Re: [Marxism] video of open class warfare in S.Korea
No commentary, not much sound either. Thanks for the link. (I don't have any audio on the library computer I'm using, so excuse my ignorance as to the value of the commentary contained in the above link.) The very best, Max Clark YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Rape Instinct?
Tom Cod: No dude, that's not a defense that is very helpful as it assumes that this happened and then makes excuses for it. Moreover, it is a slap in the face to the millions of soviet soldiers and partisans who didn't do things like that. I'm not sure what your experiences in war or military life are, but there are plenty of people who have fought in wars and been in extreme situations and not committed these crimes; ultimately it is an unavoidable individual moral decision that a person must make in that situation which the movie Casualties of War depicts very well. Finally, to glibly say that since war is about violence and rape are violence means that anything goes including rape is unacceptable. Reply: I haven't made excuses for anything. What I've done rather is attempt to analyse what happened conscious of the role that the prism we are viewing the events in question through can play in said analysis. Neither do I defend what happened. But to assert, or allude, to the notion that thousands of Red Army soldiers were born or congenital rapists, without even attempting to look at the material conditions under which the atrocities in question were committed, is to lapse into a reactionary view of human nature. And to place the scale and utterly brutal nature of the war fought between the Soviet Union and the Nazis alongside other wars is to fail to give this titanic struggle its proper place in history. Yes, you're right, Casualties of War, Platoon, etc., are good examples of the ability of the individual to rebel against the commission of atrocities by the group. But in both movies, it's worth noting, it is the minority who refused to go along with the atrocities being committed not the majority. Group psychology, peer pressure, the formation of an alternate and distorted value system in the context of the rarefied conditions of combat, have to be factored into any analysis of a subject such as this. The key point is that the atrocities committed against German women by the Red Army reflect the nature of the war being waged by both sides. The atrocities committed by the Nazis - the mass executions, torture, the laying waste of entire villages and towns - I suggest made it pretty much inevitable that atrocities would be committed in return by the Red Army. Stalin had described the war as a war of annhiliation. Soviet propaganda against the Nazis was decidedly different during the war's infancy as opposed to its latter stages. Initially, it was internationalist in tone and message, separating the German state and ruling class from the German people. But as the Nazis approached Moscow it became nationalist in tone and message, focusing on the defece of the Soviet Fatherland, describing the Germans as locusts, etc. This propaganda, combined with the horrible atrocities the advancing Soviet troops witnessed against their fellow countrymen and women, was bound to have an effect on many of the troops. The atrocities committed by the Red Army reflect the brutality and cruelty of the Nazi invasion which presaged them. They are not defensible, nor even comprehensible. But then again neither was this war, which stands apart from any other in modern history in scale, brutality and cruelty. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Totalitarism/Rape/World War II
And the list wonders why there aren't more women participating in these discussions. ML Thanks for invitation. I doubt that an Iraqi/Afghani/ Palestinian woman at the present time, who has lost every men out her family and just buried her children, would participate in the discussion between academically acclaimed me, analyzing with all the coolness of the bookish knowledge the end of her life. To get some feelings about who raped whom I may recommend the Soviet movie ( early 70-ties), based on the Yury Nagibin's novel The Women's Realm. ( Title preserved) Action takes a place in the godforsaken Siberian village, where there are no more men left alive but still too many and too small children, who cry for food. ( What is also not there). At the end of their struggle for survival one of 16 got the luck : her husband is wounded but alive and coming home. At the certain day all of them are gathering on the shabby train station to meet the man. Tied to the stretcher a man is brought from the train and women meet a human alive but without legs and arms. His eyes, observing the reaction, is the last moment, interrupted by the hysterical cry of his wife. I noticed that long time members of this list like movies. There was even the attempt to remember some Soviet films.(Cranes Are Flying , how about this one?). Now, please, continue quite exciting topics like who won the World War II? Or -who raped whom and how many were raped by the Reds and by the Nazi. And, please, the moderator of the list is right: do not insult each other. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Totalitarism/Rape/World War II
Lara, thank you very much for this. I have not seen them yet, but will do soon. Here is a short article by me, describing how October Revolution and Soviet Union played an emancipatory role in national liberation movements before and after the WWII. It is in German: *Die Oktoberrevolution hat für die Befreiung der unterdrückten Völker eine welthistorische Bedeutung. Die bürgerlichen Ideologen mögen heute die große sozialistische Oktoberrevolution als einen Akt der „Verrückten“ behandeln und die Führer dieser größten Anstrengung in der Geschichte der Menschheit mit Hitler vergleichen. Sie mögen „Schwarzbücher“ über das „Verbrechen“ dieser Revolution, die „wahrhaftig das bedeutendste Datum der gesamten Menschheitsgeschichte ist“ (Palmiro Togliatti), schreiben. Die Europäische Linke (EL) mag in ihrem „Manifest“ in den revolutionären Versuchen des 20. Jahrhunderts trotz der „großen Errungenschaften“ nur noch „große Niederlagen und Tragödien“ erblicken, um sich dann sofort von dieser revolutionären Tradition abzusetzen. Doch die unterdrückten Völker und die Verelendeten dieser Erde empfingen aus der sozialistischen Oktoberrevolution einen Impuls für die endliche und die lang ersehnte Befreiung vom Kolonialismus und der imperialistischen Unterdrückung. Auf dieses revolutionäre Erbe darf auch heute - eben gerade auch aus Sicht der unterdrückten Völker - nicht verzichtet werden.* Read more at: https://www.secarts.org/journal/index.php?show=articleid=535. There are several web sites which published it. It basically describes what I said above by comparing Frantz Fanon's and Nazım Hikmet's intellectual development and by this it compares Algerien and Turkish national liberation movements and more generally describes the break down of classical colonialism as a result of October Revolution and the defeat of fascism by Soviet Union. I think to understand and explan what is happening in national liberation movements it is absolutely necessary to understand the historical emancipatory role of Soviet Union. Cheers, -- Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, LondonNew York 2007 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] An Interview with David Laibman on the subject of the Financial Crisis
A conversation with David Laibman: Professor of Economics at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the Editor of Science Society, the longest continuously published journal of Marxist scholarship, in any language, in the world, and the author of Deep History: A Study in Social Evolution and Human Potential(2007). He is also a fingerstyle guitarist. Q: Economics, according to the dictionary, is the branch of social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and their management. From this definition it seem pretty clear, to me at least, that economic theories are really descriptions of how social relationships and social power are set up so that the material world can be managed. So this also means that any economic crisis exposes either structural flaws built into the social order or a corruption of the social order into something all together different. To what extent do you think that the current crisis exposes flaws intrinsic to the capitalist order and to what extent are we living in a corrupted system? Is there something wrong with capitalist social relationships that naturally leads to this Ponzi economy? A: Let me begin with your definition of economics. I like it better than the one economists generally use. Economists generally define economics as the science of optimal choice, and they turn it into a kind of a logical analysis of choice among alternative uses of scarce resources and things like that which drive all of the actual social content out. The dictionary definition, the distribution and consumption of goods and services, is good, but I'd go further. I'd say it's the study of the social relations into which people enter as they reproduce their lives through their metabolism with nature. Now, do I think that the current crisis indicates structural flaws? I do. Do I think that these structural flaws mean that the system is inevitably doomed to come to an end on some date for certain? I don't. I think that Capitalism has been a remarkable engine of economic growth over recent centuries. It's survival results from its capacity to solve problems that previous systems couldn't, and to manage our productive relationships with