From james.irldaly at ntlworld.com  Sun Jun  1 04:43:44 2008
From: james.irldaly at ntlworld.com (james daly)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:43:44 +0100
Subject: [Marxism] Marx, materialism and idealism
References: <001101c8c0d6$6f4fe360$0201a8c0@home9sg93n9r5y>
	<E1K1OmN-0004yE-E2@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>
Message-ID: <002101c8c3d4$5e4bfb20$0201a8c0@home9sg93n9r5y>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Haines Brown" <brownh at hartford-hwp.com>
To: "James Daly" <james.irldaly at ntlworld.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 5:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Marx, materialism and idealism

Sorry for the delay in getting back to Haines's welcome reply...

*********
Haines wrote

James writes:

The inanities of Diamat about idealism and materialism seem to be the too 
easily resolved conflict over which came first -- rocks or brains.

*******

Sorry for the perhaps provocative, smart alec throwaway line, but it is an 
expression of resentment over ruthless state and (all)party enforcement of 
conformity about mind-boggling propositions, which derived from a Kautskyan 
and Plekhanovite mechanistic bourgeois mindset which ejected the writings of 
Marx's formative years out of the canon as juvenilia.  That's why I called 
it Diamat and not dialectical materialism.  I still stand by what I said 
about Hegel, Feuerbach and Marx, and I think that is a quasi-agitprop call 
to arms, whereas setting the task as getting the framework of the universe 
right seems, wrongly no doubt, an invitation to soporific quietism.

In fact I fully recognize the value of Haines's anti-positivist, realist and 
emergentist reconstruction of "dialectical materialism", and I acknowledge 
that I have not paid sufficient attention to that area of thought, which I 
came across in Roy Bhaskar, and which I think could be related to the 
Aristotelianism in Marx to which Scott Meikle has drawn our attention.

Comradely,
James Daly














From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Sun Jun  1 05:17:33 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:17:33 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Kautsky and Patriotism
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0805311719o532a68f6mcada41b7b373b96d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <4841CDEC.6020207@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0805311719o532a68f6mcada41b7b373b96d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4842854D.2030606@googlemail.com>

Ruthless Critic of All that Exists:
> "The war brought on the denouement and on its very first day revealed all
> the fraud and rottenness of Kautskyism. Kautsky recommended either
> abstention from voting credits to Wilhelm or voting for them "with
> reservations". Then during the following months a polemic was waged in which
> it became clear what exactly the nature of Kautsky's recommendation was.
> "The International is an instrument of peace and not of war"?Kautsky seized
> upon this truism like an anchor of salvation. Having criticised their
> chauvinist excesses, Kautsky began to prepare for a general conciliation of
> the social-patriots after the war. "All men are human and make mistakes;
> nevertheless the war will pass and we can make a new start."
>
> "When the German revolution broke out Kautsky became something of an
> ambassador of the bourgeois republic and preached a break from Soviet Russia
> ("it doesn't matter as it will fall within a few weeks") and working out
> Marxism in a quaker direction crawled off to Wilson on all fours."
>
>
>  -- Trotsky
Trotsky's critique refers to Kautsky's position after his right wing 
turn. Similar statements are to be found in Rosa's, Lenin's writings 
too. The paper I refer to is from 1907, which Lenin as well as Rosa 
praises. I found it in a library as micro film. So it is not available 
as hard copy but it is available. Thanks.


From ecosocialism at gmail.com  Sun Jun  1 06:55:52 2008
From: ecosocialism at gmail.com (Ian Angus)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 08:55:52 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] =?windows-1252?q?Climate_and_Capitalism=92s_Top_Ten_=28?=
	=?windows-1252?q?May_2008=29?=
Message-ID: <733b65360806010555h24dca115u215d355332010675@mail.gmail.com>

The most-read articles on Climate and Capitalism
<www.climateandcapitalism.com> in May 2008
? and some unabashed bragging about a widely-reproduced article on the
Food Crisis.

I reported in my previous Top 10 that traffic on our site jumped 50% in March.
After growing another 12% in April, it held steady in May.

These were the ten most-read Climate and Capitalism articles in May 2008:

* Global Warming and the Iraq War
* Individual Versus Social Solutions to Global Warming
* Global Warming Intensifies Grain Crisis in India
* Cyclone Nargis and Climate Change: The Deadly Legacy of Oil
* How the Oil Industry Sabotages Emission Reductions
* Bush Says Starving India Eats Too Much
* Them Belly Full But We Hungry (Bob Marley video)
* Slideshow: The Global Food Crisis
* What's Causing the Food Crisis?
* CDM Scams: 'enough lies to make a sub-prime mortgage pusher blush'

And now some unabashed bragging ?

The ninth article on the Top 10 list is actually a link to
one of the most widely-read articles I've ever written. "Food Crisis"
was originally
published in two parts in Socialist Voice <www.socialistvoice.ca> and
simultaneously in The Bullet <www.socialistproject.ca/bullet>, in late
April and early May.

In the past month, it has been republished by more than two dozen other blogs
and online journals, including Links, Znet, International Viewpoint,
Europe solidaire sans frontieres, and Global Research. Dozens of other websites
have linked to it.

It has been translated, and is available online, in Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese,
and Thai. (Please let me know if you see it in any other languages.)

It was the front page article in Green Left Weekly (Australia), and it is
scheduled to appear in the coming issue of Socialist Resistance (Britain).

Finally, "Food Crisis" has been published as the main article in a pamphlet
that can be downloaded as a PDF file or purchased in a professionally
printed edition.
(http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?page_id=223)


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  1 07:27:33 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:27:33 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The Stern-Rosselli rift
Message-ID: <20080601132731.4C092E282@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union1-2008jun01,0,5595762.story
 From the Los Angeles Times
A nasty rift in a powerful union
Local head Sal Rosselli is fighting national leader Andrew Stern over 
how to make the SEIU even bigger.
By Paul Pringle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 1, 2008

OAKLAND ? Sal Rosselli had been hardened by nearly three decades of 
front-line unionism. Time and again he staged insurgent organizing 
drives and do-or-die strikes, staring down major corporations.

Now he blinked away tears as he huddled with supporters in his 
Oakland headquarters, a sooty-windowed, bunker-like building strewn 
with leaflets and picket signs, a place suddenly under siege.

Rosselli was describing his latest battle, his toughest ever: a 
face-off against a comrade in struggle, Andrew Stern, whom many view 
as the most powerful labor leader in America.

The two are locked in a nasty, often personal fight over how to make 
the nation's fastest-growing union -- 1.9 million members -- even 
bigger. Stern, its president, has sought more common ground with 
employers as a means to unionize entire industries. Rosselli believes 
building membership first requires getting the best deal for workers 
already under labor's tent.

"If you stick your head up, if you question what he's doing, you'll 
get whacked," said Rosselli, 58, head of the second-largest 
California chapter of Stern's union.

Wiping his eyes, he insisted that Stern, through a trusteeship, is 
determined to oust him from his elected post as part of a long push 
to centralize authority.

Stern and his allies in the Service Employees International Union 
dismiss the allegations and downplay the significance of the rift.

"It's not open warfare, it's a debate," said Pennsylvania union 
official Thomas De Bruin.

"It's David and Goliath," Rosselli said.

Much could be at stake for the union's 703,000 California members and 
for the millions of people who depend on them for healthcare, social 
services, road repairs, college instruction and cafeteria meals.

The union is a huge presence in hospitals and nursing homes, and in 
state and local government offices. It represents home-care workers, 
Los Angeles Unified School District support staff and thousands of 
private-sector janitors and security guards. The California State 
University's faculty association is an affiliate.

Covering more than a quarter of organized labor in California, the 
union's contracts frequently set broad standards for pay and 
benefits, including those for nonunion workers. And its clout as a 
get-out-the-vote machine is keenly felt in Sacramento and Washington, 
D.C., as well as in the Democratic presidential campaign of Barack 
Obama. Among employee groups in the United States, it is second in 
size only to the 3.2-million-member National Education Assn.

So the Stern-Rosselli split has shaken many in the labor movement. 
The feud has been inflamed by charges of lawbreaking and wallet 
lining, as well as the dredging up of purported anti-gay innuendo 
against Rosselli from the 1980s.

The hostilities are being waged in courthouses, on the Web, over the 
phone, through the mail and in the media. They have been as pitched 
as a street brawl, as might be expected of a clash between veteran 
rabble-rousers who are accustomed to winning, in an era when labor 
has reeled from losses.

Rosselli is the decided underdog, a role that keeps him on the job 
for marathon days, pacing the stained carpet in his office. He takes 
comfort from a newspaper article adorning one wall, headlined "Union 
Power," which chronicles a winning strike in 1992.

A product of community college, Rosselli is all but cornered in his 
renegade redoubt, outgunned by the money, lawyers and political 
connections that the Ivy League-bred Stern commands at the union's 
Washington nerve center.

Stern, 57, has been heralded as a forward thinker whose snowy-haired 
charisma fueled the union's expansion. He engineered a lobbying and 
electioneering program that has few rivals in labor. He also 
spearheaded a revolt that took seven unions out of the AFL-CIO and 
was instrumental in a public-relations assault on Wal-Mart's 
employment practices.

As passionate as Rosselli, and perhaps more polished, Stern speaks 
and writes about the demand to transform unions in an age of 
corporate globalism.

Rosselli's world is smaller; he eats and breathes the local. The 
intense, goateed gym rat says he sleeps about four hours a night, 
then braces himself with a predawn workout.

"Sleep is a waste of time," he said.

"The e-mails, the multiple phone calls -- it's getting much more 
intense," he said, behind the wheel of his grimy Ford Explorer on a 
recent afternoon, heading for a rally-the-faithful tour of San 
Francisco hospitals and nursing homes, where the local is strong. 
"This is an unprecedented use of [union] resources to attack a local."

But Rosselli appears to have just enough Bay Area backing -- not to 
mention a staff of 400 -- to make a real contest of it. He says the 
union has spent $2 million on the bid to vanquish him: "We're taking 
multiple hits, constantly."

Among them is the accusation that Rosselli and a number of his 
officers at United Healthcare Workers-West violated federal and state 
laws by establishing an education nonprofit with $3 million from the 
local. The parent union characterizes the nonprofit as a vehicle to 
fund Rosselli's ambition to undermine Stern.

Lies and more lies, Rosselli says. One of his sharpest rejoinders to 
Stern is that the boss improperly pocketed a $175,000 advance, minus 
ghostwriter and agent fees, as the author of a book that the union 
fact-checked, publicized and bought in bulk.

Rosselli hammers Stern further for allowing some officials to enrich 
themselves by taking a second salary, typically about $30,000, for 
serving on the union board. A handful were paid more than $200,000 in 
total compensation in 2007, a sum that includes expenses. Rosselli, 
who had declined the board stipends, collected $140,000 last year.

Stern did not receive the second salary -- his total compensation was 
$280,000 in 2007, not counting any book payments -- and says he 
deserves credit for phasing out the perk this year. As for the book, 
a treatise on economic justice and the future of unions, he says that 
he didn't take royalties from any sales to the union and that the 
board acted independently to promote the publication and urge locals to buy it.

"It was completely transparent," said Stern, speaking by phone from 
Washington, where he is in his 12th year as president. He also denies 
that he wants to remove Rosselli by placing the local in trusteeship, 
a tactic the union has employed numerous times against affiliates it 
had deemed malfeasant. "If we wanted to trustee the local, we had 
plenty of reasons we could have used," Stern said.

Workers at California Pacific Medical Center, one of Rosselli's 
stops, weren't convinced. They gave him a near-hero's welcome -- in 
the lobby, in the cafeteria, by the elevators.

"Why should I ditch my union?" said kitchen staffer and local shop 
steward Michael Padia, after he hugged Rosselli.

"What could we be doing better?" Rosselli asked.

"Get rid of Andy Stern," Padia said. Rosselli laughed.



'Trying to divide us'

Stern's backers say that much of the conflict comes down to 
Rosselli's desire to preserve his West Coast fiefdom. Rosselli is 
balking at a proposal to shift about 65,000 of his 150,000 members to 
a Los Angeles-based local.

The merger would dramatically diminish Rosselli's influence, 
including in Sacramento, where he has helped steer healthcare legislation.

"Local leaders are not barons," said Stern assistant Steve Lerner.

Meanwhile, in a letter from Stern that begins "Dear Brother Rosselli" 
but reads like an indictment, Rosselli is accused of pursuing a 
"secret plan" to take the local out of the international and possibly 
hook up with a California nurses union.

"Everything we wrote about in that letter is true," said Stern, his 
tone coolly confident.

"It's all made up," Rosselli sighed in response.

Stern's camp has highlighted its charges in slick mailers to 
Rosselli's members, in addition to e-mail blasts and "robo-calls." 
The local is calling members of other affiliates to condemn Stern.

Rosselli contends that Stern aims to crush those who advocate 
democratic reforms, such as direct election of the union president by 
the rank and file, and has countenanced "sweetheart" contracts with 
companies to inflate membership, at the expense of better wages and benefits.

"They're trying to divide us," Rosselli told a dozen members who 
filled a break room at the stately Jewish Home in San Francisco.

He had greeted them with smiles and handshakes -- "How are you? Is 
everything OK?" -- and they surrounded him at a lunch table, 
listening raptly as he enjoined them to stay united behind the local.

A few workers asked about the mailers and phone calls, but others 
were in the dark about the dispute.

Nursing assistant Rita Manubag said Rosselli has done well by her 
simply because she is paid $15 an hour.

"As long as I have a good salary, no problem," she said.



Broadening its reach

The union's resolve to organize across industries has seen it grant 
concessions, sometimes behind closed doors, to employers that agree 
not to resist the crusade to enlist workers. Stern acknowledges that 
this approach might have gone too far on occasion but says its core 
goal is sound: to broaden the union's reach.

"People who have no union have no rights," he said.

Rosselli maintains that Stern's initiatives tend to coddle 
corporations and give the union's Washington brass too much sway over 
local contract negotiations.

"People are getting squashed," said Rosselli, back in his Oakland 
conference room, his voice rising.

His tenor can betray an edge of personal animosity in the standoff 
with Stern. Rosselli says he suspects Stern condoned a mailer 
allegedly sent to members in 1988 that emphasized Rosselli's 
homosexuality. A copy Rosselli provided has a headline that refers to 
the local's "lavender contingent" -- code for gay.

He says the headline was cut from one newspaper article and pasted 
over another featured in the mailer. At the time, Rosselli was 
running for local president, a race he won. He says his opponent had 
been championed by Stern, who was then the union's organizing director.

"It was a gay smear," Rosselli said.

Stern spokesman Andrew McDonald said there are "doubts the mailer 
even exists." Stern denied that he had anything to do with the 
election, let alone such a mailer, saying Rosselli is "crazy about 
that. . . . I find that offensive."



Different profiles

In 2005, Stern led his union out of the AFL-CIO after concluding that 
the umbrella organization had become a slave to stale strategies that 
had yielded a steady shrinkage in labor's census. The union and six 
others formed the Change to Win federation, and the revolt sent 
Stern's profile soaring.

The jacket cover of his 2006 book, "A Country That Works," proclaims 
the University of Pennsylvania alum "one of the most visionary 
leaders in America."

By contrast, Rosselli is not well-known outside the Bay Area, despite 
his own record of boosting membership. He became a labor activist 
while toiling as a janitor in the late 1970s, after volunteering for 
the Catholic Worker in his native New York, drifting west on a 
motorcycle and dreaming of medical school.

Since winning office, he has had no serious opposition for 
reelection. He lives with his partner, a graphic artist, in San Francisco.

Even Stern followers concede that Rosselli is a popular local 
president who has excelled at organizing. Stern himself said: "I've 
had a lot of respect for the work that Sal has done in building, I'd 
say, a very successful union."

But Rosselli says Stern is scheming to pursue a trusteeship to unseat 
him and the local's other elected officers sometime after the union's 
quadrennial convention this week in Puerto Rico.

The local has introduced convention propositions that target Stern's 
administration, including the direct-election measure. Convention 
delegates now select the president, which is common in labor. The 
Stern team says a direct election would force candidates to spend 
millions, leaving grass-roots hopefuls at a disadvantage.

"I don't think that direct elections have produced more democracy," Stern said.

He also said the quarrel with Rosselli would not damage the union's 
get-out-the-vote program for the Democrats in November: "There's a 
lot of unity around politics."

Rosselli said the in-house falling-out has been a "distraction" for 
members eager to work on the Obama campaign.

"It's stressful, seven days a week," he said, driving along bumpy 
Mission Street in San Francisco, on his way to another buck-up 
session for his members. "It's like being on strike. . . . It is worse."

paul.pringle at latimes.com



From brownh at hartford-hwp.com  Sun Jun  1 07:33:43 2008
From: brownh at hartford-hwp.com (Haines Brown)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:33:43 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Marx, materialism and idealism
In-Reply-To: <002101c8c3d4$5e4bfb20$0201a8c0@home9sg93n9r5y>
	(james.irldaly@ntlworld.com)
References: <001101c8c0d6$6f4fe360$0201a8c0@home9sg93n9r5y>
	<E1K1OmN-0004yE-E2@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>
	<002101c8c3d4$5e4bfb20$0201a8c0@home9sg93n9r5y>
Message-ID: <E1K2ngt-00009e-Fj@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>

James, your reply much appreciated.

> Sorry for the perhaps provocative, smart alec throwaway line, but it
> is an expression of resentment over ruthless state and (all)party
> enforcement of conformity about mind-boggling propositions, which
> derived from a Kautskyan and Plekhanovite mechanistic bourgeois
> mindset which ejected the writings of Marx's formative years out of
> the canon as juvenilia.  That's why I called it Diamat and not
> dialectical materialism.

Well, yes, your comment understood.

But my real concern is, why should we be concerned with this
"mechanistic bourgeois mindset"?

Whether we happen to be bourgeois reformers or Marxist
revolutionaries, our real concern is action today and the intellectual
environment that informs our action. Of course, I can read Alcuin,
Bonaventura or Adam Smith with pleasure and benefit, but that is a
personal pleasure and a very minor achievement in relation to class
struggle today.

I don't want to appear anti-intellectual, but it seems to me that the
old (pre-WWII?) intellectual framework (whether we speak of the
bourgeoisie or working class) seems today to be pretty decrepit, and
at the same time there are new exciting intellectual currents that are
sorely in need of our development.

We often assume that one way to advance understanding is to launch a
critique of received opinion, but this is not really what is involved
here. The "mindset" to which you refer is not a current "standard"
view. Of course, some people don't know that, but we waste our time if
we critique ideas a century out of date. I suggest the aim should be
to criticize current thinking, not thinking that is long pass?.

The people who do look carefully at what was said in the distant past
are intellectual historians. They do honest work, but like cosmology
or cosmetology, it is of limited immediate relevance, especially in
relation to action today. We seek to understand the rationale of past
thinking, how it advanced thought or related to the circumstances of
the time, but we should not try to extract truth from it. Unless, of
course, we mistakenly presume that some Truth is eternal and absolute
and that ideas have causal potency (both views profoundly hostile to
working-class ideology). 

I get the feeling that some people use argumentation about
intellectual history as a way to legitimate their political
positions. I think this is unwise. Our positions today should stand on
their own in terms of the world we experience and the intellectual
milieu that we know.

As for the term "diamat", it is frequently employed as a put-down of
dialectical materialism by citing the pat little dialectical laws that
were once embedded in schoolbooks. Of course they don't stand up well
under close inspection, or at least not without some pushing and
shoving, However, we can take opposite attitudes toward them: a) they
were simplified formulae that usefully served to draw children and the
poorly educated into the intellectual milieu of Marxist materialism,
or b) they represent, not a degeneration, but a falsification of Marxist
materialism.

People who feel that dialectical materialism is a viable intellectual
current are inclined to accept the first; people who reject
dialectical materialism prefer the second. The difference in these two
connotations of "diamat" is that the former sees it as only a
simplification and popularization of Marxist materialism - crude, but
essentially true; but for the latter, it serves as a label for
non-Marxist bourgeois thinking.

Do you find that folks who reject "diamat" are the ones who also
happen to be hostile to Stalin or even to a Leninist vanguard party?
It is intellectually dishonest to employ an argument over one issue to
serve as a covert argument over quite another.  

It seems to me that the other trend, perhaps more important, is to
reduce dialectical materialism to a dialectical interactionism that
impliciltly leaves out of it. The notion of "dialectical" is not at
all controversial today, and neither should materialism be for anyone
who thinks in scientific terms. Unfortunately, some post-modern (using
"modern" in sense of post-Enlightenment) thinking, Marxist and
otherwise, seems profoundly unscientific, and I fear that the position
that views Stalin as un-Marxist is often just another expression of
bourgeois post-modernism.

You might infer, with some truth, that I suspect the real intellectual
issue today is scientificity, not Marxism. Because contemporary
philosophy of science is today implicitly Marxist (a point that may
not be obvious to those who have not studied the matter), and because
reactionary tendencies seem un-scientific, the contested terrain of
post-modernism should perhaps be over whether we are scientific, not
whether we are Marxists. I'm not sure of this, so I'd really like to
see objections to the point.

Haines Brown    



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  1 07:44:42 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 09:44:42 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] John Maxwell: "A Pigeon Among the Cats"
Message-ID: <23262120.1212327882568.JavaMail.root@elwamui-lapwing.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

(A magnificent commentary. Should circulate as widely as possible.
Takes a broad, sweeping look at the history, bring readers right up
to the present, with Cuban medical aid workers already on the scent
in Chengdu, China and the latest revelations by former Bush press
secretary Scott McClellan, and what it all signifies for our times.)
======================================================================

A Pigeon Among the Cats
COMMON SENSE 
JOHN MAXWELL
Sunday, June 01, 2008
 
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20080531T030000-0500_136232_OBS_A_PIGEON_AMONG_THE_CATS.asp


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  1 08:15:07 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 10:15:07 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Stephen Kinzer: The proper response to Castro
Message-ID: <6409917.1212329707560.JavaMail.root@elwamui-lapwing.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

(Yet another outstanding column by a NYT writer Stephen Kinzer, who
knows how to write a column addressed appropriately to its audience
at the audience's level of understanding of a situation. He's also
the author of the wonderful ALL THE SHAH'S MEN, which detailed just
how Washington organized the overthrow of the democratically-elected
government of Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran in 1953, which returned the
U.S.-backed Shah to the throne in Iran.)
===================================================================

The proper response to Castro
US elections 2008: Pandering to Cuban exiles is an election-year staple, 
but the next US president should open talks with Cuba
Stephen Kinzer
May 30, 2008 6:00 PM | Printable version

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/stephen_kinzer/2008/05/the_proper_response_to_castro.html

If it is a presidential election year in the United States, 
one thing is certain: Fidel Castro will be dragged out of 
the closet again and used as a punching bag for candidates 
seeking to prove their toughness.

This has happened during every campaign since 1960, and now, 
for the thirteenth time, it is happening again. Last week, 
both senators John McCain and Barack Obama travelled to Miami
 - where else? - to make tough-sounding anti-Castro speeches. 
These speeches are election-year staples, part of the elaborate 
Kabuki ritual that is the American presidential campaign. 
This time, though, they may actually be important.


========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN, CubaNews
Los Angeles, California
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraiso bajo el bloqueo"
======================================== 




=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From dbachmozart at aol.com  Sun Jun  1 08:26:20 2008
From: dbachmozart at aol.com (dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 10:26:20 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] NYTimes.com: Measuring Success by Double-Sided Yardstick
Message-ID: <mailman.2.1212330395.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

This page was sent to you by: dbachmozart at aol.com.

SPORTS / BASEBALL Measuring Success by Double-Sided Yardstick - Different standards for whites and Blacks/Latinos By WILLIAM C. RHODEN The baseball clubhouse is a laboratory, a daily model of pulling together, finding common ground to achieve a common cause: winning. But there continues to be a cultural divide. 


SPORTS / BASEBALL | June 1, 2008
Sports of The Times: Measuring Success by Double-Sided Yardstick
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
The baseball clubhouse is a laboratory, a daily model of pulling together, finding common ground to achieve a common cause: winning. But there continues to be a cultural divide.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/sports/baseball/01rhoden.html?ex=1212984000&en=dad1d7a08b146a3c&ei=5070&emc=eta1




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Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  1 09:06:25 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:06:25 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Kautsky and Patriotism
In-Reply-To: <4842854D.2030606@googlemail.com>
References: <4841CDEC.6020207@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0805311719o532a68f6mcada41b7b373b96d@mail.gmail.com>
	<4842854D.2030606@googlemail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806010806l4910614fg542cf8cdf4bd94b9@mail.gmail.com>

You might want to consider making it available to the Marxist Internet
Archive (MIA) people so that they can put it in the archive...

On Sun, Jun 1, 2008 at 7:17 AM, Dogan Gocmen <dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com>
wrote:

> The paper I refer to is from 1907, which Lenin as well as Rosa
> praises. I found it in a library as micro film. So it is not available
> as hard copy but it is available. Thanks.

From dbachmozart at aol.com  Sun Jun  1 09:12:32 2008
From: dbachmozart at aol.com (dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:12:32 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] NYTimes.com: Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
Message-ID: <mailman.3.1212333159.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

This page was sent to you by: dbachmozart at aol.com.

Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest ALGIERS (Reuters) - Sporadic riots in OPEC member Algeria this year risk triggering wider protests against a political elite slow to turn unprecedented oil wealth into jobs and homes. 


WORLD | June 1, 2008
Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
By REUTERS
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Sporadic riots in OPEC member Algeria this year risk triggering wider protests against a political elite slow to turn unprecedented oil wealth into jobs and homes.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-algeria-unrest.html?ex=1212984000&en=5bc35f3a243c16c6&ei=5070&emc=eta1




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Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  1 09:35:34 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:35:34 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
Message-ID: <15696448.1212334534615.JavaMail.root@elwamui-lapwing.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. The Algerian government's
response to radical islamic fundamentalism has been repression, which
drives them underground and turns them into martyrs. In the occupied
territories, Israel provicatively backed what it hoped would be Islamic
alternatives toward the then-secular PLO, and now they face even more
implacable foes in Hamas and Hezbollah. Maybe one day they'll get
smart and release Marwan Barghouti hoping he can release them from
the bondage of their occupation of Palestine, in the same way that
Mandela helped to bring about an end to the apartheid regime in South
Africa. It's not what seems to be very likely, but there must be a
reason why Israel's corrupt Prime Minister Ohlmert has been fooling
around with Syria, on the one hand, and why, this thus this morning,
Israel traded one Lebanese man for the remains of Israeli soldiers
lost in the Lebanon war. So Obama won't talk with Hamas or Hezbollah,
but Israel has shown that it's not impermissable to do things like
that. Alice must be thinking how  much curiouser it could all get 
from her vantage point in Wonderland...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7554317


Walter Lippmann
Tinseltownia
===============================================================

Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
By REUTERS
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Sporadic riots in OPEC member Algeria this year risk triggering
wider protests against a political elite slow to turn unprecedented oil wealth into
jobs and homes.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-algeria-unrest.html

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Sun Jun  1 12:41:11 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:41:11 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Kautsky and Patriotism
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806010806l4910614fg542cf8cdf4bd94b9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <4841CDEC.6020207@googlemail.com>	<908b689f0805311719o532a68f6mcada41b7b373b96d@mail.gmail.com>	<4842854D.2030606@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0806010806l4910614fg542cf8cdf4bd94b9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4842ED47.4050709@googlemail.com>

Ruthless Critic of All that Exists:
> You might want to consider making it available to the Marxist Internet
> Archive (MIA) people so that they can put it in the archive...
I was thinking of this. I will see.
Thanks
Dogan


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  1 12:57:05 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 14:57:05 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] construction
References: <361389.65083.qm@web81708.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<000901c8c37a$62beb170$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <013d01c8c419$4947ae00$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Actually, the Polish economy has not improved at all... except perhaps
in comparison the bad Jaruzelski and post-Jaruzelski days,  but those
who "gast-arbeited" in UK and other countries made out well enough to go
back.

