somewhere else. I
devoutly hope so.

comradely

Gary

On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 3:27 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Empty Andy and the 'Eh?' team:
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/labour-the-eh-party/
>
> NZ Labour - a bosses' party:
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/the-truth-about-labour-a-bosses-party/
>
> Phil
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Re: [Marxism] Election in Canada

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I would turn to Wolfgang Streeck's theory of the consumer voter to
understand all this. There seems to be something available for a whole
variety of niche markets. As to the meaning of all this for the class
struggle, I would not be overly optimistic.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Nov 7, 2015 at 2:26 AM, Ken Hiebert via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> I received this from someone who is normally not enthused about any
> capitalist party.  In this case, the Liberal Party, the historic governing
> party in Canada (I haven't factored in recent decades, but this certainly
> was true.).  This is an indication of the impact of the new government.
> I expect we will have a discussion of the meaning of all this.
> ken h
>
> For once, Canadians are proud (and perhaps even a little bit smug). We ran
> the data:
>
> We have a Minister of Environment and CLIMATE CHANGE.
> We have a Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and REFUGEES.
>
> Our Prime Minister is a sci-fi geek.
> Our Minister of Health is an actual Doctor.
> Our Minister of Families, Children and Social Development is a poverty
> economist.
> Our Minister of Science is an actual Scientist (oh, and she has a Nobel
> Prize).
> Our Minister of Status of Women is an actual woman!
> Our Minister of Veterans Affairs is a quadriplegic because he was shot in
> a drive-by shooting.
> Our Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour is a
> Professional Geologist.
> Our Minister of Democratic Institutions is a Muslim refugee.
> Our Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities is a Paralympian
> Athlete.
> Our Minister of Defence is a badass war hero, Afghanistan combat vet, and
> police officer.
> OUR MINISTER OF TRANSPORT IS A GODDAMN ASTRONAUT.
>
> Half of our Ministers are women.
> Half of our Ministers are men!
> Two of our Ministers are people of First Nations (Kwakwaka'wakw, Inuit)
> Three of our Ministers were born outside of Canada (India, Afghanistan)
> Two of our Ministers are Sikh.
> At least one of our Ministers is Muslim.
> At least two of our Ministers are Atheist.
> One of our Ministers is battling breast cancer. frown emoticon
> One of our Ministers is in a wheelchair.
> One of our Ministers is blind.
> One of our Ministers is openly gay.
> One of our Ministers is openly ginger.
> Also, Hon. Navdeep Bains has a perfect twirly moustache
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Re: [Marxism] Is Anthony Albanese too left wing to lead the Australian Labor Party to an election win?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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John asks whether Anthony Albanese is too left wing to be elected.  We will
probably never know the answer to that question.  Currently we are set to
see a re-election of the conservative coalition.  The multi-millionaire
merchant banker, Malcolm Turnbull, will carry his party to what I
personally believe will be a landslide.  The consumer voter seems convinced
that Turnbull 'farts rainbows' as one commentator put it.  Certainly, his
popularity is huge according to the polls.

By contrast the ALP is stuck with a desperately unpopular right wing trade
union hack - a true "mechanic".  Shorten is an expert at twisting
arms, backstabbing, wheedling and doing deals with bosses that betray the
interests of workers.

The Greens steadfastly refuse to become a party of the Left. So there is no
popular anti-austerity formation with an electoral base.

What will break this deadlock?

Well the next recession should expose Turnbull as a show pony.  Shorten
will be a bad memory.  Maybe then the ALP will tentatively and nervously
adapt a Keynesian policy thrust. As always, I look to developments outside
Australia.  A Chinese recession would be disastrous for the Australian
economy.  An upheaval in Europe would have an impact.  In the meantime, as
I have said, it is deadlock.

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Nov 1, 2015 at 3:54 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
> /Is Anthony Albanese too left wing to lead the Australian Labor Party to
> an election win?
> /
>
> /Labor would not be unelectable under Albanese, especially if he adopted a
> left cover. However if elected to government Albanese’s real neoliberal
> agenda would bec/o/me clear to people and they would reject it and him too,
> just as they rejected the neoliberalism of Abbott and may well do of
> Turnbull, given time and the lived experience of the deleterious impact of
> his anti-working class policies.//
> /
>
> A genuine left wing party of the working class in Australia has not yet
> developed. Until it does we will remain in the Sisyphean oscillations
> between neoliberal Labor and pro-austerity Liberal governments.
>
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/11/01/is-albanese-too-left-wing-to-lead-the-labor-party-to-an-election-win/*
> *
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Re: [Marxism] Netanyahu claims Palestinians killed off the dinosaurs

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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What is significant about the Netanyahu crap is that it is just that and it
is very carefully calibrated for his audience. I keep repeating the line
that if you come to a country to steal the land, then you have no choice
but to become a killer. You must also demonize and construct the owners of
the land as the Feared/Despised Other.  Netanyahu understands that better
than anyone.

I am much taken with Wolfgang Streeck's analysis of the consumer voter.
Netanyahu has no illusions about the tastes of the consumer voter he is
pitching to. He produces vulgar, crude, racist politics for a vulgar crude
racist audience.

We have lived long enough to see the total annihilation of respectable
Zionism.  There will never be any articles written about Netanyahu's
library as there was with Ben Gurion.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Oct 24, 2015 at 1:54 AM, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
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> http://dailycurrant.com/2015/10/22/netanyahu-palestinians-killed-the-dinosaurs/
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Re: [Marxism] Good German Politics

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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very interesting article.  Thank you for posting this.

comradely

Gary

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>
>
>
> Michael Heinrich on Germany vis-à-vis Europe and the rest of the world.
>
>
>
> http://libcom.org/library/good-german-politics
>
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Re: [Marxism] With those sorts of policies, Justin Trudeau is clearly unelectable I tell you, unelectable

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hi Dave,

I recall it was "Neither Left nor Right but out in Front". Yea! Right.

But there are signs that Adam Bandt might get it, but DiNatale the leader
is hopeless.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 5:24 PM, Ratbag Media via Marxism <
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>
> Gary MacLennan writes: "Here at home, it is only the refusal of the Greens
> to break from neo-liberalism that protects the ALP's left flank."
>
> And Gary is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. ...and you know, that's a great political
> tragedy because folk don't see that.
>
> Remember the old adage: 'Neither left nor right, but green!'
>
> What a load of tactical carp that proved to be.
>
> dave riley
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Re: [Marxism] Australia you’re standing in it part 1: the pulse rate of accumulation

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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It is wonderful to see Dave undertaking this task.  I agree we are in
something like limbo time. All attention seems to be focussed on the
trivializing of the political. Nonetheless the spectacle of the former
Prime Minister and the former Treasurer sat beside each other exchanging
notes on the backbench, while the new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, Mr
Smooth himself, swanned around at the dispatch box. Such an upheaval in the
Actuality of the political surface does indeed betoken a serious underlying
crisis in the Real (Bhaskar Realist Theory of Science 2008).  I do so look
forward to Dave's promised analysis.

comradely

Gary

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: The Sanders Phenomenon | Online Only | n+1

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I thought Schlozman's was a brilliant article: indeed one of the best
written pieces on politics I have seen for a long time.  Much of the
information in it was new to me and that was all to the good.

I place the Sanders phenomenon in the same category as the Corbyn
campaign.  Both are old lefties who are left over from the time before
neoliberal ascendancy that is pre-1973/1979.  Sanders is a latter day New
Dealer, and Corbyn is straight out of the era of Clement Attlee. They speak
magic words to the educated working class youth who have known only Reagan
and Thatcher and the shabby capitulations of Clinton and Obama and the
Blair and the Brown governments.

To say that Sanders is not a true Socialist and that Corbyn represents an
un-electable distraction is to miss the point entirely.  They have a mass
following, and in these dark days of defeat after defeat that is almost
unbelievable.  Ben Okri put very well the longing that drives those who
have flocked to Sanders and Corbyn:

Can we still seek the lost angels
Of our better natures?
Can we still wish and will
For poverty’s death and a newer way
To undo war, and find peace in the labyrinth
Of the Middle East, and prosperity
In Africa as the true way
To end the feared tide of immigration?


For many Sanders and Corbyn represent the only possibility of a new world.

Though I share that hope and certainly I welcome without major reservations
the Corbyn and Sanders phenomena, I would like to essay not a note of
caution, but one which endeavors to explain when Corbyn and why Sanders and
why not the Leninist Left.

Drawing upon Bhaskar's analysis of Hegel's master slave dialectic, in his
great book Dialectic: the Pulse of Freedom,  I would say that what Corbyn
and Sanders represent is the dialectics of reconciliation between the
classes.  What they offer to the elites is mutual love and forgiveness.
They offer a world where the bosses and the worker are friends.   That, for
me, is the source of their strength. That, for me,  explains their appeal
to those who are new to politics.

Now we revolutionaries,such as Bhaskar, seek a world without master-slave
relationships. We would abolish wage slavery and therefore abolish all
masters.  But it is reconciliation that holds the appeal for youth.

By contrast with us and the following of Sanders and Corbyn, the
Clintons,Obama, the Blairites,  and  Shorten the Labor leader in Australia
all  offer capitulation and that is why the youth have spat them out.

To sum up, we offer Revolution.  Corbyn and Sanders offer Reconciliation.
Obama etc offer Capitulation.  The big question: do we "Play the long game"
and wait until the Sanders and Corby phenomena founder?  My feeling that is
that would be a tragic mistake.  We must work along side those who seek
reconciliation.  This is no time for lofty abstentionism.

My final comment is something of a disclaimer. I so  wish we were faced
with the contradictions of a Sanders or a Corbyn here in Australia.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 12:31 PM, Gary MacLennan 
wrote:

> Below is the link to the article on Bernie Sanders.  It comes highly
> recommended.
>
> ae
>
> Gary
>
> Most profiles of Bernie Sanders describe him as something like a
> “1930s-style radical.” They are correct, but underspecified. Sanders is
> neither strictly a New Dealer, in the lineage of those public-spirited men
> whom Felix Frankfurter sent down from Harvard to build the administrative
> state, nor a Popular Fronter. Instead Sanders still grapples, as we have
> not since, with the question of how much power the economic elite should
> hold in a democratic society. Sanders has spent his years in public life
> pushing against both the New Deal’s political settlement and its policy
> settlement. The former ardor has cooled. Sanders, like the right wing of
> the Socialist Party in 1936, has finally bowed to the inexorable logic of
> the electoral college and subordinated the third-party dream to the
> Democratic Party.
>
> full:
> https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/the-sanders-phenomenon/
>
>
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Re: [Marxism] David Horowitz joins the axis of resistance

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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It was a year ago, September
a day I well remember
I was walking up and down
in drunken pride
when my knees began to flutter
and I fell down in the gutter
and a pig came by and lay down by my side

As I lay there in the gutter
thinking thoughts I could not utter
I thought I heard a passing lady say,
"You can tell a man who boozes
by the company he chooses..."
And with that, the pig got up and walked away.

On Thu, Oct 15, 2015 at 10:09 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> Indeed, growing numbers of Americans who have no special love for Russia
> or Orthodoxy—from billionaire capitalist Donald Trump to evangelical
> Christians—are being won over by Putin’s frank talk and actions.
>
> How can they not? After one of his speeches praising the West’s Christian
> heritage—a thing few American politicians dare do—Putin concluded with
> something that must surely resonate with millions of traditional Americans:
> “We must protect Russia from that which has destroyed American society”—a
> reference to the anti-Christian liberalism and licentiousness that has run
> amok in the West.
>
> full:
> http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260372/russia-declares-holy-war-islamic-state-raymond-ibrahim
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[Marxism] The crisis of conservative thought in Australia

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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 "Centre-left parties felt pressure to acknowledge the claims of identity
movements, which allowed right wing candidates and parties throughout the
Anglophone west to work a simple formula.  In culture war mode, they
[political parties of the Right] would rail against feminism,
multiculturalism and queers. For their financiers, they’d cut taxes,
cripple unions, and dismantle regulation and welfare systems. "

The above is nipped from an intelligent article by Jason Wilson in the
Guardian.  He expresses neatly what I have argued for a long time, that
there is a crisis on the Right among conservatives.  They have been in bed
with economic radicals for over 30 years in opposition among other
things to one of the genuinely conservative forces in this country, namely,
the Australian trade union movement.

