[PEN-L:269] re: Brian Easton's essay on responsibility
Ellen Dannin: In this era of Republican emphasis on "personal responsibility," it would be great to read something that conceived a different kind or aspect of personal responsiblity. Your brief post intrigued me and I'd love to hear a bit more, even a few sentences or paragraphs if you have time and energy, about what the essay says. Blair Sandler
[PEN-L:268] Re:
I was interested in Ellen J. Dannin's note (below) on the Brian Easton article, perhaps the reference could be put on the list, (or mail me privately). Thanks Peter Robertson [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** I began my collective bargaining seminar this term by assigning my law students to read an essay by New Zealand economist Brian Easton, "The Personal Responsibility of an Economist." This is a graceful, thoughtful, and powerful essay, and I wanted to recommend it to those on this list. The students were profoundly affected by it. One said that as soon as she finished it, she grabbed her roommate and read it aloud to her. As far as I know this essay is only available in collection in New Zealand and on my bookshelf. It deserves a wider audience, and I wondered if anyone in North America is planning a collection into which this might fit. Ellen J. Dannin California Western School of Law 225 Cedar Street San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-525-1449 Fax:619-696-
[PEN-L:267] advice on article
Dear friends, I have been a labor educator for many years. Recently I wrote a paper titled "Progressive Labor Education and the New World Order." In it I argue that the demise of the "red menace" weakens the strength of the official ideology of anticommunism. This in turn opens up room for more openly radical labor education. It has been my experience that marxism is received positively by workers, but it has been difficult to use Marx's name because of anticommunism. Now this may change. The paper develops these ideas and includes a brief history of labor education in the U.S. as well as the many difficulties which stand in the way of radical labor education even in the absence of anticommunism. Would anyone out there like to read the article? Does anyone know a journal which might like to see it? The Labor Studies Journal rejected it without sending it out to reviewers; the editor said it wasn't broadly useful to its readers. Science and Society liked it and made some good criticisms but felt it was not suitable given thejournal's emphasis on theory. Monthly Review thought that the article made good points but that MR's readers already knew this stuff. Any ideas are welcome as well as criticisms if you are interested in reading it. in solidarity, michael yates [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:266] Re: bank mergers
Even bankrupt New York City, I believe, has a credit > >rating of BBB. > As far as I know, the above is just wrong. Jerry
[PEN-L:265]
I began my collective bargaining seminar this term by assigning my law students to read an essay by New Zealand economist Brian Easton, "The Personal Responsibility of an Economist." This is a graceful, thoughtful, and powerful essay, and I wanted to recommend it to those on this list. The students were profoundly affected by it. One said that as soon as she finished it, she grabbed her roommate and read it aloud to her. As far as I know this essay is only available in collection in New Zealand and on my bookshelf. It deserves a wider audience, and I wondered if anyone in North America is planning a collection into which this might fit. Ellen J. Dannin California Western School of Law 225 Cedar Street San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-525-1449 Fax:619-696-
[PEN-L:264] Re: bank mergers
I saw the following post on another list (futurework). Does anyone have any comment? >Date: Thu, 31 Aug 95 01:01:26 -0700 >From: Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: Designing for POST-INDUSTRIAL REALITIES <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >I have just heard the news on the radio that Japan's largest >credit bank has collapsed. For the first time, the Japanese Government has >been prepared not to prop up an incompetently run bank. So it is finally >joining the ranks of other advanced nation governments which have decided >that they cannot control their economies any longer. > >This is a cause for rejoicing, but also not a cause for rejoicing because >the gloabl economy is poised on the edge of great danger. Almost all the >other Japanese banks are bankrupt, too -- vastly so -- with huge debts >caused by the property and inflation related madness which overtook many >advanced countries some four or so years ago. Both Standard & Poor, and also >Moodys give credit-ratings at about the Cs and Ds, far far below the credit >ratings of US banks. Even bankrupt New York City, I believe, has a credit >rating of BBB. SNIP SNIP SNIP Tom Walker knoW Ware Communications [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mindlink.net/knoWWare/
