[Marxism] Black History Film Recommendations
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I am helping to assemble a program for Black History Month. Any film recommendations for a general audience? Contact me off the list. Thanks, Adam 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] Great cartoon spoofing gays in the military
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == That's THEM telling the truthnot nonmilitary haranguing them with their judgements. 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] Great cartoon spoofing gays in the military
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Vladimiro, in my opinion you are viewing this in a denunciatory and moralistic point of view. that's not a revolutionary tactic... its a liberal tactic. Besides, not all military members are killers... gays have often been found on the frontlines, but are have been historically concentrated in non-combat roles, particularly medics. Most do a tour or two of duty and then are discharged. Most aren't in it for the longterm. Most will return to the normal occupations of the working class along with their experiences. Should straight soliders learn that it's perfectly acceptable to castigate homosexuals? Should gay people learn that they are powerless to resist castigation? With the "economic draft" most have very few choices out of poverty or for education. LGBT are subject to many more pressures in the military due to the likelihood of isolation. Getting dishonorably discharged can be a brutal and crushing way to rejoin civilian life. Revolutionaries during the Vietnam war didn't castigate returning veterans who where fighting a revolutionary civil war didn't castigate and denounce soldiers. That is exactly what the Rightwing in the US has tried to portray has having happened. We helped to organize veterans... the government used them brutally. Their rage contributed to the antiwar mobilizations and toward the building of mass support to end the war. Would you like to go to a meeting of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and suggest that they are murderers and should therefore be ashamed? 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] Great cartoon spoofing gays in the military
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == It also has to do with WHY we want the working class not to be able to be split along ethnic, religious and racial lines... as well as sexual orientation and gender identification status. Not only for the end in itself...equal rights, but also to prepare the working class, in this case, service members not to fall for the divisions capitalism foists on the population. 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] Great cartoon spoofing gays in the military
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == How exactly how ought socialists, in the United States, approach organizing in the military? By emphasizing to the service members that they are in a reactionary institution killing civilians and freedom fighters? Or to join with them in the struggles that they have already started? I will remind you that we don't have a massive, ongoing, on-the-streets antiwar movement that has a mass character like in the 1960s and 70s. 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] Great cartoon spoofing gays in the military
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == World imperialism is led by the U.S. Any opening of the democratic struggle in the U.S. war machine has to be supported by socialists if we are to have hearing among the troops. The internationalist duties of socialists living in the U.S. is to bring a speedy end to capitalism here. Moralizing about how much more oppressed everyone outside the U.S. borders isn't propelling the working class here into conflict with its capitalist overlord. Encouraging the struggle of U.S. service members in their fight for democratic rights is just such a struggle. Do you want a revolution in the U.S. and do you view it as essential for world revolutionary success? 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] Statement by Socialist Contingent on October 2nd Demo
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Statement of the Socialist Contingent hasn't had much discussion. After mulling this over, I have quite a few critical comments. Adam San Francisco We March for Jobs, Peace, Justice and the Socialist Alternative That Can Win Them [The title of this document belies the basic problem with this: It is only a SOCIALIST alternative that can win them in fact this October 2 mobilization may not be completely constrained by the Democratic Party agenda the labor tops have in mind, but not because of the "socialist alternative" that does not yet exist in the U.S., but by the workers own pressure. If by socialist alternative we mean "transitional demands" these are nowhere present. At best this is sloganeering...at worst it moves earnest radicals away from engaging. We should be demanding the labor movement leadership act on behalf of its members. Trumka says he is willing to discuss a labor party... we should insist that he does. Trumka says he wants Wall Street to pay a massive employment program -- we should be insisting that the labor movement act. Struggle can achieve Jobs, Peace and Justice to one measure or another before capitalism’s end We are for reforms and warn they are not secure until working people run the state in their own name. The thrust here is "fight for socialism" as a maximal demand...when the level of struggle is currently to fight for survival.) Hundreds of thousands of Americans organized by labor and civil rights organizations will gather in Washington, D.C. on October 2 to demand a change in the direction that our nation is heading. We are proud to join this march to demand jobs, to demand an end to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan now, and to demand a society that is fairer, more equal and more just. We believe it important to be in the capital on October 2 to create a real alternative to Glenn Beck, the Tea Party, and Republicans, their reactionary politics, ruthless economics, and their racism. (Adam: Oddly the prominent anti-gay bigotry that is the leading punch of much of the right is not detailed here, nor are the attacks on immigrants.) We do not, however, share the strategy of the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, and other organizations which hope to achieve jobs and justice by supporting Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in the national elections on November 2. The neoliberal leadership of the national, state, and big city organizations of the Democratic Party has betrayed the party’s