The conservatives have dined out on hatred of the Feared/Despised Other -
queers and "rag--heads" while their standard of living has eroded
steadily.  Then they finally got their own government led by the deranged
Tony Abbott.  His failure is a bitter blow. He has been outflanked on
social policy by the smoothest of conservatives, Malcolm Turnbull.

But Turnbull continues to be committed to neoliberal policies.  The
government still thinks the way forward is to cut spending, instead of to
massively increase it.  Again it is Labor's refusal to break on the
economic front and to embrace even Keynesianism that protects the Turnbull
government.

Labor should point out that neoliberalism destroys communities and families
and individual lives.  The British Labour Party is beginning to do this.
They are combining their turn to the alternative Third Way - Keynesianism
and the entrepreneurial state advocated by Mariana Mazzucato - with an
attempt to appeal to the conservative value of protecting families. This
excerpt from McDonnell's speech is spot on.

McDonnell said

"Well, for Michael O’Sullivan austerity was more than a word. Michael
suffered from severe mental illness. He was certified by his GP as unable
to work but despite the evidence submitted by 3 doctors, he was assessed by
the company given the contract for the work capability assessment as fit
for work. Michael killed himself after his benefits were removed. The
coroner concluded his death was a direct result of the decision in his
case. I don’t believe Michael’s case stands alone. I am grateful to
Michael’s family for allowing me to mention him today. I send them, I am
sure on behalf of all us here, our heartfelt sympathy and condolences."
None of this is socialism for those of us who still dream of the Workers'
Paradise to come.  But it is at least something.  Alas, there seems to be
no one in Australian mainstream parties (Labor or the Greens) that can
articulate the link between neoliberal austerity and the suffering of the
people.  Worse there is absolutely no sign that the Australian Labor Party
is even faintly aware of the need to begin the necessary rethink.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] on economics & Michael Roberts

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I have never hidden my inability to understand economics especially in its
mathematical guise. I sucked at maths at school and now have no time or
inclination to fix all that up. But I have a fairly rudimentary
understanding of the vaguest of outlines of the Tendency of the Rate of
Profit to Fall  (TRPF) school of thought that Michael Roberts belongs to.

I read his blogs faithfully and puzzle over the stats and the graphs that
Lou seems to love so much. His latest post on "crawl to crash?" predicts
Armageddon within the next 3 years. For all I know he is probably correct.
But what I sort of do not get is that he dismisses the alternative of a
Keynesian solution out of hand.  Of course Keynesianism is tied to
increasing demand and that I suppose has no impact upon the  TRPF.

It seems to me that Roberts tends to dismiss the political and place  all
his bets on the economic structure. Thus he has talked of the need for
capital to go through a crash to restore profitability.  But that will have
to be set within the political.  There is already a struggle being slowly
mounted against austerity, which is the political prelude to the crash (is
it not?). I recall reading somewhere that Hayek's preferred option during
the Great Depression was to do nothing and let it rip. I cannot see that
option being advanced now without a true fight. Perhaps it is the residue
of Maoist thought in me (and I would always sworn I was immune) but if
politics is not in command, at least it is never absent.

Meanwhile, Corbyn has placed his bets squarely on Keynesianism and is
rolling out Stiglitz and Piketty. Australia's own Bill Mitchell has
criticized Corbyn for talking about the deficit and for committing himself
to "fixing" it.  But, alas, the finer details of Mitchell's New Monetary
Theory remain outside my range of understanding. What I think I understand
though is that Keynesianism will be insufficient and that only a thorough
turn to a planned socialist economy can avert disaster.

My interpretation is that Corbyn seems to be promising a return to the
so-called "mixed economy" of the 40s to early 70s. Good luck on that one.

Back in Oz though, I look at Corbyn's rise with the sharpest of envy.  Even
the slightest talk of Keynes is beyond us, so committed are all the parties
to neoclassical economics and austerity. The truth is that so battered are
we and so stifling is the grip of neoliberal thought that I would welcome a
break to Keynes, or at least a widening of the debate..

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Economics and Michael Roberts

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Thank you for commenting Phil (& MM too). The comments were fair and very
much appreciated. It can feel all toomuch like speaking out into a vacuum
on the list at times.  There is really not a great deal of interest in
Australian politics and that of course is understandable. I do wish though
that comrades from the UK wold p;ost more about what is happening over
there.

Now in response to MM, I would have to say that it is a matter of
emphasis.  My comments really are that Roberts focusses on structure rather
than agency, especially working class agency. But of course he is a
socialist and that is why I read his column devotedly.

As Phil has pointed out "Armageddon" is my take on Roberts' latest column
about the possibility of a crash. Perhaps it is an exaggeration, but
personally I think a slump now would be a real disaster, in effect an
Armageddon.  At the Bhaskar conference last. year in London a crash was
widely predicted by the economists.

But to be truthful my upbringing as an Irish Catholic has always leant a
sort of "end of days" and a touch of the Savonarola's to my politics.  I
recall my students giggling when I would get started raving about the
Disaster to come.

At the same time at a rational level I subscribe to Bhaskar's argument that
prediction is not possible in the human sciences because they operate in
open systems, something that Roberts himself would do well to note.

Having said all that, we shall see.

Phil's other comments about the ruling class and economics and the
weaknesses of Keynesianism are well made and I would like to find time to
respond to them later.

Comradely

Gary

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 8:53 AM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
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>
> Gary, you should post those comments on Michael's blog.
>
> He seems to me a very reasonable guy and he responds politely to both
> questions and criticisms.
>
> I haven't yet read "Crawl to crash", but are you sure he "predicts
> Armageddon within the next three years"?  It doesn't sound like him - I've
> never seen him get into that kind of stuff.  He's usually more measured and
> clinical.  (And I think he comes out of Grantite outfit rather than
> Healyite, so he's sane.)
>
> I think he's right, btw, to dismiss the possibiity of Keynesian solutions
> being possible.  Back in the very first issue of *revolution* in early 1997
> we looked at why a return to Keynesianism wasn't on the agenda and I don't
> think much has changed to alter my own view on that.
>
> Keynesianism was possible in the context of the needs of imperialism during
> war and then it kind of rode out the postwar boom.  Once the postwar boom
> ended - not long after Nixon declared "We are all Keynesians now", funnily
> enough - the material basis for Keynesian disintegrated.
>
> One of the people who best uderstood this was Paul Mattick, to my miond one
> of the great Marxist economic analysts of the 20th century, although I
> don't share his council communist politics.
>
> Take a look at a couple of his books (he's very readable) - 'Marx and
> Keynes: the limits of the mixed economy' and 'Economics and politics in the
> age of inflation'.  I think they're both published by Merlin.  And Mattick
> was writing at the time, not wise after the event.
>
> I think the political managers of capitalism are, in the main, fairly
> pragmatic.  There are a few strongly ideological types - Roger Douglas and
> Ruth Richardson in NZ were 'true believers' in 'new right' economics and
> still are - but most bourgeois politicians, including the prie ministers
> those two served under - are much more pragmatic.  Since no-one is really
> in control in a capitalist economy, nor can anyone be, bourgeois poltiians
> have to respond 'on the hoof' to all the things that can and do go wrong.
> They can't be ideologically committed to one strand of bourgeois politics.
>
> In my view, what's 'in' and what's 'out' in terms of both bourgeois
> economic thinking and government economic policy reflects different stages
> - and problems in - the process of capital accumulation.  Keynesianism fell
> out of favour because it could neither explain nor overcome the economic
> woes that set in when the postwar boom ended (ie the TRPF became clearly
> manifest, although it had been working away beneath the surface for a long
> 

[Marxism] Harper & Abbott and polls & politics

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I read the full article and was struck, firstly, by how well written it
was.  Secondly, our ex- and very unlamented Prime Minister, Tony Abbott,
was also a very strange character like Harper.  Now that Abbott is gone,
one has trouble believing that it all really happened.  The same feeling
will grip Canada post-Harper.

What it all means I am not sure.  One can say "the decay of parliamentary
democracy" but that is more descriptive than explanatory.

I am also struck by the phenomenon of the power of the polls.  Governments
have always sampled public opinion.  During WW2 in Britain the major
parties agreed not to oppose each other.  They presented a united front to
the people, but unceasingly they canvassed public opinion and worried about
what the people were thinking. But the results were always kept secret, so
the cascade of imitation was kept in control.

Now it has all become like TV ratings.  Just like a TV show cannot sustain
falls in ratings, political leaders have trouble holding on against slumps
in popularity even where one does not have a presidential system.  In
Australia this is even more marked because our political cycle is tied to 3
year terms for the Federal government.

Abbott was brought down by the polls.  Now we have turned to the leader of
the Labor opposition, Bill Shorten.  He and his party will slump in the
polls,  and I do not think he can survive unless an early election is held.
In all probability he will lose that and then the polls will go hunting for
another victim.

It's very much as if we live in the era of *ressentimen*t, anxiety, fear
and deep discontent and the polls enable all that to be expressed. & the
political class wilt and shrivel up in fear, when the spotlight of the
polls finds them.

The only tactic the politicians seem to have come up with is to "do
boring".  Stay out of the news as much as possible and hope the spotlight
finds someone else.  It all reminds me of my adolescence in my French
classes, when the  vicious bastard that taught us used to stalk around the
classroom for boys to flog, and I would keep my head down and never look up
in case I caught his evil eye.

Granted the current Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is full of
the confidence of the super rich and swaggers around the town boasting
about the public buses he catches.  But eventually he too will be brought
low by the polls, though probably only after he has won the next election.

I suppose it all has something to do with the reign of neoliberalism, the
downturn in the economy and the subsequent rise of the dialectics of
scarcity.

Chomsky in his recent talk used the concept of an 'ideological insurgency'
to describe rise of the barking mad Right in the States.  So to be positive
about what is happening, it may be that the polls provide the only avenue
to express rejection of the new extremists and their ideological craziness.

In the mean time those of us without power can go to www.leninology.co.uk
and look up Richard's twitter account and enjoy the latest Cameron memes;
and  a jolly oink-oink to you too. My favorite, by the way, is the Ed
Milliband bacon sandwich

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] thoughts on Australian politics

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2015/sep/23/at-last-we-can-relax-and-stop-paying-such-strained-teeth-gritting-attention-to-politics

The above is a link to a cartoon by the incomparable First Dog on the Moon,
who works for the Australian edition of the Guardian Online. It says, or
rather shows, in pictures in a much better way what I have been trying to
tell.  What strikes me about the cartoon is its absolute truth.  How was
the Abbott ministry even possible.  This is a conservative nation but it is
not the Land of the Tea Party.  We do not do relisgious crainess like the
Americans do.  I always pointed out to my students that no Australian
politicians ever said "God Bless Australia", yet American presidents have
to.

Then lo and behold at his farewell speech after being dumped Tony Abbott
finished by saying "God bless the Commonwealth of Australia" - in one
phrase he captured the British link and gave expression to his own
religious fanaticism.

No one commented on this first.

But now we can ask, 'what was the Abbott offensive offensive all about?'
To me it was a remarkable combination of the barking mad religious right
and the neo-liberal radical austerians. In some ways kind of like having
the Tea Party take over Washington and letting their ideological craziness
have full sway.

The Coalition took power at the height of the regained confidence of the
neo-liberals.  The soon to be treasurer Joe Hockey came back for a British
visit channeling the spirits of Friedman and Hayek.  In his first budget he
announced "It is the dawning of the Age of Opportunity" and denounced the
old order of the Age of Entitlement.

The leader of the Opposition right winger Bill Shorten attacked and became
massively popular.  Then Shorten got worried about being so far out on the
Left and made a speech to the press gallery in which he said he was still
"pro-reform".  This was code for saying that the Labor Party was committed
to neoliberalism. From this point Shorten's popularity declined.

Apart from the initial reply to the budget, the Labor Party was poorly
placed to lead the opposition here.  That is because they hug the Tories
close on security. They are also pro-austerity but at a slower pace and
they fear provoking a backlash from the religious right.  Not to mention
that within their own ranks there is a fair sprinkling of Catholic relics
from the Cold War.