nature, which are continually developing and evolving, in a more dynamic and efficient way. And Marx paid high credit to Capitalism along those lines. You know famously he said, although it's sometimes forgotten, that the bourgeoise in one generation had created more wealth, and had made more progress in the production and management of wealth than all preceding generations together. That Capitalism had done an enormous job. I think then, however, what his perspective indicates is that there is a transition toward a maturing of Capitalism which suggests that increasingly it in turn, from having been a source of human development becomes a break or an obstacle to human development. That's a structural flaw. The Ponzi aspect of the current crisis, the extension of financial means beyond all capacity for repayment and the vast overextension in the mortgage market for example, is the sort of thing that economists who don't look at the Capitalist system as a social system would focus on as the unique triggering incident, the specific event that defines or explains the current crisis. I think that the potential for that kind of excessive financial development always exists as the Capitalist process unfolds, but when it leans to a serious crisis that crisis itself has to be explained by looking for deeper causes, for things that are beneath the surface of that. There will always be greed. There will always be emergence of expectations that are not founded in reality. Under those circumstances it's rational for speculators in a Capitalist process to jump on the bandwagon because if you don't your competition will. So the question Couldn't these people have seen what they were dong? is kind of a silly question. Of course they could. Anyone who is vaguely aware of history knows that a Ponzi scheme cannot last. It has to crash. The kind of debt overhang that developed in 2007 and 2008 could not last forever. Of course, people knew that, but from an individual point of view in the struggle to for the accumulation of wealth it was perfectly rational to go ahead and do it. More of the transcript of the interview is available at the Examiner. This interview was recorded for the Diet Soap Podcast and can be heard in its entirety in episode 17. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Hiroshima and Nagasaki
by Ralph Raico, Antiwar.com, August 06, 2009 This excerpt from Ralph Raico’s “Harry S. Truman: Advancing the Revolution” in John V. Denson, ed., Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom (Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2001). (The notes are numbered as they are because this is an excerpt. Read the whole article.) The most spectacular episode of Truman’s presidency will never be forgotten, but will be forever linked to his name: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and of Nagasaki three days later. Probably around two hundred thousand persons were killed in the attacks and through radiation poisoning; the vast majority were civilians, including several thousand Korean workers. Twelve U.S. Navy fliers incarcerated in a Hiroshima jail were also among the dead.87 Continues http://original.antiwar.com/Ralph-2/2009/08/05/hiroshima-and-nagasaki/ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Link shared by redar...@gmail.com
John Bogle, founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group, fingers the capitalists. No more comment needed in this forum regarding his solution. http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=301235 [Message sent by redar...@gmail.com via AddThis.com.] YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Violence
Dogan Gocmen wrote: The most explicit analysis of violence in Marxist tradition is in Engels’ *Anti-Dühring*. Dogan, can you point me to a chapter that spells this out? The work is online at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1877/anti-duhring/index.htm YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Violence
I am not sure whether I was thinking of this passage. Let me check. -- Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, LondonNew York 2007 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Venezuelan National Assembly Discusses Combating Media Terrorism
Venezuelan National Assembly Discusses Combating Media Terrorism August 6th 2009, by Tamara Pearson – Venezuelanalysis.com Mérida, August 5th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - In response to private international and national media claims that Venezuela is discussing a media law which denies freedom of expression and punishes journalists, National Assembly members said that no such law proposal exists, only a discussion around how to combat the media dictatorship and media terrorism. The president of the media commission in the National Assembly, Manuel Villalba, said on Tuesday that a proposal for a law with 17 articles, as claimed by some media, doesn't exist and that rather, the Attorney General, Luisa Diaz, had presented ideas to the National Assembly, which are being debated, but that there is no consensus around her proposals. It's not official, Villalba said, explaining that no law had been formally presented or proposed. All this just confirms that there are media owners who are systematically disseminating false opinions, he said. Legislator Rosario Pacheco said that so far the draft that they have of the law considers media crime the publication of false, manipulative or distorted information that causes harm to the interests of the state or that threatens public morale or mental health. The assembly has discussed a maximum penalty of four years prison. Journalist Asalia Venegis told Venezuelan Television (VTV), This law project... incorporates everything that is unequivocally expressed in the Law of Journalist Practice and the Code of Ethics, which establish a series of perspectives over what the treatment of the news and the role of the journalist should be. Diaz also suggested the law should focus on protection for journalists who are coerced into putting their name to, or writing articles that they don't believe. Therefore, she said, rather than going against freedom of expression, the law should promote safe and true freedom of expression that reaches everyone and doesn't attack the peace of the citizens. Further, she said in Article 20 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to freedom of expression, so long as they don't violate the rights of others or attack the state, the health of other people, or the public morale. Since Diaz's contribution to the National Assembly, opposition media and international media have published articles suggesting that the Venezuelan government supports jail for media crimes and is trying to regulate or limit free speech. El Tiempo (Latin America) portrayed the lack of consensus in the assembly as a negative thing and quoted Organisation of American States (OAS) general secretary, Jose Insulza, as saying the situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela is worrying. Venezuelan paper, El Universal, quoted the director of Amnesty International talking about unacceptable restrictions on the freedom of expression in Venezuela. An AFP article titled Chavez's measures towards the press cause protests and international unease highlighted the possibility of jail punishment, and quoted a protestor as saying we're journalists, not criminals. But legislator Desiree Santos said the debate had begun because it was important to establish mechanisms that guarantee the right of the people to be informed truthfully. There has always been full freedom of expression [in Venezuela], even when there has been an excessive use of that freedom, she said. Bad [media] practice has to be confronted, because there can't be anyone in this country who acts with absolute impunity, Santos said. The discussion about the proposal for the law should be centred on analysing the media and fighting terrorism, the... environment of tension that [the media] is creating amongst the population. Villalba also said, It's not okay that in the name of freedom of expression arbitrary abuses are committed, and all kinds of outrages. He said the National Assembly would continue debating the contributions made by the Diaz, and he called on all social sectors to also participate in the discussion. There have been debates and forums across Venezuela for the last few months around the theme of media terrorism or the media dictatorship, a dictatorship which Villalba argued is being imposed from the large social communication companies, nationally and internationally. On Sunday Diosdado Cabello, head of Venezuela's telecommunications agency (CONATEL), announced the closure of 34 private radio stations for operating illegally or violating regulations. The minister said many of the stations had failed to register or pay fees to CONATEL. Decisions are still pending on a further 206 stations. Cabello also explained that new reforms to the Telecommunications Law aim to break up the media latifundios by limiting ownership of radio or television stations to three per private owner. Under the reforms broadcasting concessions are designated as un-inheritable property, and are therefore
Re: [Marxism] G.A. Cohen died this morning
GA Cohen was a brilliant philosopher, with a great deal of precision, and he had a very subtle sense of humor. I met him a few times and wrote my phd on his relation to Marxism. Yet it must be acknowledged that he played a strong role in attempting to weaken Marxism (read his History, Labour and Freedom and his new introduction in the 2000 edition of his Karl Marx's Theory of History) and he took part in the collapse of the Communist party of Great Britain. Still he was the best opponent I ever had. Fabien Tarrit YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] G.A. Cohen died this morning