rank-and-file. We believe that it has become quite clear now that neither Democrats nor the Republicans are capable of solving the country’s three great crises—the economy, the environment, and the wars—in a way that will be good for the American people. (Adam: “We believe that it has become quite clear now” but most working people are still voting Democratic, in fact many of the most advanced workers in struggle are going to vote Democrat…so it isn’t so clear at all to the 95% of the working class that still looks to the Dems. And it isn't the neoliberal agenda that is makes the Democrats an enemy of the working class, it is its class basis before neoliberalism there was Kennedy/Johnson New Society and before that New Deal with a bunch of openly racist Dixiecrats. This isn't a socialist critique, but a liberal one. By the way the NAACP is demanding that Obama address jobs a direct challenge to Obama and his Democratic Party Policies.) We join the movement for this march, excited and enthused to see the labor unions, the African American and Latino populations, and the women’s, lesbian and gay, and environmental movements taking to the streets. But we know that change can only be brought about as it has been in every period of American history by independent social movements that are active for more than a single march. (Adam: This opposes the Democrats in an abstract way when what is needed is a program of action in defense of the workers and the other strata under attack.All of the movements listed are overwhelmining dominated by leaderships that are tied to the Democrats. Some of these movement are struggling against aspects of Obama’s policies for instance the lgbt, immigration and environmental movements. Some are succeeding and some are falling back. What is it that ties these movments to the democrats…simply that they vote for them? More significantly it is the day to day politics, the overall outlook that slow and steady efforts are the only way to alleviate the suffering of people or to protect the environment. What they don’t mention is that the there is a political crisis brewing in the United States based on class. ] And such independent movements must find political expression in independent candi
[Marxism] ALL OUT FOR OCTOBER 2nd, BUT FOR WHICH DEMANDS?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The official organizing for the October 2nd Washington, D.C. demonstration, which we hope will be massive, has allowed us to catch a glimpse of a crucial ambiguity underlying the event. Will this demonstration be aimed at demanding that the government finally address the real needs of working people, now that it has made the banks whole, despite everyone's objections? Or will its real purpose be to get Democrats elected to office, in which case demands will be carefully crafted, trimmed, and pre-packaged so as not to embarrass the Democrats and then be used only as bait to lure working people into the election campaigns, not as true goals in themselves? There is a gaping chasm between these two goals. While the Democratic Party receives millions of dollars in donations from labor unions, it receives much more from Wall Street and corporate America. Thus, while the Democratic Party currently controls the office of the president and recently enjoyed a super majority in Congress, it refused to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have greatly facilitated organizing unions. It failed to pass substantial legislation to avert foreclosures so that millions of working people have lost their homes and have been plunged into a nightmare of stress. The Democratic Party did not even remotely entertain the possibility of repealing the union-crippling Taft-Hartley Act, which it promised to do decades ago. The bank regulation that it did pass will not prevent the eruption of another economic crisis from reckless banking speculation, thanks to intensive lobbying by the banks. The defense budget is now higher than it was when George W. Bush was president. There are still 50,000 U.S. occupation troops in Iraq, while the war in Afghanistan, which cannot be won and we cannot afford to wage, is being ratcheted up, making Obama, too, a "war president." The recent so-called jobs bill the Democrats passed in the U.S. Congress, which will help a tiny percentage of the working people who are in need of jobs, was in part financed by cutting food stamps. Meanwhile, more undocumented immigrants have been deported under the Obama administration than under Bush, with countless families separated. Government policies that allow for high unemployment, that wage wars for oil, that provide no government-run health care for those under 65, and that allow millions of home foreclosures are by no means accidental. High unemployment keeps wages down and profits up. Wars for oil benefit the most powerful corporations in our society, the oil industry. The health insurance companies lobbied intensely to kill a government health care option. Now they are raising their rates so that working people are forced to pay an additional 14 percent for their health care benefits. And Wall Street is a direct beneficiary of home foreclosures and therefore fought successfully to restrict any serious refinancing possibilities. The Democrats, who are beholden to Wall Street and corporate American for financial contributions, have defended all these policies with the cynical assumption that what is good for Wall Street and corporate American is good for all of us, although they have wisely chosen not to announce that philosophy publicly. The Democrats have mastered the rhetoric that working people want to hear: "jobs;" "health care for all;" "peace." And during election season, we are bombarded with these slogans. But they are quietly filed away after the elections. For this reason, the standard of living of working people has been on a steady decline since the 1970s, whether the Democrats or the Republicans have held power. Inequalities in wealth during this same period have been spiraling out of control, resulting in the accumulation of wealth by the rich at historic highs while their taxes have descended to historic lows. These trends are producing a dysfunctional society, both economically and morally. An economy cannot be sustained with high levels of income inequality, because we working people cannot afford to buy the houses, cars and many other things we produce. Every working person should be able to buy a home, but millions of them now stand empty while workers are mired in debt. And democracy becomes a hollow shell when those at the top of the economic ladder maintain a solid grip on the institutions of government
Re: [Marxism] Cuba si ! Yanquee no !