I'm not sure about the automatic availability of  life long benefits for
those citizens of the "new" EU countries in the "old" EU countries.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Pic?n ?lvarez" <david at miradoiro.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 7:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] construction




From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  1 13:03:36 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:03:36 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Youtube African music sampler
Message-ID: <20080601190334.149B3F3E3@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/african-music-youtube-sampler/



From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  1 13:26:09 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:26:09 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Turkey's Alevis
Message-ID: <20080601192613.2EEA717AF4@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1737654,00.html



From markalause at gmail.com  Sun Jun  1 13:42:22 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 15:42:22 -0400
Subject: [Marxism]
	=?windows-1252?q?Climate_and_Capitalism=92s_Top_Ten_=28?=
	=?windows-1252?q?May_2008=29?=
In-Reply-To: <733b65360806010555h24dca115u215d355332010675@mail.gmail.com>
References: <733b65360806010555h24dca115u215d355332010675@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806011242g43f12bf3lafa0768b95d8cf57@mail.gmail.com>

Ian,

Heartiest congratulations to you and those involved with your site.
It will be put to use here very shortly and we hope it will further
boost those statistics....

ML


From Paula_cerni at msn.com  Sun Jun  1 15:43:56 2008
From: Paula_cerni at msn.com (Paula)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 14:43:56 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Atheism Is Not Enough
Message-ID: <BAY122-DS4A0381B9F17F9771DD89880B80@phx.gbl>

A Socialist Dare to Religion and Science
http://www.stateofnature.org/atheismIsNotEnough.html

Comments welcome - many thanks.
Paula

(I am posting this message to a few lists - apologies for the inconvenience if you receive several copies.)

From youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk  Sun Jun  1 16:06:41 2008
From: youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk (Ben Ben)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 22:06:41 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [Marxism] Standpoint magazine
Message-ID: <496246.26930.qm@web26308.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

A?new intellectual popular journal "of the right", whose contributors are a veritable?index of Blair-era neoliberal apologists:?
?
Standpoint will cover the waterfront in politics and culture - everything except the debased celebrity and lifestyle culture that most other magazines are obsessed with. In our first issue, for example, we have new art by David Hockney, Ian Bostridge on Bach, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali and Alain de Botton on faith, Jung Chang and Simon Sebag Montefiore on Mao and Stalin, new poetry by Robert Conquest, Andrew Marr on the Telegraph cartoonist Matt, Tim Congdon on why we shouldn't scapegoat the bankers, Craig Brown satirising Prospect's list of 100 top public intellectuals, Michael Burleigh on how to win the war on terror, Douglas Murray on censorship-by-intimidation, Alasdair Palmer on family courts and Edward Lucas on Russia, Emanuele Ottolenghi on how Europe has betrayed Israel, Jay Nordlinger on the US election, Michael Young reporting from Beirut, an inside look at the Ministry of Defence, book reviews by John Gross, Charles Moore, Noel Malcolm, Jenny
 McCartney and Raymond Seitz, plus Nick Cohen, Minette Marrin, Peter Whittle and many other writers and critics. We even have Dominic Lawson on chess and the world's first Scrabulous column.
?
http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/home/?q=node/287



      __________________________________________________________
Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

From pt_costello at yahoo.com  Sun Jun  1 16:31:55 2008
From: pt_costello at yahoo.com (Pat Costello)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 15:31:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Cuba leads the way on the environment
Message-ID: <608433.89682.qm@web63104.mail.re1.yahoo.com>

Socialist Unity blog
1 June, 2008
Cuba leads the way on the environment
Filed under: Uncategorized &#151; Derek Wall @ 7:24 pm



Went in to the Cuban Embassy this week for talks which
were productive and
we enjoyed the ron, apparently the Green Party sent a
delegation to Cuba a
few years ago&#133;Cuba has a fantastic record on the
environment, we have a lot
to learn..I have been experimenting with Cuba&#146;s
innovative approach to
gardening (worm compost is the secret) and here is an
article I wrote for
Cuba Solidarity.

In a CubaS? exclusive, Derek Wall, principal
spokesperson for the Green
Party, argues that to achieve a green planet, we all
need to learn from Cuba

We all know about climate change, forest destruction
and other ecological
threats but in Latin America environmental concern is
treated more seriously
than perhaps in any other part of the world.

more:
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=2404




      


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  1 16:41:48 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:41:48 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Swans release: June 2, 2008
Message-ID: <20080601224145.E05F818049@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://www.swans.com
June 2, 2008

In this issue:

Note from the Editors:  This is a Special Edition, but first a short
announcement: For those who wish to help the Nader-Gonzalez '08 Campaign
we've assembled specific information about five concrete steps you can take
to make a positive contribution to the future of the USA and the world. We'll
keep updating this document as we gather more details. If you have specific
tips please send them our way.

Over two months ago, Peter Byrne came up with the idea of a special issue on
the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the vicious police riots that
ensued. Peter coordinated the entire issue from his Lecce residence in Italy.
Peter was also instrumental in having Art Shay, the preeminent American
photojournalist of the past 60-plus years, contribute his recollection of
these fateful days with the likes of Jean Genet, Allen Ginsberg, William S.
Burroughs, William Styron, Norman Mailer, etc., and generously allow us to
publish some of his famous photographs. A retrospective of Shay's work was
exhibited in Paris last month. Karen Moller went to its opening and sent us a
report as well as pictures. Peter Byrne uses his literary brush to paint the
historical tableau of the political machine in Chicago, the means used by
Mayor Daley to orchestrate the police riots, and what happened at the
Convention. Far from that epicenter, in London, dissent was expressed through
the theatre. Former drama critic Irving Wardle talks about the production of
The Chicago Conspiracy (the Convention, the demos, the Chicago Eight) and
Charles Marowitz's master-stroke in casting William Burroughs as Judge
Hoffman at The Open Space Theatre. Charles goes behind the scene to reveal
the nuts and bolts of the play and how humor served the purpose of
demonstrating the travesty of justice and the ludicrousness of those events.

Speaking of the Chicago Eight, Louis Proyect looks into the respective
trajectories of Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, and Abbie Hoffman -- only Abbie is
worthy of respect -- and the corrosive power of American capitalism. Michael
Doliner, who was in Chicago, offers three vignettes of his experience during
those tumultuous times. Carol Warner Christen was not there but her
transformative experiences in 1968, as you'll see, have served her well, even
though many were not so pleasant. As to Norman Mailer, one can imagine Gore
Vidal taking some pleasure at the reading of Peter Byrne's essay. Mailer
appears rather aloof -- a navel-gazing non-reporter -- and a mostly confused
man as he participates in and writes about those days.

Guido Monte, Gilles d'Aymery, and Martin Murie were not in Chicago, but Monte
translated a short excerpt of Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1968 poem to young
communist students, which reflects his sentiments in regard to the Italian
riots in that year. Nostalgia about 1968 abounds, but Gilles d'Aymery does
not fall for it as he places these events in a larger context and expresses
simmering contempt for daddy's rebellious children and the legacy of the baby
boomers. Martin Murie ends with a look toward the future, which appropriately
ties in neatly with the first paragraph of these notes. Your letters conclude
this issue, with Michael DeLang's thoughtful response to misguided
accusations...and more.

                                               # # # # #

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/nader08.html
How To Help The Nader-Gonzalez '08 Campaign - Gilles d'Aymery & Jan Baughman

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/ashay01.html
The Democratic Convention -- Chicago 1968  -  Art Shay
With famous photos by the author.

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/moller08.html
Art Shay's "Traces Of A Bygone America"  -  Karen Moller

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/pbyrne71.html
Big Dumpling's Shock And Awe: Mayor Daley's Chicago  -  Peter Byrne

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/zig097.html
"The Chicago Conspiracy"  -  Irving Wardle

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/cmarow108.html
Expats' Chicago: London, 1968  -  Charles Marowitz

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/lproy45.html
Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?  -  Louis Proyect

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/mdolin34.html
Three Memories of Chicago 1968  -  Michael Doliner

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/carenc37.html
My Mere View Of The Year 1968  -  Carol Warner Christen

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/pbyrne72.html
Norman Mailer, A Noncombatant At The Siege  -  Peter Byrne

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/xxx125.html
Fragments Of 1968  -  Pier Paolo Pasolini (translated by Guido Monte)

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/ga252.html
Exercises In Nostalgia -- 1968  -  Gilles d'Aymery

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/murie52.html
Then, Now, And Tomorrow  -  Martin Murie

http://www.swans.com/library/art14/letter140.html
Letters to the Editor

                                             # # # # #

Please, consider supporting our co-operative work financially. See
http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html

Swans (aka Swans Commentary), ISSN: 1554-4915, is a bi-weekly non- commercial
ad-free Web-only magazine which provides original content to its readers. We
encourage pulp publications to republish Swans' Work in print format. Please
contact the publisher at <aymery AT ix.netcom.com>. Please, do not repost
Swans' Work on the Web and other mailing lists: "Hypertext" links to any
pages of Swans.com are authorized; however, republication of any part of this
site, inlining, mirroring, and framing are expressly prohibited. We welcome
your comments and suggestions. When writing to Swans, please indicate your
first and last name as well as your city and state (country) of residence.
You are receiving this E-mail notification for you have expressed your
interest in Swans and the work of its team. If you wish not to receive these
short notifications, simply reply to this E-mail (delete the content) and
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address with anyone.

Cordially,
Gilles d'Aymery
--
Swans

"Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon."  B. Brecht



From gdunkel at mindspring.com  Sun Jun  1 19:09:46 2008
From: gdunkel at mindspring.com (Greg Dunkel)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 21:09:46 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
Message-ID: <22713898.1212368986467.JavaMail.root@mswamui-thinleaf.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

The Islamists in Algeria won an election, decisively.  The government didn't like that so it canceled the election, arrested the leaders it could find and drove the rest underground.

Both sides were vicious -- I don't have a source, other than the Algerian I no longer have contact with -- but in one neighborhood of  Algiers, women were killed because they wore veils by one side and the women who did not wear veils were killed by the other side.

Whenever I think of Algeria I recall the war they waged against their French colonial masters, the war of a million martyrs.

Two books in English I particularly liked on Algeria:

Benjamin Stora, "Algeria: 1830-2000, a short history"

James Ciment, "Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge"



-----Original Message-----
>From: Walter Lippmann <walterlx at earthlink.net>
>Sent: Jun 1, 2008 11:35 AM
>To: gdunkel at mindspring.com
>Subject: Re: [Marxism] Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
>
>The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. The Algerian government's
>response to radical islamic fundamentalism has been repression, which
>drives them underground and turns them into martyrs.

...


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  1 19:36:51 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:36:51 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
In-Reply-To: <22713898.1212368986467.JavaMail.root@mswamui-thinleaf.atl.
	sa.earthlink.net>
References: <22713898.1212368986467.JavaMail.root@mswamui-thinleaf.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20080602013649.34CF511EDD@mailbackend.panix.com>

Greg D. wrote:
>The Islamists in Algeria won an election, decisively.  The 
>government didn't like that so it canceled the election, arrested 
>the leaders it could find and drove the rest underground.
>
>Both sides were vicious -- I don't have a source, other than the 
>Algerian I no longer have contact with -- but in one neighborhood 
>of  Algiers, women were killed because they wore veils by one side 
>and the women who did not wear veils were killed by the other side.
>
>Whenever I think of Algeria I recall the war they waged against 
>their French colonial masters, the war of a million martyrs.
>
>Two books in English I particularly liked on Algeria:
>
>Benjamin Stora, "Algeria: 1830-2000, a short history"
>
>James Ciment, "Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge"

Ciment is *first-rate*. I used his book on the Kurds for a Swans 
article a while back. Very, very well-researched and politically astute. 



From gary.maclennan at gmail.com  Sun Jun  1 21:41:52 2008
From: gary.maclennan at gmail.com (gary.maclennan at gmail.com)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 20:41:52 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] NYTimes.com: Algeria Riots Pose Risk Of Wider Unrest
In-Reply-To: <6tceqh$foict@ipo4smtp.cc.utah.edu>
References: <6tceqh$foict@ipo4smtp.cc.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <ff5b77d90806012041r666e0437od3e63495be92397d@mail.gmail.com>

This intrigued me.  Here in Australia the Rudd government is getting away
with a refusal to use the $44bn budget surplus to alleviate problems in the
health and education sectors etc.

The surplus is largely due to the mining boom especially the sale of coal to
China and it is huge and growing.  Yet the pensioners are doing it really
tough because of price rises, but the only solution the economic
rationalists in the Howard (oops that should be the Rudd) Govt can come up
with is to make the pensioners and the rest of us poorer.  The theory being
presumably that lowering our capacity to buy will eventually lower prices.


Of course there is barely a murmur against Rudd's politics here.  Make that
not even a murmur.

regards

Gary

From gary.maclennan at gmail.com  Sun Jun  1 23:26:03 2008
From: gary.maclennan at gmail.com (gary.maclennan at gmail.com)
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 22:26:03 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] A forum on 68
Message-ID: <ff5b77d90806012226v1d256f59j541b8a29bc92a8ab@mail.gmail.com>

Recently there was a forum on 68 at Ahimsa House Brisbane.  The panel
featured some of the greats of the Brisbane Left - Dan O'Neill, Brian Laver,
Jimmy Prentice and Drew Hutton the leader of the States' Greens. I too was
asked to speak.

I have clashed with Drew in the past over what I perceived as his move to
right in his electoral alliance with the ultra-conservative National Party
in 1996, an alliance (perhaps accommodation would be more accurate) that
contributed to the defeat of the Goss Labor govt.  I criticised Drew heavily
for 3 years over that but with the defeat of the Tories in 1999 and the
subsequent founding of a new Labor dynasty, it seemed a good time to bury
the old feud.  I voted for Drew's party in the recent state and local
elections and was genuinely disappointed when he himself failed to get
elected in the recent local govt elections.

So it was bury the hatchet time when Drew got up to speak about 68.  But
this was a remarkable speech in that it consisted of homage to three of
Drew's "heroes" from 68- Tom Hayden, Joscha Fischer, & Adam Michnik.  I have
to admit that these are not the three that come first to my mind when I
think of 68.

Incidentally Lou has just turned out an excellent article in Swans on Abbie
Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Renny Davis and the latter two certainly represent
a sellout but they pale surely in comparison with Fischer and Michnik. I am
prepared to cut Haydon some slack because of his opposition to the Iraq
war.  However Fischer & Michnik belong to the pro-American cheer leader
squad that has emerged from the libertarian residue of the 68 impulse.

 Michnik rails about totalitarianism and uses this as a cover to support
American Imperialism.  He had this to say in response to criticism of his
pro-Americanism:

"Today, however, the primary threat is terrorism by Islamist
fundamentalists. War has been declared against the democratic world. It is
this world, whose sins and mistakes we know all too well, that we want to
defend.

These are the reasons behind our absolute war on the terrorist, corrupt,
intolerant regime of the despot from Baghdad. One cannot perceive
totalitarian threats in George W. Bush's policies and at the same time
defend Saddam Hussein. There are limits to absurdity, which should not be
exceeded recklessly."

This is really a mixture of the stupid and the self-serving. The so-called
democratic world has long been in a relationship with the Islamic world and
the same democratic world has done all in its power to destroy and slaughter
every single vestige of secularism in the Islamic world.  The West's role in
the rise of the Taliban and Hamas are ample proof of that assertion.

But now it is time to wipe out the old Islamic fundamentalist ally and of
course it is being done in the name of democracy, freedom and civilization.
In this case  have more respect for people like Niall Ferguson who is openly
pro-imperialist while Michnik and Fischer claim to be pro-democracy.  But
empire it is and the main business is as Tacitus put  *"To plunder, to
slaughter, to steal... and where they make a wilderness, they call it
peace."
*
regards

Gary

From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au  Sun Jun  1 23:47:03 2008
From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:47:03 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] What's new at Links: Nepal; Venezuela; Fidel on Obama;
 South Africa; Egypt; `Balkanisation' of Bolivia; Stalinism; 
Message-ID: <48438957.2020709@greenleft.org.au>

Subscribe free to /Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ - 
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed 
(http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to
consider an article, please send it to links at dsp.org.au

Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in /Links./


    Nepal: On the eve of the republic -- Interview with CPN (Maoist)
    leader Prachanda <http://links.org.au/node/448>

An exclusive interview with CPN (Maoist) leader *Prachanda* by /MRZine/ 
(reposted by /Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ 
<http://links.org.au> with permission). By *Mary Des Chene* and *Stephen 
Mikesell*
It is 14th Jeth, 2065, [Tuesday May 27, 2008] in Nepal, the day before 
the constituent assembly is to convene and declare Nepal a full 
republic. The king remains in his palace. The form of the new 
government, who will lead it, whether the old parliamentary parties will 
join in a Maoist-led government or, as they have indicated so far, will 
boycott and try to isolate it -- these and other basic questions remain 
to be resolved. The following is an early morning interview with CPN 
(Maoist) leader Prachanda, before he embarked on a last intensive round 
of negotiations to try to bring the parliamentary parties into a 
coalition government under Maoist leadership.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/448>


    Fidel on Obama: The empire's hypocritical politics
    <http://links.org.au/node/447>

By *Fidel Castro Ruz*

May 25, 2008 -- It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after 
hearing the speech Barack Obama delivered on the afternoon of May 23, 
2008, at the Cuban American National Foundation, created by Ronald 
Reagan. I listened to his speech, as I did [John] McCain's and Bush's. I 
feel no resentment towards Obama, for he is not responsible for the 
crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I 
would do his adversaries an enormous favour. I have therefore no 
reservations about criticising him and about expressing my points of 
view on his words frankly.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/447>


    Yugoslavia, Washington and the `Balkanisation' of Bolivia
    <http://links.org.au/node/445>

By *Michael Karadjis*

I feel forced to write to correct some confusion that has been 
circulating regarding the current US ambassador to Bolivia, Philip 
Goldberg, who has been supporting the so-called ``autonomy'' referendum 
by the Bolivian oligarchy. A continuous line has come out that Goldberg 
``has experience in partition'' because he allegedly participated in the 
dismemberment of Yugoslavia. This tends to be a secondary point 
alongside a more general point that erroneously compares actual 
oppressed nations, such as the Kosovar Albanians, the poorest people in 
Europe, who have striven for independence for over a century, with the 
rich oligarchy of low-lands Bolivia, engaged in an imperialist-backed 
destabilisation of the Bolivian revolution.
Along with Kosova, some also list Tibet and other examples of so-called 
``secessionism'' as being related to the Bolivian oligarchy's campaign. 
One feels compelled to add Palestine, Eritrea, Bangladesh, East Timor, 
Aceh, Tamil Ealam and other national liberation struggles by oppressed 
peoples just to make it consistent.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/445>


    Venezuela: Struggle in the PSUV -- `If the people don't stand firm,
    the right will screw it up!' <http://links.org.au/node/443>

By *Stuart Munckton *

May 27, 2008 -- The two /Venezuelanalysis.com/ articles below, by Kiraz 
Janicke (a member of the /Green Left Weekly/ Caracas bureau and 
/Venezuelanalysis.com/ journalist), give a feel for the increasingly 
intense struggle that is taking place /within/ the Chavista camp.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/443>


    The Soviet Union: a no-party state? <http://links.org.au/node/439>

Review by *Alex Miller*

*/The Soviet Century/*
By Moshe Lewin
Verso 2005
416 pages

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/439>
    * Also in Spanish at http://links.org.au/node/444


    Xenophobia tears apart South Africa's working class
    <http://links.org.au/node/438>

By *Thandokuhle Manzi* and *Patrick Bond *

May 26, 2008 -- The low-income black township here in Durban which 
suffered more than any other during apartheid, Cato Manor, was the scene 
of a test performed on a Mozambican last Wednesday morning (May 21). At 
6:45am, in the warmth of a rising subtropical winter sun, two unemployed 
men strolling on Belair Road approached the middle-aged immigrant. They 
accosted him and demanded, in the local indigenous language isiZulu, 
that he say the word meaning ``elbow'' (this they referred to with their 
hand). The man answered ``idolo'', which unfortunately means ``knee''. 
The correct answer is ``indololwane''. His punishment: being beaten up 
severely, and then told to ``go home''.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/438>


    Egypt: Workers impose a new agenda <http://links.org.au/node/437>

By *Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka*

This was my first encounter with Cairo. Love at first sight.
I wasn't there as a tourist. What brought me to Egypt with my colleague, 
Samia Nassar, was the wave of strikes which, since December 2006, has 
been shaking the regime of Hosni Mubarak. In 2007 there were 580 
strikes, demonstrations and protests, involving between 300,000 and 
500,000 workers. The number for 2008 is likely to be more than twice 
that, reflecting enormous hikes in food prices.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/437>

/Links/ seeks to promote the international exchange of information, 
experience of struggle, theoretical analysis and views of political 
strategy and tactics within the international left. It is a forum for 
open and constructive dialogue between active socialists coming from 
different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the 
international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social 
policies. It aims to promote the renewal of the socialist movement in 
the wake of the collapse of the bureaucratic model of "actually existing 
socialism" in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
*
ATTENTION: Sign up for regular ``what's new'' announcement emails at 
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

From cooney at bluebottle.com  Mon Jun  2 04:42:57 2008
From: cooney at bluebottle.com (brendan cooney)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 06:42:57 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] on hayek, mises etc.
Message-ID: <A242A3F7-48CA-4A3F-ADC5-B6CF04B50539@bluebottle.com>

Can anyone recommend any good literature of a marxist engagement with  
the Austrian school of economics?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Get a free email account with anti spam protection.
http://www.bluebottle.com/tag/2



From david at miradoiro.com  Mon Jun  2 05:07:34 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:07:34 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] on hayek, mises etc.
References: <A242A3F7-48CA-4A3F-ADC5-B6CF04B50539@bluebottle.com>
Message-ID: <007d01c8c4a0$dd597ce0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "brendan cooney" <cooney at bluebottle.com>
> Can anyone recommend any good literature of a marxist engagement with
> the Austrian school of economics?

Stuff by Lange, of course, and in a more contemporary way, check out 
'Calculation, Complexity and Planning: The Socialist Calculation Debate Once 
Again', which you can get in pdf from 
http://www.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/

--David.



From farmelantj at juno.com  Mon Jun  2 05:48:07 2008
From: farmelantj at juno.com (Jim Farmelant)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 07:48:07 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] on hayek, mises etc.
Message-ID: <20080602.074811.4248.5.farmelantj@juno.com>

 
On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:07:34 +0200
=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?= <david at miradoiro.com> writes:
> From: "brendan cooney" <cooney at bluebottle.com>
> > Can anyone recommend any good literature of a marxist engagement 
> with
> > the Austrian school of economics?
> 
> Stuff by Lange, of course, and in a more contemporary way, check out 
> 
> 'Calculation, Complexity and Planning: The Socialist Calculation 
> Debate Once 
> Again', which you can get in pdf from 
> http://www.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/
> 
> --David.
> 

Well, I guess if it is the socialist calculation debate
your interested in the following should be of interest:

Allin F. Cottrell and W. Paul Cockshott, "Information and Economics:
A Critique of Hayek."
http://www.reality.gn.apc.org/econ/hayek.htm 
_________, "Calculation, Complexity and Planning: The Socialist
Calculation
Debate Once Again."
http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/calculation_debat...

____________, "Socialist planning after the collapse of the Soviet Union"
http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/soviet_planning.pdf
_____________, "Information and Economics: A Critique of Hayek,"
Research in Political Economy, 1997.
http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/hayek_critique.pdf
____________, Towards A New Socialism.
http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pdf
http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/ 
Kamaran Nayeri, "Socialism and the Market: Methodological Lessons from
the Economic Calculation Debate."
www.nodo50.org/cubasigloXXI/congreso/nayeri_15abr03.pdf 

From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 07:19:24 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:19:24 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Cuba leads the way on the environment
Message-ID: <4843F35C.3030507@panix.com>

http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=2404


From farmelantj at juno.com  Mon Jun  2 07:41:31 2008
From: farmelantj at juno.com (Jim Farmelant)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:41:31 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] on hayek, mises etc.
Message-ID: <20080602.094132.4248.7.farmelantj@juno.com>

 
On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:07:34 +0200
=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?= <david at miradoiro.com> writes:
> From: "brendan cooney" <cooney at bluebottle.com>
> > Can anyone recommend any good literature of a marxist engagement 
> with
> > the Austrian school of economics?
> 
> Stuff by Lange, of course, and in a more contemporary way, check out 
> 
> 'Calculation, Complexity and Planning: The Socialist Calculation 
> Debate Once 
> Again', which you can get in pdf from 
> http://www.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/
> 
> --David.
> 
>

Also, from a post on the Usenet group
alt.politics.socialism.trotsky
>In article <3AB1A... at MailAndNews.com>, "Jim F." <deb... at MailAndNews.com>

wrote: 

>> As I recall, Hayek attempted to answer Lange by arguing that real 
>> markets are distinguished by their ability to to coordinate 
>> both the articulated and tacit knowledge of the economic actors 
>> that participate in them.  In his view, the kinds of simulated 
>> or pseudo-markets that Lange and other socialist economists 
>> have proposed are simply lacking in the sorts of incentives 
>> that are necessary in his view for motivating economic actors. 
>> Hayek formulated his critique of Lange's position at least 
>> partially in terms of epistemological arguments which stressed 
>> the limitations of human knowledge, especially of knowledge 
>> concerning social reality, which places relatively severe 
>> constraints on our ability establish a rationally planned 
>> control over human social action with its many nuances, tacit 
>> practices, and unintended consequences.  In the view of Hayek, 
>> socialist economists failed to appreciate the dynamic nature 
>> of markets and this failure doomed attempts to create 
>> pseudo-markets that would achieve rational planning through 
>> the use of eqilibrating shadow prices.  Shadow prices in 
>> the Hayekian view could never hope to convey the same sort 
>> of information content that real market prices convey.  Likewise, 
>> Langean economic planners could not hope to establish 
>> meaningful marginal cost and marginal utility functions either. 
>> In the Hayekian view, these functions could only become 
>> known through a trial-and-error learning process which is 
>> best realized under the free market.  Thus socialism was 
>> in Hayek's view condemned to calculational chaos,even if 
>> socialists attempted to avail themselves of the remedies 
>> proposed by Lange and others. 