So it was left to the Australian people to reject what Abbott stood for and
they did so poll after poll. Only the political cowardice and ineptness of
the Labor opposition kept Abbott afloat for so long.  Now the new
government under multi-millionaire Turnbull is carefully extracting itself
from the close embrace of the religious right and the barking mad zealots.
This has to be done carefully so as not to spook the crazies because they
amount to at least a third of the governing coalition.

This maneuver is being helped though by the cretins in the Labor Party, who
are attacking the government from the right on "border security".  This
helps to make the people believe that the government is now returning to
the centre.  In the mean time the new treasurer has signaled that the cuts
and attacks on the welfare state w2ill continue.  The Labor Party is
trapped within the logic of neoliberalism and cannot amount a coherent
alternative here.

So likely forecast is that if the present settings prevail there will be a
victory for the coalition with an increased majority in next yrear's
election.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] more on pigs & Pinochet

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I am enjoying this exchange.  It makes such a break from Australian
politics, where one has to believe in the Way (Nothing is weaker than
water.  For wearing away stone, nothing is stronger.) to get any comfort
from the quietism that has the Australian working class by the throat.

Now as I see it, John was reacting to a news story of a possible threat
within the British Army to the advent of Corbyn and the possibility of him
becoming Prime Minister. John takes the threat seriously and I think one
would be a fool to discount it absolutely.  But the significance of the
threat is, for me, the underlying fear that it expresses.  If Corbyn was
truly unelectable there would be no such fear and no subsequent threats.

James will forgive me for saying this, but he sounds a trifle "tired and
emotional" as *Private Eye* used to put it.  Still, I am grateful for the
figure of the chiasmus that he has given us.  The PLP is faced with two
kinds of unelectability - with Corbyn and without Corbyn. But we should not
the aesthetic power of this formula to distract us from seeing that Corbyn
is of course electable, and all the hysteria around him is testimony to
that.  He simply has to get the millions who won't vote to vote.  I say
'simply' not to convey that the task is easy, rather that it is clear and
that makes it possible: hence the hysteria in the  media and the mutterings
among the officer class.

In the mean time, the media will do their thing and their offensive will
strengthen Corbyn.  Down in the pubs in Tottenham, they may have a
different take on things, as James points out, but the thousands who voted
for Corbyn will see all the attacks as a justification of what they did.
The UK will polarize further and the Blairites will make their move. But
should they do so, they risk destroying the British Labour Party, one of
the ruling class's prime assets.

I will not try to speculate further, except to point out that the Corbyn
push is creating movement and potential and is putting an end to the
suffocation of the dialectics of stagnation.  That is why I am all for it.

My own metaphor to describe what is happening is drawn from my experience
as a classroom teacher.  In a class of say 30, if ten of them were totally
opposed to all I as a teacher stood for, the class would be unteachable.
Moreover, the possibility of a significant number joining the rebellious
ten would make me hysterical with fear.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Labor in Australia tries to out-Abbott Turnbull on border 'protection'

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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There are two things to say here.  First there is the total amorality of
the ALP position.  It all makes me despair of humanity.

Leaving all morality aside and entering the pragmatic world of the Labor
Party, the second level of criticism is that this is political stupidity of
the highest or is that the deepest level.  Turnbull is making a fake move
back into the center. On social or super-structural policy he is trying to
position himself as the humane alternative to the former Prime Minister
Tony Abbott: all this while remaining as an economic dry or neoliberal.
The ALP cretins have just made Turnbull's maneuver all that much easier and
more believable.  Even worse the fools have made him the more humane
alternative to the ALP.

ah well Oopsee Daisy

comradely

Gary



On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 8:20 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
>
> On ABC AM on Tuesday morning, Richard Marles, Labor’s Shadow Minister for
> Immigration and Border Protection, attacks the  Turnbull government from
> the right over border ‘protection’ (aka the militarisation of the treatment
> of asylum seekers.)
>
> To read more click here.
>
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/09/22/labor-tries-to-out-abbott-turnbull-on-border-protection/
>
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Re: [Marxism] UK politics: of pigs and Pinochets

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I have been thinking ever since Corbyn's ascension to the leadership of the
Labour Party of the 1988 mini- series *A Very British Coup* starring the
great Irish actor Ray MacAnally.  A left leaning former steel worker is
elected as Prime Minister and that is the trigger for a coup. I personally
do not believe that Corbyn can last long enough to make the coup a viable
option for the ruling class. Corbyn is no Allende. The Blairites will
probably take him out long before a coup is thought of as necessary.

But this all may be a necessary stage before the final collapse of the
Labour Party and the emergence of a broad left alternative.

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 8:47 PM, Jamie via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> "a peoples militia" ? John, seriously, abandon your Leninist fantasies,
> the swp'ies see Corbyn as a threat to their stale revolution/ reform binary
> and the ppl in the pub in Tottenham (which traditional Marxists would
> uncritically label 'the class') where I live, see him as a state school
> geography teacher gone mad. It will be a pyrrhic victory if he's around
> next year. The most Marxists can do is defend him against media attacks
> etc., and try to change public opinion.
>
> -Original Message-
> From: "John Passant via Marxism" 
> Sent: ‎22/‎09/‎2015 11:22
> To: "jamie pitman" 
> Subject: [Marxism] UK politics: of pigs and Pinochets
>
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>
> UK politics: of pigs and Pinochets
>
> In light of the coup threats, Corbyn has to build the movement he has
> started into a genuine mass grass roots movement. In the community
> rallies he is holding or will hold across the country he could also
> begin discussing a people's militia to defend the gains his election
> will bring and to radicalise the working class in its workplaces in
> defence of his incoming government. On top of that he could start
> agitating for democracy among the rank and file of the defence forces now.
>
> To read more click here:
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/09/21/uk-politics-of-pigs-and-pinochets/
>
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Re: [Marxism] New Australian premier

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Perhaps you are correct Phil in your prediction and certainly I agree
heartily with you re the status of marriage equality with the contemporary
bourgeoisie. They don't give a shit.  It's slightly strange that gays are
the last people to give up belief in marriage but there you are.

My point is that Turnbull has compromised on a range of issues to secure
piece with the hard rRght in his coalition. After all one of the weirdest
of the Right, Kevin Andrews got 30 votes when he stood for deputy leader in
the latest spill.

I am not sure why we have things like the loony cultural Right in Australia
and the crazies of the tea party in the States. The ruling class laugh at
them behind their back, but the far Right do have some political weight
still.

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Sep 20, 2015 at 12:58 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Gary wrote:
> >Eventually, people will work out Turnbull. Already, he has jettisoned his
> commitment to marriage equality.  It is well and truly on the back burner.
>
> Ever since Abbott got in it has been my view/prediction that we wouldn't
> last long and that the next leader of the Liberal Party would be for
> marriage equality.
>
> Abbott really was an oddity.  A throwback to a time that is long past and,
> in my view, is not about to make a comeback.
>
> I support marriage equality as a basic civil right but it's not at all
> radical - it's totally reconcilable with capitalism as it exists in the
> 21st century.  In fact, I'd go further and say it is a necessary aspect of
> 21st century capitalism.
>
> One of the things that has happened with the 'more market' economics of
> recent years is that - despite Thatcher, despite Reagan, despite Abbott -
> it goes hand-in-hand with socially-liberal changes.  I'm sure that's not
> what Reagan, Thatcher etc intended - in fact, quite the opposite.
>
> Nevertheless it has happened and I think it is completely logical.  In
> fact, it now is so well-established that, in a country like NZ, you'd be
> hard-pressed to find a right-wing pundit under about 50 years of age who
> sees formal legal equality for women, Maori, gay people, etc as having
> anything to do with left-wing politics or who believe that it ever did in
> the past!  They take for granted stuff like marriage equality with their
> right-wing economics.
>
> What we've seen is a kind of bourgeoisification of the old 'new social
> movements' and any of their demands that don't actually cost the
> capitalists money.  So there's no free childcare but plenty of
> possibilities for advancement for women in business and old jobs
> segregation has been eroded quite substantially.  In the case of
> homosexuality, the bourgeoisie today - and they are the product of the
> 1960s and also the kids of the 60s generation - don't give a shit about who
> of what gender is having sex with who else of what gender - as long as
> there are still kids and they are brought up to take their place as cogs in
> the machinery of capitalism, the ruling class don't care whether they have
> a mom and dad, two moms or two dads, or whatever.
>
> So I'd be surprised if the new guy at the head of Australian Imperialism
> Ltd is going to put marriage equality on the backburner - unless it's
> purely for reasons of personal survival in the Liberal Party.  But Tory
> leaders in Britain, NZ and Canada (I think) have all been supporters of
> marriage equality and Cameron was PM at the time, bringing forward
> legislation.  (In NZ, the legislation was form a backbench Labour MP; the
> Tory prime minister voted for it but a sight majority of his MPs, the
> governing party, voted against.)
>
> I would assume that Turnbull and co. would actually prefer to get the
> marriage equality issue out of the way rather than be dogged by it.  Given
> that the overwhelming majority of people in Australia support marriage
> equality, it would also seem to be politically beneficial for him to grasp
> the nettle and get it over and done with.  Then, too, he can move on to the
> business of attacking the working class without the hassle of (what are
> now, from the standpoint of the ruling class) extraneous matters.
>
> There is also the issue of Australian nationalism and pride.  From this
> standpoint, it really doesn't look good for Australia to be behind 

[Marxism] more thoughts on the political conjuncture

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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The Australian edition of the Guardian web site has a good article by David
Marr on Shorten the leader of the Labor Party.  It is an extract from his
new Quarterly essay. It is a superbly written and fascinating examination
of Shorten's personality and method of doing politics.  But that is also
its weakness as a piece of political journalism. Marr still thinks too much
in terms of style.

I think, and Marr does not mention this, that the problem is Shorten is pro
neoliberal economics.

I also think that the key to understanding the present political
conjuncture is that Abbott and his treasurer were brought down by the
people's rejection of the first budget.  However, because that rejection
was not named or explained as anti-austerity and an alternative
articulated, the rejectionism could be thought of and presented in terms of
a rejection of Abbott's style.

If the style argument wins out, it means that TINA still rules and no
fundamental challenge to neo-liberal policy will emerge on the economic
front.

Everyone is so happy to see the back of Abbott that Turnbull may well have
an extended honeymoon. He has already shuffled off some of the right wing
crazies and promoted more women. Threats from the far right of a split in
the Liberal Party only severe to perpetuate the illusion that Turnbull
represents a real change rather than a stylistic makeover.  Here, once
again, John's Passant's biting rhetoric is fully justified.

Crucially in the UK, Corbyn named austerity and outlined an alternative.
That, as Richard Seymour points out, has polarized Britain and brought down
on Corbyn's head the most savage of retribution in the media and in the
backroom maneuvers of the Labour Party.  What is at the heart of this
anger, though, is a fear that TINA is in danger. Quite simply the nightmare
that weighs on the brain of everyone committed to the status quo in Britain
is precisely that Corbyn is electable.

Alas there is no such danger in Oz for those who march under the TINA
banner. Hence the hopes and expectations that small liberal commentators
like Marr and Lenore Taylor are now placing in the "new" leadership of
Malcolm Turnbull. We are in for some hard lessons in Australia.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] Any thoughts on Greek election?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I am dismayed at Popular Unity's failure to make a breakthrough.  I can't
stand the sight of Tsipras grinning.  How did he pull it off?  What follows
niw for the people will not be pretty.

Comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] Oztralians all let us rejoice...

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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The big news down here, is that we have a new Prime Minister. Abbott the
Feral has been replaced by Turnbull the Smooth. The former was a strange
mixture.  At heart he was a Catholic Cold War Warrior.  If one reads G. K.
Chesterton's poem *Lepanto, *one can get something of an idea of what was
at the core of Abbott's politics and persona.  He was very much like how
Chesterton's imagined Don Juan of Austria.

Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.


In the poem Don John saves Christianity from the evils of Islam and Abbott
too dreamed first of liberation from the Communist Heathen menace and then
of saving Australia and the world from the ISIS "death cult" as he was fond
of calling it. His fatal blunder was to embrace the politics of the
neoliberal think tanks. To get power he knelt (literally) at Murdoch's feet
and promised an austerity offensive.  That combined with his otherworldly
reactionary instincts alienated and bemused and, I suspect scared,
Australians.  Thinking on Abbott, one feels like repeating Churchill's
remark about Sir Stafford Cripps, "There, but for the grace of God, goes
God".