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Excuse me, we are talking about Cuba, not North Korea. 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] Cuba, homosexuals, national revollutionary movements
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Perhaps we should turn a blind eye to the situation in Uganda as well in the name of national self determination. Oppression of gays in post capitalist societies helps to keep the working class divided and creates an easy target for counterrevolultionaries to exploit. 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 Sonoma
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I lived in Sonoma County for about 10 years from 1981 to 1992. During that time, I had the odd privilege to be a dental assistant for Petalums'a CP dentist. My hands have been in the mouths of many a National Committee members mouths. One was also a dentist, but he had horrible teeth. Along with Highlights for Children, we had World Marxist Review and Science in the Public Interest. --- On Fri, 9/10/10, Tom Cod wrote: From: Tom Cod Subject: [Marxism] Red Sonoma To: "Adam Richmond" Date: Friday, September 10, 2010, 5:59 PM == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == article about display in Santa Rosa about local history of socialist and radical movement http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100910/ENTERTAINMENT/9101030/1349?Title=Remembering-Red-Sonoma- Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/adambrichmond%40yahoo.com 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] Stewart Alexander proposed as united third party spokesman
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Mark, I didn't find anything to indicate that Stewart Alexander is for a united party in the link you sent. Is there a proposal on the table he is raising? 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] Cockburn's refreshing take on the California judge's gay marriage ruling
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The first gay wedding I went to was in 1979 in New Haven. After the ceremony, officiated by the Metropolitan Community Church, the grooms celebrated at the local gay dive, Partners, after the ceremony. Gay people are adapting a social institution, marriage, for our own purposes. I find Stephanie Koontz's work on the subject much more refreshing than Counterpunch's. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/opinion/05coontz.html The Heterosexual Revolution By STEPHANIE COONTZ Published: July 5, 2005 Olympia, Wash.THE last week has been tough for opponents of same-sex marriage. First Canadian and then Spanish legislators voted to legalize the practice, prompting American social conservatives to renew their call for a constitutional amendment banning such marriages here. James Dobson of the evangelical group Focus on the Family has warned that without that ban, marriage as we have known it for 5,000 years will be overturned. My research on marriage and family life seldom leads me to agree with Dr. Dobson, much less to accuse him of understatement. But in this case, Dr. Dobson's warnings come 30 years too late. Traditional marriage, with its 5,000-year history, has already been upended. Gays and lesbians, however, didn't spearhead that revolution: heterosexuals did. Heterosexuals were the upstarts who turned marriage into a voluntary love relationship rather than a mandatory economic and political institution. Heterosexuals were the ones who made procreation voluntary, so that some couples could choose childlessness, and who adopted assisted reproduction so that even couples who could not conceive could become parents. And heterosexuals subverted the long-standing rule that every marriage had to have a husband who played one role in the family and a wife who played a completely different one. Gays and lesbians simply looked at the revolution heterosexuals had wrought and noticed that with its new norms, marriage could work for them, too. The first step down the road to gay and lesbian marriage took place 200 years ago, when Enlightenment thinkers raised the radical idea that parents and the state should not dictate who married whom, and when the American Revolution encouraged people to engage in "the pursuit of happiness," including marrying for love. Almost immediately, some thinkers, including Jeremy Bentham and the Marquis de Condorcet, began to argue that same-sex love should not be a crime. Same-sex marriage, however, remained unimaginable because marriage had two traditional functions that were inapplicable to gays and lesbians. First, marriage allowed families to increase their household labor force by having children. Throughout much of history, upper-class men divorced their wives if their marriage did not produce children, while peasants often wouldn't marry until a premarital pregnancy confirmed the woman's fertility. But the advent of birth control in the 19th century permitted married couples to decide not to have children, while assisted reproduction in the 20th century allowed infertile couples to have them. This eroded the traditional argument that marriage must be between a man and a woman who were able to procreate. In addition, traditional marriage imposed a strict division of labor by gender and mandated unequal power relations between men and women. "Husband and wife are one," said the law in both England and America, from early medieval days until the late 19th century, "and that one is the husband." This law of "coverture" was supposed to reflect the command of God and the essential nature of humans. It stipulated that a wife could not enter into legal contracts or own property on her own. In 1863, a New York court warned that giving wives independent property rights would "sow the seeds of perpetual discord," potentially dooming marriage. Even after coverture had lost its legal force, courts, legislators and the public still cleaved to the belief that marriage required husbands and wives to play totally different domestic roles. In 1958, the New York Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to the traditional legal view that wives (unlike husbands) couldn't sue for loss of the personal services, including housekeeping and the sexual attentions, of their spouses. The judges reasoned that only wives were expected to provide such personal services anyway. As late as the 1970's, many American states retained "head and master" laws, giving the husband final say over where the family lived and other household decisions. According to the legal definition of marriage, the man was required to support the family, while the woman was obligated to keep house, nurture children
