[Marxism] Theory of Violence

[Owen Davies]

Haines,

So far in this discussion you have outlawed deductive logic, indentified 
realism and materialism, trashed the work of Clausewitz, had a go at 
Trotsky, invented free-floating government with no connection to the class 
struggle and whilst accusing me of metaphysics kept going on about some 
mysterious notion of `force' which really is metaphysical.

Finally you say `explanatory theories in history don't transcend time and 
cirumstance'. Where, I must ask, does this leave historical materialsm?

Going back to the metaphysics point.  Violence is the continaution of 
politics by other means but there are many other ways of continuing politics 
from diplomacy to negotiation, to economic pressure, to incentivising, to 
sulking and so on and so forth so I'm not proposing violence as some kind of 
uber principle to life.  As far as formalism and emergence is conccerned, if 
I had said that violence is politics you might have had a point.

Anyway, if I do write something on this subject you have certainly given me 
some material to flush it out with.