Abbott called forth a non-militant but deep and persistent resistance from
the people. This gave rise to an "Anybody but Abbott" movement and the
right wing leader of the Australian Labor Party benefited from this
reaction for a time.

Now, however, the government has a leader who combines neoliberalism with
social progressiveness.  He is for marriage equality.  He is not a global
warming denier. The new polls suggest that he has captured the hearts and
hopes of the "Anybody but Abbott" movement.

Eventually, people will work out Turnbull. Already, he has jettisoned his
commitment to marriage equality.  It is well and truly on the back burner.
He has also backtracked on the environment. Still, it will take time and
some hard blows for the working class to abandon the hope that they have in
Turnbull a boss who is a mate.  But it will take time.

Comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Anything but the economy, stupid

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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John was at his biting best on the state of play with Australia's Prime
Minister.  John however wrote

*"Given this ‘leader’ [Abbott] can only speak in sound bites and three word
slogans and these non-answers are all this unworthy custodian of the
capitalist system can come up with, how much longer can idiot boy last? Do
capitalists really still support him in all his splendid ignorance and
irrelevance?You know it is a bleak time for capital when the alternative on
offer is Bill Shorten. That must inspire the one percent with dread."*

I am inclined to agree that a feeling of dread is in the air and that it is
not confined to capital. But does the reality of Bill Shorten - right wing
ex union leader fill the capitalists with dread?  How could it?  He is a
sheep in sheep's clothing. He is to his very core the epitome of the
non-commissioned officer, anxious to carry out every order from above. They
all know that.  The only source of dread may be that Shorten will never
attempt to save capitalism from the capitalists.  There is some slight
evidence that a small section of capital want the state to do just that.
For example recently in Queensland a group of capitalists penned an open
letter begging for the state government to enact a fiscal stimulus.  Would
Shorten have the nerve to undertake such a task at the national level?  I
cannot see it.

Yet we are in the dying days of the Abbott ministry.  For two years now, a
steady rejection in the opinion polls of his austerity offensive has left
his government paralyzed.  The Labor opposition has in no ways articulated
an anti-austerity alternative. Shorten looks almost certain to become Prime
Minister on the back of a "Anybody but Abbott" surge. The Labor Party look
certain to come to power on a similar "Any party but the governing
Coalition" tide of rejectionism.

Yet no one in the parliamentary arena is contesting hegemony. And so
parliamentary politics in Australia has a strange kind of *Waiting for
Godot* irrelevance.  Perhaps, that is the source of dread.

comradely

Gary

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 8:17 PM, John Passant via Marxism <
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>
> Anything but the economy, stupid
>
> The two things Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has going for him are
> that the opposition within his party hasn't coalesced around one candidate,
> and the Labor Party Opposition has.
>
> http://enpassant.com.au/2015/09/10/anything-but-the-economy/
>
>
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Re: [Marxism] Slavoj Zizek, what a reactionary pig

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Good on you Lou, He is a charlatan (and a well paid on at that). Lister
members should contrast the Zizek article with Richard Seymour's fine blogs
on the same topic.  I have disagreements with Richard, but he is a decent
human being unlike the super star from Slovenia.


comradely

Gary

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
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>
> Tens of thousands of refugees in Balkan countries are desperate to get to
> Germany. They assert their dreams as their unconditional right, and demand
> from the European authorities not only proper food and medical care but
> also transportation to the destination of their choice. There is something
> enigmatically utopian in this demand: as if it were the duty of Europe to
> realise their dreams – dreams which, incidentally, are out of reach of most
> Europeans (surely a good number of Southern and Eastern Europeans would
> prefer to live in Norway too?). It is precisely when people find themselves
> in poverty, distress and danger – when we’d expect them to settle for a
> minimum of safety and wellbeing – that their utopianism becomes most
> intransigent. But the hard truth to be faced by the refugees is that ‘there
> is no Norway,’ even in Norway.
>
>
> full:
> http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n18/slavoj-zizek/the-non-existence-of-norway
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Re: [Marxism] Palestinians and Israelis in Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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There is so much in this essay. So rich and thoughtful.  I have myself been
doing a piece on song and how it helps us access the angels of our better
natures. For a long time, I have been fascinated, for example, in the
history of the Civil War ballad, Loreena and how it was blamed by one
Confederate general for the loss of the war. It is one of my fondest
memories, the playing of this for Bhaskar at a seminar at the Institute in
London.

I have also been doing some work on war and song and contrasting Kubrick
and Loach's approaches as shown in Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Loach's
Days of Hope.

comradely

Gary

On Mon, Sep 7, 2015 at 4:11 AM, Hans G Ehrbar via Marxism <
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>
>
> Rob Kapilow is a famous conductor, composer, and popularizer
> of classical music.  His NPR series "what makes it great"
> explains specific pieces by Mozart, Beehoven, et al, to a
> broad audience.  This email here is a comment about
> Kapilow's interpretation of Beethoven's Sonata for violin
> and piano No 9 Op 47, also called the Kreutzer Sonata.
>
>
> http://www.npr.org/2009/10/14/113764595/beethovens-kreutzer-sonata-connections
>
> If you follow this link (which is from 2009), you can read:
>
> > The violin plays the opening in a major key, and then the
> > piano reinvents it in a minor key.  But what really
> > interests Beethoven, Kapilow explains, is how the idea
> > ends "with three repeated notes and a resolution down a
> > half-step.  Just this tiny little fragment.  And he starts
> > working with it, seeing what he can invent out of it,
> > trying it again in the violin and in the piano, always
> > three repeated notes, and down."
>
> > After a bit, Beethoven whittles the idea down even
> > further, fiddling just with the half step, taking it both
> > up and down.
>
> In the associated podcast Kapilow speaks this same text in
> words while playing Beethoven's motifs on the piano.  The
> listener can verify that this is what Beethoven is doing,
> and better appreciate the beauty of the music because
> Kapilow has made some of the structure explicit which makes
> the music beautiful.  The half note interval at the very end
> of the introductory passage is so-to-say the atom, the
> building block, from which the entire sonata is assembled.
>
>
> Then Kapilow compares the composer's disassembling and
> re-assembling of a musical theme with the creation of the
> universe.  This is where he goes too far.  Instead of
> interpreting Beethoven, Kapilow uses Beethoven's authority
> to promote a mistaken world view, namely downward
> reductionism.  It is simply not true that a look at the
> atoms puts us into the center of the universe, as Kapilow
> says.
>
> Kapilow explains to the listener, correctly, how Beethoven
> is looking for connections between his atomic musical
> themes.  But Kapilow himself does not give these connections
> the ontological priority which they deserve.  On the
> contrary, he brings the following example (not on the
> website itself but this is the podcast at 4:12):
>
> > It is kind of like, (inaudible) Palestinians and Israelis,
> > but Beethoven is always saying, if you look deeper, they
> > are just both people.  If you go down to the subatomic
> > level, we are all E and F.  And once we realize what we are at
> > base, we can make connections that no one would never had
> > made before.
>
> This passage has it all backwards.  Kapilow does not acknowledge
> how connected everybody living on this planet is and how
> dependent we are on each other.  The connections which he
> implores the individuals to establish already exist.  The
> connection is primary, not the atomization.  Kapilow does
> not see that the atomized interactions between individuals
> is an artefact of capitalism.  The capitalists are
> connected alright but they are pitting the working class
> individuals against each other.  Instead of seeing that
> society consists of connections, and that we have to change
> the social structure in which we are embedded in order to
> tear down the walls of the open air prison that is
> Palestine, Kapilow thinks that society is made up of atomized
> individuals and that these individuals must remember that
> the individuals on the other side of the wall are human
> beings too, in order for this wall to topple.
>
> Kapilow is 

[Marxism] Krugman Down Under

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Krugman's presence is causing something of a stir in the Social Media of
the leftist Laborites. As I posted before I welcome that, because it is a
crack in the TINA monolith. In fact in conversation with a Federal Labor
member of parliament some time ago  I urged him to campaign for a Krugman
tour of Australia.

But, at the same time, I am fundamentally puzzled as to why people will
listen to Krugman and not to better economists like Michael Roberts or our
own Rick Kuhn or Bill Mitchel.  In his take on Hegel's Master-Slave
dialectic Bhaskar wrote of how the slave wants reconciliation and mutual
forgiveness with the master and not the abolition of all master-slave
relations.  Keynesianism seems to hold out the promise that the boss can
once more be one's "mate"..  But of course the historical fact is that the
boss was seldom, if ever, the worker's mate.

Corbyn's election campaign is also having something of an effect.  Though,
he would appear to be too radical for many of the soi-disant Labor Leftists.

My explanation for all this is that there is a steady drift to the Left.
This is based first of all as a rejection of austerity economics. There are
also splits emerging within the intelligentsia many of whom are growing
alarmed at the increasing likelihood of another economic crash. Here in
Brisbane a number of capitalists also wrote an open letter to the Labor
State government begging them to spend on infrastructure to "save
Queensland".

But it is the discontent among the people which is for me to the fore and
the thought that as Murdoch puts it, they are becoming "ungovernable".


comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] New Zealand's flag debate and referendum

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Phil

It might be the Irish in me that objects to the "butchers' apron"  but I
welcome the abandonment of the Union Jack even if it is only in the
corner.  There are symbols and symbols, as you well know.   I recall
wrestling with a fascist thug in the 70 to protect the red flag.  Well to
be honest I twisted his finger!  But it was not only about symbols.

As for your other remarks about the parlous state of the NZ working class
and the push to enfold them all into the modern  nation, I agree of
course.  Still what we are seeing is a split between conservatives and
neoliberal radicals.  Here in Australia it is manifesting itself with a
revival of the Australian Republican movement.

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Sep 6, 2015 at 1:40 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> The NZ flag features the Union Jack in the top left corner with the rest of
> the flag being the southern corss constellation, very, very similar to
> Australia's.  They have one more star on theirs.
>
> As part of the modernisation of NZ capitalist society, prime minister John
> Key initiated a flag discussion and two referenda.
>
> A bunch of alternative flags have been created, with a 'representative'
> panel of NZers going through these and whittling the laternatives down to
> 4.  This has been done.  Next there will be a public referendum to find the
> most popular of these four.  Then there will be a further referendum in
> which the winner will be pitted against the existing flag.
>
> What's going on?
>
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/redlines-guide-to-a-new-kiwi-flag/
>
> Phil
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[Marxism] Murdoch in the twittersphere

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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The Prince of Darkness is fond of tweeting.  He has recently characterised
Australia as a "great country" but "ungovernable".  My first reaction when
I read that was an incredulous "I wish".  But there is a deeper point at
stake. Murdoch is on the surface referring to the Australian Senate where
micro parties hold the balance of power and they have proved responsive to
the people and irresponsible in Murdoch's term.  They have delayed aspects
of the austerity program the government launched on taking office two years
ago.

But there is a deeper level to the Murdoch agenda and that is an intrinsic
opposition to democracy on the part of the elites.  It is becoming
increasingly difficult to get the people to vote for their own destruction.
Lying before the election seemingly will no longer suffice. The external
emergency (e.g. Las Malvinas./ Falklands) still has some capacity to
mobilise support for right wing agendas but less and less.

So will the bourgeoisie abandon commitment to parliamentary democracy and
start flirting with the likes of Le Pen and the Golden Dawn? Impossible? I
don't think so.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Greece in Chaos; KKE to Fix Everything | Worker's Spatula

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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What can one say to such idiocy?  But I suppose one should show more
respect towards fossils.  Someone should tell him that when Marx used the
perm "partie" he meant the movement not a Zinovievist caricature.