tarr...@aol.com wrote: GA Cohen was a brilliant philosopher, with a great deal of precision, and he had a very subtle sense of humor. I met him a few times and wrote my phd on his relation to Marxism. Yet it must be acknowledged that he played a strong role in attempting to weaken Marxism (read his History, Labour and Freedom and his new introduction in the 2000 edition of his Karl Marx's Theory of History) and he took part in the collapse of the Communist party of Great Britain. Still he was the best opponent I ever had. Fabien Tarrit Speaking of which: http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/analytical_marxism/cohen.htm YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Totalitarism/Rape?World War II Re: Dogan Gocmen
2009/8/6 lara crete laracr...@verizon.net Dear friend ,I have noticed and am listening to your voice in this list for quite a long time. Always a pleasure to hear it through this honorable and mostly harmonious choir. Thank you for your last post on violence. As to the movie I described as The Women's Realm , I do not know whether it is equipped with English subtitles and do not know, if it is, what how the title in the translation is locked like. Let me express the Cyrillic letter with the Latin: Babye Zarstvo ( Baba is the peasant's Russian word for a woman;Zarstvo - the Kingdom of the Tzar). Also, I knew Nazim Hikmet personally: he was a happy man after he emigrated to the Soviet Union. ( To add to the discussion of Stalinism/Trozkism/ KGBism) With your help now will research Frantz Fanon's : to my shame have never read anything by him. Would like to ask you some questions about Montequien, to discuss with you his suggestion to control the potential power to violence in humans. But this is far beyond this list. Again, thank tou! Lara, it is a great honour to me talk to somebody who knew Nazım Hikmet personally. We should exchange private emails on this. I am interested in any detail your would like to provide. After 13 years of imprisonment Nazım was released and the regime was planing to murder him by taking him to military service as they knew he was very sick and his heart would soon or later give up in Turkish army. His escape to Soviet Union saved him from this envisaged torture and murder. It is a bit different with Frantz Fanon. Like Nazım, he was very sick. He rejected to go to USA for medical treatment because of racist regime there. In many ways he was critical of Soviet Union but accepted to go and get medical treatment there. I do not know for how long he went there, I think for one year or so, but I know he was cured from his cancer at least for a while. We can exchange ideas on any subject at any time. I thank you very much for your warm words. - Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, LondonNew York 2007 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Budd Schulberg Dies Age 95
_http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/06/on-the-waterfront-budd-schulberg -dies_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/06/on-the-waterfront-budd-schulberg-dies) Ironically enough, I'm just reading through a compendium of Schulberg's writings and articles on boxing, which are superb. I'm sure there will be many conflicting opinions of the man who collaborated with Elia Kazan on On The Waterfront, a great movie in many ways but at bottom an apologia for 'snitching' during the period of HUAC. I also read his novel The Disenchanted many years ago, based on his own experience as a young writer of his collaboration with F Scott Fitzgerald on a movie project in Hollywood. It follows the downward spiral of a once great writer who's seen better days and the bitter experience of a young writer witnessing his hero's demise. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] R
Louis wrote: I do have a pretty good sense that things are starting to unravel. That is not good. Fred comments: Louis is right about that. Let me note a rather astonishing violation of list rules that I accepted passively -- the repeated use of my name in a series of posts. When I or others violate this rule, the next post is usually from Les pointing out the error and asking that the offender cease and desist. While I really don't care if my name appears in headlines, I think the rule exists for good reasons and should be both re-explained and re-instituted. The debate over totalitarianism seemed pretty empty to me, and the debate over mass rape tipped over into madness. Totalitarianism as a concept is not a product of bad imperialist propaganda but of twentieth century phenomena took place in the real world -- the similarities which could not be missed between Stalinist and Nazi methods of rule (which does not mean that the societies were not profoundly different and counterposed). I long since have grown weary of people denouncing Trotsky (who unconditionally defended the Soviet Union), Arendt, Orwell, and others for the unforgivable crime of noticing the similarities and generalizing about them within their class orientation and intellectual capacities. Of course no society is really totalitarian, just as no party (not even the teensy-tiny US-SWP is really monolithic) but this does not mean that ruling groups in various types of crises cannot attempt to intimidate the base by organizing along totalitarian-absolutist lines. Trotsky, I believe, held that totalitarianism, including Soviet totalitarianism, was a manifestation of imperialist decay. I think he was on the right track. Are there any phenomena similar to that today. Well, without claiming that Iran is in any sense a totalitarian state (any more than it is a democracy) I heard some familiar bells ringing in the trial and confession of the former Iranian vice president under the liberal Islamist theocrat Khatami. Having just the previous week having read Not Guilty! the report of the Dewey Commission on the Charges against Leon Trotsky and the Moscow Trials. If challenged I will quote this great democratic document at length, but reading this and the confession of the Iranian official left no doubt that we sre looking at variants of similar phenomena). On mass rape by the Soviet soldiers in Germany, and leaving aside any suggestions that Soviet male orgasms in Geman women represented a form of reparation for a devastating imperialist assault on the Soviet Union. I hope we have no illusions that Soviet troops entered Germany as a pure and simple Stalinist revolutionary army. Hiwever, these problems do arise in revolutionary armies. For instance, in at least one case, the Cuban Rebel Army of the July 26 Movement in Cubs executed a recruit for violentlu sexually abusing a rural woman. I have no idea if there were other incidents of this type, So I ask a simple question. Was any Soviet soldier executed for rape or sexual abuse of a German woman. The Soviet state and military had capital. Allow me to say that since it is basically impossible for an invasion of that scale to occur and no instances of sexual abuse to take place I would argue that if NO ONE was sentenced to death or long prison terms for rape or sexual abuse, then that behavior was YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] R
Fred Feldman wrote: Louis is right about that. Let me note a rather astonishing violation of list rules that I accepted passively -- the repeated use of my name in a series of posts. When I or others violate this rule, the next post is usually from Les pointing out the error and asking that the offender cease and desist. While I really don't care if my name appears in headlines, I think the rule exists for good reasons and should be both re-explained and re-instituted. Fred is right. Les is very busy with his professional chores while I am finally getting from under my fiscal year-end duties. This means I will be looking at things more carefully now. Be on your best behavior! YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] NYT: Workers End Standoff at South Korean Auto Plant
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/world/asia/07seoul.html YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Yanomami science wars
Jacques Lizot’s critique There is a cinematic quality between the clash of Napoleon Chagnon and Jacques Lizot. Chagnon, the blustering American who like to fire pistols to intimidate the Yanomami, could have been played by the young John Wayne. Lizot, the gay French disciple of structuralist Claude Levi-Strauss who seduced young Yanomami with gifts of cigarettes and pasta, could have been played by Alain Renais. It is too bad that Patrick Tierney chose to emphasize Lizot’s sexual predations in his “Darkness in El Dorado”. While there certainly could be a case made that any adult taking sexual advantage of a young woman or man for that matter deserves opprobrium, one cannot escape feeling that Tierney was exhibiting old-fashioned homophobia in the name of defending Indian rights. Although Chagnon and Lizot started out as collaborators, they eventually parted ways—no doubt a function of deep differences over how to regard the Indians. For Chagnon, they were like Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees waging primate war on their enemies. For Lizot, they were more like the Bonobo chimps that used sexual play—including homosexual—to relieve the tensions that lead to violence. To be fair to Lizot, he did not literally think that the Yanomami were like chimps. In fact his main objection to Chagnon was over his sociobiology, a bogus science that reduces everything to genes. read full article: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/yanomami-science-wars-part-six/ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Hiroshima and Nagasaki