[Marxism] Labor Action in Oakland Stops Israeli Ship
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Protesters prevent unloading of Israeli ship David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, June 20, 2010 (06-20) 12:35 PDT OAKLAND -- Hundreds of demonstrators, gathering at the Port of Oakland before dawn, prevented the unloading of an Israeli cargo ship. The demonstrators, demanding an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, picketed at Berth 58, where a ship from Israel's Zim shipping line is scheduled to dock later today. The day shift of longshoremen agreed not to cross the picket line. International pressure to end the Gaza closure has increased since Israeli commandos stormed a flotilla of ships attempting to run the blockade on May 31, killing nine people. Last week, Israeli officials announced that they would loosen but not lift the blockade, allowing more goods to enter the impoverished area. "Our view is that the state of Israel can not engage in acts of piracy and kill people on the high seas and still think their cargo can go anywhere in the world," said Richard Becker, an organizer with ANSWER, one of many peace and labor groups involved in Sunday's action. Becker estimated that 600 to 700 people joined the demonstration, many of them arriving at 5:30 a.m. Oakland police, who estimated the crowd at 500 people, reported no arrests. The demonstrators want to block the unloading of the Zim ship for a full day. After convincing the day shift of longshoreman to honor the picket line, the demonstrators dispersed around 10 a.m., Becker said. The ship is scheduled to arrive in mid-afternoon, and the demonstrators plan to gather again around 4:30 p.m. and re-establish their picket line before the evening shift of longshoremen arrives at 6 p.m. 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] Mass Picket Condemning Israel’s Attac k on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla!
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == See you at the docks! 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] Roseanne Barr says Israel must end their blockade and occupatio...
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == OK, it is clear she's not a studied revolutionary marxist on this issue. Did anyone think she was? She's a defender of human rights and is disgusted by Israel's actions. American Jews to publicly disassociate themselves from Israel is very important to the struggle. The "she's nuts" comments are really disrespectful and are personalistic attacks on her. Considering what she's had to endure in her life, she's mentally stronger than many. 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] UFCW takes the high road in union organizing
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Pot Goes Union As Oaksterdam U Joins UFCW by Chris Roberts May 27, 2010 7:50 AM Though we've never been in one ourselves, we gather that joining a union isn't all it's cracked up to be: you have to pay dues, hold signs outside of drug stores, and often run afoul of politicians and mainstream media when the going gets tough. But union membership can also be a strategic masterstroke, and a magic pill to salve bad news. This appears to be the case for "cannabis college" Oaksterdam University, where organized labor and the burgeoning marijuana industry are converging for - we believe - the very first time. Last week it was revealed that Tax Cannabis 2010 - the ballot measure and brainchild of Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee - was polling at a dangerously marginal 50 percent. But that was without the pledged support of organized labor, which is now on Oaksterdam's side after 100 employees at the cannabis-centered business - which includes a cannabis dispensary and a plant nursery as well cultivation classes - turned in their union cards and joined Local 5 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, school and union officials confirmed Wednesday. What's this mean for labor, and for the medical cannabis movement? It means at least in the eyes of union organizers, medical marijuana is legitimate and it's not going away any time soon (and any cannabis business would, of course, grow exponentially should adult recreational use be approved). UFCW won a major coup by securing the first-of-its-kind arrangement with Oaksterdam, which now can boast of connections and political clout it couldn't just last week. "It's a very big deal," said Mike Henneberry, communications director for Local 5's Hayward office, the local shop for Oaksterdam, who said Oaksterdam's newly-minted union members turned in their cards about three weeks ago, at a ceremony oversaw by Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan. "It's the first organized medical cannabis operation - I believe - in the US or Canada, so it's groundbreaking in that sense," he said. Cannabis is also a growth industry, unlike automobile production or shipping, which means the union stands only to grow. "People [and other dispensaries] who wouldn't even have thought about unionizing are now thinking about it." "And," noted Henneberry, "we have a lot of political connections." That's the real benefit, in particular for Tax Cannabis 2010, but also for would-be dispensary operators. Those operators can now organize prior to begging city councils or planning commissions for permits, bringing to the table a real stamp of legitimacy. And if Tax Cannabis 2010's supporters - chief among whom is Lee, who has pumped close to $1.3 million of his own personal fortune into the ballot measure - can call in some favors in a close campaign? "People who didn't want to listen [to Tax Cannabis 2010] will now be forced to listen," said Dale Sky Clare, Oaksterdam University's executive chancellor. "People have confidence in unions." Whether this means that labor giants like SEIU will likewise support Tax Cannabis 2010 and campaign for its passage is as yet unclear. But it can't hurt, and is surely a sign of things to come. http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/05/pot-goes-union-oaksterdam-joins.php 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] Hugo Chavez on the need for a new international