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 12:44 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Asked how the KKE intended to concretely engage the current dynamics,
> Koutsoumpas was visibly stunned. “Isn’t that obvious? We have to strengthen
> our movement and in order to do that we will form anti-monopolistic and
> pro-people alliances. We will soon release a catalogue of criteria of
> political positions that qualify for such an alliance. It is a little bit
> more complicated than the scale I told you about before.”
>
> After repeated attempts by reporters to glean some cursory summary of what
> kind of criteria the KKE was looking for, Koutsoumpas gave in and stated:
> “Alright, if you must know, I can say this much: It would be really helpful
> if everyone seeking an alliance with us agrees with our party line on every
> major issue, including our predetermined role as sole saviours of the Greek
> nation. This is because our party line is quite simply correct on every
> major issue. And, you know, it’s like Marx said: Die Partei, die Partei,
> die hat immer recht.” He concluded the press conference by taking a shoe
> that he had kept on the table throughout the press conference and placing
> it on his bare foot, thus demonstrating his absolute lack of revisionism.
>
> full:
> https://workersspatula.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/greece-in-chaos-kke-to-fix-everything/
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[Marxism] straws in the wind

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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40 years ago Milton Friedman was touring Australia and that was the
beginning of the period of neoliberalism or "economic rationalism" as they
called it.  Now Krugman is here.  What does this herald - a return to
Keynesianism?

It would be foolish to expect great things from Krugman's visit, but Nobel
Prizes are now being given to soft lefties rather than the likes of Hayek
and Friedman.  Michalel Roberts' blog informs us that the chief economist
of the IMF, Olivier Blanchard, has also just given a farewell interview and
he talks there of the need to revive "old ideas" and mentions a left
Keynesian-- Minsky.

So there are crumbling cracks in the TINA edifice and the bits are falling
on the heads of the idiots in Australia like Joe Hockey and Doug McTaggart
who want to plague the people of this great country. Hockey is our
Treasurer who tried to launch the "Age of Opportunity" in his first
austerity budget.  McTaggart is the economist who advised to the
conservative government in Qld to sack 24 thousand public servants.

I know the current Labor Party leader, Shorten, lacks a moral  compass, but
are his political antennae sensitive enough to pick up the change in the
air.

No one has commented here on how Greens leader Di Natale's economic
illiteracy is preventing the Greens from becoming the party of opposition -
the alternative government.

They should look at Canada where a right wing cretinous mate of Abbott's,
Harper, legislated to make budget surpluses compulsory and set a fixed time
on elections only to have his economy move into recession as oil prices
collapsed.  What is significant is that the NDP (like our Labor Party) said
they would not do a budget surplus and they are mired in the polls,  The
Liberals under Trudeau said they were relaxed about a surplus and now they
are heading for an election win.

If Di Natale came out like a sensible Keynesian, he would sweep through
Labor Heartlands.  If he positioned his party as the anti-austerity party
then he would have a long shot of being the next Prime Minister.   But we
are left with the squeeze from a rabid Abbott and a right wing Labor stooge
- Bill Shorten.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Steve Jobs | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I don't know enough to comment on Jobs and I came to the computer thing so
late, that it doesn't have the romance for me that is has for so many
others. I am also a reductionist when it comes to business folk.   But the
concept of the bourgeois hero does interest me and Jobs would seem to fit
that, just as Princess Diana represented the bourgeois suffering.

In any case a great blog and so informative and full of that insider
flavour

comradely

Gary

On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 7:15 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 Last night I attended a press screening for Alex Gibney’s documentary
 “Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine” that opens in theaters and on VOD on
 Friday, September 4th. The film is a brilliant analysis of both the man and
 the company he built. Since Gibney’s last documentary was on Scientology,
 it was natural to wonder whether he decided to take on another cult. When
 Jobs died, Gibney was struck by the mass grief that poured out for the CEO
 after the fashion of Princess Di. What explained such devotion? Since
 Gibney owned and treasured his IPhone, this was a question that provoked
 him into making this film. As someone who likes but does not exactly love
 his Macbook, and who spent 44 years working as a systems analyst and a
 programmer, the question of Apple’s place in the American economy and
 society is also of great interest to me.

 full: http://louisproyect.org/2015/08/28/steve-jobs/
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[Marxism] thoughts on the Corbyn election thing

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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There is one feature of this that is beginning to intrigue me.  The
Guardian, which I read every day, has been anti-Corbyn from the beginning.
It has also come out and backed Cooper.  Nonetheless, in key articles by
its economic correspondents Elliott and Milne, support has been
demonstrated for Corbyn's Keynesian leanings.  Cooper's attacks in
particular have been rejected.

So if one wants Keynes, one has to support Corbyn.  Interesting.  But for
me the most important aspect of the talk of Keynesian economics is that it
represents a fissure in the monolith of TINA (There is no alternative).
That is why I tell people to read Krugman.  It creates movement at an
intellectual level and gets people beyond the fast thinking of TINA.

At political level, my support from broad political formations and for
Corbyn's campaign is that at the political level, he also represents a
challenge to TINA.  It is the thought that there was no alternative to  the
foul alliance  of Toryism and New Labourism that has driven millions to
despair and apathy. But there is a lesson for us in how Corbyn's campaign
has been able to put a dint in the apathy and hence in the *status quo*.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] A Mini-Dictionary of Neoliberalism?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hi Michael

I love words and so enjoyed your post a lot.

There are of course other words which are  crucial to the struggle at the
moment. I have to get round to a proper study of David Mair's work *Ruling
the Void.*  I only know it through the Streeck article in NLR, from whom I
learned that Mair put a lot of emphasis on the dialectic between the
words *responsible
*and* respon*sive. If you add a deal of political economy to the word
*responsible* and understand that it is defined, largely by News Ltd, in
the interests of capital, then one can understand, I believe, the decay of
parliamentary democracy in the West.  The capitalist class have
succeeded, through intimidation and bribery, in convincing Western
politicians that if they are *responsive* to the wishes of their members
and the public, then they are not being *responsible*

To get elected one has to signal to News Ltd that one is *responsible*.  If
one does not do that, one becomes *unelectable*. This is another key word,
especially in the UK context,  where the battle for the leadership of the
Labour Party is being fought out on the terrain of electable or
*unelectable*, at present.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 3:22 AM, michael perelman via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 *

 Richard Parker coined the word neglectorate to describe the public's
 alienation from the current dysfunctional political system.  Now that
 economists have, for the most part relegated John Maynard Keynes to the
 dustbin of history, the term Dickenysian seems to be appropriate for the
 present conditions, which are becoming increasingly similar to Charles
 Dickens' portrayal of the world he lived in.  The power of the bond market
 in imposing its will on supposedly independent states, suggests that
 bondage may be appropriate for expressing the power of capital.  Finally,
 we could describe the current economic system as Crapitalism, which treats
 ordinary people as crap.

 --
 Michael Perelman
 Economics Department
 California State University
 Chico, CA
 95929

 530 898 5321
 fax 530 898 5901
 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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[Marxism] sprigs of hope?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/26/pedro-almodovar-podemos-indignados-spain

The above link is to an article on an open letter from cultural figures,
including the filmmaker Almodovar, urging unity on the Left.  It is
interesting to see that as Podemos apparently tracks to the right a new
broad front politics would appear to be opening to their left.

My ignorance of contemporary Spanish politics is very deep, I am ashamed to
say, but I welcome any development which emphasizes the need for and holds
the promise of broad left unity.  The article actually set me thinking
about what kind of politics I would like to see and would support.  The
answer surprised me even.  Really, I would like to see a revival of the
popular front politics of the 1930s.  My knowledge of the popular front
comes mainly from Lou's posts over the years.  Popular Front is also
something of a curse in Trotskyist circles. But the very idea of thousands
of artists and intellectuals supporting progressive politics has set me
muttering like a fool as Yeats put it.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] more thoughts on reformism

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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My previous post on reformism and the 2nd law of dialectics has sunk
without a trace. Briefly, I was endorsing the notion that the quantitative
piling of reform upon reform could produce a qualitative change. I hasten
to add that I have not swallowed my missing copy of Bernstein's *Evolutionary
Socialism*.  The capitalist class will never sit idly by and let reform
follow reform.  But to talk of concrete reforms is the way to mobilize the
apathetic for the inevitable struggle.  That for me is the lesson of
Syriza's rise and that of Podemos and Sinn Fein and the Scottish
Nationalists.

Of course, it is much more satisfying to talk of nationalizing the banks
under workers' control and to call that a transitional demand as one of
the participants did at the recent Kouvleakis-Callinicos debate. But it is
the kind of fast thinking that no longer has any purchase on the people.

There was a special irony in the Kouvleakis-Callinicos debate which seems
to have been lost on most of the participants.  They were there to debate
and castigate the mistakes of Syriza in government.  Fair enough.  I am all
for a brutally frank analysis of the Syriza capitulation and sell out as
comrades will know. But, when oh when will we ever have a gathering in
London to debate and castigate the mistakes of a British leftist government?

Let me now try to dip into British history and in doing so attempt to
answer some of Callinicos' comments on the British Labor Party.  I think
there are two crucial periods. First there was the acceptance of the
Keynesian compromise and the claiming of this as a kind of end of history.
Anthony's Crosland's *The Future of Socialism* (1956) is a convenient date
to mark the abandonment of the socialist reform agenda. The debate
concentrated on public ownership (Clause 4), but basically Crosland and co
 thought that the Keynesian welfare state was a necessary and sufficient
condition for the construction of socialism.

The next stage was Jim Callaghan's abandonment in 1976 of Keynesianism. The
British Labor Party ceased to be reformist in every sense.  It but needed
the advent of New Labour and Tony Blair to complete the logical
transformation of the party into a vanguard of neo-liberal modernization.

My point here is that one cannot use the history of the British Labour
Party as a paradigm for the inevitable failure of reform, because that
party had abandoned reform.  Of course the Bennites fought a rear guard
action and it was significant enough to force the Labour Party Right to
split off.

But the tragedy is that no mass anti-austerity party has yet emerged our of
the crisis of 2008. Corbyn's leadership bid might possibly lead to that
eventually.  Certainly should he win, the capitalists will do all they can
to force a split to the right. But if that is played correctly we could get
our broad anti-austerity formation that is so desperately needed.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Independent: Tsipras shows his Machiavellian streak

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Only Shalva and Lou are gallantly keeping the thread going on Greece.  The
silence of other list members may indicate that they have sunk into
something like despair. Certainly that is my situation.

I want, though, to address the question was the Tsipras-Dragasakis coup
inevitable? Certainly, I think that in broad front politics there will
inevitably be a Tsipras and a Dragasakis.  But what I maintain is that
their victory is not inevitable.  What was crucial, I think (from 15180.65
km away),  was the failure of the Left Platform to develop an alternative
Plan B.  Kouvleakis puts the blame on Dragasakis for the absence of such a
fall back strategy.  But that is simply shifting the blame. Why would
Dragasakis or Tsipras develop an alternative?

Syriza I believe has split three times before and always to the Right.  I
think we have just seen the fourth split but Tsipras will not name it as
one.  He is fighting to be Syriza. But it will avail him little.  He will
become the Ramsay MacDonald or the Billy Hughes of Greek politics.  In
Australian terms he is the 'rat in the ranks'.  btw I think we have long
passed the time when the Socialist Alliance should name him as such and
admit the error of defending him from criticism. But perhaps that is just a
residue of my Trotskyism.

If I can get time away from struggling with Plato's theory of knowledge I
will attempt to redeem my promise (threat?) to respond to the
Callinicos-Kouvelakis debate.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 9:08 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism 
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 On 7/21/15 6:49 PM, Shalva Eliava via Marxism wrote:





 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-debt-crisis-news-alexis-tsipras-shows-his-machiavellian-streak-in-a-purge-of-syriza-rebels-10399042.html


 Isn't becoming obvious that Tsipras has effectively split from Syriza? If
 anything is to be salvaged, it will be a result of the Left Forum
 regrouping and moving ahead with the Thessalonika Program. In a way, it
 would have been clear if Tsipras had simply announced that he was joining
 PASOK or something but in politics there is always a large element of
 self-deception.
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Re: [Marxism] From reformism to struggle and regroument

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hi John,

Let's have a friendly non-sectarian non-flame war type debate about this,
because it is very important..  I respect your position but I disagree with
it.

I will begin by trying to unpack the labels reformist and reformism.
These unfortunately have migrated from slow to fast thinking (See Daniel
Kahneman) and have acquired both the status of curse words and a sacred
sayings that have the magic power of preventing the need for critical and
analytical thought i.e. slow thinking.

So what did reformism originally mean?  In what contexts did it originally
appear.?  What was its original political function?
Thankfully there is a good wiki on the word and it points us towards
Bernstein (reflex shudder in horror) and Rosa Luxembourg. There is also
mention of the debate in the 60s within the British Labour Party around
nationalization, which I am old enough to recall.

