Re: [Marxism] Hobsbawm interviewed about Marx, student riots, the new Left, and the Milibands

2011-01-16 Thread Jim Farmelant
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On Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:31:21 +1000 Gary MacLennan
gary.maclenn...@gmail.com writes:

 
 I admit to a prejudice against Hobsbawm based on his writings on 
 Ireland.
 But this stuff on that crop of right wing vipers, the Milliband 
 brothers, is
 simply sickening. The great old Irish insult of 'moderate' springs 
 instantly
 to mind.
 
 *Hobsbams: Well, as a father, he  [ Ralph]  obviously couldn't help 
 but be
 rather proud. He would certainly be much to the left of both of his 
 sons. I
 think that Ralph was really identified for most of his life with 
 dismissing
 the Labour party and the parliamentary route – and hoping that 
 somehow it
 would be possible that a proper socialist party could come into 
 being...
 None the less, I think Ralph would certainly have hoped for 
 something much
 more radical than his sons have so far looked like doing
 *
 How could anyone think that there was anything but the deepest 
 shame
 possible over the kind of politics the Milliband Brothers have 
 pushed and
 will push?

In Hobsbawm's case this reflects his long standing political
opinions, which were shared by much of the old CPGB
when it still existed.  Their emphasis was on working
within the Labour Party, and when New Labour emerged
with Blair and Brown, they were quite happy to support
that too.  The governments of Blair and Brown had
many operatives who came right out of the old CPGB.

And if you look through the interview, Hobsbawm is
casually dismissive of the student radicalization of
the 1960s.  If you go and look back at his writings
from the 1960s, he was then not only dismissive of
the student radicalization going on at that time, but was often quite
hostile towards it.  For instance, after the May-June events of
1968 in France, Hobsbawm penned vigorous defenses of
the PCF's role during those events.

Jim Farmelant
http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant
www.foxymath.com
Learn or Review Basic Math

 
 But Hobsbawm is old and has grown into respectability and golden 
 opinions.
 All while the working class suffer the most brutal attacks.
 
 comradely
 
 Gary
 
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Re: [Marxism] Hobsbawm interviewed about Marx, student riots, the new Left, and the Milibands

2011-01-16 Thread Richard Levins
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I object most strenuously to attributing Hobsbawm's politics even in part to 
his being old! Some of us keep the red flag flying! Dick

 

=
Richard Levins

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Re: [Marxism] Hobsbawm interviewed about Marx, student riots, the new Left, and the Milibands

2011-01-16 Thread Jim Farmelant
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On Sun, 16 Jan 2011 09:54:09 -0500 Richard Levins
human...@hsph.harvard.edu writes:
 ==
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 message.
 ==
 
 
 I object most strenuously to attributing Hobsbawm's politics even in 
 part to his being old! Some of us keep the red flag flying! Dick


I don't think that age, has much to do with the political
views that Hobsbawm holds, except in the sense that
he, like the rest of us, is the product of a particular time
and generation.  In his case, the generation that became
of age politically in the 1930s and 1940s.  So his
most formative experiences were associated with
the Great Depression, the rise and later defeat of
fascism, and the rise of the Soviet Union into a
world superpower.

And in any case, those of views that Hobsbawm has
held for decades, as can be seen if one peruses his
1973 book, Revolutionaries:  Contemporary Essays,
where he gave his evaluations of the movements of the
day, and in which he provided his apologetics for
the PCF and other Moscow-oriented CPs.
And pretty much from that time onwards,
he was closely aligned with the Eurocommunist
wing within the CPGB, and as such, would
later become a strong supporter of the modernizers
within the British Labour Party like Neil Kinnock,
and then, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
In that regards, its probably useful to look
at Hobbsbawm's famous 1978 essay,
The Forward March of Labour Halted? to
get some insight into his later political views.
http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/78_09_hobsbawm.pdf

Jim Farmelant
http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant
www.foxymath.com
Learn or Review Basic Math



 
  
 
 =
 Richard Levins
 
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[Marxism] Hobsbawm interviewed about Marx, student riots, the new Left, and the Milibands

2011-01-15 Thread Ralph Johansen
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/16/eric-hobsbawm-tristram-hunt-marx 



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Re: [Marxism] Hobsbawm interviewed about Marx, student riots, the new Left, and the Milibands

2011-01-15 Thread Gary MacLennan
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I admit to a prejudice against Hobsbawm based on his writings on Ireland.
But this stuff on that crop of right wing vipers, the Milliband brothers, is
simply sickening. The great old Irish insult of 'moderate' springs instantly
to mind.

*Hobsbams: Well, as a father, he  [ Ralph]  obviously couldn't help but be
rather proud. He would certainly be much to the left of both of his sons. I
think that Ralph was really identified for most of his life with dismissing
the Labour party and the parliamentary route – and hoping that somehow it
would be possible that a proper socialist party could come into being...
None the less, I think Ralph would certainly have hoped for something much
more radical than his sons have so far looked like doing
*
How could anyone think that there was anything but the deepest shame
possible over the kind of politics the Milliband Brothers have pushed and
will push?

But Hobsbawm is old and has grown into respectability and golden opinions.
All while the working class suffer the most brutal attacks.

comradely

Gary

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