At the link below there is the song on Hiroshima. It is based on Nazım Hikmet's poem little Girl. It was originally composed by Zülfi Livaneli but it is sung by John Beaz. As it is on facebook I do not whether you can get to the link but thought I should share it with you. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95434id=679265821ref=nf#/home.php?ref=home -- Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, LondonNew York 2007 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] ELN says US is preparing to Invade Venezuela
Uribe makes his first stop in Bolivia, part of a Latin American tour to drum up support for the gringo base expansion. Morales expresses his opposition to the plan, and in general to the presence of US military forces in Latin America. A threat to democracy, he said. UNASUR plans to meet. Uribe said he will not attend. For its part, the ELN says this is the first phase of a US plan to invade Venezuela. They call on unity with FARC to defeat the US invasion, by preventing the US consolidation of military bases in Colombian territory. Greg McD (VIDEO) ELN afirma que EEUU prepara invasión a Venezuela: Instalación de 7 bases militares gringas confirma Uribe Por: Agencias / Aporrea.org Fecha de publicación: 05/08/09 http://www.aporrea.org/imprime/n139940.html Agosto 5 de 2009.- El presidente colombiano Álvaro Uribe inició ayer una gira por países de Suramérica con el fin de despejar inquietudes acerca del acuerdo militar que negocia con EEUU, que considera positivo Según altos jefes militares de EEUU y de Colombia, la instalación de las bases sólo debe ser temida por terroristas y narcotraficantes. El Mandatario, que está acompañado de su canciller, Jaime Bermúdez, visitó ayer mismo Perú y Bolivia. Su homólogo Alan García se solidarizó ante lo que definió como situaciones enojosas que presentan a Colombia lamentablemente como víctima de algunos hechos que no deberían ocurrir. Por su parte, Evo Morales ratificó a Uribe su rechazo. Como víctima le dije que me siento agredido por la presencia de militares estadounidenses en Colombia, dijo. El Presidente colombiano estará hoy en Chile y Paraguay, y mañana continuará su periplo por Uruguay, Argentina y Brasil, según la agenda preliminar que ha sido difundida, para explicarles los alcances del acuerdo que negocia con Washington para que militares estadounidenses puedan usar hasta siete bases en Colombia para operaciones contra el narcotráfico. Se trata de tres bases de la Fuerza Aérea: Malambo (norte), Palanquero (centro) y Apiay (este); dos del Ejército: en Tolemaida (centro) y Larandia (sur); y dos navales: Cartagena (norte, sobre el Atlántico) y Málaga (oeste, en el Pacífico), según el comandante general de las Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, Freddy Padilla. Nadie distinto a los terroristas y a los narcotraficantes debe temer por este acuerdo transparente, respetuoso de soberanías, de los acuerdos internacionales, dijo Padilla. Varios políticos colombianos aplaudieron la gira. Me parece conveniente. Tenemos que tratar de convencer a los vecinos de que Colombia no tiene una intención agresiva, sostuvo el ex presidente César Gaviria (1990-1994). Para Guillermo Fernández de Soto, canciller en el gobierno de Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002), es de una gran utilidad, sobre todo por el contacto personal que el Mandatario tendrá con otros jefes de Estado. ELN: PREPARAN INVASIÓN El Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) dijo ayer que EEUU prepara una invasión de Venezuela desde bases militares colombianas y llamó a las Farc a sumar fuerzas para impedirlo. El Comando Central del grupo rebelde indicó que Washington inicia un dispositivo militar de ataque a Venezuela, a través del aumento de tropas y medios de guerra de EEUU en Colombia. Video Fuente: http://www.youtube.com/user/ComunicaBolivia YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Nepal: Maoist deadline ends tomorrow: mass mobilisations and 'struggle programs' set to begin
From the NZ Spark list, readers here may be interested: The Maoists look set to launch their Third People's Movement in the next day or so. This isn't just a couple of protests, they're planning on trying to topple the government through mass mobilisations of their urban support base. The first People's Movement established parliament, the second abolished the monarchy, so the significance of what theyre about to try to do should be clear. http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=208221 http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=208221 Maoist deadline set to end, warning sign ahead; 22 parties firm Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, Aug 6 - With the deadline set by the UCPN (Maoist) to address the issue of 'civilian supremacy' ends Thursday evening, there is a warning sign in the road ahead for the already-troubled UML-led government. The political crisis is likely to deepen and eclipse the major tasks of drafting a new constitution and taking the beleaguered peace process to a logical end as the major political parties remained adamant on their respective stances. Earlier, the main opposition party UCPN (Maoist), who quit the government in May following a row over reinstating the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), had warned to storm from the parliament and the streets from Friday if their demand for civilian supremacy over military was not addressed by this evening. The UML-led alliance and the Maoists reached an understanding on July 4 to address the issues of civilian supremacy and the role President Dr Ram Baran Yadav in reinstating Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal by this evening. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned in May after President Dr Ram Baran Yadav reinstated the army chief, who was sacked by him. The Maoists have described Dr Yadav's move as unconstitutional and have demanded that the issue be debated in parliament. The parties could not forge an agreement over the issue until this evening despite hectic parleys among the political parties throughout the day. Maoist leader Narayan Kazi Shrestha discussed the issue with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and urged the duo to create an environment for discussing the issue in the Legislature-Parliament. PM Nepal, in response, said he was in favor of solving the issue through consensus adding that the Maoist demand of discussing the issue in the Parliament, however, could not be entertained. Meanwhile, a meeting of the 22-parties supporting the UML-led coalition is underway at the PM's official residence in Baluwatar in order to forge consensus on the Maoists' demand. The Maoists are all set to commence their earlier announced two-pronged struggle programmes from tomorrow. Posted on: 2009-08-06 10:14:33 (Server Time) This email may be confidential and subject to legal privilege, it may not reflect the views of the University of Canterbury, and it is not guaranteed to be virus free. If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and erase all copies of the message and any attachments. Please refer to http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/emaildisclaimer for more information. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Hiroshima and Nagasaki
And on this link you can listen to Nazım Hikmet reading out his peom and John Beaz singing the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3I4OnAuZIo -- Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, LondonNew York 2007 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] ELN says US is preparing to Invade Venezuela
Greg says For its part, the ELN says this is the first phase of a US plan to invade Venezuela. They call on unity with FARC to defeat the US invasion, by preventing the US consolidation of military bases in Colombian territory. End of quote FOR ONCE, FOR ONLY ONCE URIBE ON HIS WIRLWIND TOUR TO SOME COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA IS GETTING CLOSE TO THE CRUX OF THE MATTER. The first and primary target are the insurgent groups and since there is only one currently on campaigns, because the ELN is not, then this leaves the FARC. Some sections, not all of both groups have had intense rivalry, and for this reason there are no accords between them. This call to arms by the ELN and a rapprochement with the FARC is surprising and more interesting than the content of its missive about attacks to Venezuela. Do not doubt that there will be intense bombing of the areas controlled by the insurgency, civil population notwithstanding. In short the air bases are not aimed at Venezuela the state, as countless analysts from have suggested. Their presence has initially negotiated with Bush, what has changed is the speed and brazenness with which they have announced an increase in the number of bases originally agreed to. Look the US could have invaded Cuba, if it chose to many years ago, but it did not. It would not seem even militarily expedient to attack Venezuela for what, militarily speaking of course? Venezuela still supplies the US with gold and both parties seem to be happy in this regard. This said, OIL may be another key factor, as it was on the war on Iraq. What is at stake is the protection of an intensification of the drilling and mining industries which happens to be on the Ecuadorean and Venezuelan border with Colombia. And these the US will fight for. Another factor, strategically speaking the US had no land base for the flights of the aircraft of the fourth fleet which was launched into the Caribbean a year ago. So now the US has a land base and the necessary naval force in the Caribbean and there is no count on how many mercenaries are in Colombia. I seem to recall that Venezuela closed its airspace to the US military quite a long time ago, but it still allows Colombian air force, following the usual protocols, to fly over its territory, however, what happens next in this regard, in the sense of an increase in flights will indicate whether in fact Venezuela believes that the bases, now fully operated by Colombian mercenaries have their sights on Venezuela. On 06/08/09 5:32 PM, Greg McDonald saboca...