Briefly, reformism seems to have meant something like a process according
to the Send Law of Dialectics. Quantitative reform piled upon reform will
eventually produce qualitative change in the system. I am inclined to agree
with this and so that would put me in the reformist camp. But, the law or
tendency if it operates in the social sphere is subject to all sorts of
counter tendencies which arise from the struggle between the social
classes. So, I am not naive enough to believe that we would be allowed
simply to pass reform upon reform, and hey presto the workers' paradise
emerges.

But here, and I think this is the crucial point, if one runs up the banner
of reform -say the imposition of a 35 hour week or a job guarantee along
the lines advocated by Bill Mitchell of Newcastle University-  then that is
more likely to get public traction than a campaign build around slogans
such as One solution - Revolution, which I used to chant in the streets
of Brisbane.

The political point is that gaining public traction  i.e. support gives one
a political space to operate in.  That of course does not guarantee victory
but it does allow for maneuvering. The alternative is to stick with the one
anti-reformist line and demand a revolution.  Been there, done that for
years and really it ends up as a kind of self-fulfilling irrelevancy.

That might be enough for my opening salvo.  Hopefully over to you

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 7:58 AM, John Passant via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 From reformism to struggle and regroument

 If there are two lessons I draw from the surrender of SYRIZA they are,
 first, not to pursue a grand reformist project, especially an electoralist
 one aimed at winning power to manage capitalism, and second to consider how
 to unite those small and disparate forces now on the ground in Australia
 which understand that the emancipation of the working class must be the act
 of the working class.


 http://enpassant.com.au/2015/07/14/from-reformism-to-struggle-and-regroupment/
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Re: [Marxism] last words on Greece

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Yes feel free to quote, Andrew.

comradely

Gary

On Tuesday, July 14, 2015, Andrew Pollack via Marxism 
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 I just finished the Panitch/Gindin article and came here to rant (and to
 bemoan Gindin's participation; I expected better of him given his decades
 of grassroots labor work), but Gary and Michael have said it all. Can I
 quote you both on Facebook? (all these messages are visible anyway on the
 web :)

 On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 8:40 PM, Michael Yates via Marxism 
 marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 Hear! Hear! Gary. I am afraid that Leo and Sam seem to be getting wronger
 on so many issues the older they get. Whatever happened to their mantra
 about building people's capacities, or at least trying to do so? Also,
 there is  lot of what we might call historical amnesia. Too many people
say
 that all left projects have failed because they were doomed to fail. And
 this is because their adversaries were just too powerful. This is surely
an
 incorrect method of analysis. Why were the Bolsheviks doomed to fail? Why
 was the restoration of capitalism in China inevitable? Why was Greece
 doomed to make the most awful capitulations to the troika? It seems that
 critics of what one man called the ultra-left, meaning not sectarians
but
 all to the left of Syriza, look at everything after the fact, and say,
 well, no wonder they failed. Not because they failed to make a detailed
and
 sophisticated of the forces at play and plan to find the best was to
combat
 their enemy's power, but because, well, their adversaries were just too
 damned powerful. As this same guy said, The fucking Germans, man. Best
to
 give in and wait for a better day. Of course, the better day usually
never
 comes, and we find ourselves facing the grave. But let one of us say that
 they failed to do what needed to be done, and we are accused of looking
at
 things through technicolor glasses. Or told that we didn't read the polls
 taken to see what people thought at some point in time, never realizing
 that life is lived in a dynamic and ever-changing context, one in which
 politicls always comes into play.
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[Marxism] last words on Greece

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Truly I intend this to be my last contribution to the Greek debate.  I am
becoming increasingly offended by the attacks on the international
solidarity movement.. I now read from Panitch and Gindin that we have been
as usual dreaming in technicolor. Earlier, I read we did not care about
someone's mother who had only 14 tablets left. Hundreds of thousands of
people around the world have acted in solidarity with the Greek people,
because they believe there is an alternative and they do care.  Now we are
being told we are like arm chair generals urging the Greek people onto
their death and ruin.

The death and ruin was plotted and carried out, not by the international
solidarity movement but by Merkel, Shauble, Holland, Gabriel, Dijesselbloem
et al.

Panitch and Gindin have seized and held aloft the Thatcherite banner of
TINA and shame on them. They are bringing comfort to the enemy. It is true
that we on the Left dream of a better world.  We expect, and get, sneers
for that from the Right. But we deserve better from soi-disant Marxists.  I
doubt if Panitch and Gindin will ever read these words, or that I will ever
meet them in person, but they can be sure they have my full disagreement
and no little disappointment

For what it is worth, I support the formation of broad left groupings.  I
have both a horror of the politics of the sects and a clear understanding
that the working class need an alternative to Zinoviefism.  But that does
not mean that I will refuse to analyse and criticize the leadership of
Syriza.  For a moment the politics of anti-austerity had a period of hope,
a focus and something to rally around. That is gone and Richard Seymour is
correct. I now agree it is a terrible defeat and a devastating absence.

There is an old Irish folk song of the rebellion of 1803 led by Robert
Emmet. It seems all too appropriate for the Greek context

The struggle is over, the boys are defeated,
Old Ireland's surrounded with sadness and gloom,
We were defeated and shamefuIIy treated,
And I, Robert Emmet, awaiting my doom

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Some strategies that were wrong in the past are becoming right now

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I read Hans' post with considerable interest. Not least, because here in
Australia the Government has moved to directly attack renewable energy -
specifically wind and solar.  The prime minister Tony Abbott actually
peddles the worst nonsense about windmills being damaging to health.  Now
he has moved to cut funding to small solar projects i.e. houses.
Like so much that is happening in the world today, this is truly atavistic.
Ah well.

comradely

Gary

On Tue, Jul 14, 2015 at 5:37 AM, Hans G Ehrbar via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 In our debate around Greece, the environmental crisis has rarely been
 mentioned.  This cannot be right.

 The environmental crisis is not only a problem of capitalism, it is a
 problem of any modern industrialized production system.  In addition to
 the unfair distribution of wealth under capitalism, modern industrial
 production is creating too much waste and has too many unintended side
 effects on the ecosystem to be sustainable.  We must transition to a
 much lower environmental footprint in production and consumption.
 Socialism can no longer just mean eliminating the capitalist privileges,
 but it also means profound changes of the industrial production system:
 living closer to the land, abandoning some luxuries and the throw-away
 mentality, enjoying more companionship, culture, free time, and security
 instead of toys and stress and isolation.

 Looked under this angle, Greece is not poor.  It has some traditional
 wealth that needs to be preserved and protected against the world wide
 land and resource grabs of a capitalist system which is looking for
 additional natural resources to throw into the black hole of globalized
 industrial production.  Greeks live close to land and sea, have
 community, enjoy culture and leisure more than lots of stuff --- these
 are treasures that must be recognized and protected.  Therefore
 privatizations must be resisted as much as possible, workers rights and
 safety nets must be preserved.

 The environmental crisis is here.  It is global and needs global
 remedies.  In a socialist system, it would be much easier to change
 human behaviors towards sustainability, than in capitalism.  But there
 is no time to institute socialism first, we have to do the best we can
 in a capitalist system.  Despite neoliberal ideology, a stronger
 pro-active state is needed which can put limits to capitalist
 excesses.  Therefore Socialists must re-think the relation between
 reform and revolution.  Instead of smashing the state and creating an
 entirely new system from scratch, the road to socialism will go towards
 reforming the state, making democracy more participatory, and
 eliminating corruption and greed in favor of defending human rights
 against capitalist intrusion.

 As long as the capitalist system was rich enough to buy off any reform,
 and vibrant and flexible enough to integrate all opposition forces,
 socialists had to fight reformism.  But the environment is throwing
 the capitalist system into deep crisis because it is making continued
 capitalist growth impossible.  Capitalism no longer has enough money to
 buy out opposition, and some of its destructions cannot be papered over
 with money: capitalism cannot buy out people whose health is destroyed
 by pollution.  Due to its inability to lead in humanity's most serious
 crisis ever, the entire capitalist system is losing its mass support
 more and more.  Therefore it is not wrong for today's anticapitalists to
 embrace reforms.  At the height of the capitalist era, reforms could not
 make a dent in the coherent and successful system of capitalist
 relations.  Today reforms can make big differences.  They can push back
 capitalism and create openings for alternatives to capitalism.

 One of the major obstacles which makes environmental reforms so difficult
 under capitalism is the fact that there is no world government.
 Competition between national states punishes those who try to preserve
 the environment.  Against these systemic obstacles, the EU has played a
 pioneering role in environmental protection and innovation, which put
 the other world powers under pressure to follow suit.  Therefore the EU
 and its institutions should not be abondoned or smashed, but they are an
 arena of class struggle which deserves our attention.

 

[Marxism] on Greece debate

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hans and Michael have put up two thoughtful pieces.  My heart is with
them.  I do so hope that Hans is correct, but my head is with Richard
Seymour.  he has emerged from twitterdom to post a very good piece. We
should bear in mind that Richard (like me) was a supporter, of what I at
least thought Syriza represented,  a break from the sterile sectarian
Leninist madness.  Richard's conclusion is very stark.  He writes

So it is important to be clear: if Syriza supports and implements this
deal, it is over.  It will not recover.  It may exist as a party, but as a
force of the radical left it will be all but redundant.  It may as well be
a centrist, austerian coalition.  A left that goes along with this will be
committing suicide.  And finally, don't put your faith in the idea that
maybe if Syriza hangs in there, does what it's told, eventually, after a
while, Podemos will come, maybe some other radical left formations will
come, and the balance of power will tilt.  Even if that *was* how the
European institutions work - and they have proven they aren't susceptible
to that kind of pressure - this outcome will seriously undercut the chances
for the European radical left.

On a personal level my Irishness is beginning to assert itself.  I am
thinking only a bunch of Keynesians could make the Stalinist KKE look
good.  I am also incubating a hearty dislike for Tsirpas the Traitor.  And
please, for god's sake, let no one trot out the crappy line that he can't
be a traitor for he never pretended to be anything other than what he is.
He went into the referendum pretending that it made a difference.

Let me now tackle, and I do not intend this in a flame like provocation,
the line that is emerging.  Green Left Weekly ( my subscription has
expired  if someone contact me I will renew it) has come out with the
slogan Greece needs our solidarity. Michael endorses this and on the
surface who can say nay?  Well, I do.  Greece here functions as
a metonym (part stands for whole).  My solidarity is with the people of
Greece, not the Greek capitalists, not with Pasok, not with To Potami, and
no longer with Syriza.

Finally, Stuart criticised my questioning of Syriza's   Tsirpas' tactics.
I respect his subsequent silence. But I would ask him to consider whether
he has an inclination to overly put his faith in princes.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] What now?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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I will give Hans' post more consideration and reply later, I hope.  It
certainly merits that.  I am inclined though to agree with him and to
disagree with Richard Seymour on the scale of the defeat. It might be very
dangerous to think this but the people demonstrated their courage and
solidarity and that has not changed.

In response to Theo's blog let me quote a line from Yeats - I have never
complained of the people. And no one else on this list has either, as far
as I can see. It is true that most of us do not speak Greek.  But all of us
wish the Greek people well, and we have all displayed international
solidarity.  There have also been many posts which had their origin from
within Greece.  In this the list has acted in the best traditions of
socialist solidarity, IMHO. Solidarity, of course, can be unwanted at
times. Many of us are angry and bitterly disappointed at the victory of the
Right.  Would Theo want us to feel otherwise?  I am sure not. Let me repeat
again.  We are not complaining about the Greek people.  My admiration for
them is unbounded.

*Tsirpas the Sell-out* is something else.  I will be complaining about him
for as many years as remain to me. Now, he reminds me of the character
in *Pelle
the Conqueror* who rebels and is about to strike the cruel boss down with
his scythe and then is struck in the back of the head by some kind of
apparatus that I cannot recall.  One's immediate reaction is that he has
died bravely and one mourns that he did not get a blow in. Then, later in
the film, we see him again.  He is sat in the corner of the kitchen alive
but brain damaged and drooling. 'Why was he not thrown off the farm?' we
wonder at first. After all he was going to kill the boss.  Then the answer
is bitterly clear.  He has become a trophy.  Ostensibly he shows the boss's
charitable side.  In reality, he serves to remind people of the fate of
rebellion.