>Hayek criticizes the Langean approach for two reasons: markets provide 
>greater incentives, and markets have a dynamical quality not captured by

>Languean schemes. The first is weak, for It rests on a conception of
human 
>nature usually rejected by socialists. 


That seems about right.  Hayek as I understand him (actually I am 
relying largely on Chris Sciabarra's books *Marx and Hayek* 
and *Total Freedom* for these points), makes both a human 
nature argument (i.e. people respond best to the sorts 
of incentives that a market economy provides) and an 
epistemologically based argument concerning the nature 
of human social action which is that essential elements 
of social action cannot be captured in terms of articulated 
knowledge.  Much of it exists in the form of tacit knowledge. 
Thus for Hayek, entrenerurial knowledge which he considered 
essential for exonomic dynamism, tends to exist largely in 
the form of tacit knowledge.  Hence, it is not something that 
economic planners can readily duplicate or simulate. 

Now I think that Hayek had a germ of a valid point here.  But 
I think that this argument proves not so much that rational economic 
planning is impoosible but that such planning cannot be rational 
unless it is democratic.  Planners cannot plan rationally 
without the input of those whe are effected, and that can 
only occur if the planning process is democratized.  Hence, 
the irrationalities that occurred in the USSR under Stalin. 
On the other hand Hayek as I understand him (from Sciabarra's 
account) seemed to think that rational economic planning required 
a certain degree of omniscience, whereas markets do not 
require this.  Instead, markets were said to work on the 
basis of a trial-and-error learning process.  But I don't 
see why the same could not be said for democratic economic 
planning.  I don't think that economic planning requires 
omniscience any more than do markets.  Also, from Sciabarra' 
account, it seems that Hayek prehaps misunderstood what 
happens when emgineers attempt to bring natural forces 
under a rationalized control.  Being a software engineer 
who works closely with hardware engineers, I am quite 
that none of us is anywhere close to being omnsicient! 
The law of unintended consequences is very much alive 
in technological fields.  Hayek apparently seems to have 
thought otherwise, hence allowing him to draw a distinction 
between the natural sciences (and technologies based upon 
them) and the social sciences.  But I find this disntinction 
somewhat specious. 

>What does Hayek mean by dynamic character; how do Langean schemes 
>necessarily fail to capture it? 


Hayek (and other Austrians) denied that prices can be understood 
in terms of equilibating processes, as the neoclassical economists 
maintained. In fact they were quite critical of this and other 
aspects of neoclassical economists (and so of those socialist 
economists like Lange who drew upon neoclassical economics). 

>The Langean argument, or at any rate my reinvention of it, comes from 
>realizing that anything capitalism can do socialism can simulate in
form. 
>The crux of the debate seems to be whether human nature conforms to the 
>requirements of the form, combined with a socialist system of
incentives. 

>If that's true, a calculation argument for capitalism cannot in
principle 
>be sustained. Its supporters have to retrench to the last line of
defense, 
>human nature. 

>srd 

From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 07:45:35 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:45:35 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Achcar on Hezbollah
Message-ID: <4843F97F.8050104@panix.com>

Q: It seems that the only way to go beyond sectarian divides can be 
through left political and trade union organizations that pose a 
non-sectarian alternative and resist the neoliberal policies that have 
been implemented in the country. Does Hezbollah have an inclination to 
organize resistance against those neoliberal policies?

A: This is a total illusion. They have nothing fundamentally against 
neoliberalism and, even less so, capitalism. You know that their supreme 
model is the Iranian regime -- certainly not a bulwark against 
neoliberalism. Of course, like any Islamic fundamentalists, they 
consider that the state and/or the religious institutions should help 
the poor. This is charity. Most religions advocate and organize charity. 
It presupposes social inequalities with the rich giving the poor their 
breadcrumbs. The left on the other hand is egalitarian, not 
"charitable." In any event, Hezbollah is not really interested in the 
social and economic policies of the state. During all the years when 
Rafik Hariri dominated the government and Syrian troops dominated 
Lebanon, the cruelest neoliberal policies were implemented, yet 
Hezbollah never seriously opposed them. This is not part of their 
program or their priorities.

The last round of events started on the day of a general strike called 
by some unions. But these are rotten unions that were actually 
controlled by the Syrians before they left Lebanon. The previous time 
they called for a strike, it was a total failure because the opposition, 
i.e. basically Hezbollah, did not seriously support it despite paying 
lip service to the strike as an opposition gesture. This time, Hezbollah 
used the opportunity of the strike to mobilize against the political 
decisions by the government directed against them -- not to oppose its 
social and economic policies. That's why, although the clashes started 
on the day of the general strike, the social and economic demands of the 
strike fell into oblivion. Hezbollah is not fighting against 
neoliberalism, although it can cater to the needs of its plebeian 
constituency at times. The only significant force that opposes 
neoliberalism in Lebanon is the left, mainly the LCP.

full: http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17808


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 08:04:21 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:04:21 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] =?windows-1252?q?Whatever_Became_Of_What=92s-His-Name?=
 =?windows-1252?q?=2C_The_Radical=3F?=
Message-ID: <4843FDE5.4040703@panix.com>

Whatever Became Of What?s-His-Name, The Radical?
Reflections on Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, and Abbie Hoffman
by Louis Proyect

As a veteran of the American Trotskyist movement, I have a somewhat 
ambivalent attitude toward the Chicago 7 (originally the Chicago 8 until 
Black Panther Bobby Seale?s case was separated from the others). In the 
late 1960s, there were very sharp differences over strategy and tactics 
in the antiwar movement pitting the mass demonstration approach of the 
Socialist Workers Party (SWP) against the Debordian spectacle politics 
of Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and their allies in Students for a 
Democratic Society (SDS). Now, forty years after the event, my feelings 
remain ambivalent even if I no longer have any identification with the 
SWP. For what they are worth, here are my impressions of the political 
and personal trajectories of some of the defendants in the Chicago 7 
trial, most of whom were my contemporaries.

Perhaps nothing illustrated the self-defeating approach of three of the 
defendants ? Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Dave Dellinger (who was 
twenty years older than Hoffman and Rubin) ? than their role at an April 
5th, 1969, protest in New York, when the antiwar movement had begun to 
recruit active duty GIs to the cause. The coalition had invited 
Dellinger to speak about the Chicago defendants.

During the march, a group of ?Crazies,? an obscure confrontationist 
split-off from Rubin and Hoffman?s Yippies that some suspected of being 
agents provocateurs, carried the butchered heads of pigs on a spike with 
which they taunted cops along the parade route. The march itself was so 
massive that the Crazies were hardly noticed, except by the cops.

The march terminated with a rally, including a contingent of active-duty 
GIs at the front of the speakers stand. You have to remember that these 
soldiers were risking victimization just for being there. During 
Dellinger?s speech, he invited Rubin and Hoffman to the stage and turned 
over the microphone to them even though the coalition had voted against 
having them speak. Keep in mind that Rubin and Hoffman had developed an 
extremely hostile attitude toward mass protests that they thought lacked 
?balls.? Both of them had a macho attitude toward politics that would 
soon be rendered obsolete by the women?s liberation movement. When they 
debated SWP leader Fred Halstead at SWP headquarters in New York over 
directions for the antiwar movement, they were accompanied by several 
women wearing what amounted to Playboy Bunny outfits.

As soon as Rubin and Hoffman took the mike, they began to urge the 
Crazies and the crowd to attack the few cops that were lined up nearby. 
The GIs were positioned between the Crazies and the cops and were in 
danger of being caught up in any violence that ensued. Fortunately, 
Rubin and Hoffman?s harangues fell on deaf ears.

I soldiered on in the Socialist Workers Party until 1978 when I was 
effectively purged from this sect. I am not sure that my efforts were of 
all that much use in changing American society, but feel somewhat 
vindicated for having withstood the kind of pressures that would 
eventually disorient Jerry Rubin and Rennie Davis, a former SDS leader 
who shared Hoffman and Rubin?s politics but without their flamboyance.

Even as the war in Vietnam still raged, Rennie Davis became an acolyte 
of Guru Maharaj Ji, the 16-year-old leader of the Divine Light Mission. 
In November 1973, the Mission organized ?Millennium ?73,? a three-day 
event at the Houston Astrodome, which they advertised as ?the most 
significant event in human history.? For those still consumed with the 
need to push for an end to the war in Vietnam, it promised ?a thousand 
years of peace for people who want peace.? In other words, peace could 
come to the world when individuals found inner peace.

full: http://www.swans.com/library/art14/lproy45.html


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  2 08:29:24 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 10:29:24 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] REUTERS: Brazil to help Cuba grow soy on industrial scale
Message-ID: <19691154.1212416964773.JavaMail.root@elwamui-karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Soy products are nothing new to Cuba which has been providing soy
milk and soy yogurt to the population for quite some time, some of it
at an extraordinarily cheap price, just a few pesos a package, and
sold to the public, not limited to the ration book. (It's sold in
clear plastic bags to the general public in moneda nacional and is
nice and tasty, too. You could pour it on granola or corn flakes 
if you wanted to. Every possible step is being taken to domestically
produce food so as to be able to limit what's imported with the
attendant transportation costs. There's a detailed discussion of soy
and its importance in today's edition of the BAHAMAS JOURNAL, which
is linked below.

While a socialist revolution would be the next best step for Brazil
and its relationship with Cuba, its prospects to not appear imminent
at this immediate conjuncture. A socialist revolution here in these
United States would be even better, but it, too, doesn't seem to be
on the agenda in the immediate, short or medium term.

Hopefully, Brazil's coming socialist revolution will include a system
of democratically-elected workers councils with a multi-party system,
just like they had in Russia in 1917. There the criticizers of the
revolutionary government could, freely and actively, denounce the
regime for every single mistake and betrayal it commits, on the
Internet and on Brazilian TV, just as they did in 1917. It will be
much more difficult for Washington to blockade Brazil than it has
been to blockade the much smaller Cuba, in any case.

Brazil's population is approaching 200 million while Cuba's is 11
million. Brazil's government has invested a fortune in upgrading its
sugar technology, which has helped it become a star in the ethanol
world. I've often wondered if there was any interest in Cuba as an
investment prospect for Brazilian sugar makers who've benefited from
what their government put into sugar technology, but I haven't heard
anything yet. 

This soy idea, furthermore, seems like it's a potentially lucrative
and ecologically sustainable project, not to mention that it's main
outcome would be needed food for the Cuban table. Time will tell.
Helping Cuba through investing in the island's economy represents a
drop in the economic bucket for a country as large as Brazil, but it
reaps many different benefits for both sides. Companies from the
United States, which themselves are active in the ethanol area, are
forbidden by US law from participating in this and all the other
areas open for potential investment because of the provisions of 
U.S. legislation.

One wonders just how long United States capitalists will continue
to put up with federal policies which deny them their God-given
right to engage in foreign investment? For the moment they find
themselves sitting in the sidelines, twiddling their thumbs as
they watch capitalists from everywhere else being welcomed into
the Cuban market, why US law denies them this opportunity. That
IS one of the reasons why some on Wall Street are seeing that
their chances might improve a bit under an Obama presidency.

And while Washington and the US media like to try to pit Brazil
against Cuba and Venezuela in Latin America, Brazil's friendly ties
with Cuba, which already include extensive economic and cultural
links make Washington's dream nothing more than a fantasy. Cuba
today is less isolated than it has ever been, since the blockade
was imposed. Part of the reason is Brazil's helpful relationship,
as the Cubans themselves understand quite well and as they also
acknowledge quite openly. 

Much food for thought here.


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California

=======================================================================
BAHAMAS JOURNAL
Cuba-Brazil, Food Security Matters 
[detailed discussion of soy's importance]

Brazil is the world?s leading producer of beef, poultry, pork, 
ethanol, coffee, orange juice concentrate, sugar, and tobacco.
http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=128&a=17268 

JUVENTUD REBELDE: Cuba-Brazil Relations Get New Impulse:
http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/cuba/2008-05-31/cuba-brazil-relations-get-new-impulse/

GRANMA: Cuba and Brazil Sign Food Accord 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/85773 

Brazil Wants to Be Cuba's Number-One Trade Partner 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/85794 

Cuba Si Saudi Arabia No
CUBAN SUGAR BETTER THAN IOWA CORN

Moreover, the fact that sugar produces seven-times as much ethanol as does
corn should spur dialogue and discussions along between the US and Cuba.
Corn growers in Ohio and Iowa may not like the sound of this fact, but their
lobby needs to be overcome as does that of the south Florida anti-Castro if
such a new era of cooperative capitalism is to move forward.

It's high time that America turn its foreign policy cheek and endeavor to
reconcile its long-standing problems with Cuba so the island nation and the
world's greatest super power can forge a new win-win relationship about
energy that can both bring jobs and income to a nation starved of both and
turn its bounty of sweetness into a renewable source of ethanol fuel that
can hasten our weaning off of Middle East oil and provide a new lease on
life for hybrid vehicles that Detroit should start to make if a larger
supply of adaptive fuel could be in the pipeline.

http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/category-table/32-issues/99-cuba-si-saudi-arabia-no
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/85763 

Cuban Five Awarded Brazilian Honor
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/85578 
=======================================================================

Brazil to help Cuba grow soy on industrial scale
By Esteban Israel

HAVANA, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazil and Cuba announced on Friday that the
South American powerhouse was providing technical assistance and seed to the
Communist-run Caribbean island to grow soybeans on an industrial scale for
the first time.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, speaking in Havana to a meeting of
Brazilian and Cuban businessmen, said the project represented "a new and
important moment for Cuba's development."

Amorim, who arrived on Thursday with dozens of businessmen for a two-day
visit, said land was already identified for the project and seed ready.

Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of genetically modified soy,
but it was not clear if it would be used in Cuba.

Amorim said joint ventures might be formed in the future.

"I believe we are talking about 30,000 to 40,000 hectares of land to start,
but with possibilities to extend it," Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Raul de
la Nuez said.

"We have to develop it little by little because it is not something we have
grown before in Cuba," he said.

Cuban President Raul Castro recently termed increased agricultural output
"a matter of national security" in the face of soaring international food
prices which are expected to drain more than $2 billion this year from
Cuba's coffers, or some 20 percent of imports.

Raul has decentralized agriculture, reduced bureaucracy and granted more
land and economic freedom to the private sector, among other measures aimed
at increasing output.

Raul, who took over for his ailing older brother, Fidel, in February, has
also suggested foreign investment is needed in agriculture.

The country imports 85 percent of the food it rations to the public,
including large amounts of soy, wheat and corn.

The island's largest food supplier is the United States under a 2000
amendment to the trade embargo that allows food sales to Cuba for cash.

Cuba has studied the possibility of growing soy for a number of years with
advice from Canadian and South American experts.

A number of foreign companies have proposed joint ventures to grow soy, so
far to no avail. (Reporting by Esteban Israel, writing by Marc Frank,
editing by Matthew Lewis)
=================================================================

GRANMA 
May 31, 2008

Cuba and Brazil Sign Food Accord

LIANET ARIAS SOSA

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim expressed Friday the
aspiration of his country to become one of the main commercial
partners of Cuba, as he signed -along with his counterpart, Felipe
Perez Roque- a collaboration accord to grow soy plants.

Perez Roque highlighted the importance of this accord which, at a
time especially decisive for food production, will allow Cuba to
count on the experience and advice of Brazilian institutions in this
economic activity.

Both officials said that the relations between the two countries are
excellent, and also acknowledged the existence of several common
interests regarding the world agenda, "especially the importance of
regional integration between Latin American and Caribbean countries,"
said the Brazilian minister during a meeting at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

In terms of regional integration, Amorim considered the recent
signing of the Union of South American Nations Agreement (UNASUR) "a
major step, an extraordinary victory."

Referring to the discussions between the two delegations, Roque
mentioned the detailed information provided to the Cubans about the
creation of the UNASUR agreement and the preparations to hold an
important meeting in Brazil with representatives from several nations
of the region around the end of the year.

"We have also thanked Brazil for its position of friendship and
solidarity with Cuba; for its supportive position at the UN regarding
the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba,"
said Roque. He also pointed out the "exceptional importance" of
Amorim's visit, which "will certainly result in a renewed boost in
relations."

Afterwards, the distinguished guest met with Ricardo Alarcon, head of
the Cuban parliament.


















.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 09:13:28 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:13:28 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A comment on "successful rioting"
Message-ID: <48440E18.2060806@panix.com>

Over on Richard Seymour?s ?Lenin?s Tomb? blog, there?s a guest post by 
?Roobin? titled ?The just-about-Gramscian theory of successful rioting? 
that is a fairly awful exercise in ultraleftism. I am not sure of 
Roobin?s identity, but he wrote an excellent analysis of James Joyce 
there the other day. My initial comment on ?successful rioting? was to 
advise Roobin to stick to James Joyce, which prompted Richard to demand 
a more considered response. So here goes.

full: 
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/a-comment-on-successful-rioting/


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  2 11:02:30 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 10:02:30 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Why Islam lies at the heart of Iraq's civil war
Message-ID: <005201c8c4d2$7ca789f0$6401a8c0@new1501>

(Algeria gives us a good indication of where the anti-Islamic 
radicalism of some elements can lead. Definitely not good.)
================================================================

Why Islam lies at the heart of Iraq's civil war

Because it does, US withdrawal may be the surest path to peace.
By Monica Duffy Toft

from the June 2, 2008 edition


Cambridge, Mass. - It matters what we call things. It took too long
for the Bush administration to admit that its intended liberation of
Iraq had become an occupation, that US forces faced a home-grown
insurgency there, and that a transition to Iraqi democracy might not
result in a nation that supports US interests.

Finally, not until 2007 did the Pentagon acknowledge that Iraqi
sectarian violence had crossed a threshold to become a civil war.

But policymakers still haven't come to terms with the implications of
that fact. If they did, they'd see that a wisely executed withdrawal
of US-led forces could well be the surest path to peace. That's
because withdrawal is likely to transform the fighting in Iraq into a
defensive struggle for power in a nation-state, as opposed to an
offensive battle rooted in religion.

The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the war in Iraq is a
religious civil war and that - even putting aside Al Qaeda in Iraq -
Islam is at the heart of it for three reasons.

First, Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites themselves see the war in these
terms. They identify first and foremost as Shiites and Sunnis.
Second, they use religious identity both to target opponents and
define threats. Finally, they have appealed beyond the borders of
Iraq for aid - fighters, arms, cash - in religious terms.

Islam is not based in a specific territory; it is a transnational
faith that unites its community, or umma, in the minds of men.

Further, Islam does not have one leader who can dictate what is right
or who is wrong. The absence of an ultimate authority figure means
that Shiites - who, unlike Sunnis, believe that religious scholars
are needed to help interpret the will of God - often latch on to
charismatic imams.

This helps explain why the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has recently
committed himself to further religious study in Iran. It also helps
to explain why Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will fail to gain
acceptance as a leader among the vast majority of Iraq's Shiite
population.

Not only does Mr. Maliki not have support in the street - his
government's failure to deliver even basic security and life's needs
is apparent to most Iraqis - but he has no religious credentials of
his own to fall back on.

By contrast, Mr. Sadr's ability to deliver security and services
through his Mahdi Army, and his authority as cleric and the son of
the martyred Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al-Sadr, has assured him a
devoted following.

Sectarian conflict in Iraq was previously limited to fighting between
Sunnis and Shiites. But today, the conflict has grown to include
Shiites against fellow Shiites. Despite signs that security has
improved, the religious civil wars in Iraq may have only just begun.

My research on civil wars from 1940 to 2000 highlights three
important facts about such wars, all of which apply to Iraq. First,
nearly half of all ongoing civil wars (46 percent) involve religion
in some form. Second, Islam has been involved in more than 80 percent
of all religious civil wars. Third, religious civil wars are less
likely to end in negotiated settlement. Instead, combatants tend to
duke it out until one side achieves victory.

In Iraq, a negotiated settlement is going to be very difficult for
two reasons. First, the Shiites will want to remain in almost
complete control due to two entirely legitimate concerns: (1) fears
of Sunni repression as experienced in the past, and (2) a sense of
majority-rule justice. Second, the Shiites themselves are divided on
how Iraq should be ruled, so it's difficult to know whom to bargain
with on the Shiite side, and therefore who can credibly commit to
abide by the terms of any settlement.

What then can the United States and its allies do to bring about a
negotiated settlement? Ironically, the best way to support a
negotiated settlement would be to leave Iraq.

The withdrawal of US forces would allow Iraq's predominantly Arab
Shiites and Sunnis to find common interest in opposing their two more
classical historical adversaries: Kurds and Persians. The longer the
US and Britain stay, the more they facilitate a shift away from the
identity that long unified Iraq to the religious identity that is
tearing it apart and facilitating its manipulation by Iran.

There are three obvious downsides to this approach.

First, the end of violence in Iraq following a US withdrawal would
lead to the emergence of a nonsecular, nondemocratic government in
Iraq. It would be more friendly toward Iran (though not Iran's
puppet, as currently feared), but less friendly toward Israel,
although a democratic Iraq would be no improvement in this regard.

Second, since US withdrawal has been conditioned on a de-escalation
of violence in Iraq, the Bush and Brown governments would be left the
unenviable task of explaining to their countries that "withdrawal is
the best way to create the conditions for, withdrawal."

Third, withdrawal before violence has fully ceased will look like
failure to most Americans and Britons.

The idea of victory versus failure is really a false dichotomy,
however. The real choice for US and British policymakers is between
the more costly failure that will obtain from current policy and the
less costly failure that might obtain from a well- thought-out and
well-executed withdrawal.

. Monica Duffy Toft is a professor of public policy at Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government.

Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0602/p09s01-coop.html



From johnaimani at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  2 11:43:30 2008
From: johnaimani at earthlink.net (johnaimani)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 10:43:30 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] on hayek, mises etc.
Message-ID: <00cc01c8c4d8$2c595090$6400a8c0@D4PKYZ41>

<<Can anyone recommend any good literature of a marxist engagement with  
the Austrian school of economics?>>

Away from the Socialist Calculation Debate as to the crux of the matter, the Law of Value, there is 

Hilferding's "Bohm-Bawerk's Criticism of Marx"  http://marx.org/archive/hilferding/1904/criticism/index.htm

In it Hilferding's Preface reads in part:

"Since his criticism deals with principles, since he does not attack isolated and arbitrarily selected points or conclusions, but questions and reflects as untenable the very foundation of the Marxist system, possibility is afforded for a fruitful discussion."

That foundation is Marx' theory of value.

From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 11:48:23 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:48:23 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Postville
Message-ID: <48443267.8060708@panix.com>

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/325679

(Link to URL above for embedded links in this article)

Kosher Meat Boycott

Thanks to the terrific group, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice 
(JFREJ) for alerting me to the kosher meat boycott currently roiling 
parts of the Jewish community coast to coast. It turns out that 
AgriProcessors, the country's largest kosher slaughterhouse, seems to be 
guilty of some ugly union busting and targeting of immigrants that has 
outraged at least a portion of the Orthodox community.

The allegations against the company -- which produces sixty percent of 
the beef and forty percent of the chicken provided to the kosher 
marketplace -- include a pattern of knowingly exploiting undocumented 
workers with sub-standard pay and severe workplace mistreatment; 
violation of child labor laws by putting children as young as 13 to work 
and reports of floor supervisors physically, verbally and sexually 
abusing workers.

AgriProcessors has been cited multiple times by federal and state 
regulators for food-safety, environmental, labor and animal-cruelty 
violations. The company was also the site of a recent immigration raid 
as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials closed the plant and 
arrested 389 workers for immigration violations. Far from properly 
punishing any criminals, the action was, in fact, "A Raid on Fairness," 
as the Boston Globe called it in a strong editorial on May 24.

If the government wants to send a message, it ought to pay more 
attention to prosecuting abusive employers who hire undocumented 
immigrants and mistreat them by withholding pay or doling out verbal and 
physical abuse. So far, no officials at AgriProcessors have been charged.

Glaring allegations of such abuse can be found in the search warrant 
application that officials submitted to raid Agriprocessors. In one 
case, a former worker told federal agents about finding a 
methamphetamine lab on the company premises. The former worker spoke of 
having destroyed part of the lab and said that this led to a physical 
confrontation with an immediate supervisor and, eventually, to being fired.

A federal informant who worked at AgriProcessors told officials about 
workers who appeared to be undocumented having trouble getting paid. In 
one case, a supervisor put duct tape over a worker's eyes and hit him 
with a meat hook, without, the warrant says, causing serious harm.

The violations were first reported by a Jewish newspaper, the Forward, 
prompting Jewish advocacy groups to note that Jewish law protects 
workers and forbids inflicting unnecessary pain on animals.

Picking up on that theme, Uri l'tzedek, a group established to serve and 
inspire the American Orthodox Jewish community towards enacting social 
justice, is asking the estimated one million Americans who observe 
kosher restrictions to consider whether a company can meet religious 
standards if it violates ethical ones.

Uri l'tzedek's conclusion is clear by its petition drive calling on 
Agriprocessors to pay its workers the minimum wage of the land, to 
recommit to abide by all federal, state and local laws including those 
pertaining worker safety, sexual harassment, physical abuse, and the 
rights of your employees to collective bargaining and to treat its 
workers according to the standards that Torah and halakha places on 
protecting workers--standards which include the spirit of lifnim 
meshurat hadin, going well beyond the bare minimum requirements of the law.

And for those history buffs among you, Kosher meat boycotts have a 
storied tradition. The first recorded kosher meat boycott in the US took 
place 1902 and was an early demonstration of the rising political 
consciousness of Jewish women in New York City's ghettos. Most of the 
boycotters were not yet American citizens, but they had lived in America 
long enough to observe the organizing strategies of the nascent labor 
and women's suffrage movements. The example set by the kosher meat 
boycotters was later emulated in Jewish neighborhood rent strikers in 
1904 and 1907-08, and in food boycotts in 1907, 1912 and 1917. Many of 
the daughters of the kosher meat boycotters of 1902, especially those in 
the garment trades, would become the backbone of New York's labor movement.

I'm not under the impression that this blog is especially well-read in 
the Orthodox community but I think the AgriProcessor boycott is an 
important cause to highlight. Even beyond the legitimate and worthy 
goals of the campaign this movement shows the social justice side of the 
Jewish tradition that is too often drowned out by the rasher and more 
self-interested stereotypes.