[PEN-L:263] Re: Marxism and the Militias
I like what Jim Devine said about "varying one's jargon where possible, to see if other words will do, and that is one thing that the utopians do." Sometimes a term or a phrase that at first stimulates new thinking, eventually leads into a rut. Along these lines, I've been thinking of a comment I heard recently: "'class' is a network phenomenon" Here is a little imaginary exercise I thought up, if anyone's game: Suppose it's the late 20th century, the millinium is approaching. Our science fictional world differs from the real world in only one respect. We have the same technological and intellectual resources save one: no "historical materialism", that is no class struggle theory of history as elaborated by Karl Marx and his successors or contested by his detractors. Now, suppose you are sitting down in the British Museum, with your laptop, to write the definitive critique of (late 20th century) bourgeois political economy. You are unconstrained by any terminology of class. A title occurs to you. You jot down "The PEN-L Manifesto". You decide to leave the exhortatory spectres for later and launch directly into the exposition: "The history of all hitherto existing society," you write, "is the history of... " You pause, searching for the apt term. Then -- as you peer vacantly into the screen saver flitting across your monitor -- it comes to you. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of NETWORKING." Where does the story go from here? Tom Walker knoW Ware Communications [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mindlink.net/knoWWare/
[PEN-L:262] Re: Marxism and the Militias
Eric Glynn writes: >>... I think this question of "links" and "relevance" is precisely what the so-called "jargon" ... attempts to address, making what Jim writes both ironic and seriously misleading. The tendency to use the North American New Left as a litmus test for links and relevance makes me very pessimistic about the future, theoretical, political, or otherwise. My experiences with New Left-derived movements, particularly the environmental movement, convinced me that the widespread devaluation and hostility to theory produced conditions conducive to marginalization and capitalist incorporation (e.g. the conception of the industrial enterprise as an evil ownership colossus, rather than a field of contradictory processes that require theorization/intervention)...<< I understand your pessimism (sheeit, I sound like Bill Clinton "I feel your pain"). In fact, I totally agree: theory is absolutely necessary and I am sure there are many who think I'm excessively theoretical in my orientaion. But my theory says that one has to try as hard as possible to ground theory in the empirical world and in practice. We have to realize that there are different levels of abstraction and that the higher ones, though they are needed, really can't stand alone. >>In my view, forging multi-level movements involves waging hegemonic struggles over a probably inconceivable field of social sites, with the security to speak and listen in many languages (theoretical prose too): in general, an expansive imaginary. ... What purposes are served by reducing overdeterminist Marxists to a-political, uni-dimensional traders of jargon?<< I guess you wrote this before I posted my clarification in response to Blair Sandler. I wasn't saying that _all_ or even most "over-determinist" Marxists were "uni-dimensional traders of jargon." (Though I'm starting to think that I may have hit a nerve, i.e., I'm beginning to suspect that this school has suffered from such accusations before.) Rather, the point is to avoid an overly theorized approach, which can be seen in all walks of academic Marxism (the followers of G.A. Cohen & J. Roemer, etc., etc.) and instead link theory with practice, which has been done by members of all schools, though it's damn hard these days. But even if we can't link theory to political practice, we can at least use the theory to help make current events understandable. By the way, I really like the "expansionive imaginary," if I understand what that phrase means accurately. For example, I push utopian novels. One thing I like about them (e.g., Marge Piercy's WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME) is that they try to do their theory in non-academic prose. I like the idea of varying one's jargon where possible, to see if other words will do, and that is one thing that the utopians do. On varying jargon, I ask: Is overdeterminism different from Seymour Martin Lipset's (and the rest of the pluralist sociology school's) emphasis on multi-factoral analysis (ethnicity, gender, class, etc.)