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == If you are referring to Chavez' speech in November 2009, that speech as not been translated to the best of my knowledge. It is apparently 5 hours long and only part of it dealt with the question of the Fifth International. From: Louis Proyect To: Adam Richmond Sent: Mon, April 12, 2010 8:13:33 AM Subject: [Marxism] Hugo Chavez on the need for a new international == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I cannot find the text of his actual speech. If anybody has it, either in Spanish or English, please send it to me or post a link here. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/adambrichmond%40yahoo.com 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] Brewing Crisis in the South Atlantic
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Brewing Crisis in the South Atlantic: Oil Exploration in the Malvinas Islands Ignites an Old Dispute By Adam Richmond For Argentineans the long simmering territorial dispute between Britain and Argentina is coming to a head, as a British oil rig travels to what analysts say is a 60 billion barrel reserve of high-grade oil located in a 200 square mile zone surrounding the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands. This would make it one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Argentina had instituted a naval embargo of the islands but has recently permitted the oil rig to land in Port Stanley, capital of the island. The delivery and installation of the oil rig will substantially alter the fundamental economic character of the disputed islands from fishing and sheep-raising to the exploitation of one of the world’s most sought after commodities: petroleum. The exploitative economic character Britain is unilaterally imposing exacerbates the national tensions between Argentina and Britain. This conflict has brought the relationship between the two countries to their sharpest point since the 1982 war over the Islands. The Argentine government of President Christina Kirschner is set to bring the matter before the United Nations Security Council and is mustering its diplomatic resources to bring this matter to a negotiated end. In addition, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has correctly demanded that Britain cede the Malvinas: “The British are desperate for oil since their own fields in the North Sea are now being depleted," Chavez said in a televised speech. “When will England stop breaking international law? Return the Malvinas to Argentina!" Argentina and Venezuela are both members of Mercosur, the common market covering much of South America. The Anti-Imperialist Character of the Conflict This conflict is not, however, a simple land dispute or even an oil resource dispute. The question of the return of the Malvinas Islands is an explosive national issue for most Argentines, who see the haughty imperial occupation and colonization of their islands as symbolic of their nation’s relationship to western imperialism. Argentina is a country whose national wealth is sapped by the wealthiest financiers of London, Madrid, and New York City. The vast majority of the Argentine people view the continued occupation of the Malvinas Islands by Britain as a fundamental injustice. Argentina attempted to seize the islands in 1982 but was defeated by the British after a short-lived, but bloody re-occupation of the colonial outpost. The conflict resulted in nearly 1,000 deaths with two-thirds of the dead from the Argentine military. The invasion was a military disaster for Argentina and a stunning loss in the fight against imperialism which bolstered the fanatical anticommunism of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Then, too, the conflict was bathed in the waters of the Nicaraguan Revolution, the Grenadian revolution, and the civil war in El Salvador, not to mention the U.S.’ sponsored swath of counter-revolutions in Chile and Argentina. Despite the failure of the Argentine military in 1982, the question still must be answered: What right does Britain have to a colony in the South Atlantic 7,800 miles from London? Britain claims it has the right to defend “self determination” when this seems as a convenient cover for British interests in the expansion of its capital. In keeping with this, the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, the local governing body for the 3,000 plus residents of the Falklands, announced on February 5, that it would oppose any Argentine firm exploring for oil in the territory. 21st Century Colonialism or 21st Century Socialism The British, French, Dutch, or U.S. governments have no business maintaining colonies in South America, or anywhere else on the globe. The Malvinas are properly Argentine territory, and workers in Britain have no interest in maintaining the old Empire territorial claims that Labor and Tory governments, including those of Thatcher, Blair and Brown, have vigorously defended. In this sense the Falkland Islands are no different than returning Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China, India to the Indians, or Ireland to the Irish. What seemingly complicates the matter is that there are virtually no Argentine nationals on the Falklands. The local residents vigorously support continued British control, much like the reactionary Unionists of Northern Ireland. Central America, South America, and the Caribbean are dotted with direct colonial possessions of the United States (Puerto Rico, American Virgin Islands), Britain (British Virgin Islands, etc.), the Netherlands (Curacao, Dutch West Indies), and France (
Re: [Marxism] A clarification on the head scarf issue in France