@gmail.com wrote: Uribe makes his first stop in Bolivia, part of a Latin American tour to drum up support for the gringo base expansion. Morales expresses his opposition to the plan, and in general to the presence of US military forces in Latin America. A threat to democracy, he said. UNASUR plans to meet. Uribe said he will not attend. For its part, the ELN says this is the first phase of a US plan to invade Venezuela. They call on unity with FARC to defeat the US invasion, by preventing the US consolidation of military bases in Colombian territory. Greg McD (VIDEO) ELN afirma que EEUU prepara invasión a Venezuela: Instalación de 7 bases militares gringas confirma Uribe Por: Agencias / Aporrea.org Fecha de publicación: 05/08/09 http://www.aporrea.org/imprime/n139940.html Agosto 5 de 2009.- El presidente colombiano Álvaro Uribe inició ayer una gira por países de Suramérica con el fin de despejar inquietudes acerca del acuerdo militar que negocia con EEUU, que considera positivo Según altos jefes militares de EEUU y de Colombia, la instalación de las bases sólo debe ser temida por terroristas y narcotraficantes. El Mandatario, que está acompañado de su canciller, Jaime Bermúdez, visitó ayer mismo Perú y Bolivia. Su homólogo Alan García se solidarizó ante lo que definió como situaciones enojosas que presentan a Colombia lamentablemente como víctima de algunos hechos que no deberían ocurrir. Por su parte, Evo Morales ratificó a Uribe su rechazo. Como víctima le dije que me siento agredido por la presencia de militares estadounidenses en Colombia, dijo. El Presidente colombiano estará hoy en Chile y Paraguay, y mañana continuará su periplo por Uruguay, Argentina y Brasil, según la agenda preliminar que ha sido difundida, para explicarles los alcances del acuerdo que negocia con Washington para que militares estadounidenses puedan usar hasta siete bases en Colombia para operaciones contra el narcotráfico. Se trata de tres bases de la Fuerza Aérea: Malambo (norte), Palanquero (centro) y Apiay (este); dos del Ejército: en Tolemaida (centro) y Larandia (sur); y dos navales: Cartagena (norte, sobre el Atlántico) y Málaga (oeste, en el Pacífico), según el comandante general de las Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, Freddy Padilla. Nadie distinto a los terroristas y a los narcotraficantes debe temer por este acuerdo transparente, respetuoso de
Re: [Marxism] Proletarian Defense for Democrats?
sobuadha...@hushmail.com wrote: Now that we have dispensed with ... the sensational and still un- substantiated charges by Mark, Right! Books, studies, documents, interviews don't count. You really ARE a birther, aren't you? ML YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuelan National Assembly Discusses Combating Media Terrorism
There are laws like this in [e]very state. But dissementating false information? Isn't that common too? Doesn't the US FCC's operating in the public interest concept define purposely broadcasting false information as a reason a station could lose its license? To me, it would all depend on how such things are interpreted. If I were in the U.S. Department, I would be very happy right about now. No doubt they are. But if one thing is clear, it's that the US is going to demonize Venezuela no matter what Venezuela does. -- There's no such thing as Intellectual 'Property'. All ideas are owned by the public and are in the public domain. The creator of an idea is granted a temporary monopoly called a copyright (or patent) before the idea returns to the public. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] COLOMBIA TODAY
If anyone is interested in receiving more extensive coverage on the topic of Colombia re the airbases, the current government and the insurgency Please contact me personally at insumi...@rogers.com The articles are too long to post here, they are available both in English and in Spanish nchamah YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/3/arun_gupta_on_bacon_as_a YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuelan National Assembly Discusses Combating Media Terrorism
If you want to discuss this, then it needs to be placed in its context. This is not an abstract discussion occuring in a vacuum. it is occuring in the context of a hostile class controlling the overwhelming majority of the media and using it to destablise the country. It is in the context of an uneven, developing struggle to democratise the media. Without mentioning the the second part, the actual *extenion* of freedom of speech to those who have never enjoyed it except as an abstract right, you cannot have any serious discussion about the pros and cons of the policy towards the media of the Venezuelan gvoernment. Like everyting else in Venezuela the interrelated (but not identical) struggle to break the media monopoly of a hostile class on one hand and democratise the media to the dispoosed classes on the other is shot through with the contradictions marking the process. That is, the class struggle exists within the revolution itself, between elements tied to the state bureaucracy and layers enriching themselves (or, possibly without ties but whose proposals coincide with those layers needs) and those pushing to make Chavez's propsals for a socialism of the 21st century based on revolutionary democracy a reality. Both these forces are in varying degrees of conflict with imperialism and with the hostile class forces in Venezuela entirely bound to imperialism. However, the more right-wing sections would be happier to replace the corporate media dictatorship with a tightly controlled bureacratically run from the top down state media, with perhaps a subordinated extension of community media. However there are also those pushing to go much further to democratise the media. Recent debates over the role of criticism within the revolution are also part of this, after state TV channel VTV hosted a live discussion with pro-revolution intellectuals that included a number of criticisms. This contradiction cuts into the government and national assembly. It is a living contradiction within a living process that is still pushing forwards, that still has at its heart the dynamic intervention into politics of hte oppressed, struggling to advance their itnerests, to increase their organisation. Chavez's role within this is still to encourage and push this while some o the forces around him undermine it. (The recent battles over workers' conhtrol is a perfect example of this.) The content of the battles around the media needs to be understood - the law exists in a context of a hostile media monopoly determined to destroy the process by whatever means necessary. The decision to hand the licences of a number of pro-coup corporate radio stations to community media indicates that the struggle against the corporate media is being pushed by and large hand in hand with the stuggle to democractise the media, to grant freedom of speech in reality to the oppressed. This is the class content of the media battles. Any law can be interpreted in different ways and used or abused according to varying interpretations. We could dissect written law till the cows come home and come up with a thousand different ways they might be used. It would a pointless exercise because the starting point has to be the actual context fo the laws and their relationship to a very intense, and growing more intense, class struggle. Stuart . YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Red Army and rape
From: Jeff meis...@xs4all.nl When hearing this I cannot help but remembering the (almost surely) widespread use of rape (apparently organized as a systematic policy) in the Bosnian war of the early 90's, when some Marxists (i.e. Stalinists) found themselves (for reasons I still cannot fathom) in alliance with the Serbian state and with the Bosnian Serbs. They had a similar blind spot to the incidence of rape. When questioned they would cringe and fall back on there's human rights abuses by ALL sides, but we have to concentrate on opposing imperialism which is ultimately responsible.. etc. etc. If I remember rightly, the story of 50 000 Bosnian Muslim women being raped by Bosnian Serbs, as part of an organised policy, was nothing more than propaganda designed to give a 'liberal' justification for American imperial intervention. Louis knows more about this, I think (I remember some post from him about the subject quite some time ago) - can you clarify? If we can find it amongst ourselves to understand (which is NOT the same as justify - to equate the two is just right-wing rhetoric) how some might be led to commit suicide bombings or large scale murder (which I'm sure many here would try and understand in certain contexts), then the same applies to rape. None of this is in any sense apologetics for the actions of the Red Army in Berlin. Solidarity, Ian YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Blogger has closed Sibel Edmonds blog. Please protest and spread word.