? Probably it is, but we should examine how and why they are different. (Reference: Lipset, POLITICAL MAN; see also, Darendorf, CLASS AND CLASS CONFLICT IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY.) Blair Sandler writes:>>... not to beat a dead horse, but thanks for the clarification. When you put it that way I'm entirely in agreement ...: "revolutionary theory without revolutionary activity is sterile,..." as Lenin said. (Unless I've got it backwards as I so often do. :-)<< It's easy to forget, since the connection goes both ways. >>... because theoretical concepts do make linking up to "real-world struggle" more or less difficult, more or less "effective." The anti-essentialist, overdeterminist discourse, in my opinion, potentially contributes to the development of broader political alliances and the elimination of attitudes like "my issues are more important than yours." << This is a new question: _which_ theory (and its attendant jargon) works best in conjunction with practice? That's a big question and I think I'll leave it for another day. And after all, my issues _are_ more important than yours. :-) for socialism from below, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Los Angeles, CA (the city of your future: the modern home of slavery)
[PEN-L:260] Re: bank mergers
At 9:56 AM 8/31/95, John L Gulick wrote: >What do any of you make of the world-historical significance of this >recent frenzy of bank mergers, topped the other day by the record-setting >Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank deal ? How much does it have to do >with relaxed laws regulating interstate banking, how much of it has >to do with a continuous push to cut costs now that internal restructuring, >rearranging portfolios, and restructuring old debts have met their limits, >how much of it has to do with competition from mutual funds, money-market >accounts, etc. for the deposits of small-time savers and big-time >institutional investors, how much of it has to do with raising the >stakes in competing with the huge Japanese banks (even though the >latter have real high debt/equity ratios) ? It's partly a frenzy - there's a frenzy of M&A going on - but there's real consolidation going on in US finance - across borders for commmercial banking, and across lines of business for everyone. A couple of years ago, the NY Fed did a study on overcapacity in finance, with about 20 papers all showing significant slack everywhere. We can assume these mergers are occurring with regulatory approval, even encouragement. The US just doesn't need 12,000 banks, or whatever it is we have. Doug -- Doug Henwood [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax
[PEN-L:259] bank mergers
Pen-L'ers, What do any of you make of the world-historical significance of this recent frenzy of bank mergers, topped the other day by the record-setting Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank deal ? How much does it have to do with relaxed laws regulating interstate banking, how much of it has to do with a continuous push to cut costs now that internal restructuring, rearranging portfolios, and restructuring old debts have met their limits, how much of it has to do with competition from mutual funds, money-market accounts, etc. for the deposits of small-time savers and big-time institutional investors, how much of it has to do with raising the stakes in competing with the huge Japanese banks (even though the latter have real high debt/equity ratios) ? Inquiring minds want to know ... John Gulick UC-Santa Cruz Sociology Program --JAA01407.809887926/uclink4.berkeley.edu--
[PEN-L:257] re Marxism and the Militias
Jim: not to beat a dead horse, but thanks for the clarification. When you put it that way I'm entirely in agreement (except I think "jargon" is a pejorative for "terminology" or "concepts"): "revolutionary theory without revolutionary activity is sterile,..." as Lenin said. (Unless I've got it backwards as I so often do. :-) I must say, however, that on re-reading your original post I think you *did* strongly suggest that using the rhetoric is the problem. Otherwise, there seems to be no sense to the last sentence in your paragraph, "Perhaps one of the reasons why the right is so strong is that they try to speak in prose." But there's more -- because theoretical concepts do make linking up to "real-world struggle" more or less difficult, more or less "effective." The anti-essentialist, overdeterminist discourse, in my opinion, potentially contributes to the development of broader political alliances and the elimination of attitudes like "my issues are more important than yours." Blair Sandler Quoting Jim Devine: "I didn't say that using the rhetoric... was the problem. The problem is centered on the key word "without" as in "without any effort to connect with working-class people's concerns"