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == "The ban is on schoolgirls wearing it in school. " Do we reserve the right of bourgeois schools to impose a dress code on its students? That runs counter to free self expression on the part of the students. When I was going to school girls would be humiliated routinely by principals who'd measure their skirts to make sure they were long enough. Black students were forbidden from wearing Afros.Should Amish and Mennonite women be prohibited from wearing the prayer cap in U.S. schools? Should Sikh students be prohibited from keeping a kirpan with them? The right to a public education trumps these from the point of view of uniting the working class. To demand otherwise is to force these kids into private religious schools or to identify more strongly with reactionary religious forces in their communities as the protector of their ethnic and religious rights. I think the NPA is to be commended to publicly and forthrightly challenge the reactionary anti-Muslim wave in France. This sentiment is an expression of the bourgeoisie to divide the working class. As for the rights of the women involved, they should have the right to wear what they like, as they prefer. They should not be forced by the state to choose between their ethnic traditions and public education. Adam Richmond San Francisco 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] Mariela Castro Says CP Excludes Gays
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == January 19, 2010 Castro Daughter Says Cuba Communists Exclude Gays By REUTERS Filed at 7:25 p.m. ET HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter accused the ruling Communist Party on Tuesday of discrimination against gays and said she will write a letter to its "top leadership" demanding that it end. Her uncle, Fidel Castro, heads the party, while her father is No. 2. Mariela Castro, a sexologist who advocates for gay rights, said the party excludes gays who want to become members. "It is not spelled out in any statute, but implicitly they are rejected," she told reporters at the opening of a conference on sex education and therapy. "Your ideological and party definition have nothing to do with your sexual orientation," said Castro, who is head of Cuba's National Centre of Sex Education. "It's absurd, it's laughable." She said her letter -- to be sent "as soon as possible" -- would demand that a no-discrimination policy be clearly spelled out in party bylaws. Fidel Castro, 83, ceded the presidency to his brother Raul, 78, two years ago, but still officially heads the Communist Party. The Cuban government, which Fidel Castro led for 49 years after taking power in a 1959 revolution, once sent gays to labour camps but ended the policy in the 1970s. Castro, 47 and married, has led gay rights parades in Havana, and urged the government to approve gay marriage, which has not yet happened. "We continue to confront strong prejudices," she said. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Jeff Franks and Cynthia Osterman) http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/19/world/international-uk-cuba-gays-castro.html?_r=1 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] The left debates "Avatar" - instead of the 5th International?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Fifth International isn't a cheering squad, on what basis could that be fairly claimed? There is plenty of comradely, sharp criticism from the 5th international's strongest supporters. Have you been reading the range of articles for instance on Venezuelanalysis.com? And there are plenty on the international left who place themselves outside of the process by various manifestations of sectarianism or of viewing the revolution statically, not dialectically. Adam San Francisco 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] The left debates "Avatar" - instead of the 5thInternational?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == It's nothing to argue with. Responding to anything written by this superdoctrinaire, off balance, ultra-left sectlet only encourages them. How can you seriously expect an article by the CWG to make a positive contribution to the discussion? They don't have the authority to criticize anything but themselves. A far better starting point would be the "Party of Socialism and Liberty, Brazil: Chavez’s call to form the Fifth International and the world" situation http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5065 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] The left debates "Avatar" - instead of the 5th International?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == "To kick this important discussion off, I offer " In Defense of Chavez’ Call for a Fifth Socialist International," by Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer available on www.workerscompass.org For those who are *supporters* of the Call for the Fifth Socialist International, please consider the Facebook group: Fifth Socialist International, which is administered by Workers Action of the U.S., Socialist Resistance in England, and Socialist Alliance in Australia. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=210991682056 So when can we return to discuss the Fifth International Call made by Hugo Chavez that is far more real and current andmore important - instead of a film by the cprporate 20th Century Fox Film Company owned by the anti-Marxist Rupert Murdoch? There has been much less discussion and interests in this upcoming April 2010 gathering than the Avatar Film - and I wonder why is that - or is something better being offered to marxists on the planet Earth today - to end capitalism in reality? John O'Brien Los Angeles > > > http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/the-left-debates-avatar/ > Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/adambrichmond%40yahoo.com 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] Idiocy at CPunch
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I heartily withdraw from this topic. 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] More idiocy at Counterpunch
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == She may shroud herself with some free flowing public relations happy talk, but in fact her joie de vivir is shield for not avoid a careful look at her silly ideas. She falsely considers circumcised men as having a sexual problem that could lead them to commit murder. In the case of the of the "underwear bomber" she asserts that Muslims are prone to kill. She's regurgitating a racist, anti-islamic view, with seemingly sexual libertarian view. 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] Another side of the Berlin Wall