Sibel Edmonds just emailed me saying that she has been blocked from her Blog account by Google. The timing is suspicious given her two recent explosive radio interviews and having just been subpoenaed as well. She wants support from anyone to disseminate this information. I have deleted her personal email but the below is in its entirety from her website http://www.justacitizen.com/Press_Releases/URGENTGoogle%27s%20Blogger-Aug6.htm URGENT: GOOGLE BLOCKS MY SITE DURING SENSITIVE PERIOD WE NEED YOUR HELP My Blog Site http://123realchange.blogspot.com is now blocked by Google’s Blogger. They will not let me post during this most sensitive period, when I am about to provide deposition on Foreign US government illegal operations in the United States! A few weeks ago I started receiving ‘Google Blogger warnings’ from my technologically savvy friends and well-wishers, who encouraged me to have a mirror site as a back up and or cease using Google’s Blogger all together. I did take these warnings seriously and started looking at alternatives and other options. Well, this is what I got from Blogger yesterday: *From: **Blogger** no-re...@google.com Date: Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 8:19 AM Subject: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ - ACTION REQUIRED To: sibeldeniz...@gmail.com Hello, Your blog at: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864 Your blog will be deleted in 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and your readers will see a warning page during this time. After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. Once we have reviewed and determined your blog is not spam, the blog will be unlocked and the message in your Blogger dashboard will no longer be displayed. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected. We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577 Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts. Sincerely, The Blogger Team P.S. Just one more reminder: Unless you request a review, your blog will be deleted in 20 days. Click this link to request the review: http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=6542765284440328864 * I am still looking into it and will be corresponding with them to find out what the heck is going on, but I must say the timing of this is extremely troubling: Is it coincidence that this comes up when I am subpoenaedhttp://123realchange.blogspot.com/2009/08/breaking-news.htmlto provide sworn deposition on matters that have sent our government scrambling and certain high-level criminal entities sweating big time? Is this due to my latest interviews for my Boiling Frogs Show on explosive issues such as AIPAC, Iran, Central Asia, and Pakistan? We know big brother NSA has been listening, and my guests have really been talking. We just wrapped up our phone interviews with Phil Giraldi (on AIPAC Israel and more), Richard Barlow (on Pakistan and what our government didn’t want its people to know), Joe Trento (on Iran, Brzezinski, and more), Sandalio Gonzalez (on our phony War on Drugs, House of Death, Kent Memo, and more)…You see what I am getting at here? Or is it the fact that this blog is becoming more popular, the visitors’ number has been going up rapidly, and its content getting picked up by many, nationally and internationally? And I am talking about content and topics that are blacklisted by the US Mainstream Media. I don’t know the answer. I may never know. However, what I know is this: I better find a different or multiple different, blog sites and keep this forum alive. I also want to warn others who may become subject to this kind of notice, or maybe get terminated without any notice! Please help me, thus all of us, resolve this blockage immediately, since in the next few days this blog may prove to be extremely crucial to report developing news and cases which will not be covered by MSM. Thank you, Sibel Edmonds -- An online community shining light into the dark reaches of deep political structures. www.deeppoliticsforum.com YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] test
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Chavez on current situation, rev org and militias
Chávez's Lines Ideas and militias: What a creation! Too many crucial events have unfolded in the last months and the fate of the people in this continent has been put at risk. These events are not casual, they have been hatched for so long and far from here. This is the same 200-year-old struggle: On this side, freedom, peace, sovereignty and dignity to forge our fate; on the other side, dependency, war, slavery, and the dark path of colonial period. When these two options are clearly manifested, like it is happening, it would be a shameful irresponsibility if we did not do anything, if we let it happen, if we kept a submissive silence. it is fair and just to raise our voice and remain loyal to the commitment to the change of time beating deep in the hearts of the peoples of Our America and the Caribbean. We are not willing - to paraphrase our Liberator Simón Bolívar - to pass on a new colonial period to posterity. An posterity is no other thing but the generations of sons and daughters that have already started to raise by millions throughout this land. It is necessary to recall and clear up the most recent Latin American events and put them into context to uncover their hidden plot. On June 3, after 47 years and an intense diplomatic struggle, that unusual resolution condemning Cuba, from an OAS submitted to the US imperial power, is eliminated in San Pedro de Sula. There, it is fair to say it, the ALBA countries were determining. 21 days later, in Maracay, Venezuela, the ALBA changed its name and got stronger with the incorporation of Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda. Now we are nine peoples united by an effort of liberating solidarity with an own presence and voice in the continental concert. It became the Bolivarian alliance in Maracay. Though President Rafael Correa had already announced it, on Friday, July 17, the US operations at the Manta military base finished. This sovereign decision made by Ecuador raised the alarm at the Pentagon, which would not rest until it relocated its base in a new strategic space according to their continental domination interests. June 28, coup d' État in Honduras. An ignominious attack against the people's will, unanimously condemned by the international community. Today, the brave Honduran people are in the streets and the fields claiming their rights and demanding the return of Manuel Zelaya to the President's Office. Meanwhile, the gorillas try to extend the days of their usurpation and turn their back on the world. Within this context, it is clear that the alleged mediation of President Arias just reflect the preservation of the US interests: The plan he proposed, beyond his function, is aimed at the return of Zelaya to the President's Office, but with his hands and feet tied up. And now the Plan Colombia enters a new phase: the United States arranges five new military bases in Colombian territory. Who are President Uribe and the Colombian oligarchy trying to deceive by making it look like the increase of the US military presence, through these new bases, does not pose a direct threat against Venezuela? Uribe's obsession with an Free Trade Agreement with the United States makes him be capable of everything. Colombia is, unfortunately, the beachhead of the US retaining strategy in South America and, of course, its operation base. As a matter of fact, these new military bases are a real and concrete danger against the sovereignty ansd stability of the South American region. They are spearheads of a new colonial period. The Plan Colombia, let's not forget this, was conceived by following a war domination strategy of the par excellence militarist state. The US meddling - to which we must add the presence of the state of Israel - in the Colombian domestic war makes it impossible to not trespass the borders of this fraternal an suffered homeland. They seek their expansion in the region and, first of all, to Venezuela. So, the Plan Colombia is not an exclusively Colombian issue; it affects and threatens us all. In this sense, I have spoke with some heads of state of our continent in order to warn them about the danger embodied by these US bases against Venezuela. It is evident that it will be a major topic at the nest Unasur meeting, to be held next August 10 in Quito, on the occasion of the inauguration of President Rafael Correa for a new presidential term and the constituent process of the Citizen's, Bolivarian and Alfaro's Revolution leaping forward in the Homeland of my general Manuela Saenz. In the name of the historical and fraternal bonds with the Colombian people, the Bolivarian government has been extremely patient with Uribe's government, but everything has its limits. Faced with a government that does not respect anything and serves the interests of the empire, we have to act as we have acted. We have been forced, in order to preserve our dignity, to withdraw our ambassador to Colombia and freeze
[Marxism] Forwarded post on India labor struggles