---

The Boston Globe, April 20, 2001
ASSIMILATION AND KEEPING KOSHER IN IOWA
By Bob MacDonald, Globe Staff

Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America
By Stephen G. Bloom
Harcourt, 338 pp., $25;

Iowans are so high on the hog that some years ago one small community 
erected a giant statue of a porker in the town square. This is not a 
state where you would expect to find a settlement of Hasidic Jews 
running a kosher meat-packing plant. Yet there it is, outside the town 
of Postville.Meanwhile, in Iowa City, author Stephen G. Bloom is getting 
his own taste of white-bread Iowa, having moved from San Francisco to 
teach journalism at the University of Iowa. The residents are mostly of 
German descent, the majority of them Lutherans.

It is a place where Lutherans do not marry Baptists, Baptists do not 
marry Catholics, and Jews are hardly known. Not only are Bloom and his 
wife and son part of that last group, they also qualify as outsiders 
simply because they came from the city.

As Bloom tries to adapt to country ways, there are disconcerting events. 
Christianity is assumed at Cub Scout meetings he and his son attend. 
When on Easter morning the Cedar Rapids Gazette runs the banner headline 
"He Has Risen," Bloom wryly points out to his journalism students that 
the event "was neither breaking news nor could it be corroborated by two 
independent sources."

And, in an incident that looks awfully like anti-Semitism, the Blooms 
are selected by a neighbor to host the watermelon social, and very few 
people show up.

Feeling stranded in Middle America, Bloom begins to look toward the 
Hasidim of Postville as a connection to his roots. But making contact is 
not easy. Their leader, Sholom Rubashkin, does not jump to return 
Bloom's phone calls.

What's happening in Postville is a more intense, larger-scale version of 
what Bloom is experiencing in Iowa City. But whereas Bloom tries to 
blend into the Iowa community, the Hasidim wish to remain apart. Their 
packing plant is outside the town limits, ungoverned by town laws, 
untaxed, which rankles the locals.

The Hasidim have been highly successful and brought prosperity to a 
formerly dying town, yet they are resented. They buy impressive homes 
but don't mow the lawns in the summer or shovel their sidewalks in the 
winter. They pass by on the street without speaking. They haggle over 
prices.

While in the Northeast this behavior would simply mark them as New 
Yorkers, to the people of Postville, Iowa, it is because they are Jews. 
A referendum is scheduled to annex the lands where the packing plant is 
located, making it a part of Postville, giving the community some 
measure of control. The Hasidim are threatening to leave if it passes.

Bloom eventually visits with the Hasidim, who are welcoming yet admonish 
him for his assimilation: "The word Hasid comes from the Hebrew, and 
literally means 'the pious one,' but the Postville Hasidim I had 
encountered were anything but pious. You couldn't become casual friends 
with them; it was all or nothing. They required total submission to 
their schema of right and wrong, Jew vs. Christian - or you were the enemy."

He attends intense temple services with them, yet sees the separation of 
men and women as a demeaning concept. He cringes when one man boasts of 
getting something for nothing, of paying his bills only when he feels 
like it.

Bloom relates all this in easy-reading narrative and as a good 
journalist pursues every lead, including traveling to the Hasidic 
community in New York. It's a thought-provoking book in this, a nation 
of immigrants. The American melting pot has always remained an ethnic 
stew, with people clinging to their identities. Most immigrant families 
gradually change their dress and customs, however, and this is where the 
Hasidim balk. Religion and daily life are inseparable. To them, to 
assimilate is to disappear.

One wonders how much of this is a reaction to the persecution Jews have 
endured over the centuries. There is a note of sadness as the referendum 
passes and Sholom Rubashkin notes of the result, "You know, to be liked 
by forty-five percent of the people? Hey, that's not bad." To be liked, 
it seems, is not something he expected.

On a positive note, since the book has come out, a Jew has been 
appointed to the Postville City Council.


From rfls12802 at blueyonder.co.uk  Mon Jun  2 11:26:52 2008
From: rfls12802 at blueyonder.co.uk (Paul Flewers)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 18:26:52 +0100
Subject: [Marxism] Standpoint magazine
In-Reply-To: <mailman.561.1212419609.2559.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.561.1212419609.2559.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <000901c8c4d5$da5634e0$8f029ea0$@co.uk>

I've had a quick gander at Standpoint's website. It's mostly standard
contemporary right-wing editorialising, a collection of Daily Telegraph
editorials and opinion pieces. It does enable people to avoid having to read
the Daily Telegraph every day. For the benefit of US list members, it's a
bit like a British version of the US Spectator or the National Review.

Paul F






From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  2 13:40:39 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:40:39 -0700
Subject: [Marxism]
 =?windows-1252?q?Whatever_Became_Of_What=92s-His-N__=3D?=
 =?windows-1252?q?=3Fwindows-1252=3FQ=3Fame=3D2C=5FThe=5FRadic?=
Message-ID: <BAY127-W13BC29E1E78E08FCC53D55D7BB0@phx.gbl>


Louis (in his linked article, not in the section he posted here):

"Ever since I left the SWP in 1978, I have been trying to figure out how 
socialists can get a hearing. To a large extent, I have learned that the Green 
Party was a vehicle for getting out such a message."

The Green Party? Really? I don't know if you were referring to getting out the 
socialist message to members of the Green Party, or using the Green Party as a 
vehicle to get a socialist message out to a wider audience, but in either case, 
I'm afraid you lost me if you think either was true to any significant degree, 
outside of Peter Camejo's brief (and, in my opinion, disappointing) appearance 
on TV during the California recall race.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting the word "vehicle." Yes, the Green Party is a 
"vehicle" for getting out such a message. A skateboard, perhaps. But certainly 
not a bus, or a train, or any kind of vehicle that has demonstrated the ability 
to get "such a message" out to significantly more people than, say, an old SWP 
campaign or a current PSL campaign. Would that it were true.


_________________________________________________________________
Keep your kids safer online with Windows Live Family Safety.
http://www.windowslive.com/family_safety/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_family_safety_052008

From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 13:48:29 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:48:29 -0400
Subject: [Marxism]
 =?windows-1252?q?Whatever_Became_Of_What=92s-His-N__=3D?=
 =?windows-1252?q?=3Fwindows-1252=3FQ=3Fame=3D2C=5FThe=5FRadic?=
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W13BC29E1E78E08FCC53D55D7BB0@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W13BC29E1E78E08FCC53D55D7BB0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <48444E8D.1090607@panix.com>

Eli Stephens wrote:
> Maybe I'm misinterpreting the word "vehicle." Yes, the Green Party is a 
> "vehicle" for getting out such a message. A skateboard, perhaps. But certainly 
> not a bus, or a train, or any kind of vehicle that has demonstrated the ability 
> to get "such a message" out to significantly more people than, say, an old SWP 
> campaign or a current PSL campaign. Would that it were true.

You'll note that I said, "the Green Party *was* a vehicle for getting 
out such a message." I no longer think that it is. Perhaps if the 
Demogreens are sent on their way, it might once again be possible but I 
am really not sure.

I thought that, for example, Howie Hawkins's campaign was a very good 
vehicle for basic socialist (or anti-capitalist at least) ideas. Here's 
the sort of thing he was saying:

http://hawkinsforsenate.net/issues/Independent-Politics.html

The problems of injustice, war, and the environment are not going to be 
resolved by reforms of the existing social system. The very structure of 
capitalism generates social injustice, war, and environmental 
degradation. Based on a competitive struggle to survive, businesses must 
grow bigger in order to survive the competition. That means they must 
exploit their workers as much as they can get away with in order to take 
in more profits and reinvest in expansion. That inherent growth dynamic 
of capitalism means the capitalist economy grows blindly without any 
sense of reciprocity or balance with the ecological systems that sustain 
it, just like cancer grows in an organism until it exhausts and kills 
its host. The competitive struggle for growth in capitalism also breeds 
endless wars as capitalist governments compete with each other on behalf 
of their own capitalists for access to resources, markets, and labor.

If we are going to build a society that is ecologically sustainable and 
at peace with itself as well as nature, we are going to have to replace 
capitalism with a democratic economy that the people own and control 
collectively. Traditional democratic socialisms focused on overcoming 
the exploitation of workers, the oppression of women and minorities, and 
militarism and war. Today, as we face multiple ecological crises ranging 
from global warming and mass extinctions to the depletion of the oil 
that fuels our economy, we need an ecological socialism that builds upon 
the best libertarian and democratic traditions of socialism to address 
the ecological crisis.

An ecological socialist economy would democratically plan production and 
distribution to use renewable resources on a sustainable yield basis and 
to fairly distribute that sustainable production to meet everyone's 
basic material needs. It would be a decentralized economy, with a 
substantial measure of local and regional self-reliance, in order to 
make democratic management transparent and participatory and to 
integrate and harmonize production with the unique ecological assets of 
each bioregion.

An ecological approach to politics links social and ecological problems. 
Ecology studies the relationships among organisms and their environment. 
Political ecology brings human institutions and ideologies into this 
holistic perspective. From that perspective we find historically that 
the same institutions and ideas that cause the exploitation and 
oppression of humans also cause the degradation and destruction of the 
environment. Both are rooted in hierarchical, exploitative, and 
alienated social systems that systematically produce human oppression 
and ecological destruction.

The problem is deeper than capitalism alone. It is rooted in social 
hierarchy and domination. The misuse and abuse of people extends into a 
domineering regard for nature as well, whether we look at ancient 
kingdoms and empires that exploited peasantries, bureaucratic states 
like the old Soviet Union or contemporary China , or capitalist states.

That means the fights against racism, sexism, class exploitation, 
bureaucratic domination, war, and all other forms of social domination 
and hierarchy are central to the movement for an ecologically 
sustainable society. In order to harmonize society with nature, we must 
harmonize human with human.

Ecological socialism carries forward the traditional values of the Left: 
freedom, equality, and solidarity. It seeks to realize the socialist 
ideal of a truly democratic society without class exploitation or social 
domination. But ecological socialism expands this vision of a classless, 
nonhierarchical society that is harmonized with itself to include an 
ecological society that is harmonized with nature as well.

We should fight now for every democratic, justice, and environmental 
reform that is consistent with the ecological socialist future we seek. 
But as we fight for immediate improvements, we must also put forward the 
ecological socialist vision and the need for fundamental change to 
resolve the problems we face.




From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 13:49:49 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:49:49 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] From Joshua Frank
Message-ID: <48444EDD.2060701@panix.com>

Hiya Friends,

Check it out! We're up and running! This is the site launch for Red 
State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland, which 
will be out later this month from AK Press! Pass it along!

Check back soon for more updates, events and rebelious information.

Cheers,
Joshua

www.RedStateRebels.org



From giobon at comcast.net  Mon Jun  2 15:05:59 2008
From: giobon at comcast.net (Bonnie Weinstein)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:05:59 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] =?iso-8859-1?q?=8CNo_Peace_No_Work=B9_May_Day_Report_By?=
	=?iso-8859-1?q?_The=09Editors_Socialist_Viewpoint?=
In-Reply-To: <48443267.8060708@panix.com>
Message-ID: <C469AEC7.48FF5%giobon@comcast.net>

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

?No Peace No Work? May Day Report
By The Editors
Socialist Viewpoint
May/June 2008
[See UTube Video of March at this site.]
http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/

?No peace, no work!? was the slogan printed on the buttons distributed to
rank-and-file longshoremen and their supporters marching against the war on
Iraq and Afghanistan on May 1. And that?s exactly what happened. All West
Coast U.S. ports were shutdown tight for eight hours May 1st to protest the
wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. As the San Francisco Chronicle put it,
?Operations in Oakland and other West Coast ports ground to a halt Thursday
after ILWU workers stayed off the job...and brought cargo operations to a
virtual standstill.?

The mobilization for a ?No Peace, No Work Holiday? was the result of a
resolution passed by the Coast Caucus of the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (the rank-and-file decision-making body of the international
union) on February 8 this year. The resolution was submitted by San
Francisco ILWU local 10. It called for an immediate end to the U.S. wars
against Iraq and Afghanistan through the withdrawal of U.S. forces (see page
15, Socialist Viewpoint, March-April, 2008).

Powerful forces tried to stop the action. The bosses, operating through the
Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), opposed and tried to stop the work
action, even getting an arbitrator to try to order the workers to work on
May 1. The top union officers tried to water down the words of the action,
changing the content from ?immediate withdrawal? of U.S. forces to the
?safe? withdrawal of forces (a formulation more in line with the Democratic
Party officeholders who speak against the war but who vote to continue
funding it on the phony grounds of ?supporting the troops?). And although
this was an unprecedented action by American workers resisting the U.S.
military crusade in the Middle East with a work stoppage, the bosses? media
mouthpieces almost completely blocked it out of the news media, even on the
West Coast.

But it happened anyway. The ILWU showed the working class of the United
States and the world the way forward, reviving the traditions of a labor
movement that acts in defense of the working class, and isn?t afraid to show
the real power workers have. If longshore workers don?t load the ships, the
war materiel won?t be transported. Without war materiel, the U.S. cannot
wage war. If the factories that make the weapons and ammunition, the tanks
and ATVs, stopped production, the war could not be prosecuted. And no issue
is more central to the interests of the working class than the issue of war.

May 1 showed the potential and the power of the working class to act in its
own interests. The war could not be carried out if U.S. workers acted
collectively at the point of production to stop it. That is the shining
example set by the ILWU to the working class. The action showed that the
interests of workers in the U.S. are the same as the interests of workers in
the very countries being attacked by U.S. imperialism.

Longshoreman crane operator, Jack Heyman, one of authors and main leaders of
the May 1st work stoppage, responded to attacks on the action on the
internet:

?[E]ver since the 2003 ILWU Convention here in San Francisco, our union has
been opposed to the war and for the immediate withdrawal of troops. It was a
resolution submitted by my local, Local 10, and passed after lengthy and
democratic debate. This May Day antiwar action also passed the Caucus after
a full and democratic debate with only a few voting against. It?s not only
the right thing to do; it?s consistent with ILWU?s Ten Guiding Principles.
It just so happens that the majority of people in this country
overwhelmingly oppose the war. The Caucus resolution pointed out that both
Democrat and Republican politicians continue to fund this war despite
popular opinion, and we have a unique opportunity to make a powerful antiwar
statement that reflects the will of the majority not only of ILWU members
but of working people in this country.

?The resolution calls for bringing the troops out of the Middle East and
back to the U.S. It?s interesting to note that French dockworkers also went
on strike to get French troops out of the Vietnam War in the ?50s.?

In response to an attack on the action as one favoring immigrants? rights,
Heyman said, ?As far as ?illegal aliens? the founder of our union was one.
Harry Bridges, a seaman at the time, jumped ship in New Orleans. ILWU
defends immigrant workers? rights, a position we?ve consistently adopted at
ILWU Conventions. Last May Day the Caucus was adjourned so delegates could
participate in an immigrant workers? rights rally in front of San
Francisco?s City Hall.... As far as May Day, it?s a workers? holiday that
was started in Chicago in the struggle for the 8-hour day. The labor
movement in this country needs [to] know its proud history and reclaim its
holiday.?

The ILWU?s May Day action had important support from Iraqi dockworkers, U.S.
postal workers, and endorsements from unionists in Britain, New Zealand,
Canada and other countries. The San Francisco Labor Council passed a motion
on March 24th in solidarity with the action, encouraging ?other unions to
follow ILWU?s call for a ?No Peace-No Work Holiday? or other labor actions
on May Day, to express their opposition to the U.S. wars and occupations in
the Middle East.?

The editors of Socialist Viewpoint applaud the ILWU workers for leading the
way forward in building an antiwar movement that can really end the war. In
this issue we are printing a transcript of an interview by Amy Goodman, of
the Democracy Now! Radio program with ILWU rank and file leader, Jack Heyman
as well as two letters from the Port Workers Union of Iraq to the ILWU and
to ?workers and all peace-loving people of the world,? and the S.F. Labor
Council resolution.




From giobon at comcast.net  Mon Jun  2 15:06:34 2008
From: giobon at comcast.net (Bonnie Weinstein)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:06:34 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Healthcare Wars By Bonnie Weinstein Socialist Viewpoint
In-Reply-To: <000901c8c4d5$da5634e0$8f029ea0$@co.uk>
Message-ID: <C469AEEA.48FF6%giobon@comcast.net>

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

Healthcare Wars
By Bonnie Weinstein
Socialist Viewpoint
May/June 2008
http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/mayjun_08/mayjun_08_09.html

Being an uninsured San Franciscan, I joined the Community Health Network
(CHN) of San Francisco General Hospital as a patient with sliding-scale
coverage. The monthly fee was $49.00?a bargain compared to private health
plans, for sure and there was no copayment except a $5 charge for filled
prescriptions. But on April 3, 2008, the CHN sent out a letter to its
patients enumerating new fees:

?Emergency Room visit?that is not an emergency $50.00; Urgent Care
Visit?that is not urgent $20.00; Medical and Surgical Specialty Office
Visits $20.00; Certain Radiology visits $20.00; Durable Medical Equipment
$5.00-$20.00 (depending on item cost); Primary Care visits $10.00 depending
on your income. The fee (copayment) is due at the time of visit; Medicines
that are prescribed for you also require copayment that is due to the
pharmacist at the time the prescription is filled. Thank you for your
cooperation.?

I had forgotten about a previous notice dated September 4, 2007, that
stated, in addition to the above,

?You must pay the copayment before your visit.... Also on October 16, 2007,
patients with sliding scale coverage and prescription drug benefits through
the CHN will need to pay a copayment for each drug (by prescription or
over-the-counter). The copayment is for both new and refill drugs....
Depending on the drug, you will need to pay a $5.00 or $25.00 copayment for
each drug. [It used to be $5.00 for whatever number of prescriptions the
Doctor gave you at the time.]...?Over-the-Counter? drugs that do not need a
prescription from a doctor may cost less than your copayment if you buy them
from the drug store.?

But, according to the city?s new Healthy San Francisco plan for people
without health insurance, these copayments will be in addition to the
quarterly fee (in my case, $150 for three months?virtually the same as I
paid for the CHN plan) but paid to Healthy San Francisco, plus the
additional copayments paid to San Francisco General?s clinic (or whatever
clinic you are assigned to) at the time of service.

No matter which way you look at it, healthcare for the uninsured in San
Francisco will be both more expensive and over-crowded.
What is Healthy San Francisco?

According to the website at healthysanfrancisco.org,

?Healthy San Francisco is a program created by the city of San Francisco
that makes health care services accessible and affordable for uninsured
residents. Healthy San Francisco offers a new way for San Francisco
residents who do not have health insurance, to have basic and ongoing
medical care that include: Preventive and Routine Care; Prescription
Medicines; Specialty Care; Urgency and Emergency Care; Hospital Care; Mental
Health Care; and More... Some services such as Vision, Dental, Acupuncture,
and others are not included.... Participants in Healthy San Francisco are
each assigned a Medical Home. A Medical Home (in most cases, a clinic) [Such
as the San Francisco General Hospital CHN clinics] provides all basic health
care services... You may qualify for Healthy San Francisco if you are ALL of
the following: Living on a combined family income at or below 300 percent of
the Federal Poverty Level; a San Francisco resident who can provide proof of
San Francisco residency; Uninsured for at least 90 days; Not eligible for
public insurance programs such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, or Healthy
Kids & Young Adults(tm); Between the ages of 18 and 64.... If eligible, you
may join Healthy San Francisco regardless of immigration status or
pre-existing medical conditions. If you qualify, there is room for you in
the program.?

What it doesn?t say is that not only has there been no increase in
healthcare services to compensate for the increase in patients at the cities
clinics due to Healthy San Francisco, but in fact, services have been cut
back across the board! And all the clinics are now beginning to charge
similar copayments as San Francisco General?s CHN, even to their poorest
patients!
The healthcare crisis is mounting

Cities and states across the country are trying to come up with ways to
handle the increased demand for healthcare from an ever-increasing number of
the uninsured and underinsured. And while none of the politicians like to
talk about it, tens of millions of people in this country are well aware of
the situation, either because of the rising costs of the healthcare they now
have or because they have no healthcare at all. Unfortunately, the solutions
offered by the powers that be offer little more hope.
What else can we look forward to?

In Massachusetts, health insurance is now mandatory. The uninsured must buy
health insurance like they have to buy car insurance. And the insurance
companies, like car-insurance companies, must cover all who apply. And like
car insurance, the uninsured are distributed across health-insurance
companies similarly to how car insurance is assigned to the uninsured
motorist. The state determines how much you can afford to pay and exactly
what coverage you will get. According to a November 25, 2007, article in The
New York Times entitled ?Massachusetts Faces a Test on Healthcare,? by Kevin
Sack,

?The Massachusetts plan was signed into law by former Gov. Mitt Romney. . .
. The law, which requires adults to be covered by Dec. 31, grants exemptions
from the penalty if an income-based formula determines that coverage would
not be affordable. . . . The state established a mild penalty for the first
year [for not purchasing health insurance when mandated to do so]: the loss
of the $219 tax exemption. But in the second year, the fine can amount to
half the cost of the least expensive policy available, probably at least
$1,000.?

So, in Massachusetts, the first year you file a tax return without proof of
insurance you lose your whopping $219.00 tax exemption. (Ironically, the
first year, it?s cheaper to not buy insurance and just lose the tax
exemption!) But if you get caught the next year without insurance you will
be fined at least $1,000.00!

The argument in favor of this kind of healthcare plan is that at least you
can buy coverage even if you happen to have a pre-existing health condition.
The way it commonly is now, it?s virtually impossible to buy health
insurance if you have had medical problems in the past or have an ongoing
health issue like cancer, asthma, or diabetes?either the cost of insurance
is fantastically high or they simply decline coverage altogether.

The obvious drawback of the Massachusetts plan is that what the government
says a person can afford for health insurance may not be what the individual
truly can afford. And as the economy deteriorates further and incomes lose
even more ground due to inflation, many more will need exemptions from
income-based fees. So, the more hardship the economy brings, the more
heavily taxed the healthcare system will become.

According to a March 27, 2008, article on e Max Health,entitled
?Massachusetts Officials to Reduce Cost of Health Insurance Law,?

?Massachusetts officials are seeking ways to address the increasing costs of
the state?s health insurance law as ?the state faces a recession and pivotal
funding decisions that could make or break health reform,? The Boston Globe
reports. The state faces a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, with the health
insurance initiative facing about a $100 million shortfall... According to
The Globe, lawmakers could address the $100 million gap ?quickly if the
state approves an increase in the cigarette tax? and uses the money for
health care, as proposed by state House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D). A
$1-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax could generate $152 million a
year. A ?larger issue? will be securing a new three-year commitment from the
federal government, which provides about half of the funds for the state?s
subsidized insurance program Commonwealth Care, The Globe reports.
Massachusetts is seeking $1.5 billion over three years in federal matching
funds, but the ?Bush administration has been cutting back federal payments
to the states,? according to The Globe.?

So, already, Massachusetts is in trouble. And who will pay? The
tobacco-addicted consumer?overwhelmingly poor and among the most in need of
good healthcare and treatment for their addiction?it is they who will bear
that additional tax burden. And lawmakers will think of more things to tax.
No doubt things poor people eat, or drink, or smoke. So in Massachusetts as
in San Francisco, ?universal healthcare coverage? means everyone is going to
pay except the corporations.

 
What about the unions? Do they have a solution for healthcare for all?

According to the Executive Summary: Comprehensive Healthcare Reform for
Colorado, as expressed by Andy Stern, President, Service Employees
International Union (SEIU),

?All Americans need financial security and quality health care they can
afford... The time is long overdue for America to address these problems.
America needs a plan for the 21st century. Not a Democratic or Republican
plan, or a business or labor plan. We need an American plan; a plan to
insure that the American Dream endures for our children and grandchildren.?

And, according to the SEIU and the Colorado Association of Public Employees
(CAPE), quality healthcare for all is described as a:

?System to Ensure Access to Affordable Coverage. Health care would be
provided through private market insurance products offered by a Health
Insurance Exchange to ensure a choice of affordable plans with options for
individuals and families. The plan would provide premium assistance to
low-income uninsured for the purchase of health insurance on a sliding
scale, based on income, and individuals would be allowed to voluntarily opt
out to enroll in employer-sponsored insurance, using their premium
assistance to pay for any required employee contribution. SEIU and CAPE
believe this is a cost effective and realistic approach to expanding health
care coverage in Colorado at the present time. We would, however, encourage
the Legislature, the Commission and the Governor to work with the federal
government to continue to expand coverage in the future until every
Coloradan is guaranteed affordable health care.?

Again, this is similar to the Massachusetts plan in that everyone will be
required to purchase ?affordable? coverage, as determined by the state and
managed by private insurance companies?just like car insurance?and they will
suffer the same fate as Massachusetts. So much for so-called ?universal
healthcare,? which simply means that everyone must buy health insurance one
way or another.
Single-payer healthcare

But some are touting ?single-payer? plans, such as H.R. 676, put forward by
Congressman John Conyers, Jr. This plan is different in that it will be a
nationwide program and will include a conversion from a private to a
nonprofit healthcare system over a fifteen-year period. It promises to be ?a
publicly financed, privately delivered healthcare system that improves and
expands the already existing Medicare program, it would be available to all
U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories.? It also
promises, ?...to ensure that all Americans will have access, guaranteed by
law, to the highest-quality and most cost-effective healthcare services
regardless of their employment, income, or healthcare status.? Specifically,
it would:

?Cover all medically necessary services, including primary care, inpatient
care, outpatient care, emergency care, prescription drugs, durable medical
equipment, hearing services, long-term care, mental health services,
dentistry, eye care, chiropractic, and substance abuse treatment. Patients
have their choice of physicians, providers, hospitals, clinics, and
practices. No co-pays or deductibles are permissible under this act.?

It sounds pretty good, and certainly it is an improvement over Healthy San
Francisco (which doesn?t cover dental or eye care) or the Massachusetts and
SEIU plans. But there is a catch. ?Under H.R. 676, a family of four making
the median family income of $56,200 per year would pay about $2,700 for all
healthcare costs, including the current Medicare tax.? So, it?s not free but
on a sliding scale (which will always be adjusted upward.) And it gives
businesses a real break (which will also always be adjusted upward):

?In 2006, health insurers charged employers an average of $11,500 for a
health plan for a family of four. On average, the employer paid 74 percent
of this premium, or $8,510 per year. This figure does not include the
additional 1.45 percent payroll tax levied on employers for Medicare. Under
H.R. 676, employers would pay a 4.75 percent payroll tax for all healthcare
costs, including the current Medicare tax. For an employee making the median
annual family income of $56,200, the employer would pay about $2,700 per
year.?