Unless I am very mistaken, the new Alexis will be a jewel in the crowns of
the Thugs of Brussels.
Should events prove me wrong and should Syriza somehow learn from the
people, then I will be the first to apologize.  But I am not holding my
breath

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] Greece again

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Richard Seymour is busy working and so has retreated it seems to twitter.
Pity that.  His latest tweet is
Full horrible detail of Greece deal: http://www.
naftemporiki.gr/finance/story/976680/the-greek-reform-proposals …
http://t.co/CWQyeXqJtS  privatisations, VAT rises, pension cuts, no
trace of progressive agenda left.
I don't have the heart to follow the link. This is, it would appear, a
terrible defeat. I won't go on about that, but let me just repeat one of my
favourite sayings Mann kann sich tot siegen. that, as list members would
know, is what Mandel wrote to Ben Gurion just after the Zionists' greatest
victory - the 6 Day War.

It is not only the people who will pay for the Troika victory. One day, and
there will be another day, the people will rise up and it will be a case of
No more water; the fire next time.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Trapped by its own success?

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Well I confess that the Telegraph correspondent is closer to my thinking.
But there is a piece by Larry Elliott in the Guardian which says almost the
exact opposite. He reckons that whatever the outcome Tsirpas comes out of
this better.  He appears to be reasonable and moderate and willing to do a
deal, while Merkel looks like a thug.

I read the excerpt from Varoufakis' book on Merkel and the two buttons.
Which would she press?  One leading to prosperity and the other to a
neo-liberal hell.
My first comment is that it makes for excellent propaganda in this
conjuncture where an anti-austerity politics is coming to the front. Merkel
appears confused and hesitant, and that undermines confidence in her as a
world leader.

My second comment is that this is a classic Keynesian scenario. The
solution is simple.  Boost demand and all will be well. The failure to
boost demand is attributed to personality faults in the leaders, which have
led to a crisis of agency. We should note here Galbraith's scathing
comments on the personalities of Merkel, Hollande et al.

But what (God Forbid) the classical (?) Marxist position is correct, and
the crisis is provoked not by personality flaws etc, but by the tendency of
the rate of profit to fall? What if there is a structural problem and not
an agency problem? Oopsee Daisy!

Let me be up front and honest here.  I am telling everyone who will listen
that they should read Krugman.  Of course my treachery, if that is what
it is, does not amount to much for very few are listening.  But the
situation is getting more and more serious.  In Greece it is dire, and the
suffering of the people is too horrible to contemplate.  Here in Australia,
the congenital idiots who are in Government and Opposition believe their
own stupid propaganda.

We are on the brink of a serious national recession, I think, especially if
China's share market woes get out of control. In that case recommending
Krugman may not be too bad a thing to do.

comradely

Gary





On Wed, Jul 8, 2015 at 10:23 AM, Marv Gandall via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 The astute Telegraph financial columnist, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who has
 closely followed the unfolding crisis in Greece, says the Syriza leadership
 never expected to win the referendum and is trapped by its own success. It
 can no longer accede to the punishing demands for greater austerity by the
 German-led eurozone and the IMF nor does it want to leave the currency
 union, an impossible contradiction which has revealed itself in the
 hesitant and confusing political direction of the Tsipras government in its
 first five months in office.

 “Mr Tsipras had already made the decision to acquiesce to austerity
 demands, recognizing that Syriza had failed to bring about a debtors’
 cartel of southern EMU states and had seriously misjudged the mood across
 the eurozone”, E-P writes. A Yes vote which would have mandated that Syriza
 hand over or share power with a new government to the right prepared to
 promptly surrender to the creditors’ demands.

 Now Syriza’s leadership must bear the full responsibility of capitulating
 against the will of the Greek masses who defiantly rejected that course on
 Sunday, or must effectively leave the eurozone, E-P reports that the
 government’s inner cabinet explored in detail and again retreated from the
 latter option last week prior to the unexpected referendum result.

 If the Syriza government is finally left with no choice but to reject the
 ever-escalating austerity demands of the eurozone powers, the only
 remaining question is whether it will be a chaotic process or one managed
 in concert with the eurozone powers. Despite the Telegraph columnist’s
 overwrought contention that that “Syriza has been in utter disarray for 36
 hours…events are now spinning out of control…Greece is in turmoil, so is
 Europe”, Greece’s rupture with the eurozone is not a foregone conclusion.

 The US, Germany, and their more important allies are nervous and uncertain
 about the potential social, economic, and geopolitical consequences of a
 Greek exit. German banks and exporters, in particular, have benefited
 hugely from the creation of the eurozone, Greece is an important strategic
 asset for US and NATO military planners, and there are legal impediments to
 Greece’s formal expulsion from the 

Re: [Marxism] Going into industry

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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The thing about the turn to industry was that it was dreamed up by
professional revolutionaries/organizers who had absolutely no intention of
turning to industry themselves.

There was talk of this nonsense in Australia too, but I was never part of
the group that took it seriously.

But in the IS we had the absolute fetishization of factory sales.  Two
Battlers sold at factory gates = 300 sold at a rally.  What stupid nonsense.

comradely

Gary

On Wed, Jul 8, 2015 at 12:46 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism 
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 Gladys Scales in A Red Family: Junius, Gladys, and Barbara Scales:

 The [Communist] Party knew they had talented people and used their
 talents, yet many stupid things were done with people. One was a period of
 industrial concentration, where intellectuals and students were taken out
 of school and put into factory work. They were going to organize the
 workers. First of all, they stuck out like sore thumbs. You can't take an
 intellectual and put blue jeans on him and make him look like a worker. The
 workers didn’t particularly trust him. They weren’t really at ease and
 neglected their own talents. It was like putting a square peg into a round
 hole.

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[Marxism] On Tsirpas

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Hi Sheldon, greetings from Down Under and thank you for your comment.

Sheldon wrote
and there is no proof that Tsipras is some sort of sell-out, your claims
notwithstanding.  All along, Tzipras' offer of concessions was a bluff.  He
knew that the Troika would reject them, so he 'offered' them knowing that
the Troika's arrogant rejection of them would galvanize the Greek
electorate into giving him a majority during the ensuing referendum.
Getting a majority was crucial since Syriza itself won less than a majority
during its initial election victory.

Well I hope you are right Sheldon.  My analysis was based on the offer
Tsirpas made at the last minute.  Mind you I was heavily influenced by the
Guardian headline which said Tsirpas climbs down.  Also, Galbraith hinted
that Tsirpas sidelined Varoufakis and put more concession minded
negotiators in charge.

If the Troika had accepted his last minute offer, then that would have
destroyed him and his party and demoralized the people.  A hell of a
bluff, I would call that. But maybe you have access to more information
than myself.  In any case, this is a victory for the people.  And that is
what we must now concentrate on.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] The Kohler artice

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So thanks to Michael I got to read the Alan Kohler article. What did i make
of it?  Firstly it was written under the sign of there is no alternative or
 TINA as my dear friend Roy Bhaskar called it.

The Greeks must vote Yes, according to Kohler, because if they vote no then
we step outside the logic of capitalism.  That is precisely why the
bourgeoisie are anxious about the referendum. It gives the people an
opportunity to enter the stage of history and that makes, always, for a
nervous ruling class.

I won't say any more about the referendum.  Personally I think the yes vote
will get up, precisely because Tsirpas  Co have flopped around and
vacillated.  But it will not be  the end of politics rather it will begin
another stage of the struggle.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] The Greek working class overwhelmingly rejects austerity

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Agreed totally.  I confess to thinking the YES camp would win.  But this is
just wonderful news. The working class vote was up to 90% NO.

Decisiveness on the part of the people won the day.  I particularly enjoy
recalling Alan Kohler's prediction of a YES as he cl;aimed there was no
alternative.

He can shove his no alternative now.

I will be so bold as to predict a retreat by Merkel and co. If they do not
deal with Tsirpas and Varoufakis, then they may have to deal with someone a
lot tougher.

comradely

Gary

On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 7:44 AM, John Passant via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 There is joy in the streets of  Greece that echoes in my heart. Thank you
 to the working class in Greece. You have restored hope for humanity.


 http://enpassant.com.au/2015/07/06/the-greek-working-class-overwhelmingly-rejects-austerity/
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[Marxism] Greece what now?

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The curse (of needing to make a prediction) has come upon me (yet again).
My reading of the entrails is influenced by Krugman, Galbraith and above
all by Alan Kohler's comment.  The latter, a regular on Australian TV, said
that YES would prevail because there was no alternative.  I am inclined to
think he genuinely believed that.

But NO has triumphed and so an alternative must emerge and fairly quickly
too.  Merkel, Juncker, Gabriel, Schauble, Draghi, Lagarde and Hollande all
have egg and worse on their face.  For them the unthinkable has happened.
They have allowed a political drama to develop and what was designed to be
an object lesson for the Irish, the Spaniards, the Portuguese and the
Italians has achieved the exact opposite. I can sense the stink of fear
from all of the pro-austerity governments.

Merkel  Co will either toughen their stance, as Gabriel seems to have
suggested, or retreat. More harshness would mean that the current
politicization of the masses will continue. A crisis of legitimization
might ensue with unpredictable consequences.

So what is my prediction?  They will retreat. All they have to do is to
accept Syriza's compromise offer.  Tsirpas has shown himself willing to
retreat.  It was just that Merkel and co got too far ahead of themselves
and went for the big prizes, regime change and the crushing of the
anti-austerity movement.  Watch Kevin Kostner's awful film *Draft Day* to
get an idea of what they thought they were doing.

If I read the entrails correctly, Krugman and Galbraith offer a way out.  A
retreat to moderate Keynesianism is on the cards. Everything will be done
to return to business as usual. Bruised egos aside, a renewed attack on
Greece puts the whole bloody system in danger.  I suspect that somewhere
behind the scenes the Americans  are handing out sedatives to the European
leaders and advising a fall back.

What this means for the anti-austerity movement is hard to predict (that
word again!). Obviously, it has had a tremendous victory.   may be we
should just enjoy that for the moment.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Whatever happens to Greece, the euro is unsustainable | Business Spectator

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Hitting the pay wall every time. Shame because I am trying to pay attention
to what the thoughtful bourgeois commentators are saying.  There has to be
intense traffic behind the scenes.  We are fed rubbish in the main media,
but occasionally a serious article appears.

The Guardian had an article saying that thus all could be the Eurozone's
Sarajevo moment, when the great powers stumbled into WW1. I think the
analogy is false and the history bad, but what I took out from that was the
idea of a fear of losing control was setting in within bourgeois ranks.

Another significant item (I thought) was that the Americans forced the IMF
to release the paper which substantially supports Syriza's position.
Certainly Tsirpas seized upon this.

There was also talk in the Guardian that this crisis could be another
Lehman Brothers moment.  My reaction to that is Who knows? and that is
precisely the point. Uncertainty is bad for the famous animal spirits of
the ruling class.

Then the Guardian editorialized about this being the worst of all possible
outcomes.  A Yes vote would mean that the Bureaucrats in Europe had
succeeded in binging down a government. And that could turn out to be a
Pyrrhic Victory. Destroying the pro-European Left, as Galbraith pointed
out, would lead to a very uncertain future.

Finally there is some suggestion that the leading thug Shauble might be
blinking. He mumbled something about not leaving the Greek people in the
lurch. If the Guardian's interpretation of what he has to say is accurate
then he has been got at; possibly by the Americans.

So what to make of all this?  I keep thinking of the Barthes' article where
he discusses ex-nomination.  That is an ugly word but basically what he
was saying was that the capitalists had succeeded in getting names for them
removed from public language.  Only we old lefties talk about the ruling
class and when we do eyes glaze over everywhere. My students, who actually
loved me, used to giggle affectionately at Old Gary ranting again.

I am also reading, with a friend, Walter Benjamin on Language as Such.  All
very mystical but he too talks about a language that names and brings
things into being. So what has all this to do with the price of bread?

Well my take on the Greek crisis is that the neo-Keynesian Left (eat your
heart out, Gary), are partly responsible for a situation where the forces
of capitalism have been named.  This is because Syriza has campaigned not
for soviets but against austerity and so have struck a great chord with
millions throughout Europe.