(Amit Singh, a new subscriber, had problems posting this to the list.) Hi all, This is my first post on this list. IIT Kanpur is an elite Science Technology institute in India. For many years the institute has been violating the labor rights and has completely failed to ensure the 'minimum wages' for the contract workers inside the campus. A group of comrades have been involved in the labor movement, but the issue hasn't attracted the attention of popular media as well as many other left activists. For a better appreciation of the issue of minimum wages in the campus, please read this: http://sanhati.com/articles/1692/ There have also occurred several worker deaths; the most recent one is Fifth such incident. The institute is also celebrating its Golden Jubilee on Aug 8th ( it will be webcasted here: http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/gj/new/webcast/ ), but its at best Nero’s guests (P. Sainath's phrase) celebrating the deaths and exploitation of workers. There is also going to be pan-IIT conference this October in Chicago, where Mr. Bill Clinton would address the neoliberal minds: http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/03/bill-clinton-to-speak-at-pan-iit-global-meet.htm Is it possible to bring this issue in that conference? In a personal exchange this is what the activists over there have written about the recent death: “Another death in the campus – the FIFTH such occurrence (not including 20-year old Tinku who fell down from the under – construction Core Lab building, broke his back, and the last we know he had become a quadriplegic) in the last two years. The Institute authorities have not issued a formal communiqué yet. But the sketchy details which we have got from two official sources, the IWD and the Security Office, are as follows: The death occurred on 26th July, 2009 (Sunday) between 9-10 pm in the night. The person, one Mr. Shafiq Ahmad, fell down from the under-construction IME (inside academic area, in front of Aero) building. Apparently he was not working on the site and had come prospecting for work on that day itself and was told to start work from the next day. He was asked to stay on the site itself and while he was going to sleep on the roof he fell down. He was found by the SIS guard on duty and was taken to the health centre (HC). He was declared dead and yet was referred to Hallett hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The body was then handed over for post mortem and a police FIR was also lodged. And on Monday it was arranged for the body to be sent back to his native place. He hailed from a village in Bihar. Several issues of concern emerge from this official version. They are: •What was a person not employed in the Institute in any capacity doing in the campus on a site under construction? According to point 12 of the Office Order issued by the Director on the 16th September, 2007: No worker, or the family members, shall be allowed to stay on the campus without proper authorization. Contractors shall declare the names of such workers (and their family members, if any) who wishes to stay back at the work site on the request, and personal risk and liability of the contractor(s) shall have to obtain prior permission from the Institute through the administrative in-charge of the project/contract. •The second issue which emerges immediately from this official version is the completely arbitrary hiring (and firing) policy followed in the Institute by the contractors. There seems to be no procedure in place in spite of the detailed office order (referred above) on this issue. Any person, even a migrant labour, can walk into a site and seek employment and may be allowed to stay overnight on the site. It follows that the person can be fired too without any procedure, completely compromising all norms of the legal hiring and firing procedures. •The third issue which emerges from the account is that of safety. There have been several deaths in the campus at work site due to lack of basic safety procedures and equipments and still work continues in all spheres without any concern for safety. We have seen that on all the construction sites in the campus at present (the IME building, Hall X, the construction in front of the swimming pool), work going on till late in the night, at least till 8 pm. The workers including women and underage children work without any helmets, gloves, or any other equipment, often at dangerous heights. This death may have occurred after work hours, but the practices indicate that accidents, including fatal accidents, are merely waiting to happen. After 16 Sep. office order, safety committee gave a detailed 50 page report in December 2007, but the administration seems to have not even read it, let alone implementing it. We have some information from various unofficial, unconfirmed sources - SIS guards, workers at the site and health centre, other
[Marxism] Proletarian Defense II
Comrades, I haven't had time to read all the denunciations of Proletarian Defense for Democrats? yet as I am just back from the scene of battle. I am not sure about the vaunted reach of the Daily Kos or MoveOn or the Obama groups, but I saw precious little of their mobilizing ability tonight. To be fair I never actually made it inside the town hall meeting as over 400 people had already lined up an hour and a half before the event. The room only held 175 so I was stuck on the outside surrounded by a bitter sea of right wing fanatics. I reminded myself that being a communist is never easy. This flash mob was diverse but will organized with people handing out publications and overseerers with clipboards stopping chants like Kill the Bill because the kill part might not sound good on the evening news. The LaRouchies were there with a huge poster of Obama with a Hitler mustache that lots of people had their picture taken in front of. The LaRouche folks were quit clear that Obama was a fascist and not a socialist and this provoked some consternation among the Obama is a socialist faction and for those that couldn't decide wether these terms were interchageable or mutually exclusive concepts. Rather than initiating a screaming fight, as a handful of Obama supporters were then engaged in, I just piled on the questions and let them meander to their own illogical and unsupportable conclusions. In that way it was kind of like posting on Marxmail except people here are comrades after all, and they can only threaten to punch you in the face. As luck would have it a second shift of protestors was allowed inside and I almost made the cut but was stopped by security and now this group couldn't go in but didn't want to go back outside. They started to get loud and soon the aging congressman's wife shows up to try and calm the water. She has ambitions for this seat herself and she did her best to show what she could do to diffuse the situation. After promising another meeting in a larger space people started screaming again. A woman ranting about abortion was followed by an older guy mocking the way the aged congressman had lost his committee chairmanship to democratic caucus politics. She responded I believe in democracy and he shot back, We don't. When she finally tired and left an organizer type jumped up to begin a harangue and at this point it was time to get loud,and profane, and the indignant right wing steamroller was stalled as security intervened and evicted everyone outside the building. The Republican Party is not fascist but there are fascists in it even though they are so muddled and incoherent in their thinking they could not even define the term much less recognize themselves. One lady told me how much she despised aged congressman except for all the great things he had done for veterans through improving service at the local VA hospital. When I told her I had served during two eras of war and was eligible for comprehensive government paid health care through the VA she told me that socialism was okay for veterans. From a newspaper distributed tonight I found this bit of strategic vision from the organizers: Target: A self-serving, self- perpetuating political class that no longer represents the the will of the people. The will of the people, as they see it, is right wing, racially tinged populism and there is a whiff of by any means necessary in their rhetoric and demeanor. The question I asked in my last post remains: what is the best most effective way to respond? YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Rape is not necessarily a consequence of war
Jeff writes: I don't know about you, but I supported the fight against fascism as part of the class war, not because I like one of the nations better than the other! If Russians came to view it as a war between nations, I would call that an ideological failure. And indeed one encouraged by Stalin, if we must name names! === A military defeat would have been more catastrophic and far-reaching for the USSR and the global fight against fascism than the ideological failure which Jeff laments. We know the Soviet masses were successfully mobilized to throw themselves into a Great Patriotic War against German troops who invaded the country in the service of the Nazi regime. We don't know that defence of the USSR based on appeals to the Soviet masses to prosecute the war on behalf of socialism and international solidarity with the German working class - such propaganda was not entirely absent - would have had the same effect. Given the brutal character of the Wehrmacht's assault on the USSR and the lack of any mass antifascist sentiment or resistance apparent within Germany, I very much doubt it would have inspired the same sacrifice by the Soviet peoples. In the final analysis, defence of the USSR was more crucial than how it was defended, nothwithstanding that the Soviet wartime atrocities mentioned in this thread were not unrelated to the nationalist character of it's defence. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Audio interview with David Rovics on Australian tour
David, along with Brisbane's Phil Monsour, still has shows in Brisbane and Lismore, see http://www.greenleft.org.au/palestine-solidarity-event.php Warwick Fry from community radio NIM-FM (based in Nimbin, near Lismore) talked to David recently about music, activism and Palestine. http://nimbinradiomedia.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=512483 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Proletarian Defense II