How will the program be funded in the long run? H.R. 676 will:

?Maintain current federal and state funding for existing healthcare
programs; Establish employer/employee payroll tax of 4.75 percent (includes
present 1.45 percent Medicare tax); Establish a 5 percent health tax on the
top 5 percent of income earners, 10 percent tax on top 1 percent of wage
earners; 1

Of course, this is the proposal that has not been passed. And all the
candidates have distanced themselves from it. But in a New York Times
article dated March 1, 2007, by Robin Toner and Janet Elder entitled, ?Poll
Shows Majority Back Healthcare for All,? it must be noted that, ?A majority
of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to
every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to
do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.?

While it?s admirable that working people are willing to pay more taxes if it
meant that everyone would have healthcare, it nevertheless should be a
right, like the right to public education and fire protection. If you have
to buy it, it?s not a right?except for those who can pay for it!
Who should pay for healthcare?

Prescription drug companies are some of the highest profit-earners on Wall
Street. According to an April 21, 2008, New York Times article entitled
?Merck Profit Jumps on Gain? by The Associated Press,

?Drugmaker Merck (NYSE:MRK) & Co.?s on Monday reported that its profit
almost doubled in the first quarter due to a $1.4 billion distribution from
a partner drug company; its sales were slightly higher than a year ago....
The maker of allergy and asthma pill Singulair reported net income of $3.3
billion, or $1.52 per share, for the January-March period, up from $1.7
billion, or 78 cents a share, a year ago.... Excluding the $1.4 billion gain
from AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) of Britain and other one-time items,
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck earned 89 cents per share in the latest
quarter.... Revenues totaled $5.82 billion, up 1 percent from $5.77 billion
in the first three months of 2007.?

On the same day, The Associated Press authored an article that appeared in
The Times, entitled ?Eli Lilly Profit Doubles on Higher Sales.? The article
reported that ?Drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. said strong sales for Cymbalta
and Cialis helped double its first-quarter profit? and that, ?The
Indianapolis-based company said earnings jumped to $1.06 billion, or 97
cents per share, from year-ago profit of $508.7 million, or 47 cents per
share.?

According to an article by Adrianne Appel of Inter Press Service dated April
10, 2007, entitled ?More Uninsured Means More Healthcare Corporate Profits,?

?In 2005, the drug companies Procter and Gamble, Merck, Amgen and Abbot and
insurer UnitedHealth Group were among the 50 most profitable Fortune 500
companies in the United States, according to Fortune.... Many large drug
companies richly reward their chief executive officers with salaries and
bonuses. Johnson and Johnson?s CEO received salary and bonuses in 2006 of
$28 million, according to Dow Jones. And Merck CEO Richard Clark received
$10 million in compensation, according to AFL-CIO Corpwatch.... When former
Pfizer CEO Henry McKinnell left the company in 2006, he was given pension,
stock and other benefits worth $180 million, according to AFL-CIO
Corpwatch.... But CEO William McGuire, of UnitedHealth Group, a health
insurance company, stands alone. His annual salary in 2005 was $124 million,
and he has been provided stock options worth more than $1.7 billion,
according to Forbes.com. As part of his retirement package, he and his
spouse will receive free healthcare for as long as they live, according to
AFL-CIO Corpwatch.?

Clearly, we have the beginning of a base upon which to secure the funds to
provide free healthcare for all, i.e., from soaring corporate profits and
CEO bonuses!

Why is it so hard to demand that these corporations open their books? Or
explain how they can justify accumulating such profits at the expense of the
sick, and the blatant sacrifice of the lives of the poor who can?t afford
the medication and medical care they need? Yes, working people are willing
to pay?even for their brothers and sisters who are not insured. But the
wealthiest corporations and the greediest CEOs are not willing to pay a dime
that they can?t double-back in profits!

What about the profits from corporations that make people sick?like tobacco
and alcohol companies; all kinds of manufacturing companies that poison the
atmosphere, water, and ground with pollutants; or corporations that
clear-cut forests, or build obsolescence into their products so that they
break down and can?t be repaired?wasting precious un-renewable resources
because a new product has to be purchased; or corporations who take risks on
the lives of those who use their services, like the airlines who cut back on
maintenance and air-traffic control, and who sacrifice safety, comfort and
reliability for increased profits?
Is healthcare a right?

Do children have the right to live after they are born no matter what the
economic status of their parents is? Do the old and infirm have the right to
live even though their families can?t afford to pay for their care and are,
perhaps, unable to give it themselves? Does the working person driven from a
job by firing, layoffs, or buyouts have the right to go on living if he or
she is driven to poverty? Does the family driven from their home by mortgage
foreclosure have the right to go on living? Or should we surrender our
children, our aged parents, ourselves to the ?disintegration box? of Star
Trek fame when we are driven to poverty or unemployment or be too young, or
become too ill to work?

These are questions we have every right to ask ourselves, for these
questions are at the very root of the profit-driven system of capitalism and
the relationship that working people have to it.
Trillions for war

And what of the trillions of dollars spent on the war machine?the giant
military-industrial complex that is stationed throughout the world, wherever
oil and other natural resources can be found?to plunder them willy-nilly and
put them at the disposal of U.S. profit-grabbing corporations?

We know what rights the U.S. government and its political lackeys
have?whatever rights they want to declare for themselves; to invade
countries; to cross any borders they choose with their armies and/or their
profits; to declare war on the basis of lies and falsehoods; to give
tax-cuts to the rich; to increase taxes on the poor; to build jails and
appoint themselves as judges, lawmakers, jailers and executioners; to hide
their profits; to cut wages and jobs; to withhold healthcare?not just to the
uninsured but to the innocent children born to them?if it will turn a higher
profit for them. They want the right to keep profits to themselves!
What are our rights?

Working people must start to ask themselves what rights they think they
should have. What rights do they think their children deserve? What kind of
a world do we all deserve?

Working people have to start asking themselves what kind of a world we could
have if the profits created by our labor could be shared the world over,
instead of hoarded by the top one percent of the wealthiest people on the
planet. Working people must start asking themselves whether the trillions of
dollars spent on war and mayhem could be put to better use?perhaps by ending
the very poverty and injustice that are the true causes of war.

What rights do we working people have? Only the rights we are willing to
organize together, fight for, and take!



From jansen.l12 at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 15:23:21 2008
From: jansen.l12 at gmail.com (Linda Jansen)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:23:21 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Algeria Riots Pose Risk of Wider Unrest
Message-ID: <a06719f50806021423x5595d8f8la3c5eb6bd5c44c12@mail.gmail.com>

>
> >James Ciment, "Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge"
>
> Ciment is *first-rate*. I used his book on the Kurds for a Swans
> article a while back. Very, very well-researched and politically astute.
>
> Speaking of books about Algeria as Louis and Greg did, I always think of *The
Memory of Resistance*
*French Opposition* *to the Algerian War* by Martin Evans.

I know it's a different topic, but I found it very inspiring and insightful,
especially in light of our own
imperialist occupations.  From the publisher's description:

What makes people act against their own national identity?
> How real are the concepts of nationalism and patriotism?
> In what ways does the media control our perception of history in the
> making?
>
> This ground-breaking work addresses these important questions through an
> examination
> of the Algerian war of 1954-62 and the significant French resistance to
> their own leaders
> during the bitter conflict. Through the use of extensive interviews, it
> provides powerful insights
> into the clash of values that accompanied the war.
>

-- 
Power concedes nothing without a demand--Frederick Douglass
Make the demand!

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  2 15:35:41 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:35:41 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
Message-ID: <BAY127-W41C23C465DBC60F758C64CD7BB0@phx.gbl>


Louis wrote:

"You'll note that I said, "the Green Party *was* a vehicle for getting
out such a message." I no longer think that it is.
...
I thought that, for example, Howie Hawkins's campaign was a very good
vehicle for basic socialist (or anti-capitalist at least) ideas."

No doubt. But as I said, there are "vehicles" and there are "vehicles." The 
question is, did the Howie Hawkins "Green Party vehicle" reach signficantly more 
people than, say, Linda Jenness did campaigning as an SWP candidate in 1972, or 
than Gloria La Riva is going to reach campaigning as a PSL candidate in 2008. 
I'd say the answer is "no."

That's not to say that Green Parties in other countries haven't been good 
vehicles, or that some imaginary Green Party might become one in this country, 
but as to whether the Green Party in this country every was such a vehicle, I'm 
dubious.


_________________________________________________________________
Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the i?m Initiative from Microsoft.
http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 16:41:08 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 18:41:08 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Rising food prices driving the very young and very old to
	risk life
Message-ID: <908b689f0806021541j596a405sb095862c1689ef19@mail.gmail.com>

In the Fields, at 110 Degrees, for $2 a Day:
A Guaranteed Day's Work

By P. SAINATH

counterpunch.org
May 31 / June 1, 2008

He says he is not 70 but is, in fact, "quite a few years older."
"Anyway, how can I tell exactly?"

But age has not stopped Gadasu Ramulu from doing hard physical labour
in searing temperatures well above 110F in Nalgonda, India. There have been
nearly 60 heat wave deaths here in two months, the highest for any
district in Andhra Pradesh this year. His passbook shows he has worked
39 days at the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act site since such
work began at his village of Tatikolu. At the other end of the age
spectrum are many in their early teens trying to pass off as adults in
order to get some work and help out their families.

Hunger and rising prices are driving the old and the very young to the
work. In this time of crisis, "NREG work" is their lifeline.

Gadasu Ramulu thinks it's a good programme. "It should be there," he
says. His wife Anjamma insists: "Listen, it's essential. We won't eat
without it."

Then why does the record show he only worked three days at the site in
the past 10 days or so? "Look at me," he says. "This is hard work and
it is very hot. So typically I work four days and rest four days. I
cannot do it continuously for a week. Sometimes I find other work that
might pay less but is lighter. I'd like to do both, actually. In
truth, you do what you get ? and what you can manage physically."

His household includes a daughter ? and her children ? abandoned by
her husband. All the adults do "whatever work we can find." Including
Anjamma who is past 65.

"He's burning the energy he has," she says of Ramulu. "Which is bad
when we are eating less. But what is the option? That's why he has to
take a break every few days."

The family does not have an Antyodaya card (that is meant for the
poorest of the poor) that would make their food cheaper. At the NREG
site he can make "up to Rs. 80 a day." In the lean times, that makes
the difference between "something and nothing." She adds: "Without it,
we'd be in far more trouble."
[...]

Across several worksites in the districts of Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar
are others who are well into their sixties, actively seeking such
work. We also ran into at least three others close to Ramulu's age
returning to labour in order to eat. Being malnourished makes the work
that much harder.

Things are bad at home, too. "All the children here go without milk,"
says Anasuya in Tatikolu. "This year, with the costs shooting up, the
chance doesn't arise of their having it." Her husband is the field
assistant at the local NREG site.

"At least 40 children have had to be turned away from the work site,"
says her neighbour in this Dalit colony. "Families are terribly
hungry. Yes, the rice at Rs. 2 a kg is there for some, but it has only
just come in." And milk which was around Rs. 12 a liter is now between
Rs. 16-18 a litre. "And those with bigger families, or widows with
orphans, are having a bad time of it. Some days, people borrow money
to buy food." Often, girls of 12 or 13 wear sarees and try to appear
more mature than they are, in order to get work.

"What can people do?" asks Lakshmamma, a widow herself. She gets work
now and then at the site. "My job is to pour water over the spot to be
dug to make it less hard."

Young Damodar, who first tapped NREG work when he was 15, dropped out
of school after his father died. He goes to work on some days with his
mother. "A widow has to be accompanied by someone," she says.
"Otherwise, getting work can be difficult."

Villagers complain that the work they get is often too hard. "Try
digging for hours in this heat." And the price rise is making things a
lot worse with people being hungry and eating less.

"What we're doing is going downwards in steps," says Krishnaiah.
"First, people change the type of food and go in for poorer quality
which is cheaper.

They move to the cheapest vegetables, then no vegetables at all. Then
they give up milk. That's how the changes come." Amongst the changes
is that older people, particularly older widows, get much less to eat
within the household.

Krishnaiah is among the more fit and fortunate ones, who also goes out
to do stone-breaking work at a higher rate of wages at private sites.
"But that doesn't come always and it is even harder to do. The stones
are terribly hot. The tools also get very hot. Your feet are burning
all the time."

That, say the others, is the case with all of them. "We work to meet
our hunger, but we burn up the food we eat with that work."

The complaints are many and often justified. People are sometimes
exasperated by the way the NREGA system works. But there is unanimity
on its worth and value. It's hard to find a single poor person here
who says the program is of no use, that it ought to be wound up.

"It keeps us going," says Gadasu Ramulu. "What's more, it's right
here, in our village. We need this."

------
P. Sainath is the rural affairs editor of The Hindu, where this piece
appears, and is the author of "Everybody Loves a Good Drought". He can
be reached at: psainath at vsnl.com.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 19:23:25 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 21:23:25 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Achcar on Hezbollah
In-Reply-To: <4843F97F.8050104@panix.com>
References: <4843F97F.8050104@panix.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806021823p560d9ea7me199192c2ef2bee2@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 9:45 AM, Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:

> Q: It seems that the only way to go beyond sectarian divides can be
> through left political and trade union organizations that pose a
> non-sectarian alternative and resist the neoliberal policies that have
> been implemented in the country. Does Hezbollah have an inclination to
> organize resistance against those neoliberal policies?
>
> A: This is a total illusion. They have nothing fundamentally against
> neoliberalism and, even less so, capitalism.

Yoshie Furuhashi on Achcar:

"Has Mr. Gilbert Achcar examined the multinational empire's double
imposition of neoliberal reforms and disarmament of Hizballah on
Lebanon and Hizballah's alliance with trade unionists in resisting it? [...]"

Full: <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2006/2006-August/015049.html>


From markalause at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 19:50:41 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 21:50:41 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W41C23C465DBC60F758C64CD7BB0@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W41C23C465DBC60F758C64CD7BB0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806021850n17a8ceb8kd692b5d6a1333ec8@mail.gmail.com>

Eli Stephens <elishastephens at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> there are "vehicles" and there are "vehicles." The
> question is, did the Howie Hawkins "Green Party vehicle" reach signficantly more
> people than, say, Linda Jenness did campaigning as an SWP candidate in 1972, or
> than Gloria La Riva is going to reach campaigning as a PSL candidate in 2008.
> I'd say the answer is "no."
>

I'm sure that you're free to say whatever you want, but didn't Howie
actually WIN election locally?  Didn't this give his larger campaign
the kind of standing that campaigns like Linda Jenness never really
had?

I've been in a state of rather permanent angry at the GPUS for totally
screwing up the opportunity it had with the 2000 election, but I am
unconvinced that my being disgusted over the prevarications and
indecisiveness means that it, its candidates, and its affiliates can
no longer serve as a vehicle for taking entirely laudatory ideas to
many more people than can be reached by the usual tiny campaigns of
the "correct line" Left...

Solidarity!
Mark L.

.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 20:01:18 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 22:01:18 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806021850n17a8ceb8kd692b5d6a1333ec8@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W41C23C465DBC60F758C64CD7BB0@phx.gbl>
	<b16d8daf0806021850n17a8ceb8kd692b5d6a1333ec8@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806021901x165aea8bj6a576cd8260af85a@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 9:50 PM, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've been in a state of rather permanent angry at the GPUS for totally
> screwing up the opportunity it had with the 2000 election, but I am
> unconvinced that my being disgusted over the prevarications and
> indecisiveness means that it, its candidates, and its affiliates can
> no longer serve as a vehicle for taking entirely laudatory ideas to
> many more people than can be reached by the usual tiny campaigns of
> the "correct line" Left...

Couldn't the same argument be made for the Democratic Party, following
this line of reasoning? After all, their campaigns are better funded
and reach more people than those of the GPUS.... and Kucinich's ideas
were "laudatory"(well,  I think you mean "laudable") in the same sense
as GPUS' could be.

So, what would be a reason for leftists to support GPUS campaigns now,
rather than having jumped whole-heartedly into the fray to support
Kucinich in the early stages of the primary process?


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 20:03:45 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:03:45 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The Raytheon 9
Message-ID: <20080603020343.14E5412A8C@mailbackend.panix.com>

Can't Make it to Belfast? - Send a Solidarity Text to the Raytheon 9 
Defendants!
by Ciaron O'Reilly - Catholic Worker/Plowshares Belfast

They're on Trial For Us, We're on the Loose for Them!

The Raytheon 9 are an inspiration. I just got a phone call from my 
friend Les who's trying to get a plane ticket to get to Belfast for 
the Raytheon 9 trial. Les hasn't been to Northern Ireland since he 
did three tours with the British military. He says is it is so 
exciting that socialists and republicans are experimenting with 
nonviolent direct action and he wants to be there to support them at 
the trial. He says that this would be a great way for him to return 
to Northern Ireland - confront his past and celebrate a future with a 
community in resistance to war.

Les was a Brtish soldier who has moved on to nonviolent direct action 
against the war machine - in the '90's he broke the sanctions on Iraq 
and in 03 was arrested blockading the HMS Ark Royal as it pulled out 
to Iraq and the start of this war. As he was being arrested at 
Aldermaston a few years, ago the arresting cop forcing him to the 
ground and cuffing him said "You were in my unit in Northern 
Ireland!" Les's expression of regret for the previous activity they 
had undertaken together did not win him any favours.

Meanwhile Bush has been invited to Belfast as man of peace with the 
hope of further U.S. investment with no mention of restrictions on 
weapons manufactureres such as Raytheon 
http://www.counterpunch.org/harkin05302008.html
The north fast tracked from the fringe of empire to central comfort 
zone where hi tech weaponary can be constructed and where troubles 
are exported to Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Colombia et al and become 
someone elses troubles.

To spend the day around the Raytheon defendants in the Laganside 
Courthouse has been an inspiration. To be around people risking their 
liberty for peace and justice is always both a nourishing and 
challenging experience. It always poses the question what can I do in 
repsonse to their gift and the wars that continue to claim so many vicitims.

Inside the court -at the front there was the Judge, to the side the 
jury, in the middle I counted 20 legal (mostly bewigged) 
professionals, at the back there was 30 of us in support from Derry, 
Dublin and Belfast. We were parents, partners, SWP, Catholic Worker, 
Quakers, Pax Chrisit, Republican, punk, a long hair lad from 
Hollywood and other traditions.

And then there were the defendants being frisked as they entered this 
weird kind of plexiglass, aquarium like pod in the middle of the 
courtroom. Boiled down these were unmistakenly Derry lads who did the 
right thing at the right time as Lebanon burned and Raytheon raked in 
the profits. A barman, a biker, a journo among their number. They 
stood with their action to save lives and are here today, 2 1/2 years 
later, risking their liberty to speak some truth to power.

Eamonn McCann took the stand. Born on the Derry's bogside in 1942 his 
parents were of the working class - a labourer and a retired nurse. 
His testimony traced his life's trajectory that brought him into 
Derry's Raytheon's offices - anti-Vietnam, civil rights, labour 
organising, radical journalism and sustained activism.

The events immediately preceeding the occupation and decommisioning 
of Raytheon by the nine were described. There was a sense that this 
was a vey Derry action. We were in the company of people who walk the 
walk after they talk the talk. A large crowd had gathered at Sandinos 
Bar in early August 06 to hear visiting U.S. veteran of the Iraq War 
Joshua Casteel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8jjqxtSpY and an 
Iraqi exile describe their experiences of the war on Iraq.

The discussion, that followed the presentations, quickly turned to 
the U.S./Raytheon equipped Israeli bombing of Lebanon ongoing that 
night. The realisation that Raytheon with a plant in Derry was 
profiting and pivitol to the slaughter of these Lebanese civilians. 
The questions posed what is our response, what can we do to intervene 
in this slaughter?

The follow up meeting a few days later had all the hallmarks of human 
frailty that speaks of our movement that confronts corporate entities 
such as Raytheon ("light from the Gods") that claim omnipotence and 
the power of life and death. The room booked at Badger's Bar was 
doublebooked and the finetuning action meeting of 50 souls took place 
in the public bar much to the bemusement of fellow nonalligned 
drinkers. Then it was off to Raytheon on the morning of August 9th 
(the 61st. anniversary of the destruction of the city of Nagasaki by one bomb).

The last team talk was given a nearby carpark by Goretti who 
emphasised a commitment to nonviolence and an objective to disable 
Raytheon's equipment in attempt to preserve life and social 
infrastructure in Lebanon. Down the hill and around the three police 
officers present and the door kindly open by a worker entering the 
building. Up the stairs and into the corporate officers where 
software to deliver destruction is produced. But what would life be 
without a domestic? Eamonn and Gorreti concluding that their 20 year 
old daughter with severe learning need a difficulties a parent at 
large. Gorreti left the building, the door was barricaded and the 
very human work of military disarmament got underway. Raytheon's 
mainframe computer was decommisioned with the use of a handy fire 
extinguisher. Raytheon computers and paperwork were despatched 
through an open window ontothe car park pavement below. After 7 hours 
the barricade was broken with a chainsaw and the robocops inched 
forward around the nine card playing resisters. A scene reminiscent 
of the last roundup of the Jake and Elwood Blues Brothers!

Also recounted was the nine defendant's post arrest sojourn to the 
heavilly bombed Lebanese town of Cana where they experienced fisthand 
the victims and orphans of Raytheon WEBSITE

On cross examination the Prosecutor did his best to suggest that 
there was another agenda not an attempt to preserve life in Lebanon 
that drove the nine. He suggeted this was not a direct intervention 
but a publicity stunt. On recross the defendant explained he was a 
radio/television/newspaper journalist with little need of publicity 
stunts to express his views. The Prosectuor tried another tac - this 
was a revenge on Raytheon of wanton destruction following a 
frustrated political campaign. McCann pointed out if wanton 
destruction was the motivation the computers would not have gone out 
an open window but a closed one. Point taken!

The trial continues tomorrow. From my experiences what is significant 
in these dark times is solidarity and resistance. There isn't much 
resistance in the West these days because there is not much 
solidarity. The more solidarity the reister/defendant experiences the 
easier the task, the burden is lightened.

I hope Les makes it to Belfast.

If you can't make it to Belfast check out their webiste 
www.raytheon9.org and spread the word.

Send a text to me at the court. I'll copy it down and pass it on to 
the defendants
Inside UK 07950 290 857
Outside the UK 0044 7950 290 857
Not sure how you SMS/Text from U.S.?

Suggested text short message, name, city
eg. Goodonya! Ciaron, Dublin

http://www.raytheon9.org



Ciaron O'Reilly
Blog  http://ciaron.wordpress.com/


"The poor tell us who we are,
The prophets tell us who we could be,
So we hide the poor,
And kill the prophets."
Phil Berrigan




From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 20:04:34 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:04:34 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Shackles in the Bible Belt
Message-ID: <20080603020431.D27A6135CC@mailbackend.panix.com>

"Didn't You see that Spirit Descend?" ? Shackles in the Bible Belt

By Mike Ely

I'd like to share some experiences around the collision between 
revolutionary communist work and fundamentalist religion in the 
coalfields during the high-tide of wildcat strikes there in the 1970s.

I was working in a large mostly Black mine at the southernmost edge 
of West Virginia, near where it butts into Virginia and Kentucky. As 
the wildcat strikes heated up and spread, as our communist 
organization started to play a more and more active role in them, and 
as we started carrying out open communist work, the management of my 
mine quickly identified me as a radical, and quickly realized that 
they would have a hard time driving me out of the mine. They wanted 
to set me up for firing.

And so one of their moves was to have me work (on a big double-headed 
Fletcher roof-bolting machine) with Don, who was a preacher of the 
Jimmy Swaggart variety. Don, a Korean war vet, and his twin brother 
Ron alternated preaching at a church over in Virginia, in a very 
conservative area famous for its "sunset customs" (where Black people 
risked death if they stayed in the county past night fall). Don's 
religiosity was extreme and sincere. His whole waking life was a 
constant dialog with a part of his brain which (he believed) provided 
gifts from his God. So he would walk over to a broken machine, 
praying to himself "dear god, give me the power to fix this" and he 
would walk away from the fixed machine praying "thank you god for 
giving me the insights to fix this." His own remarkable mechanical 
skills (and everything else in the universe) were, to Don, a gift 
from God that could be suspended at any moment.

And this kind of beliefs had all kinds of terrible consequences ? for 
example Don was lax in setting protective roof supports as we worked. 
He used to say to me "The days are numbered, verily, as are the hairs 
on your head." Meaning: that the day of our death was set by God, not 
by our own actions, and so it really didn't matter what precautions 
we took. Naturally, as a militant materialist, I thought that was 
crap, and was rather determined that we would have all the protection 
we could get from falling rock.

In ways that the pigs running this mine could not have imagined, Don 
and I became tight. We argued about religion constantly, hour by 
hour, lunch break by lunch break ? raging over morality, and how the 
people knew and accomplished things, and what was happening in the 
country and world. And he came to appreciate and respect (in a way 
that surprised him, naturally) the rigor and depth of our communist 
convictions, and was deeply surprised at our ability to be moral and 
consistent without god (even while knowing that OUR morality was 
different in so many ways from his.)

One day, Don was riding out of the coal camp where he lived and 
crossing the railroad tracks to get up to the main road. And his 
truck stalled on the tracks, just as the scream of an approaching 
train could be heard coming out of a nearby tunnel on those tracks. 
Don and his ten year old son ran away from that truck, and about a 
hundred feet away turned to watch as the train hit their truck square 
? crushing it as the locomotive's brakes screamed by in a vain attempt to stop.

The bumper on that truck flew off like a spear ? and struck Don's son 
in the head. He died on the spot, as Don looked on in disbelief. It 
was truly horrible.

And it had happened before that trains at that crossing had 
endangered people ? because there were no crossing lights or warning 
to keep people off the tracks. A meeting was held in the coal camp, 
to demand a crossing light, and a petition was taken up. And there 
was a great deal of bitterness spoken about how little the 
authorities cared about people's lives.

And Don stood up, with great emotion, to speak about the loss of his 
son. And then, to everyone's astonishment announced that he would not 
sign the petition. And no one should either. And the reason, he said, 
was that the whole meaning of this incident and this death was being 
misunderstood by everyone. And that it had nothing to do with 
railroad companies or the disrespect shown to people living on the 
river bottom. Don said that he believed that his son had died because 
God had wanted this boy's great goodness to be with God in heaven. 
And his son had died to punish him, Don, because his love of this boy 
had come to rival and even eclipse his worship of God. And that there 
was a lesson here about the larger meaning and plan behind all 
events, even when they seemed so horrific and painful.

Now obviously, the protest of the people there was no great moment or 
leap in the class struggle. It was one of a thousand protests 
breaking out at that time, and was (in its own way) part of the much 
larger events of the 1960s. But clearly this was a moment when a 
religious belief (and complex and deeply held fatalist philosophy 
rooted in Christianity) was a "shackle" on a righteous protest of the 
people, and represented a way of thinking that would obstruct even 
more class conscious struggles and ideas that might emerge.

And as much as I knew Don, and as much as we had argued over 
religion, this incident shocked me. And while trying not to belittle 
his grief, I had to struggle with him over this view, and tried to 
bring out how the truly great crimes against humanity around the 
world could be excused by arguing they were part of God's larger purpose.