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The wall was a response to imperialist provocation and a very poor one at that. It was a bureaucratic, cruel, and barbarous response. It did not safeguard socialism in the short on long term, it instead divided working class families, split the potential power of a united working class in Germany, and safeguarded the narrow Stalinist interests of the SED. Gay people may have had more "on paper" legal rights in East Berlin, but the cultural explosion of the gay scene in West Berlin was far more inspiring and compelling than any anemic gay scene in East Berlin. As for the "picket line means do not cross" lingoit's a pathetic attempt to give a working class fig-leaf to a monstrosity that the East German working class hated. The main danger to East German socialism was not in West Germany, but in the wretched police government of the SED. Adam Richmond Ex neo-marcyite SF, CA 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] Brutal Murder of Gay Man in Puerto Rico
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Please help get the word out on thisU.S. media hasn't picked this up yet. Gay Puerto Rican Teen Decapitated, Dismembered, and Burned Over the weekend the brutalized body of gay teen George Steven Lopez Mercado was found by the side of a road in Puerto Rico. The police investigator suggested that he deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading. According to an iReport by Chrisopher Pagan: "On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed..." Here's a report on the murder (in Spanish) from PrimeraHora.com. Said activist Pedro Julio Serrano: "It is inconceivable that the investigating officer suggests that the victim deserved his fate, like a woman deserves rape for wearing a short skirt. We demand condemnation of this investigator and demand that Superintendente Figueroa Sancha replace him with someone capable of investigating this case without prejudice." (my translation, please suggest a better one if you can). Links: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/gay-puerto-rican-teen-decapitated-dismembered-and-burned.html http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1154152576535&f=1&e=-12#/group.php?gid=320548070102&ref=share 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] Labor, the Antiwar Movement and the Democratic Party,
The Coalition's leadership decided not to be hoodwinked into a blind alley confrontation with the San Francisco Labor Council. 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] Gay Patriotism: Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell
The military is a huge socialization factory for working class youth. They go in, learn to take orders, get used and abused and spit out, usually for the worse. If black or latino soldiers were in struggle to resist some aspect of racist power, we'd support their struggle, even if they were still full talk of "defending their country." The gay and lesbian servicemembers are fighting the imperialist army, unaided by a clear understanding of the society they are in or the role the army plays, or the ideology that is being drummed into them every day. The armed forces knows it can't get rid of every gay in the military. They have settled to make examples of those members who do something as courageous as coming out as a political act or simply for posting a personals ad. I hope revolutionaries EARN the right to have their views known by being advocates of the oppressed in their struggles as they pursue them. The military today is "voluntary". But with a generation of negative economic growth for the working class, the military is an option many youth, gay and lesbian included, opt for. Antigay bias in the military serves, among other things, to make straight women submit sexually to unwanted sexual advances under explicit threat to denounce them as lesbians. It is government enforcement of sexual norms as a means of social control. Adam SF 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] WSWS review of Moore movie
As usual, a smug, condescending review of another film from WSWS. I don't dispute any of their facts. It is their approach that is so appalling. This film helps bring into focus a growing restlessness with the status quo. Does it bring it completely into view and point to the solutions? No. So far we know that Mr. Moore is not a revolutionary socialist. But what Michael Moore has done is to bring the economic system into question, something that has not been done in a major public forum, perhaps since the 1930s. That fact is lost on the ultralefts of the WSWS. It is up to the revolutionaries to see the film and take Michael Moore as the real thing. It opens the door for a new way of seeing the basic facts of US politics. 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] The Victim's Words: Samantha Geimer
Much of this discussion...if you can call it that.. has focused on the specific individuals in the case. The difference here is that the victim is discussing the case decades after the incident. She puts into a perspective no one else can. The domestic violence victims often are economically and emotionally tied to their tormentors. Geimer has distance. She also points out the other oppression: the exploitative media. 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] The Victim's Words: Samantha Geimer
"I am stunned that someone on this list would defend the rape " Have I defended a rape? I have given the right of the victim of the crime to speak. You apparently disagree with her conclusions to have her own say in the matter for the greater good of the bourgeois courts. The judge proved his inability to honor the plea agreement. And a million dollars, or what ever she negotiated, probably helped her more that his jailing. The question here is who decides. Does the court deserve a second chance, despite the victim's opinion. Adam 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] One in seven Germans want Berlin Wall back?