sobuadha...@hushmail.com writes: The Republican Party is not fascist but there are fascists in it even though they are so muddled and incoherent in their thinking they could not even define the term much less recognize themselves. One lady told me how much she despised aged congressman except for all the great things he had done for veterans through improving service at the local VA hospital. When I told her I had served during two eras of war and was eligible for comprehensive government paid health care through the VA she told me that socialism was okay for veterans. Well, there you go! We'll just run these wars for another 20 years, and everyone will be a veteran! The will of the people, as they see it, is right wing, racially tinged populism and there is a whiff of by any means necessary in their rhetoric and demeanor. The question I asked in my last post remains: what is the best most effective way to respond? If in the hall, I will shout down hecklers with You'll get your turn, or Let them speak if the speaker hasn't finished yet. If it's during the QA period, I'll just laugh loudly. I look like(am) a big redneck construction worker, so sometimes that confuses them. -- In Solidarity, Billy O'Connor YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Rape is not necessarily a consequence of war
Jeff: Rather than being revictimized by the sexist society around them, the POLITICAL understanding of the Vietnamese led them to openly denounce and portray rape as the war crime it is, not just something that happens in war. Reply: The Vietnam War does bear comparison with the war fought between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The Russian Civil War, yes, but not what the Soviets referred to as The Great Patriotic War, a name which should give us a clue as what the consciousness driving it became. The Vietnam War was in large part a civil war. Victory was not defined by invading and occupying the nation of their invaders. It was driving the colonists out and unifying the country under Communism. In this your point about the politicisation of the Viet Cong is right. They were politicised, they did have a strong sense of who their enemy was and what they were fighting for. So did the Red Army. Their enemy became Germans in total. Whether you agree with this or not, the fact remains that the Soviet Union was fighting a war of survival. By the time they reached Berlin millions had been slaughtered, entire villages and towns laid waste, and mass graves were common. This would undoubtedly have had an impact on the troops. Add to that the propaganda of the Soviet leadership, which referred to the Germans as locusts and beasts and you had the ingredients for mass atrocities. This was not a civil war, it was a war between two ideologies sworn to destroy one another. Socialism in One Country had certainly chipped away at the internationalist consciousness assiduously cultivated by the party of Lenin and Trotsky, and the Red Army that plowed through Germany was motivated by patriotism and a nationalist consciousness as much if not more than internationalism. Rape is about dehumanisation and domination. By the stage in the war under discussion Soviet propaganda had successfully dehumanised an enemy which had committed some of the worst atrocities of any army in human history. Was the Soviet leadership right to dehumanise its enemy as it did? Looking back, it's easy to say no. But that's with hindsight and the knowledge that the Nazis were finally defeated. That the vast bulk of the Red Army, relative to its size, did not commit rape and other atrocities is a matter of record and suggests that such terror was not planned or orchestrated on a mass scale. But in the context of the war in question, the extent of the atrocities and the slaughter, the barbarity of the Nazis, I fail to see how it's so hard to imagine how such atrocites could have occurred. Repugnant, yes, bestial, yes, but those words describe the war in its entirety. YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism-Thaxis] (no subject)
New Statesman obits for Jerry Cohen and Francis Jeanson. http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2009/08/ga-cohen-death-equality http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2009/08/francis-jeanson-1922-france Jim Farmelant Blue Cross Blue Shield SC Compare Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Health Plans. Get Quotes. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=34NoGNzsk7uUCbBWhYHw1AAAJ1AP8ttsZd_TbiVxkZxsC3mBAAUAALN7Mj4w4J19Uug_bfCcwDnpDzyuAA== ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] So what
O STREET PIMP MY BLOG CHALLENGE I'm an atheist, so what? FINALIST By PETER JURICH • O STREET GUEST BLOGGER • August 3, 2009 I was at work when someone brought up that I am an atheist. A nearby coworker nearly had a heart attack. You are? she asked. But ... you're such a ... good person! In the words of Oneita: Oh, my. I'd like to set the record straight on atheism. Being an atheist opens up my world to the different possibilities I may have otherwise missed. It makes me an accepting individual because it is an exercise in questioning that allows me to explore any and all walks of life. Atheism breaks down the barriers put up by racism, sexism, xenophobia and other discrimination because I have an understanding that there is nothing more important (i.e. an invitation into heaven) than the feelings I share with others. I explained this to my coworker. Well, I'm older than you, she said. I understand more. I didn't tell her that I attended a strict, private Catholic school for eight years, that I had questions my teachers nervously refused to answer, and that I've since answered those questions myself. I did, however, tell her my views were not without research. Yes, she is older, but that doesn't mean anything. I am capable of empathy, optimism, sadness, patriotism, guilt and love. I told her I'm more confident because I'm not ashamed of any thoughts. I neglected to stress that I still differentiate between right and wrong, but I assumed she knew that. I don't do drugs, have sex with strangers, drive insanely fast or bust caps in asses. Her response? Someday, you'll get it. In respect to the warm and fuzzy feeling one gets (and I've tried very hard to get) from organized religion, I can get that same feeling by going to a concert. All we are feeling is the energy of a group of people coming together enthusiastically for a common interest. The difference is the context: Believers feel God brought them together; fans think it was Ticketmaster. I ended the conversation out of respect for the workplace -- a public school. Begrudgingly, I let my coworker have the final word. Don't give up, she said. Just try keeping a more open mind. PETER JURICH, 23, of Dearborn is a Wayne State University student who wrote Typing With One Hand. Oneita the Editor's Note: I met Peter in February when he interviewed me for a homework assignment. That was flattering, but it didn't curry any favor: I rejected the first blog entry he submitted for this challenge because it was lame. I chose this one because of Peter's honesty and his perspective, and because I knew it would produce a good conversation. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE AN ATHEIST IN THE BIBLE BELT
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE AN ATHEIST IN THE BIBLE BELT By Susan McCarthy, Comment Is Free Even in the South's big cities, many atheists feel they have to stay closeted. http://www.alternet.org/belief/141801/what_it%27s_like_to_be_an_atheist_in_the_bible_belt/ ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] I'm an atheist, so what?
O STREET PIMP MY BLOG CHALLENGE I'm an atheist, so what? FINALIST By PETER JURICH • O STREET GUEST BLOGGER • August 3, 2009 I was at work when someone brought up that I am an atheist. A nearby coworker nearly had a heart attack. You are? she asked. But ... you're such a ... good person! In the words of Oneita: Oh, my. I'd like to set the record straight on atheism. Being an atheist opens up my world to the different possibilities I may have otherwise missed. It makes me an accepting individual because it is an exercise in questioning that allows me to explore any and all walks of life. Atheism breaks down the barriers put up by racism, sexism, xenophobia and other discrimination because I have an understanding that there is nothing more important (i.e. an invitation into heaven) than the feelings I share with others. I explained this to my coworker. Well, I'm older than you, she said. I understand more. I didn't tell her that I attended a strict, private Catholic school for eight years, that I had questions my teachers nervously refused to answer, and that I've since answered those questions myself. I did, however, tell her my views were not without research. Yes, she is older, but that doesn't mean anything. I am capable of empathy, optimism, sadness, patriotism, guilt and love. I told her I'm more confident because I'm not ashamed of any thoughts. I neglected to stress that I still differentiate between right and wrong, but I assumed she knew that. I don't do drugs, have sex with strangers, drive insanely fast or bust caps in asses. Her response? Someday, you'll get it. In respect to the warm and fuzzy feeling one gets (and I've tried very hard to get) from organized religion, I can get that same feeling by going to a concert. All we are feeling is the energy of a group of people coming together enthusiastically for a common interest. The difference is the context: Believers feel God brought them together; fans think it was Ticketmaster. I ended the conversation out of respect for the workplace -- a public school. Begrudgingly, I let my coworker have the final word. Don't give up, she said. Just try keeping a more open mind. PETER JURICH, 23, of Dearborn is a Wayne State University student who wrote Typing With One Hand. Oneita the Editor's Note: I met Peter in February when he interviewed me for a homework assignment. That was flattering, but it didn't curry any favor: I rejected the first blog entry he submitted for this challenge because it was lame. I chose this one because of Peter's honesty and his perspective, and because I knew it would produce a good conversation. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