* * * * *

A little later, a great strike swept over the state, as the federal 
judges started jailing local mine officials for breaking anti-strike 
injunctions. And so tens of thousands of us were on strike to demand 
the right to strike. And where I worked (like so many places) this 
was very controversial ? with groups of men determined to scab, and 
also determined to speak out against this rebellion against the law 
and the courts and the coal companies. And so one Sunday we gathered 
at our UMW Local's hall, down the hill from the mine parking lot, 
with an overflow crowd, and huge arguments broke out. And fists were 
thrown. And some very angry (and very drunk) brothers were ejected. 
And had my moments of going nose to nose too, since i was singled out 
(by that point) as one of the leading activists of the strike in that 
county, and so was a rather notorious symbol of the strike.

As we all left the meeting, a young miner i knew came over, stood 
behind me for a moment and leaned by my ear to whisper: "How, after 
seeing all that, can you imagine there isn't a God?"

I was confused, not really understanding his point. And asked, "Ok, 
how did you see all of that as a manifestation of God?"

Tommy replied, "Didn't you see the spirit of disunity descend on those men?"

And (as often happened) my secular brain was slow to wrap itself 
around this. Because to Tommy, this had been a supernatural event. We 
had gathered to make plans for this strike, and (in his mind) a 
spirit had come into the room, a spirit dedicated to disunity, and it 
had taken over the men and caused them to argue and fight.

There is a famous bible verse from Ephesians 6:12 that says:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 
this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places."

And Tommy was bringing out what that passage meant to him: That when 
we saw conflict among men, and violent acts, it is not really (as it 
seems to me!) acts of "flesh and blood," but it is (to him and others 
who believe like him) really manifestations of evil spiritual and 
supernatural forces who cause so much suffering. And to him, we live 
in a "age" dominated by "the rulers of darkness" ? and that is how to 
see (and understand) the things around us, including the "wickedness 
in high places." These are, to him, spiritual problems, not the 
inventions of human beings.

And I have to say, I think we have to see his system of beliefs as a 
real obstacle to "knowing the world to change the world" ? because 
for Tommy (just like for Don) the world around him was seen through a 
spiritual glass that made it impossible to understand real causality, 
or to identify the actually available means of influencing events.

It struck me then, perhaps for the first time, why religious miners 
demanded that our meetings open with a prayer. I had seen it just as 
"a custom" ? but for someone like Tommy it was literally a spiritual 
attempt to keep bad spiritual forces from dominating us, and to keep 
the decision of people in line with God's divine plans. And so 
preachers would often pray "Our heavenly Father we pray for unity 
among us today, and that Thy will be done
." and so on.

And (while we are talking), it was often a way of telling whether a 
meeting (a rally or a strike gathering) was led by communists or not
 
because where we had any influence or say, there were no prayers. And 
really, most miners didn't give a shit, and were quite happy to meet 
and decide without trying to drive out the Prince of Darkness first. 
But there was a section of people (i'd guess 20 percent) who really 
were in the grip of particularly intense idealist thinking, and were 
trained to apply that as a method to all kinds of events around them. 
And they were determined there should be prayer (in meetings, in 
school, at sports events
) and were disturbed if there wasn't ? cuz 
they thought evil would reign.

* * * * *

The struggle of these kinds of ideas were rather sharp.

There would often be lively debates where i worked, before we went 
into the drift mouth, over many things ? but often over religion. And 
(I have to say) many workers just LOVED to hear me take on the 
preachers, because the discussions were so outrageous, and because 
many people had often never HEARD anyone take on the religious 
mythologies straight on (the way some of us communists did). 
Obviously the "sinners" and "hellers" were taking on religion in 
their own way ? by ignoring it or defying it. But that was different.

So we would stand around, and someone would shout, what about Noah's 
flood? And the preacher would explain that the coal seam we worked in 
was evidence of that flood. And I would say, Nah, you will never see 
the bones of a cow or a man in the fossils or in the coal ? because 
this coal was laid down hundreds of millions of years before humans 
(or any modern vertebrate animal) walked on the earth.

One preacher got very heated, once, INSISTING that the coal had been 
laid down while humans walked the earth, and while all the animals we 
now see existed. And so I made him a bet: I said if he or anyone 
could find a fossil that was recognizable as a tree or a plan from 
today, I would join his church for life.

The preacher was very sincerely excited by this
 because he assumed 
that this was a piece of cake. And so there were for several weeks an 
organized effort by the most religious guys working there to find 
fossils as they worked ? anything that was clearly a cat, or a bird, 
or a dog, or any modern animal. And of course they couldn't, even 
though people brought out various fragments and we would all lean 
over to see if it was clearly an imprint or fossil of something modern.

And after a while the preacher was getting frustrated, and a bit 
demoralized by this. And suddenly one day he called off the search. 
And when I asked about that he said "Wisdom with man is foolishness 
with God" (a verse from the bible).

And what he meant was that he had been seduced by me onto OUR world 
of experiment, and evidence and proof, and that once he and the other 
religious believers had been trying to proof their faith on THOSE 
grounds, they were sunk (as I knew all along) because that evidence 
would not be found. And so he was announcing a shift of framework: He 
would no longer argue that the fossils MUST uphold genesis and the 
Bible, but that it didn't matter what our little investigation showed 
? since we could tell what was true by reading Genesis.

And it was not lost on others watching this, that the preachers had 
lost this round, and that the Bible had not held up to scrutiny.

* * * * *

In his memoir, Avakian retells a story i once shared with him (page 294):

"I remember a funny story that one comrade told later ? this was a 
person who'd done a lot of theoretical study and understood a lot of 
different scientific questions very well. So he was able to argue 
very strongly about why evolution was a fact and take on all this 
fundamentalist religious nonsense. One time, everybody had cleared 
out of the shower room except this comrade, and then just as he was 
getting ready to leave, one of the miners came back, looked around to 
make sure nobody was there, and then said to this comrade: "I'm only 
gonna say this once. I think this religion stuff's a bunch of 
bullshit too." And then he walked out. So this gives you a sense of 
both the atmosphere and some of the ideological work and struggle 
that our comrades were carrying out within it."

As a side note: I can't help notice the irony here, now that I am now 
being accused in our ongoing two-line struggle of having "opposing 
ideological struggle over religion" and so on
. while Bob himself 
(and lots of other comrades in the RCP) know very well that it is not true.

* * * * * *

At one point, as the strikes became very powerful and waves of 
anti-communist red baiting broke out in the media, there was a 
campaign in our county aimed at the two communists there, my wife 
Gina and I. And one spearhead of it focused on denouncing us as atheists.

And one night, driving home from work, I heard this same preacher on 
the local radio denouncing me
 saying that I was undermining God, and 
that it cast a suspicious light on what was behind the larger 
disturbances that were happening (and he meant the 60s generally, not 
just the strikes growing in the coalfields). And so when I went to 
work the next day, I took with me a bright red baseball cap I had, 
that had two orange horns coming out either side. And I had it next 
to me as i changed for work.

and when this preacher came in, I put on my devil had and went to 
confront him. It just so happened, that i was otherwise naked at that 
moment, so it was a pretty startling for him to see me walking 
towards him, with horns coming out of my head, and shouting, "Hey, 
Jimmy, I heard you calling me an agent of Satan on the radio last night
.!"

And I didn't get much further into it, because everyone around, 
dozens of guys dressing in that bathhouse for work, just started 
howling with laughter, at the round-eyed, spooked, speechless look on 
Jimmy's face, and me standing there butt naked, ready to have 
challenge his bullshit.

We each just turned around and finished getting dressed, and nothing 
more was said between us about this, but I think he was more careful 
about making charges in his radio sermons after that.

* * * * * **
These were the years when the religious right was just getting 
organized as a militant force, and we were among the first to run 
into it. And at a certain point one of the larger and more extreme 
churches in my town decided to run out the communists (inspired I 
suspect by by people connected with the local coal companies and 
police, and larger reactionary political forces). And a campaign of 
attacks started coming down ? one of our cars were destroyed, our 
house was spraypainted, our friends were threatened, and things were 
generally building up in a way that might have ended with a shooting or arson.

And in the middle of this, there erupted a huge fight within that 
church. I didn't know the details at the time, but soon learned all 
about it. For one thing, a section of that church split off, 
explicitly because they opposed the mounting anti-communist attacks. 
It was led by a slim young man named Kenny, a miner where I worked, 
who had been quite a "heller" in his teens, and who had a dotted line 
tatooed across his belly that said "cut here." And Kenny pulled about 
forty people out of the church and started his own congregation in a 
trailer in Gary Holler (the heart of the U.S. STeel mines).

On a theological tip: Kenny started developing a doctrine for this 
new church (together with others). That Jesus had been a carpenter, 
and had come among the poor. That salvation would come from from a 
"kingdom of God on earth" not from some magical event of trumpets and 
rapture. That the measure of saintliness was the relations among the 
"body of Christ" ? in other words, that godliness resided in how 
people treated each other. And this church abandoned the polyester 
suits and ties, and long dresses on women that characterized the most 
conservative churches, and started dressing in jeans and casual 
clothes of our generation. And it is interesting to notice, that 
these views (developing quite spontaneously from Kenny's evolving 
beliefs) were parallel to the kinds of theology that emerged whenever 
people formed a christianity that was focused on "social justice": 
they stressed the humanity of Jesus and his lower class origins, and 
moved away from the most mystical and magical expectations.

Kenny and I would often lie on his lawn, and debate these things, as 
I tried to argue that once you question the divinity of Jesus, you 
should also question the very existence of God. But he remained a 
preacher of his pro-communist little church, and never moved closer 
to our materialist views.

But he did tell me how the split had happened in the larger church. 
It has happened when my co-worker Don and Ron (the twin holly rollers 
of the Jimmy Swaggert camp) had asked to come preach (as often 
happens in these church circuits). And when they got to the podium 
they had launched a huge attack on the reactionary campaign this 
church was waging. I later learned that Don had spoken quite boldly 
(given the times and the kinds of red-baiting going on) about working 
with me, and knowing my wife, and learning what our views were. And 
without, for a second (!), retreating from his own, very extreme and 
conservative views, he lay tore into (and he could be scorching!) how 
ignorant and wrong it was to launch a campaign against people active 
in the cause of working people.

And by the time he was done, folks in that congregation who were 
uneasy about all this, were embolded to walk out. And the folks left 
were never able to escalate their attacks on us any further.

Don later said to Gina, "You know we form a bond underground, when we 
hold our lives in each other's hands. You really get to know 
somebody." I have never thought that working people were only 
characterized by "nothing to lose" ? there is also a common 
experience that people have together, in work and life, that give 
people an important if embryonic sense of "we."





From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 20:09:00 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:09:00 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806021901x165aea8bj6a576cd8260af85a@mail.gmail.co
 m>
References: <BAY127-W41C23C465DBC60F758C64CD7BB0@phx.gbl>
	<b16d8daf0806021850n17a8ceb8kd692b5d6a1333ec8@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806021901x165aea8bj6a576cd8260af85a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20080603020857.709CF1443D@mailbackend.panix.com>

Sayan:
>Couldn't the same argument be made for the Democratic Party, following
>this line of reasoning? After all, their campaigns are better funded
>and reach more people than those of the GPUS.... and Kucinich's ideas
>were "laudatory"(well,  I think you mean "laudable") in the same sense
>as GPUS' could be.

Sayan, are you asking this question just to waste time? There have 
probably been over 100,000 words on this list dealing with the very 
question of the differences between the Democrats and the Green 
Party. Now some people don't think that there are any real 
differences, but at least try to show some awareness of the terms of 
the debate.

This list was not made for you to function like the dormouse in the 
Mad Hatter's tea party, after all. 



From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  2 20:12:08 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:12:08 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
Message-ID: <BAY127-W47797CF8E46949454AAE42D7BA0@phx.gbl>


Mark L. asks:

"I'm sure that you're free to say whatever you want, but didn't Howie
actually WIN election locally?  Didn't this give his larger campaign
the kind of standing that campaigns like Linda Jenness never really
had?"

Actually, according to Wikipedia, I gather the answer is "no," he did not win 
election (and I checked the Syracuse City Council website just to be sure).

Not that I think that makes a difference. There have, of course, been many 
elected Green Party members. Have any of those elections, or campaigns, served 
as a significant "vehicle" for spreading socialist consciousness? Is there any 
evidence, even anecdotal, for that? Droves of people having heard Hawkins 
campaign and then subscribing to even, let's say, The Nation?

Unfortunately, while lots of us try in our own ways to spread socialist 
consciousness, whether it be through election campaigns (Green Party or 
otherwise), blogs, organizing, demonstrating, public speaking, publishing, and 
on and on, objectively speaking none of those methods have been all that 
successful. None qualify as more than a kiddie car in the "vehicle" department.



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From pt_costello at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  2 20:50:06 2008
From: pt_costello at yahoo.com (Pat Costello)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:50:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Speech by Rafael Cancel Miranda
Message-ID: <290135.27313.qm@web63107.mail.re1.yahoo.com>

This is a translation of a speech by Rafael Cancel
Miranda, a hero of the
Puerto Rican movement who spent over 20 years in
prison for shooting
up the US House of Representatives in 1954.  One of
the bullets hit Gerald Ford
in the butt, the part of Gerald that was still exposed
while the rest of him
was hiding under a desk. To hear Don Rafa speak in
person is a gift. How many
people can give a speech that makes you laugh AND cry?


http://machetera.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/victory-is-in-the-struggle/#more-272


      


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  2 20:56:34 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:56:34 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W47797CF8E46949454AAE42D7BA0@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W47797CF8E46949454AAE42D7BA0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <20080603025631.B027D10106@mailbackend.panix.com>

Eli:
>Unfortunately, while lots of us try in our own ways to spread socialist
>consciousness, whether it be through election campaigns (Green Party or
>otherwise), blogs, organizing, demonstrating, public speaking, 
>publishing, and
>on and on, objectively speaking none of those methods have been all that
>successful. None qualify as more than a kiddie car in the "vehicle" 
>department.

I think the real possibility for the Green Party existed with the 
Nader-LaDuke campaign. I was at the Felt Forum in 2000 when Nader 
spoke and every seat was filled. Nader got 2.74% of the vote that 
year. This was really the high point of the Greens and everything 
went downhill after that. There was a *qualititative* difference 
between the Green campaign for president that year and all the 
small-scale efforts by the socialist left. In fact I want to correct 
myself. The real value of the Greens is not spreading socialist or 
even anti-capitalist ideas. It was instead the possibility that a 3rd 
party not controlled by the big bourgeoisie could begin to develop a 
mass base in the USA. This was much more of a threat than a Howie 
Hawkins speech. Even if Nader's ideas were not that radically 
different from Kucinich's, the fact that he was challenging the 
2-party system was critical. That is why the corporate lawyers from 
the Democratic Party went after him in 2004. That is also the reason 
that creeps like Medea Benjamin and Ted Glick did everything in their 
power to drive Nader away from the Greens and anybody who supported 
him. This is real politics as opposed to the sandbox variety of the 
socialist left. 



From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 22:04:53 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:04:53 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <20080603025631.B027D10106@mailbackend.panix.com>
References: <BAY127-W47797CF8E46949454AAE42D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<20080603025631.B027D10106@mailbackend.panix.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806022104u178c183bx5d08d0b171d4f992@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 10:56 PM, Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:

> This is real politics as opposed to the sandbox variety of the
> socialist left.

The SP USA seems to be putting up a pretty good effort this year:

<http://www.votebrianmoore.com/>

Ruthless Critic.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  2 22:07:08 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:07:08 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806022104u178c183bx5d08d0b171d4f992@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47797CF8E46949454AAE42D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<20080603025631.B027D10106@mailbackend.panix.com>
	<908b689f0806022104u178c183bx5d08d0b171d4f992@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806022107w2ae74e98u4665c11345df6b4@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 12:04 AM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:
.
>
> The SP USA seems to be putting up a pretty good effort this year:
>
> <http://www.votebrianmoore.com/>
>
> Ruthless Critic.
>


Also, some news that I found odd, and disturbing:

CONSERVATIVE RADIO MAKE UP MAJORITY OF INTERVIEW INVITATIONS FOR
SOCIALIST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Progressive Talk Shows Fear Hurting Democrats, Shy Away From Minor
Party Leftists

 Spring Hill, Florida, Friday, April 18, 2008:    Brian Moore,
Socialist Party USA presidential nominee, was interviewed Thursday
morning on conservative nationwide internet radio's WTPN.com, "We The
People Radio Network--- Restoring Our Constitutional Republic."
....

Full: <http://www.votebrianmoore.com/article12.html>

Ruthless Critic.


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  2 23:23:19 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 22:23:19 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Whatever Became Of What's-His-Name, The Radical?
Message-ID: <BAY127-W7E8B27DC09E1BA421E6F7D7BA0@phx.gbl>


Louis:

"There was a *qualititative* difference
between the Green campaign for president that year and all the
small-scale efforts by the socialist left. In fact I want to correct
myself. The real value of the Greens is not spreading socialist or
even anti-capitalist ideas. It was instead the possibility that a 3rd
party not controlled by the big bourgeoisie could begin to develop a
mass base in the USA."

And now, Louis, we are in complete agreement. :-)


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From fred.fuentes at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 00:16:39 2008
From: fred.fuentes at gmail.com (Fred Fuentes)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 02:16:39 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Bolivia nationalises pipeline firm
Message-ID: <b5a2a8180806022316p2725e0f8qae8978b8e88e5d33@mail.gmail.com>

http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/

Bolivia nationalises pipeline firm

June 2

Bolivia has nationalised a major oil and gas pipeline company that had
been owned by Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell and Ashmore
Energy International, a US firm.

Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, signed a decree giving the
government full ownership of Transredes SA, which transports natural
gas to Brazil and Argentina.

Morales said he had held talks with Ashmore executives, but they had
failed to reach a deal.

"We waited patiently all month, but the actions they took were totally
different," Morales said at a signing ceremony in the eastern city of
Santa Cruz on Monday.

"They wanted to be bosses, and have us be the employees. Partners are
welcome, but we will not accept bosses."

Morales also accused Transredes of "having conspired" against his government.

The two foreign companies declined to comment on the announcement.

Since his election as Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005,
Morales has moved to exert greater state control over the country's
natural gas fields - the second largest in South America, after
Venezuela's.

Energy industry analysts have said that YPFB, or Yacimientos
Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, the state oil company, may lack the
technical expertise to handle its growing role the country's gas
distribution system.

Republished from Al Jazeera


From ppz at optusnet.com.au  Tue Jun  3 02:59:42 2008
From: ppz at optusnet.com.au (PPZ)
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:59:42 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] Please send solidarity messages to Indonesian sudents'
	hunger	strike against fuel rice rises
Message-ID: <1212483582.5385.20.camel@ppz-desktop>

http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/node/42



From Jscotlive at aol.com  Tue Jun  3 03:56:03 2008
From: Jscotlive at aol.com (Jscotlive at aol.com)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 05:56:03 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
Message-ID: <cab.2d39daab.35766f33@aol.com>




http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/05/obama-pilger-mccain-kennedy 
   

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 04:20:13 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 06:20:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
In-Reply-To: <cab.2d39daab.35766f33@aol.com>
References: <cab.2d39daab.35766f33@aol.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806030320k7fe10ddaha912f684aa3292e1@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 5:56 AM,  <Jscotlive at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/05/obama-pilger-mccain-kennedy

Dbachmozart at aol.com already posted this article here on May 31:

from	Dbachmozart at aol.com
reply-to	Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
<marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu>
date	Sat, May 31, 2008 at 12:27 PM
subject	[Marxism] John Pilger - After Bobby Kennedy

clip -

Bobby Kennedy's campaign is the  model for Barack Obama's current bid to be
the Democratic nominee for the White  House. Both offer a false hope that they
can bring peace and racial harmony to  all Americans

By John  Pilger

30/05/08 "_ICH_ (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/) " -- -  In this
season of 1968 nostalgia, one anniversary illuminates today. It is  the rise
and fall of Robert Kennedy, who would have been elected president of  the United
States had he not been assassinated in June 1968. Having travelled  with
Kennedy up to the moment of his shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in
Los  Angeles [etc]


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Tue Jun  3 09:09:25 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 08:09:25 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
Message-ID: <BAY127-W18F327E7E7852B421E5BA5D7BA0@phx.gbl>


Pilger writes:

"The US is also engaged in attacks or subversion against Somalia, Lebanon, 
Syria, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bolivia and Venezuela. A new military 
command, Africom, is being set up to fight proxy wars for control of Africa's 
oil and other riches. With US missiles soon to be stationed provocatively on 
Russia's borders, the Cold War is back. None of these piracies and dangers has 
raised a whisper in the presidential campaign, not least from its great liberal 
hope."

Actually it's worse than that, because the great liberal hope has in fact raised 
more than a whisper IN FAVOR OF this foreign policy, from Cuba (where he vocally 
favors continuing the U.S.' economic war) to Iran (where he favors intensifying 
economic war) to Afghanistan (where he's for sending more troops), to Sudan 
(where he calls for the U.S. to "implement and help to enforce a no-fly zone" - 
shades of Iraq), to Lebanon, where he brags about "insisting that Israel should 
not be pressured into a ceasefire" in its war, to Colombia, where he says "we 
will fully support Colombia?s fight against the FARC," to Venezuela, where he 
demonstrates hostile intent by asserting that Chavez' "actions just serve his 
own power," and, over and above the specifics, "Obama will make the investments 
we need so that the finest military in the world is best-prepared to meet 
21st-century threats" and "Obama will increase the size of ground forces, adding 
65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 Marines" (both statements from his website).

If only he HAD been silent on these issues, it might offer more "hope."


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From lnp3 at panix.com  Tue Jun  3 09:13:29 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:13:29 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The withering economy
Message-ID: <48455F99.5010608@panix.com>

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06032008.html


From pance at rogers.com  Tue Jun  3 09:54:34 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 11:54:34 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The withering economy
In-Reply-To: <48455F99.5010608@panix.com>
Message-ID: <986062.76789.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

--- Louis Proyect wrote:
> http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06032008.html
> 

More bad news - an example from industrial Ontario,
Canada (just announced today):

"General Motors said Tuesday it will halt production
at its pickup truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., axing about
2,500 jobs in the process."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/03/gm-cuts.html

While this is news on the front page of the media
today, where is the outrage of the workers. The CAW
(autoworkers union) is planning a press conference
later today. Is anybody planning a sit-in? That would
be news to cheer for.

Pance.



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Tue Jun  3 10:10:16 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 09:10:16 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] CSM: America the breakup artist
Message-ID: <009201c8c594$5be560d0$6401a8c0@new1501>

(Tibet, too, of course.)
=============================

America the breakup artist
US support for partition movements is opening a can of worms.
By Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

from the June 3, 2008 edition

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p09s01-coop.html

Buenos Aires - Sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacred
concepts to every nation. Without them, the basis for international
relations crumbles. That's why it's so troubling that the United
States is in effect stimulating a partition movement across the
globe.

Washington's encouragement of Kosovo's split from Serbia, its
consideration of a possible Sunni-Shiite-Kurd spatial separation in
Iraq, and its vigorous support for Taiwan demonstrate America's
penchant for promoting ? or at least sanctioning ? partition.

Such policies are a product of America's "freedom agenda." Promoting
democracy worldwide often means supporting efforts for greater
independence and self-determination. But taken too far, Washington
ends up embracing partition ? and opening a Pandora's box.

The good news is that the US has an opportunity to correct course in
South America. Just this past Sunday, Bolivians in two states voted
overwhelmingly for autonomy measures. The vote echoes the result from
a similar referendum recently in the eastern state of Santa Cruz.

Proponents see it as upholding autonomy. The government deems the
ballots illegal and separatist.

The US strategic signal should be clear and loud: Partition is
neither good nor welcome in the Western Hemisphere. It should also
make clear that autonomy is not the same thing as secession.

In Bolivia, the argument for autonomy ? which is positive ? is
accompanied by an undercurrent of partition. Washington should not
legitimate this undercurrent. Instead, it should work diligently in
favor of eventual autonomy. Thus, close diplomacy with Bolivia's
neighbors, such as Argentina and Brazil, is crucial.

In the past 50 years, the world has seen an avalanche of new
nation-states. Not South America. From the mid-19th century, through
the 20th century, only one new state formed there: Panama in 1903.

Nevertheless, there is growing concern in South America about the
possibility of secession in the Andean Ridge (Venezuela, Colombia,
Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia) as well as in the Southern Cone
(Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay).

An uneven globalization process has weakened the state, broadened the
economic gap between the haves and have-nots, aggravated social
tensions, and eroded national identity.

What's more, amid this the emergence of a vigorous ethnic agenda with
the partial collapse and replacement of traditional elites is
generating a new phenomenon in the region. It's one that encourages
geographic fracture, political division, and symbolic self-rule.

The White House must search for key partners in South America to face
the complex and conflicting social demands that are pushing several
countries to state disintegration and geographical dislocation.

It is important for the US to indicate that it understands that
regional, cultural, and ethnic autonomy breeds prosperity, equality,
and security. Secession, on the other hand, often leads to the
opposite.

In Bolivia, conflict management, economic commitment, and
precautionary political involvement will be more effective than
unilateral, last-minute force deployment and military intervention.
Both the US and Bolivia's neighbors should make more material,
political, and symbolic efforts to promote unity.

During the cold war, the partitioning of countries was ideologically
based: two Germanys, two Vietnams, two Koreas, two Yemens. Today, it
has become both ethnically and geopolitically motivated and
rationalized.

The US message in favor of secession may generate unpredictable
consequences that could, in turn, affect its own security. To keep
Pandora's box closed, the US and the rest of the West need to
practice pragmatism, not ideology; unity, not partitioning.

? Juan Gabriel Tokatlian is a professor of international relations at
the Universidad de San Andr?s, in Buenos Aires.



From pance at rogers.com  Tue Jun  3 10:42:02 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:42:02 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The withering economy - wildcat strike
In-Reply-To: <986062.76789.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <821599.73937.qm@web88003.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

stop the presses:

Production at the General Motors plant in Oshawa has
halted.
Workers walked off the job Monday night at the
Number-Two car plant, and yesterday the wildcat strike
spread to both car plants. 

Workers are upset over the suspension of a union
official. The walkout is not sanctioned by the
Canadian Auto Workers Union. G-M has applied to the
Labour Relations Board for an injunction to halt the
illegal stoppage. A hearing is set for this afternoon.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/08/16/strike000816.html





From lnp3 at panix.com  Tue Jun  3 10:44:27 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:44:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
Message-ID: <484574EB.1090703@panix.com>

NY Times, June 3, 2008
In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

FORTUNA, Spain ? Lush fields of lettuce and hothouses of tomatoes line 
the roads. Verdant new developments of plush pastel vacation homes 
beckon buyers from Britain and Germany. Golf courses ? dozens of them, 
all recently built ? give way to the beach. At last, this hardscrabble 
corner of southeast Spain is thriving.