As a consequence the capitalists are out there in all their frightful
thuggery and ugliness.  And they are elements among them who are quite
unhappy at being there and being named. There has to be anger in bourgeois
circles at the intransigence of the Germans who have brought us to this
situation.

It is Sunday morning now, here in Brisbane. May the winds of change that
are blowing in Athens turn out to be a tornado and sweep away the powers
that be.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] response to Galbraith

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I thought the most interesting point about the Galbraith articles was the
stance he took.  He is close to Varoufakis. His attitude was that of the
pro-European moderate who fears what a defeat for Tsirpas and Varoufakis
means.  He characterizes them as the last of the pro-European Left and
their defeat will mean they will be replaced by a European hating Left or
even a Far Right.

I agree that Tsirpas and Varoufakis are moderates.  But what Galbraith does
not seem to contemplate is that Merkel, Gabriel Lagarde, and Hollande are
genuine extremists leading the party of the extreme center that Tariq Ali
talks about..

They cannot be negotiated with.  Only their total defeat can move Europe
and humanity forward.

Not to recognize this was the fundamental mistake that Syriza have made.

In all mo years of observing politics, I am struggling to come up with a
parallel crisis, when the naked savagery of the bourgeoisie was there for
all to see.  Perhaps the Pinochet coup which heralded in the neo-liberal
era is the clearest parallel.

A defeat for Syriza in the referendum and then the emergence of another
government in Athens would be a serious setback.  But, unlike with Allende,
it would not mean that the Left had suffered a historic defeat.  Not yet.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] A thought on the meaning of Sinn Fein Ireland - a comment on Tariq Ali

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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 What Ali cannot countenance is the possibility that Sinn Fein represent a
 mass movement which is part of a historical mass struggle against British
 Imperialism in Ireland.  Whatever one thinks of the current leadership of
 Sinn Fein and I do not carry the banner for Adams  co the m movement
 itself has a radical past and I believe a trajectory which the leadership
 do not totally control.  Sinn Fein like the Scottish Nationalists (SNP)
 have taken up the anti-austerity cause  they have done very well through
 doing so.


It is, I suspect, because of their link to nationalism that Ali (  co)
would prefer to talk of Syriza and Podemos. Ireland has always been
something of a blind spot for the British Left and in particular the NLR
circle ( the Tafftites and the ISO). We have now in Ireland a mass
response to austerity, just as we have in Scotland. They deserve not to be
dismissed, for who knows whether in the medium term they may not play as
decisive and progtressive a role as that of of the radical Keynesians of
Syriza.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] still more personal reactions to Greeke crisis

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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From the Socialist Resistance article

There was always, however, another side to this that the ultra lefts
failed to recognise. This is that even after Syriza had dropped some
of its pledges—and it did implement some important promises of
course—what was left, which was Syriza’s core position, and what
defines it as an anti-austerity party – no further austerity, remained
totally unacceptable to the EU elites. In fact it has always had
transitional implications.

The outcome of this remarkable confrontation therefore will define the
future not only of the people of Greece but also the future of all
those across Europe who struggle against austerity and for more
democracy and equality. From this point of view the European left has
now, more than at any time during this crisis, a responsibility to
build solidarity with the struggle of Syriza and the Greece working
class.

I agree totally with this as I am sure most on the list do too.  It is why
I am so taken up with the crisis there.  But it is terribly difficult to
work out what is happening from this distance.  Frustratingly, Richard
Seymour's blog is silent, and I have come to rely on him so much.
Especially, as the filters on the main stream media reporting are
outrageous.  This morning for instance the ABC talked of Greece 'reneging'.


As I went to bed last night the Guardian online had Tsirpas capitulating.

This morning this is not so clear, it would seem.

There are moves under way to prevent the referendum, which must mean that
the ruling class fear the result. Though seemingly the Yes vote is pulling
ahead in the polls.  But that I do not believe.

Miscalculations seem to be playing a role on all sides.  I suppose this is
the intrinsic messiness of actual politics in actual time. Merkel's
statements seem to be taking on a *Deutschland uber alles* flavour.  That
must be in response to criticism of her role. The execrable leader of the
Social Democrats (What a party!) Sigmar Gabriel appears to be trying to
emerge as the champion of the German working class saying they are paying
the price for Greece's ultra rich not paying tax.  Is he worried about
pan-European working class solidarity?.

There is a serious point in all this coming and going.  A victory over
Tsirpas and the Greek people will do a lot to discredit the EU project.
The current ruthless take no prisoners approach may frighten and intimidate
but it does not build hegemony. Austerity and neolberalism have been named
and to be named is always the first necessary (but insufficient step to
undermining hegemonic dominance.

All in all the chaos would appear to have a dynamic of its own.  No one can
predict what will happen.  For me though I do wish that Tsirpas would stop
flopping about as he appears to be doing.  If he is demoralizing me, and he
is at times, he must also be doing that to his own supporters.
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[Marxism] not Syriza not Tsirpas

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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There is some truth in the line we'll do a deal  but not with Tsirpas;
 but not a lot of truth.   The truth is hat Syriza has frightened the
bourgeoisie, and they will heave a sigh of relief if Syriza are defeated.
The neoliberals will still want their pound of flesh, though.

The clarity of the politics in Greece contrasts remarkably with those here
in Oz.  We are expected to worry about boat people (refugees) and ISIS who
according to the Prime Minister are coming for us.  We are also supposed to
believe the budget is broken and needs fixing.

In Greece the enemy is out there for all to see. Syriza have stayed true to
their mandate (given a wobble or two), so even if they are driven from
office, they will be able to stay proud.

Those who have heard their masters' voices, may win on Sunday.  They
campaign under the slogan We are not traitors. But that fools no one.

The result though will be a terrible tragedy for Greece.  All talk of a
better deal, if Tsirpas goes, will vanish like bubbles. Defeating Tsirpas
and his party will solve nothing  that will become clearer over the next
few months.

comradely

Gary
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[Marxism] Greece

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I read Hudson's Counterpunch article. He is of course pro-Syriza.  That
party seems to have assiduously cultivated the Keynesians and is fighting
under the banner of Save capitalism from the capitalists'; not Save the
people from capitalism.  Still, as I have said before, sooner Syriza than
PASOK or British Labor or the Australian Labor Party or even worse the
Democrats..

The polls are said to predict a defeat for Syriza in the coming referendum,
and that the people will say Yes to the deal being offered by the Troika.
Frankly, I do not believe that.  I think the proposal will be defeated and
that the No vote will prevail.

But a defeat will not now be the end of Syriza.  Only a climb down, that is
 a betrayal of their supporters,would have destroyed them. Tsirpas has
emerged as a champion of responsiveness rather than an avatar of
responsibility (as defined by the Troika and News LTD).  The dialectic
between responsibility and responsiveness is one of the keys to
understanding electoral politics as the Irish political scientist Peter
Mair pointed out.  The latter wrote

“The age of party democracy has passed. Although the parties themselves
remain, they have become so disconnected from the wider society, and pursue
a form of competition that is so lacking in meaning, that they no longer
seem capable of sustaining democracy in its present form.”

It is because Tsirpas and his party represent a challenge to this trend
that the elite in Europe and elsewhere want them crushed. These attacks,
especially the ones directed at Tsirpas, serve to build the legend of
Syriza and that is why they will survive a Yes vote if it happens.

For those of us (and I count myself among them) in the closet still
dreaming of soviets and barricades and of the dictatorship of the
proletariat, the temptation is to think that this is all just a spat
between Keynesian and Neoclassical economics. After all one only has to
read Stiglitz' halfhearted endorsement (It is hard to advise Greeks how to
vote on 5 July.) to realize that Keynesians do not revolutionaries make.
And that is putting it mildly.

Yet to see the conflict only in terms of Keynes versus Hayek, would be a
mistake, I am inclined to believe. This could turn out to be a very
decisive moment indeed. I am doubly inclined to believe so after hearing
that the KKE is calling for a boycott of the referendum. When Stalinists
tell us to go back, you know we must press forward.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Tsipras’ Bailout Referendum Sham by Yves Smith

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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No intention of trying to take anything apart, Ralph. Yours is a thoughtful
post, mercifully free from the CORRECT LINE. I think the referendum is
tactically correct,  even if poorly timed. Certainly it is no sham.

I am not sure why, but the clarity of the issues, compared with Syria or
the Ukraine is almost invigorating.  Capital has entered the field in a
very clear and easily discernible form. Lagarde and Schauble are plainly
what they are - nothing less than the enemies of humanity. They may well
 win and smash Greece into submission. They certainly seem stronger.  But
they will pay a price for their victory, and the coming struggle with
Podemos  will be masked by fewer illusions. Certainly it is plain  to see
that Capital has nothing to offer but blood sweat and tears. The European
project has been stripped of all the necessary  feel good cover and
idealism that marked its inception. The signs of decomposition everywhere
are ,  without wishing to be flippant, ddeeply threatening to the stus quo .

Whatever we think of Syriza, they did not fold as many on the Left believed
they would.  For that they deserve some credit. They have flushed out the
thugs. We must now hope they can prevail.

comradely

Gary
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Re: [Marxism] Tsipras’ Bailout Referendum Sham by Yves Smith

[Gary MacLennan via Marxism]

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Well Einde,

great minds think alike! I disliked t his article intensely.  Not to say
though, that I think Syriza has been a tad naive.  They should always have
borne in mind that  they were dealing with the enemy, even though they
could not say that publicly.

This was always a political crisis first and foremost and I wonder if
Tsirpas truly understood that (?).

Nonetheless, all criticism to one side, there can be doubt who the good
guys are here and that is the Greek people.  May they prevail.

comradely

Gary

On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 6:04 AM, Einde O'Callaghan via Marxism 
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote:

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 On 27.06.2015 21:39, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote:


 On 6/27/15 3:30 PM, Ralph Johansen via Marxism wrote:

 Tsipras’ Bailout Referendum Sham
 Posted on June 27, 2015 by Yves Smith

 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/06/tsipras-bailout-referendum-sham.html


 Greek defiance of its creditors will make it more, not less dependent on
 them in the next year.


 That one sentence has made me decide that this article isn't worth
 reading. Obviously the election of Syriza and the struggles accompanying it
 were a complete waste of time and the best policy for the Greek working
 class would have been simply to accept any shit the Troika threw at them.
 Struggle is pointless - we might as well all give up - socialism is
 impossible.

 Or have I somehow misinterpreted the ultimate conclusion of this type of
 argument?


 So, it was more radical not to defy the creditors? Gosh, Naked Capitalism
 is more dialectical than I could have imagined.


 Indeed!

 Einde O'Callaghan

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[Marxism] saving capitalism from the capitalists

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Michael Roberts' blog on the *Inclusive Capitalism* conference sponsored by
Lady Rothschild was a good read (as usual). The last paragraph struck me as
particularly interesting



Both Lady Rothschild and Thomas Piketty believe in capitalism. Both reckon
that capitalists can be made to or persuaded to act to reduce inequality,
create a better environment and adopt moral policies in investment. Piketty
wants more and higher taxes to do this; Lady Rothschild wants shareholder
power. But ‘responsible’ or ‘inclusive’ capitalism won’t and can’t deliver.



It is the phenomenon that Piketty and the good Lady represent that
interests me.  I think they are like the canaries in the 19thC coal mine.
 They are flopping about , showing signs of distress and in so doing
presaging a tremendous explosion.  The distress of the canaries is genuine,
but it does nothing to halt the build up of methane.



Truly, the strength of the forces at work in today's world is such that it
seems that agency has made way for structure. The assaults on the poor and
the ecosystem are remorseless. The crucifixion of Greece, for instance, is
a species of madness.  None of it makes economic or moral sense, as
Habermas points out. But it is not only the canaries  like Prince Charles
and Lady Rothschild that are getting alarmed.  For every beautiful soul
anguished by the spread of inequality, there are plenty of hard men and
women who are determined to do whatever it takes to protect existing
capitalist social relations. And that means that if Greece needs to be
sacrificed to act as a warning to Podemos and Sinn Fein, then so be it.



In the coming struggle, the beautiful souls will have no role to play. Only
the courage and strength and solidarity of the working class can save us.


comradely

Gary
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