Long Live the Anti-Fascist Barricade? One in seven Germans want Berlin Wall back? Reuters Thu Sep 17, 2:19 pm ET BERLIN (Reuters) – One in seven Germans want the Berlin Wall back because they were better off when the country was divided, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of its collapse on November 9, 1989. The survey of 1,002 Germans by the Forsa institute published in Stern magazine said 15 percent of the country's 82 million long for the days when there were two Germanys. Some 16 percent pining for the Wall were westerners and 10 percent easterners. The survey found that many westerners are bitter about higher taxes to pay for rebuilding the formerly communist east, where some 1.2 trillion euros ($1,762 billion) worth of state funds has been transferred in the last 20 years. Eastern Germans are unhappy about income levels that are on average only 80 percent of western levels and that due to higher unemployment depopulation is decimating parts of the east, where the population has declined by about two million since 1990. The poll found 55 percent of Germans believe unification could be helped if a "solidarity tax" to help fund the costs of rebuilding were abolished while 50 percent believe higher pensions for easterners would help ease east-west tensions. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Louise Ireland) 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] The Deification of Matthew Shepard
Some people will pick any port in a storm including this disgusting opinion piece by Gabriel Arana. This article parrots the phony moralism of the right in denying the truth about the cruel, degrading murder of Mr. Shepard. This despicable article nothing but a fig leaf on middle class distain of the oppressed. "This familiar story -- Matthew as a pure, meek victim of anti-gay bigotry -- remains an orthodoxy unquestioned by all but the most ardent gay-rights opponents. In fact, Shepard was a deeply troubled young man. He had a severe drug and alcohol problem, suffered from bouts of depression, and failed out of school numerous times. He spent his money on partying, leaving him unable to pay bills. He contracted HIV, most likely through unsafe sex. These darker details are conspicuously absent from the prevailing narrative about Shepard's life." So what. Gabriel Arana castigates and abstraction: the so-called "prevailing narrative." The particulars of Matthew Sheppard's are disturbing, but not at all unfamiliar to anyone with a passing knowledge of the gay community. HIV rates among gay youth are skyrocketing. Safe sex is rarely practiced by the millions of youth coming out. As a gay youth, he is more likely to be depressed. ( I certainly would be in Wyoming. New Haven was bad enough.) Then Arana chides Shepard on his poor budgeting as if that weren't enough. In other words, Matthew Shepard resembles the face of gay oppression in an not too extreme form: depression, HIV, drug addiction the only thing Arana left off the usual right wing list is that he was alleged to be a drug dealer. Well none of his personal flaws need to be pointed out in order to defend him. And the shocking news of his murder correctly through the spotlight on anti-gay violence. I will leave it to the preachers and self styled moralists to bray on about the serious problems facing the gay community, just as other oppressed strata face. As for the increase in sentencing time for violence against victimized minorities... American criminal sentences are outrageously long and we should oppose their increase. This article is a poor advocate for any progressive policy reform. Adam Richmond San Francisco 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] George Will: Bring the (ground) troops home from Afghanistan
From Politico.com: George Will calls for pull-out By: Mike Allen http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=7234F616-18FE-70B2-A84F1D0E014AC4C1 August 31, 2009 04:46 PM EST George F. Will, the elite conservative commentator, will call in his next column for U.S. ground troops to leave Afghanistan, according to publishing sources. “[F]orces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent special forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters,” Will writes in the column, scheduled for publication later this week. President Obama ordered a total of 21,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan in February and March, and casualties have mounted as the forces began confronting the Taliban more aggressively. August saw the highest monthly death toll for the U.S. since the invasion in 2001, the second record month in a row. Will’s prescription – in which he urges Obama to remember Bismarck’s decision to halt German forces short of Paris in 1870 - seems certain to split Republicans. He is a favorite of fiscal conservatives. The more hawkish right can be expected to attack his conclusion as foolhardy, short-sighted and naïve, potentially making the U.S. more vulnerable to terrorist attack. The columnist’s startling recommendation surfaced on the same day that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, sent an assessment up his chain of command recommending what he called “a revised implementation strategy.” In a statement, McChrystal also called for “commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort.” In the column, Will warns that any nation-building strategy could be impossible to execute given the Taliban’s ability to seemingly disappear into the rugged mountain terrain and the lack of economic development in the war-plagued nation. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked Monday by Peter Cook of Bloomberg TV: “Are we winning in Afghanistan?” “I think it's a mixed picture in Afghanistan,” Gates replied. “I think that there aren’t too many people with too rosy a view of what's going on in Afghanistan. I think there are many challenges. But I think some of the gloom and doom is somewhat overdrawn as well. … I think that there are some positive developments. But there is no question our casualties are up and there's no question we have a very tough fight in front of us, a lot of challenges.” 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