There is only one problem with the picture of bounty: this province, 
Murcia, is running out of water. Swaths of southeast Spain are steadily 
turning into desert, a process spurred on by global warming and poorly 
planned development.

Murcia, traditionally a poor farming region, has undergone a 
resort-building boom in recent years, even as many of its farmers have 
switched to more thirsty crops, encouraged by water transfer plans, 
which have become increasingly untenable. The combination has put new 
pressures on the land and its dwindling supply of water.

This year, farmers are fighting developers over water rights. They are 
fighting one another over who gets to water their crops. And in a sign 
of their mounting desperation, they are buying and selling water like 
gold on a rapidly growing black market, mostly from illegal wells.

Southern Spain has long been plagued by cyclical droughts, but the 
current crisis, scientists say, probably reflects a more permanent 
climate change brought on by global warming. And it is a harbinger of a 
new kind of conflict.

The battles of yesterday were fought over land, they warn. Those of the 
present center on oil. But those of the future ? a future made hotter 
and drier by climate change in much of the world ? seem likely to focus 
on water, they say.

?Water will be the environmental issue this year ? the problem is urgent 
and immediate,? said Barbara Helferrich, a spokeswoman for the European 
Union?s Environment Directorate. ?If you already have water shortages in 
spring, you know it?s going to be a really bad summer.?

Dozens of world leaders will be meeting at the United Nations Food and 
Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome starting Tuesday to 
address a global food crisis caused in part by water shortages in 
Africa, Australia and here in southern Spain.

Climate change means that creeping deserts may eventually drive 135 
million people off their land, the United Nations estimates. Most of 
them are in the developing world. But Southern Europe is experiencing 
the problem now, its climate drying to the point that it is becoming 
more like Africa?s, scientists say.

For Murcia, the arrival of the water crisis has been accelerated by 
developers and farmers who have hewed to water-hungry ventures highly 
unsuited to a drier, warmer climate: crops like lettuce that need ample 
irrigation, resorts that promise a swimming pool in the yard, acres of 
freshly sodded golf courses that sop up millions of gallons a day.

?I come under a lot of pressure to release water from farmers and also 
from developers,? said Antonio P?rez Gracia, the water manager here in 
Fortuna, sipping coffee with farmers in a bar in the town?s dusty 
square. He rued the fact that he could provide each property owner with 
only 30 percent of its government-determined water allotment.

?I?m not sure what we?ll do this summer,? he added, noting that the 
local aquifer was sinking so quickly that the pumps would not reach it 
soon. ?I come under a lot of pressure to release water, from farmers and 
also from developers. They can complain as much as they want, but if 
there?s no more water, there?s no more water.?

Rub?n Vives, a farmer who relies on Mr. P?rez Gracia?s largess, said he 
could not afford the black market water prices. ?This year, my 
livelihood is in danger,? said Mr. Vives, who has farmed low-water crops 
like lemons here for nearly two decades.

The hundreds of thousands of wells ? most of them illegal ? that have in 
the past provided a temporary reprieve from thirst have depleted 
underground water to the point of no return. Water from northern Spain 
that was once transferred here has also slowed to a trickle, as wetter 
northern provinces are drying up, too.

The scramble for water has set off scandals. Local officials are in 
prison for taking payoffs to grant building permits in places where 
there is not adequate water. Chema Gil, a journalist who exposed one 
such scheme, has been subject to death threats, carries pepper spray and 
is guarded day and night by the Guardia Civil, a police force with 
military and civilian functions.

?The model of Murcia is completely unsustainable,? Mr. Gil said. ?We 
consume two and a half times more water than the system can recover. So 
where do you get it? Import it from elsewhere? Dry up the aquifer? With 
climate change we?re heading into a cul-de-sac. All the water we?re 
using to water lettuce and golf courses will be needed just to drink.?

Facing a national crisis, Spain has become something of an unwitting 
laboratory, sponsoring a European conference on water issues this summer 
and announcing a national action plan this year to fight 
desertification. That plan includes a shift to more efficient methods of 
irrigation, as well as an extensive program of desalinization plants to 
provide the fresh water that nature does not.

The Spanish Environment Ministry estimates that one-third of the county 
is at risk of turning into desert from a combination of climate change 
and poor land use.

Still, national officials visibly stiffen when asked about the 
?Africanization? of Spain?s climate ? a term now common among scientists.

?We are in much better shape than Africa, but within the E.U. our 
situation is serious,? said Antonio Serrano Rodr?guez, the secretary 
general for land and biodiversity at Spain?s Environment Ministry.

Still, Mr. Serrano and others acknowledge the broad outlines of the 
problem. ?There will be places that can?t be farmed any more, that were 
marginal and are now useless,? Mr. Serrano said. ?We have parts of the 
country that are close to the limit.?

While southern Spain has always been dry and plagued by cyclical 
droughts, the average surface temperature in Spain has risen 2.7 degrees 
compared with about 1.4 degrees globally since 1880, records show.

Rainfall here is predicted to fall 20 percent from this year to 2020, 
and 40 percent by 2070, according to United Nations projections.

The changes on the Almarcha family farm in Albanilla over the past three 
decades are a testament to that hotter, drier climate here. Until two 
decades ago, the farm grew wheat and barley, watered only by rain. As 
rainfall dropped, Carlo Almarcha, 51, switched to growing almonds.

About 10 years ago, he quit almonds and changed to organic peaches and 
pears, ?since they need less water,? he explained. Recently he took up 
olives and figs, ?which resist drought and are less sensitive to weather.?

Mr. Almarcha participates in a government water trading system, started 
last year, in which farmers pay three times the normal price ? 33 cents 
instead of 12 per cubic meter ? to get extra water. The black market 
rate is even higher. Still, his outlook is bleak.

?You used to know that this week in spring there will be rain,? he said, 
standing in his work boots on parched soil of an olive grove that was 
once a wheat field. ?Now you never know when or if it will come. Also, 
there?s no winter any more and plants need cold to rest. So there?s less 
growth. Sometimes none. Even plants all seem confused.?

While Mr. Almarcha has gradually moved toward less thirsty crops, the 
government?s previous water transfer plans have moved many farmers in 
the opposite direction. The farmers have shifted to producing a wide 
range of water-hungry fruits and vegetables that had never been grown in 
the south. Murcia is traditionally known for figs and date palms.

?You can?t grow strawberries naturally in Huelva ? it?s too hot,? said 
Raquel Mont?n, a climate specialist at Greenpeace in Madrid, referring 
to the nearby strawberry capital of Spain. ?In Sarragosa, which is a 
desert, we grow corn, the most water-thirsty crop. It?s insane. The only 
thing that would be more insane is putting up casinos and golf courses.? 
Which, of course, Murcia has.

In 2001, a new land use law in Murcia made it far easier for residents 
to sell land for resort development. Though southern Spain has long had 
elaborate systems for managing its relatively scarce water, today 
everyone, it seems, has found ways to get around them.

Grass on golf courses or surrounding villas is sometimes labeled a 
?crop,? making owners eligible for water that would not be allocated to 
keep leisure space green. Foreign investors plant a few trees and call 
their vacation homes ?farms? so they are eligible for irrigation water, 
Mr. P?rez Gracia said.

?Once a property owner?s got a water allotment, he asks for a change of 
land use,? he explained. ?Then he?s got his property and he?s got his 
water. It?s supposed to be for irrigation, but people use it for what 
they want. No one knows if it goes to a swimming pool.?

While he said his ?heart goes out to the real farmers,? he did not have 
the personnel to monitor how people use their allotments.

With so much money to be made, officials set aside laws and policies 
that might encourage sustainable development, Mr. Gil, the journalist, 
said. At first, he was vilified in the community when he wrote articles 
critical of the developments. Recently, as people are discovering that 
the water is running out, the attitude is shifting.

But even so, people and politicians tend to regard water as a limitless 
resource. ?Politicians think in four-year blocks, so it?s O.K. as long 
as it doesn?t run out on their watch,? said Ms. Mont?n of Greenpeace. 
?People think about it, but they don?t really think about what happens 
tomorrow. They don?t worry until they turn on the tap and nothing flows.?


From pance at rogers.com  Tue Jun  3 10:45:14 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:45:14 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The withering economy - wildcat strike
In-Reply-To: <821599.73937.qm@web88003.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <326671.82989.qm@web88008.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


--- Pance Stojkovski <pance at rogers.com> wrote:

> stop the presses:
> 

sorry that was the wrong wildcat strike - from 2000.


Pance.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Tue Jun  3 10:45:35 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:45:35 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Alumni Group Tries to Elicit Social Action From Harvard
Message-ID: <4845752F.20406@panix.com>

NY Times, June 3, 2008
Alumni Group Tries to Elicit Social Action From Harvard
By STEPHANIE STROM

For three years, a handful of Harvard University alumni have waged a 
quiet effort to persuade the university to expand its mission far beyond 
its Cambridge campus, the students it educates there and the multitude 
of research labs, libraries and other facilities available to them.

They call themselves Harvard Alumni for Social Action, or HASA, and 
their goal is to prod the university to use its vast wealth, including 
its $35 billion endowment, in unprecedented ways, like supporting 
struggling colleges in Africa.

?There are large amounts of money being given to Harvard and other 
wealthy universities every year by classes like ours, and they don?t 
really need it,? said Jennifer Freeman, part of the HASA outreach 
committee for the Class of 1983. ?They should be thinking of new things 
they could do with it, which would re-energize alumni and be good for 
the university, too.?

Both Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard?s president, and her predecessor, 
Lawrence H. Summers, have been unwilling to even discuss the proposals. 
The development office, as fund-raising operations are known in the 
charitable world, politely refuses to share its list of alumni, 
frustrating HASA?s recruiting ability.

Tamara Rogers, vice president for university development at Harvard and 
herself a member of the Class of 1981, said university policy, in an 
effort to protect privacy, prohibited distribution of alumni lists. ?It 
is simply not our mission to provide direct financial support to 
universities elsewhere in the world,? Ms. Rogers said. ?It is part of 
the mission to build capacity in universities throughout the world 
through our research and education.?

Ms. Rogers said the university already touched Africa and the rest of 
the world in myriad ways. All told, a spokesman said, Harvard has 68 
centers and programs with work related to Africa and offers 125 classes 
about the continent.

HASA reflects the growing debate over university endowments and whether 
their continued accumulation of assets ? Harvard is expected to have 
$100 billion at the end of the next 10 years ? serves a charitable purpose.

?This is a healthy discussion for universities and donors to have,? said 
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who has been urging 
wealthy universities to spend more of their endowments to combat rising 
tuition costs.

HASA was started by Paula Tavrow, a professor at the School of Public 
Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, after she started 
getting calls from Harvard in 2005 soliciting a gift in honor of her 
25th reunion the next year.

Ms. Tavrow got a firsthand look at the plight of African universities 
when she worked at the University of Malawi in the early 1990s. At that 
time, a drought meant the university had no water. The library had no 
working photocopier, and a professor was lending students his own books 
because otherwise they could not do the required reading.

Ms. Tavrow began contacting classmates, and they began trying to 
persuade the class gift officers, the alumni designated as fund-raisers 
for each class, to embrace the notion of redirecting reunion 
contributions to Africa.

That idea was rejected by the gift officers and the university, as were 
other suggestions from the group that was gradually coalescing into HASA.

The university finally agreed to create a fund to underwrite fellowships 
for African graduate students seeking to study at the School of Arts and 
Sciences at Harvard, but only after Marco Elser, a 1981 graduate, agreed 
to pledge $250,000 over three years to get it started.

?It was a proverbial hole in the water,? Mr. Elser said in a telephone 
interview from Rome, where he lives. ?Harvard got the money and made no 
effort at all to promote the concept to other classes and begin 
educating them about how they could direct their reunion gifts. I was 
very, very disappointed, needless to say.?

Not entirely, though. His initial goal was to increase the number of 
alumni from the Class of 1981 contributing to the reunion gift, and in 
fact the class broke the record for 25th-reunion fund-raising and 
participation, attracting $41 million from 75.8 percent of the class, 
Ms. Rogers said. About $300,000 went to the fellowships.

HASA members say that result alone is a good reason for Harvard to 
embrace them.

?According to messages we got, HASA was a primary force in encouraging 
people who had never given to Harvard before and some who had never even 
bothered to come to a reunion before to do so,? said Claire Mays 
Poumad?re, a HASA organizer from the Class of 1981. ?It created this 
incredible glue months before the reunion and gave class members a real 
sense of cohesion.?

The effort has attracted at least one of Harvard?s biggest donors, 
Sumner L. Feldberg, who made a fortune in retailing. He gave $1,000 to 
HASA after he was contacted by Ms. Poumad?re, the daughter of one of his 
old friends.

?This approach should be brought to the attention of all future major 
reunion classes,? Mr. Feldberg wrote then. ?Selecting a worthwhile 
outside cause to aid would be electrifying for them as it has been for 
your class.?

Like Ms. Rogers, however, he noted that direct gifts to Harvard also 
ended up benefiting Africa.

It is unclear that the enthusiasm generated among the Class of 1981 will 
carry forward.

Interest jumped, HASA members say, after an opinion article that 
mentioned the group ran in The New York Times in May.

For now, though, HASA must be content with the scholarship fund, which 
holds $331,000, and a fund to support the University of Dar es Salaam in 
Tanzania, which is administered by the Human Rights Education 
Association. Gifts to that fund are not counted as gifts to Harvard.



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Tue Jun  3 11:18:29 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:18:29 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Celia Hart, Jorge Martin, Cuba, Venezuela, more
Message-ID: <22705469.1212513509853.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

(Two very informative articles on events recently held in Montreal.
Lots of links in the articles so you'll have to go there for them.
Hopefully they were recorded and can be posted to the Internet?)
=====================================================================

Celia Hart and Jorge Martin speak to a packed meeting in Montreal 
By Hands Off Venezuela - Montreal 
Tuesday, 03 June 2008
http://www.marxist.com/celia-hart-jorge-martin-meeting-montreal.htm 

Montreal discusses Trotsky, permanent revolution 
and the Latin American revolution
By International Marxist Tendency - Montreal Tuesday, 03 June 2008
http://www.marxist.com/montreal-trotsky-permanent-revolution-latin-america.htm 

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 11:27:28 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:27:28 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The withering economy
In-Reply-To: <986062.76789.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
References: <48455F99.5010608@panix.com>
	<986062.76789.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806031027q47201399s6326cbd17178f510@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Pance Stojkovski <pance at rogers.com> wrote:

> "General Motors said Tuesday it will halt production
> at its pickup truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., axing about
> 2,500 jobs in the process."
>
> http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/03/gm-cuts.html
>
> While this is news on the front page of the media
> today, where is the outrage of the workers. The CAW
> (autoworkers union) is planning a press conference
> later today. Is anybody planning a sit-in? That would
> be news to cheer for.

"The inflation hawks point out that consumers are, for the first time
in decades, telling pollsters that they expect a sharp rise in prices
over the next year. Fair enough.

"But where are the unions demanding 11-percent-a-year wage increases?
(Where are the unions, period?) Consumers are worried about inflation,
but you have to search far and wide to find workers demanding
compensation in the form of higher wages, let alone employers willing
to accept those demands. In fact, wage growth actually seems to be
slowing, thanks to the weakness of the job market."

Paul Krugman in the New York Times,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/opinion/02krugman.html>


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Tue Jun  3 11:50:17 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:50:17 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] AP tally: Obama clinches Democratic nomination
Message-ID: <10498449.1212515417922.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

http://www.sacbee.com/838/story/984188.html

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From Jscotlive at aol.com  Tue Jun  3 12:34:00 2008
From: Jscotlive at aol.com (Jscotlive at aol.com)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 14:34:00 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
Message-ID: <c56.374c9717.3576e898@aol.com>

Eli wrote:

Actually it's worse than that, because the great liberal hope has in fact 
raised 
more than a whisper IN FAVOR OF this foreign policy

Reply:

Couldn't agree more. Pilger's excellent piece, yet another from this 
exemplary journalist, illustrates the folly of leftists in the US throwing their 
weight behind the Democrats.

Surely the task should be to remove the scales from the eyes of the US 
working class and minorities as to the of what Gore Vidal described as a 'one party 
state with two right wings.'

I particularly liked this segment from Pilger's article:

'Kennedy assiduously exploited the electoral power of delusion among people 
hungry for politics that represented them, not the rich.

"These people love you," I said to him as we left Calexico, California, where 
the immigrant population lived in abject poverty and people came like a great 
wave and swept him out of his car, his hands fastened to their lips."Yes, 
yes, sure they love me," he replied. "I love them!" 

I asked him how exactly he would lift them out of poverty: just what was his 
political philosophy? "Philosophy? Well, it's based on a faith in this country 
and I believe that many Americans have lost this faith and I want to give it 
back to them, because we are the last and the best hope of the world, as 
Thomas Jefferson said."

"That's what you say in your speech. Surely the question is: How?""How . . . 
by charting a new direction for America.

"The vacuities are familiar. Obama is his echo. Like Kennedy, Obama may well 
"chart a new direction for America" in specious, media-honed language, but in 
reality he will secure, like every president, the best damned democracy money 
can buy.'

Obama has spent the entire round of primaries spouting the same platitudes 
and slogans shorn of all meaning and any substance. Amazing to think that a man 
may very well be elected president of the world's sole hyperpower on the back 
of a script befitting a political Willy Loman.


 











   

From fred.fuentes at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 12:55:12 2008
From: fred.fuentes at gmail.com (Fred Fuentes)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 14:55:12 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Bolivia's autonomy referendums signal rightist backlash
Message-ID: <b5a2a8180806031155r2479579dsd7f2779a1162c11b@mail.gmail.com>

Bolivia's autonomy referendums signal rightist backlash
On Sunday, the Amazonian states of Beni and Pando voted overwhelmingly
in favor of more autonomy from the socialist government of Evo
Morales.
By Sara Miller Llana | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p06s01-woam.html

from the June 3, 2008 edition

Santa Cruz, Bolivia - Last month, Alejandro Pe?a Esclusa waded through
a joyful throng here in Santa Cruz celebrating the victory in the
first of four referendums on increased autonomy from the socialist
government of Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales.

He shook hands with voters, slapped them on the backs. "I identify
with you, I'm on your side," he told them.

Never mind that he is not a Bolivian opposition leader, or even
Bolivian. The Venezuelan, who unsuccessfully ran against that
country's leftist President Hugo Ch?vez and is now one of his most
vociferous foes, says that supporting the opposition across Latin
America is crucial to democracy continent-wide.

As presidents from Venezuela to Ecuador and Bolivia vow that they, for
the very first time, are governing for the poor, the oppressed, and
the indigenous, Latin America is in the midst of a power struggle.
Conservative leaders say it is their new responsibility to double up
efforts to stem the tide of Mr. Ch?vez and his leftist coalition ?
which they claim is not addressing the welfare of those most in need,
but attempting to consolidate power and undermine liberties across the
region.

"We don't want this to end here," says Carlos Pablo Klinsky, the
president of the caucus of legislators in Santa Cruz who helped usher
in the autonomy referendum. On Sunday, Bolivians in the Amazonian
states of Beni and Pando overwhelmingly voted for more autonomy. With
three victories and a fourth vote planned for June 22, Bolivia is
emerging as an epicenter of a growing pushback against Latin America's
left.

"We want this to spread not just to the rest of the country but to
Venezuela, Ecuador, and Nicaragua as well, to end with this centralism
throughout Latin America," says Mr. Klinsky.

Opposition unites across states

In a twist, the region's traditional outsiders have suddenly become
the insiders, says Michael Shifter, of the Washington-based
Inter-American Dialogue. Led and financed almost entirely by oil-rich
Venezuela, they have formed an alliance in their pledge to create a
new Latin America.

And now the longtime insiders have risen as Latin America's
"opposition." In many countries, the opposition is a frayed bunch, and
those who are united are often fixated against the ruling president or
focused on domestic issues. But many say there is opportunity for
symbiosis.

Yon Goicoechea, who led the student movement against Ch?vez's failed
constitutional reform in December, has since traveled around the
region speaking with student leaders. In January he was in Bolivia to
share the methodologies of his campaign.

"They also have a constitutional reform restricting liberties, and
actually threatening democracy," says Mr. Goicoechea, who resists
being tied to Venezuela's traditional opposition and was recently
awarded $500,000 from the Cato Institute in Washington. He wants to
use the money to set up a foundation to form a network of young
political aspirants across Latin America.

For now, however, these cross-national efforts are incipient, says Mr.
Pe?a Esclusa, who was born in Washington and concedes that even some
members of Venezuela's opposition call him radical. He says he is
unapologetic for any ties he has formed with the US, which he
considers a "friend."

Pe?a Esclusa, who runs a nongovernmental organization in Caracas
called Fuerza Solidaria that resists the "cubanization" of Venezuela,
says he would like to take cooperation much further. In Bolivia he met
with opposition leaders and media outlets to gather support for a
cross-national body he wants to form called the Organization for the
Defense of America.

"We used to just do politics internally inside our own countries," he
says. But the atmosphere is changing with the elections of left-wing
governments across the region, he says. "That is why the opposition in
Latin America has started to work together because we are facing an
international enemy. It's not just Ch?vez. It is him and all his
friends."

Bolivia: the epicenter of protest

Perhaps the boldest opposition in Latin America today stems from the
lowlands of Bolivia, where conservative leaders pushed forward with
the referendum vote even though the government had declared it
illegal. Last month in Santa Cruz, when announcing their victory to
shield the province from Morales's draft constitution that would
create a new society based on socialist and indigenous values, they
stood united, their arms held high in the air.

"This is not the end of the process," declared Gov. Ruben Costas, in
Santa Cruz's central plaza where Pe?a Esclusa was reveling in the
celebration. "With your vote, we have begun the most transcendental
reform in national memory."

In other countries, the opposition has failed to gain such traction.
In Nicaragua, where US cold-war nemesis Daniel Ortega is back in
power, opposition leaders formed a "bloc against the dictatorship" in
December in the National Assembly but it has made little headway.
Lawmaker Wilfredo Navarro says that the opposition shares political
and ideological views, but that personal interests get in the way.
"Everyone wants to be a general; no one wants to be a soldier," says
Mr. Navarro, who has run unsuccessfully for both president and mayor
of Managua.

In Ecuador, too, the opposition has basically collapsed, says Adrian
Bonilla, a political analyst at the Latin American Faculty of Social
Sciences in Quito. "They haven't had an agenda in the last year and a
half, they have just opposed every issue coming from the president,"
he says.

In many cases, the opposition in Latin America has been stunted
because they have not "come to grips" with the deep-seated shift under
way in the region, says Mr. Shifter.

Yet, in part spurred on by Ch?vez's ideological war against the
traditional elites, the opposition has moved into defense mode. In
Venezuela, it has been unable to counter his influence, financed by
oil wealth that he lavishly spends in other countries. He has formed
the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known as ALBA ? a trade
alliance with Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia to reduce independence on
institutions such as the World Bank.

To opposition leaders in Bolivia, this is proof enough that they must
start acting. "Ch?vez owns the Bolivian government, and is the biggest
threat to democracy in Latin America," says Jorge Quiroga, a former
Bolivian president who heads Bolivia's main opposition party.

It is a sentiment that some say is overblown, but which he is
convinced is real, based on his travels across the region, talking
with students, business leaders, and politicians. "What happens [in
Venezuela] affects us all," he said in an interview in Santa Cruz
recently. "This will be a long struggle, but I know it will prevail."

Some have little faith that the opposition will be able to create a
united front, and if they do, their efforts could backfire. "Their
idea of a solid Ch?vez-led axis in the region could become a
self-fulfilling prophecy," Shifter says. "Perhaps inadvertently they
will be giving Ch?vez the sort of aggrandizing role that he has been
seeking."
? Tim Rogers reported from Nicaragua.


From david at miradoiro.com  Tue Jun  3 13:15:19 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?Windows-1252?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 21:15:19 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
References: <484574EB.1090703@panix.com>
Message-ID: <002d01c8c5ae$2af59ca0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

Interesting article. There are some other factors of interest too, though. 
One of the big issues on the 2008 general election was the PHN (plan 
hidrol?gico nacional, national water plan) which was approved by the 
right-wing government before 2004, anulled by the incoming social democrats 
in 2004, and which the right wing promised to revive if they got to power, 
which they didn't. The PHN is basically suicidal. It involves transferring 
water, more or less for the foreseable future, from the river Ebro, in the 
north, to the south eastern parts of the country (Valencia, Murcia) which 
are dry and where it is in my view not very sane to cultivate water-thirsty 
crops. However the PHN would create exactly the wrong incentives, and 
perhaps some farmers bet on the right wing to reinstate it.

At the same time as the PHN proposes a transfer from the Ebro, the farmers 
around the Ebro have been, although receiving enough water, close to minimum 
levels. Barcelona, near the Ebro, almost required an emergency water 
transfer from the Ebro for human consumption, but the recent rains (which 
also have led to relatively major floods) have made this unnecessary now. 
The current strategy involves desalinization (which is problematic, because 
it is very energy intensive and the social democrats in power are against 
nuclear energy, although there are some interesting and potentially useful 
solar thermal experiments being conducted) as well as further use of dams, 
and an improvement of water infrastructure (much water is lost in transit). 
Water is, at least to some extent, a public good in Spain, which is why some 
manner of planning is at least legally possible, although far too little of 
it is taking place as of yet.

--David.



From jansen.l12 at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 13:18:45 2008
From: jansen.l12 at gmail.com (Linda Jansen)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:18:45 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
Message-ID: <a06719f50806031218k57b0f3cdn7d98a5f9a5c081ac@mail.gmail.com>

jscotlive:

> Amazing to think that a man
> may very well be elected president of the world's sole hyperpower on the back
> of a script befitting a political Willy Loman.
>
> Actually, isn't it more the rule than amazing?

Linda

-- 
Power concedes nothing without a demand--Frederick Douglass
Make the demand!

From mikedf at amnh.org  Tue Jun  3 14:15:26 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 16:15:26 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] =?iso-8859-1?q?At_San_Juan_Convention_Teachers_vs_SEIU?=
Message-ID: <22990.63.117.245.134.1212524126.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Tue Jun  3 15:17:00 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:17:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
Message-ID: <13599159.1212527820564.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Perhaps maybe the jig is almost nearly up?
http://www.sacbee.com/830/story/985565.html

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Tue Jun  3 17:46:44 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 16:46:44 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
Message-ID: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>


Do we really need to have every single development in the bourgeois election 
campaign posted on this list, as if we don't hear enough from the corporate 
media? If you don't have something insightful to say from a Marxist or even a 
progressive standpoint on something, please don't post such things here. We are 
WAY past the point of "too much."


_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Tue Jun  3 17:56:49 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 19:56:49 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 7:46 PM, Eli Stephens <elishastephens at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Do we really need to have every single development in the bourgeois election
> campaign posted on this list, as if we don't hear enough from the corporate
> media? If you don't have something insightful to say from a Marxist or even a
> progressive standpoint on something, please don't post such things here. We are
> WAY past the point of "too much."

I share your view. However, it is probably best just to let the
moderators decide what can or cannot be posted. Otherwise, there will
be too much conflict.


From jonburp at yahoo.com  Tue Jun  3 19:50:41 2008
From: jonburp at yahoo.com (Jon Baranov)
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 18:50:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] John Pilger On Obama
In-Reply-To: <c56.374c9717.3576e898@aol.com>
Message-ID: <530252.50858.qm@web56209.mail.re3.yahoo.com>

On the same topic:
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=2419

As the SU blogger opines (without telling us how to vote of course):
"Should Obama beat John McCain to the White House in November, it will be liberalism?s last fling."

While Obama may be a ghost of Bobby - minus the economic populism - there's a key difference I think. It was easy for all to see that Vietnam was the Dems' doing, while the Iraq war is still seen as "Bush's war". 

What harm is there in voting for Obama in the swing states? *If* he proves no better than McCain, it will discredit the Dems and spur the anti-war movement to take a more independent line. Maybe its a false hope, but a disappointing Dem. prez is likely to do more to inspire hatred of the two-party system, than a minuscule principled vote for a third candidate, no?





      


From Ozleft at optusnet.com.au  Tue Jun  3 21:08:12 2008
From: Ozleft at optusnet.com.au (Ozleft)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:08:12 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] The sad and contradictory life of Wilfred Burchett
Message-ID: <4846071C.5020308@optusnet.com.au>

The avuncular figure of Wilfred Burchett was important in the political 
processes of 1956 and the Vietnam antiwar movement. The Australian 
Literary Review today carries an important article by Mark Aarons, 
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23768782-25132,00.html 
who from my point of view is a political opponent, as part of the push 
to drive the labour movement to the right and particularly an apostle of 
the reactionary proposition that union influence should be removed from 
the Labor Party. I am his bitter opponent on those questions.

I?m reasonably sure that that a combination of the unions and the Labor 
rank and file will defeat Aarons and others like him on those questions, 
but the struggle continues.

Nevertheless, Aarons?s lengthy article about Burchett is a valuable 
contribution to socialist history. Aarons, due to his family 
connections, is very well-placed to know the story he recounts about 
Burchett. The article is a useful introduction to part of the literature 
about Burchett.

Full: http://tinyurl.com/6edcpu



From Shacht at aol.com  Tue Jun  3 23:00:12 2008
From: Shacht at aol.com (Shacht at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 01:00:12 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] At San Juan Convention Teachers vs SEIU
Message-ID: <c2f.34fa72d2.35777b5c@aol.com>

What do you expect from the same people who brought you the attack on the  
Labor Notes Convention and on Sal Roselli's (no angel himself) followers in  
California?



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From pance at rogers.com  Wed Jun  4 05:32:34 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 07:32:34 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Union blockades GM headquarters in Oshawa
Message-ID: <mailman.9.1212579119.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

Union blockades GM headquarters in Oshawa

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | 6:50 AM ET

Union members set up a blockade outside General Motors Canadian headquarters
on Wednesday, a day after the auto maker announced it was halting production
at four factories across North America.

Between 20 and 30 trucks have blocked the entrance to GM's corporate
headquarters, Canadian Auto Workers local 222 president Chris Buckley told
CBC.

He said union members are demanding a meeting with GM executives, and an
explanation of the company's decision to close the pickup truck plant in
Oshawa, Ont.

GM made the announcement Tuesday, axing as many as 2,600 jobs in the
process. The Oshawa plant, which produces the Chevrolet Silverado and the
GMC Sierra, is expected to close in 2009, GM CEO Rick Wagoner said during a
news conference in Wilmington, Del., prior to the company's annual meeting.

The CAW has promised an all-out fight against what it called an "illegal"
betrayal. In May, the CAW reached an agreement with GM to postpone a
900-worker layoff at the Oshawa truck plant until September 2009.

Three other GM plants that assemble pickups or sport utility vehicles are
also scheduled to be closed - in Janesville, Wis., Moraine, Ohio, and
Toluca, Mexico. The company does not plan to allocate any new products to
the four plants slated for closing.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/04/gm-blockade.html





From david at miradoiro.com  Wed Jun  4 05:50:07 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?Windows-1252?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:50:07 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] The sad and contradictory life of Wilfred Burchett
References: <4846071C.5020308@optusnet.com.au>
Message-ID: <003601c8c639$2426feb0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

I'd like to take issue with a bit about this article:
"Burchett, the anti-nuclear war campaigner, was not repelled and in 1963 
took Mao's side, declaring him "100 per cent right. The fact that some 
high-ranking
Australians have been paid to think otherwise only confirms what I have 
thought for a long time", by which he meant the CPA leadership. Stripped of 
Marxist
rhetoric, the Sino-Soviet split was about Stalinism: Mao condemned 
Khrushchev for revisionism, code for his repeated denunciations of Stalin's 
policies
and crimes; Mao reaffirmed, and practised, Stalinism."

My impression, although I'm not very well read on this matter, is that the 
split wasn't driven by differences about stalinism. This seems an idealistic 
error, in that as far as I know, the split was driven by material 
circumstances, whatever the purported ideological excuses were. We don't 
take the word of capitalist states when they claim they do X "for freedom" 
or whatever, so I'd be also critical of the word of claimants to the label 
"workers' state" when they do similar things that appear driven by national 
interest.

--David.



From nmgoro at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 06:26:42 2008
From: nmgoro at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?N=C3=A9stor_Gorojovsky?=)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:26:42 -0300
Subject: [Marxism] [Esp/Eng] Denuncia a Shell por Violaciones Ambientales en
	Dock Sud / Shell Denounced for Environmental Violations in Dock Sud
In-Reply-To: <4845739b.0807c00a.5bf9.20efSMTPIN_ADDED@mx.google.com>
References: <4845739b.0807c00a.5bf9.20efSMTPIN_ADDED@mx.google.com>
Message-ID: <2fa158550806040526h1b73dfb6h2f175dd821055777@mail.gmail.com>

Gentileza de  <foco en inpade.org.ar>

(English version below)
SHELL - Denunciada en Holanda, Irlanda, Nigeria, Filipinas, Rusia,
Inglaterra, Brasil, y ahora tambi?n en Argentina.
Denunciamos a Shell por Violaciones Ambientales en Dock Sud

El 28 de mayo FOCO y la Fundaci?n Amigos de la Tierra de Argentina
denunciaron ante Canciller?a Argentina y ante foros en Holanda, que la
planta Shell Capsa, ubicada en el polo petroqu?mico Dock Sud, viola
normas establecidas internacionalmente para regir el comportamiento
empresario en materia ambiental y social. Esta denuncia surge tras la
Clausura Preventiva de la planta que realizara la Secretaria de
Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable (SAyDS) de la Naci?n por una
situaci?n de gesti?n ambiental precaria e ilegal, con graves
violaciones de leyes nacionales.

FOCO -Foro Ciudadano de Participaci?n por la Justicia y los Derechos
Humanos- y la Fundaci?n Amigos de la Tierra de Argentina, presentaron
el mi?rcoles 28 de mayo una denuncia en la Canciller?a Argentina y en
Holanda, por violaciones ambientales cometidas por la Empresa Shell
Capsa a las Directrices OCDE (normas que los Estados se comprometen a
proteger en el accionar de su empresariado en el exterior, incluyendo
el cumplimiento con la legislaci?n aplicable en cada pa?s)

La denuncia presentada se fundamenta en las innumerables denuncias de
la poblaci?n afectada por la contaminaci?n provocada por la empresa y
se apoya en la Clausura Preventiva de la Planta Shell Capsa en Buenos
Aires, realizada por la Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo
Sustentable (SAyDS) de la Naci?n. En su resoluci?n final, la SayDS,
concluye que la empresa se encontraba en una situaci?n de gesti?n
ambiental precaria e ilegal, fundando su clausura en las reiteradas y
graves violaciones de las leyes nacionales.

Las investigaciones realizadas por las organizaciones denunciantes,
bas?ndose en el informe elevado por la SAyDS, llevaron a la detecci?n
de graves violaciones a los principios enunciados y aceptados de
manera internacional por los pa?ses integrantes. El proceder de la
empresa Shell, es contrario a la legislaci?n Administrativa, Ambiental
y los Derechos Humanos reconocidos por el derecho del Estado
Argentino, y el Estado Holand?s, donde se radica la empresa madre de
la multinacional.

Por otro lado, la comunidad de Villa Inflamable ?ubicada en el polo
petroqu?mico Dock Sud y directamente afectada por el accionar de Shell
-  pide un espacio de interlocuci?n con la empresa y acciones
concretas para solucionar, de manera efectiva e inmediata, las graves
vulneraciones a sus derechos que persisten desde que Shell empez? a
refinar petr?leo en el lugar, en los a?os 30.

Los puntos de reclamo fundamentales de la denuncia se concentran, de
manera general, en: la creaci?n de un mecanismo de comunicaci?n y
participaci?n permanente con los vecinos; la reparaci?n econ?mica por
da?os a la salud y la vida de la comunidad; la relocalizaci?n de los
vecinos del barrio hacia viviendas dignas, limpias y libres de
contaminaci?n; el saneamiento ambiental de la zona; y la promoci?n de
un espacio de di?logo y participaci?n que congregue todo el sector
petrolero que desarrolla actividades en la zona afectada.

Esta denuncia internacional es un nuevo golpe para Shell Argentina
(transnacional de origen brit?nico y holand?s), y principalmente para
Shell Internacional, que se encuentra en el medio de una gran disputa
entre miembros de la comunidad, el gobierno nacional, al igual que m?s
de 50 empresas acusadas de causar da?os irreparables al ambiente y a
la salud de los residentes. Con esta denuncia se busca visibilizar el
problema causado por Shell Argentina al ambiente y a la comunidad -
problema recurrente para la empresa y que le significa denuncias en
Holanda, Irlanda, Nigeria, Filipinas, Rusia, Inglaterra, Brasil, y
ahora Argentina ? y que los gobiernos de Argentina y Holanda obren por
que la empresa contribuya al proceso de reparaci?n de los da?os
causados a la salud de los habitantes y al ambiente que los rodea.

Para mayor informaci?n comunicarse con



FOCO



Tel: + 54 11 4772 ? 8922

E-mail: foco en inpade.org.ar


Amigos de la Tierra



Tel: +54 11 4773- 5947

E-mail : agua en amigos.org.ar


?Qu? son las Directrices OCDE ?

Las Directrices  OCDE son recomendaciones promovidas por los gobiernos
a las empresas multinacionales. Enuncian principios y normas
voluntarias para una conducta empresarial responsable compatible con
la legislaci?n aplicable. Dichos lineamientos brindan al Estado y su
sociedad una herramienta internacional de gran importancia a la hora
de controlar y proteger las leyes y derechos en su territorio. Permite
monitorear el accionar de empresas multinacionales y accionar contra
estas en caso de incumplimiento.

?Cu?l es la realidad que vive la comunidad de Villa Inflamable?

Villa Inflamable, se encuentra en la periferia de Dock Sud, y a
escasos metros de la planta de Shell Capsa. Es un barrio cuyos
habitantes conviven, diariamente y desde hace d?cadas, con las
emanaciones t?xicas provenientes del refinamiento de petr?leo de
Shell. Se trata de una comunidad altamente vulnerable, por sus escasos
recursos y bajos ingresos, que adolece adem?s, de la falta de
infraestructura b?sica de saneamiento y salubridad (agua, luz, gas,
desag?es, acceso a centros de salud, etc.). Los habitantes de Villa
Inflamable viven en su gran mayor?a, bajo la l?nea de pobreza y
rechazan la existencia de la industria petrolera en la localidad
debido a la contaminaci?n que la misma genera, y cuyas graves
consecuencias en la salud son soportadas por ni?os, madres,
embarazadas, ancianos, y dem?s vecinos.

La comunidad se encuentra en alto riesgo, debido a la presencia
habitual en la zona de 17 gases t?xicos y de metales pesados, como
plomo y cromo. Lo que en efecto es letal, es la forma en que pueden
actuar cuando coexisten y se combinan sometiendo a la poblaci?n a
co-exposiciones que comprometen el organismo en forma total. Entre
otras cosas, los chicos presentan un alto nivel de plomo en sangre,
las mujeres padecen trastornos en sus embarazos y los ni?os ven
alterado su metabolismo, poseen una talla y peso menor que la media y
sufren disminuciones en su coeficiente intelectual. A esto hay que
sumarle la inexistencia de un programa p?blico de prevenci?n y
tratamiento sistem?tico.

English version
SHELL ? Denounced in the Netherlands, Ireland, Nigeria, the
Philippines, Russia, the United Kingdom, Brazil and now also in
Argentina.
We denounce Shell for Environmental Violations in Dock Sud

The 28 th May, FOCO and Friends of the Land of Argentina Foundation
filed a formal complaint before the Foreign Affairs Ministry of
Argentina and before forums in the Netherlands against the Shell Capsa
plant, located in the petrochemical hub of Dock Sud in Buenos Aires.
Shell Capsa violates established international norms for the
regulation of the behavior of corporations with regards to social and
environmental issues.  This formal complaint arises from the plant's
preventative closure by the Secretary of the Environment and
Sustainable Development (SAyDS) of Argentina after determining the
plant to be in a situation of precarious and illegal environmental
management, with grave violations of national laws.



FOCO - Forum for Participation in Justice and Human Rights - and the
Friends of the Earth of Argentina Foundation, presented the 28 th may,
a formal complaint before the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Argentina
and in the Netherlands, for environmental violations committed by the
Shell Capsa Corporation of the OCED Guidelines (norms that the
governments are committed to protecting in the work of its companies
outside the country, including compliance with the applicable
legislation in each country).

The presented formal complaint is based on the innumerable reports by
the population affected by the company's contamination and is
supported by the preventative closure of the Shell Capsa plant in
Buenos Aires, demanded by the Secretary of the Environment and
Sustainable Development (SAyDS) of Argentina. In its final resolution,
the SAyDS concludes that the company has been found in a situation of
precarious and illegal environmental management, and that its closure
is a result of the repeated grave violations of national laws.

The investigations that have been conducted by the organizations
presenting the formal complaint, based on the report published by the
SAyDS, show the company's grave violations of the international
principles stated and accepted by the countries involved.  The conduct
of the Shell Corporation violates administrative, environmental, and
human rights legislation recognized as law by the government of
Argentina and the government of the Netherlands, where the parent
company of Shell Corporation is located.

Furthermore, the community of Villa Inflamable ? the community located
in the petrochemical hub of Dock Sud and directly affected by the
actions of Shell- requests the creation of a space for dialogue with
the company as well as concrete actions by the company to solve, in an
effective and immediate manner, the grave violations of their rights
that have continued since Shell began to refine oil at this plant in
the 1930's.

The fundamental points of the formal complaint are concentrated, in a
general way, on: the creation of a permanent means of communication
and participation with the residents of the neighborhood; economic
reparations for damage done to the health and quality of life of those
living in the community; the relocation of the residents of the
neighborhood to residences that are decent, clean, and free of
contamination; the environmental clean-up of the area; and the
promotion of a space for dialogue and participation that brings
together all actors involved in the petroleum sector that are
developing activities in the affected area.

This international denouncement is a new blow to Shell Argentina (a
transnational division of a corporation originating in Great Britain
and the Netherlands), and more importantly for Shell International,
which finds itself in the middle of a large dispute between members of
the community, the national government, and more than fifty companies
accused of causing irreparable damage to the environment and health of
the residents of the area.  This denouncement seeks to draw attention
to the damage to the environment and the community caused by Shell
Argentina ? a recurrent problem for the company, proven by the formal
complaints filed in the Netherlands, Ireland, Nigeria, the
Philippines, Russia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and now Argentina.
This formal complaint also seeks to ensure that the governments of
Argentina and the Netherlands work to ensure that the company
contributes to the reparations process for the damage caused to the
health of the area's inhabitants and the environment that surrounds
them.

For further information, please contact:



FOCO



Tel: + 54 11 4772 ? 8922

E-mail: foco en inpade.org.ar


Amigos de la Tierra



Tel: +54 11 4773- 5947

E-mail : agua en amigos.org.ar



What are the OECD Guidelines?

The OECD Guidelines are recommendations addressed by governments to
multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries.
They provide voluntary principles and standards for responsible
business conduct in a variety of areas. These Guidelines provide the
States and their societies with an important international tool to
control and protect the laws and rights in their territories. Allows
multinational companies monitoring and act against them in case of
incompliancy.

What is the situation of Villa inflamable community?

Villa Inflamable is located at periphery of Dock Sud, and a few short
meters from the Shell Capsa plant. It is a neighborhood whose
inhabitants have been living, for decades and on a daily basis, with
the toxic fumes that are produced by the refining of oil by Shell.
This a community that is highly vulnerable, because of its scant
resources and low incomes, that further suffers from a lack of basic
infrastructure for sanitation and utilities (water, electricity, gas,
plumbing, access to health facilities, etc).[1] The residents of Villa
Inflamable live, in their great majority, below the poverty line and
reject the existence of the oil industry as a result of the
contamination that the industry generates, whose grave health
consequences have affected children, mothers, pregnant women, the
elderly and even neighbors.

 ________________________________



[1] Reports: Dorado 2005 and Swistun 2007.

-- 

N?stor Gorojovsky
El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autor?a

From ecosocialism at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 07:48:26 2008
From: ecosocialism at gmail.com (Ian Angus)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:48:26 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Cuban Statement on Food Crisis
Message-ID: <733b65360806040648w41a1adfcucd9cff869a9565da@mail.gmail.com>

Cuban Vice-President Jos? Ram?n Machado Ventura made a strong
statement on the Food Crisis at the World food Security Summit in Rome
yesterday.

It's posted in English on Climate and Capitalism,
<http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=451>

Ian Angus


From markalause at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 08:19:02 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:19:02 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>

Reading between the lines, there is an implicit assumption in Walter's
posts that these developments are matters that should be of concern to
us.  My guess is that Walter's laying the foundations for being struck
on the road to Damascus with a Democratic blindness, but I really
don't know....

In justice to him, I think he should make his arguments and analysis
directly, rather than to leave the rest of us guessing....

ML


From nmgoro at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 08:38:00 2008
From: nmgoro at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?N=C3=A9stor_Gorojovsky?=)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0300
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>

Yesterday night, some friend of mine commented on the possibility that
HRC actually became Obama's VP by saying that if he were Obama, he
would begin wearing two full-body armored vests, one on the other, and
an armored cask with a narrow window for the eyes, covered with
bullet-proof glass.

Don't know if worth it, but anyway I found it funny and send it to all of you.

2008/6/4, Mark Lause <markalause en gmail.com>:
> Reading between the lines, there is an implicit assumption in Walter's
>  posts that these developments are matters that should be of concern to
>  us.  My guess is that Walter's laying the foundations for being struck
>  on the road to Damascus with a Democratic blindness, but I really
>  don't know....

-- 

N?stor Gorojovsky
El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autor?a

From proletariandan at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 08:53:07 2008
From: proletariandan at gmail.com (Dan Russell)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:53:07 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>

I walked into the cafeteria at work this morning to see Obama celebrating
his victory with the Zionists at AIPAC...disappointing but not the least
surprising.

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 9:38 AM, N?stor Gorojovsky <nmgoro at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yesterday night, some friend of mine commented on the possibility that
> HRC actually became Obama's VP by saying that if he were Obama, he
> would begin wearing two full-body armored vests, one on the other, and
> an armored cask with a narrow window for the eyes, covered with
> bullet-proof glass.
>
> Don't know if worth it, but anyway I found it funny and send it to all of
> you.
>
> 2008/6/4, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com>:
> > Reading between the lines, there is an implicit assumption in Walter's
> >  posts that these developments are matters that should be of concern to
> >  us.  My guess is that Walter's laying the foundations for being struck
> >  on the road to Damascus with a Democratic blindness, but I really
> >  don't know....
>
> --
>
> N?stor Gorojovsky
> El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autor?a
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/proletariandan%40gmail.com
>

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Wed Jun  4 09:01:38 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 08:01:38 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
Message-ID: <BAY127-W17F50CA9AC17D4EAF0F0C6D7B50@phx.gbl>


By the way, I noticed during the AIPAC speech something which I then went back 
and looked at other recent photos from the last few days and confirmed - Obama 
is now sporting an American flag pin on his lapel, one tiny but not totally 
insignificant piece of evidence that he'll remain firmly within the fold of the 
American political establishment.


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From lnp3 at panix.com  Wed Jun  4 09:12:43 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:12:43 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Stiglitz on the recession
Message-ID: <4846B0EB.1040104@panix.com>

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080603_joseph_stiglitz_on_recession/


From DBachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 09:29:17 2008
From: DBachmozart at aol.com (Dennis Brasky)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 08:29:17 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] By all rights,
	Obama ought to just keep on steppin\' out of Black America entirely,
	since his real pr
Message-ID: <3d4f34f29d3f29b00d83514bc18ae006@www.blackagendareport.com>

The following page from the "blackagendareport.com" web site has been sent to you by Dennis Brasky ( DBachmozart at aol.com ).

You can access it at the following URL:
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=643&Itemid=1



From kazembe at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 09:36:22 2008
From: kazembe at gmail.com (kazembe at gmail.com)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:36:22 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Save the Date: July 11-13th Them Belly Full,
	but we Hungry-3 Day Introduction to Marxism
Message-ID: <159252000806040836s53566ee7t353642f377b04112@mail.gmail.com>

Friday, July 11
9:00 am - 6:00 pm

3-DAY INTENSIVE INTRODUCTION TO MARXISM
JULY 11-13


"Them belly full, but we hungry"

The Global Food Crisis & What Capitalism Has To Do With It

Teachers & Organizers include: Sam Anderson, Kazembe Balagun, Humberto
Brown, Vivek Chibber, Lisa Maya Knauer, Roberto Lovato, Fred Magdoff,
Randy Martin, Liz Mestres, Bertell Ollman, Merle Ratner, Heather
Rogers, Cleo Silvers, Bill Tabb, Lincoln Van Slutyman, Rick Wolff &
Others TBA
As global warming, soaring food prices, war and racism wrack the
planet, resistance movements from Nepal to the Niger Delta to Chiapas
are linking the looming global crisis to one source: capitalism. But
questions remain: Why is the most productive social system humanity
has ever created also so destructive? What are the alternatives to
capitalism? How do we get there from here?

Using the global food crisis as a starting point, "Them Belly Full,
But We Hungry" is a three-day introduction to marxism that seeks to
unpack how capitalism works?to get behind surface appearances and see
why capitalism must put profit before basic human needs. It will also
examine the intersections of revolutionary movements and people's
struggles against the ravages of capitalism and its three pillars,
homophobia, racism, and sexism. The intensive is designed for workers,
students, artists and activists who are interested in not only
understanding the world, but changing it.

Marx brought a dialectical approach to participating in social change.
He recognized that an understanding of the world cannot come from
passive contemplation alone, that active struggle is necessary. Yet he
also insisted that analysis, critical reflection--learning from our
own experience as well as those of others--and struggle to make our
concepts and ways of seeing both clear and accessible are as important
as political engagement in the streets.

As Bob Marley's song goes: "Them belly full, but we hungry? Now the
weak must get strong"

Sliding scale: $75-$125
Free for Brecht Forum Subscribers


From shmage at pipeline.com  Wed Jun  4 09:44:27 2008
From: shmage at pipeline.com (Shane Mage)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:44:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>


On Jun 4, 2008, at 10:53 AM, Dan Russell wrote:

> I walked into the cafeteria at work this morning to see Obama  
> celebrating
> his victory with the Zionists at AIPAC...disappointing but not the  
> least
> surprising.


Were you hoping for something else?  The choice is between McKinney/?  
and Nader/Gonzalez.  All three are worthy radicals campaigning on  
excellent platforms, but at this point Nader's historical  
accomplishments and public standing (what psephologists call "name  
recognition") make him far and away the preferable choice for radicals.

Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things...it consents and does not consent to  
be called Zeus."

Herakleitos of Ephesos





From DBachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 09:51:41 2008
From: DBachmozart at aol.com (Dennis Brasky)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 08:51:41 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] The Age of Oprah - Cultural Icon For the Neoliberal Era
Message-ID: <b06123fb3414e7fcf046a73e39b195a9@www.blackagendareport.com>

The following page from the "blackagendareport.com" web site has been sent to you by Dennis Brasky ( DBachmozart at aol.com ).

You can access it at the following URL:
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=650&Itemid=1



From proletariandan at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 09:56:04 2008
From: proletariandan at gmail.com (Dan Russell)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:56:04 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
Message-ID: <517f3cab0806040856u5fff1ed3t922c40d1b00c1e00@mail.gmail.com>

I have no illusions about Obama. I was, however, also extremely disappointed
to see Nader pre-emptively snub the Greens and force them into competition
once again.

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 10:44 AM, Shane Mage <shmage at pipeline.com> wrote:

>
> On Jun 4, 2008, at 10:53 AM, Dan Russell wrote:
>
> > I walked into the cafeteria at work this morning to see Obama
> > celebrating
> > his victory with the Zionists at AIPAC...disappointing but not the
> > least
> > surprising.
>
>
> Were you hoping for something else?  The choice is between McKinney/?
> and Nader/Gonzalez.  All three are worthy radicals campaigning on
> excellent platforms, but at this point Nader's historical
> accomplishments and public standing (what psephologists call "name
> recognition") make him far and away the preferable choice for radicals.
>
> Shane Mage
>
> "Thunderbolt steers all things...it consents and does not consent to
> be called Zeus."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/proletariandan%40gmail.com
>

From mikedf at amnh.org  Wed Jun  4 09:56:06 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:56:06 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The Great Immigration Panic
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1051.1212593359.2559.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.1051.1212593359.2559.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <49203.216.73.251.194.1212594966.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

Opinion

The New York Times

June 3, 2008

The Great Immigration Panic

Someday, the country will recognize the true cost of its war on illegal
immigration. We don?t mean dollars, though those are being squandered by the
billions. The true cost is to the national identity: the sense of who we are
and what we value. It will hit us once the enforcement fever breaks, when we
look at what has been done and no longer recognize the country that did it.

A nation of immigrants is holding another nation of immigrants in bondage,
exploiting its labor while ignoring its suffering, condemning its
lawlessness while sealing off a path to living lawfully. The evidence is
all around that something pragmatic and welcoming at the American core has
been eclipsed, or is slipping away.

An escalating campaign of raids in homes and workplaces has spread
indiscriminate terror among millions of people who pose no threat. After the
largest raid ever last month ? at a meatpacking plant in Iowa ? hundreds
were swiftly force-fed through the legal system and sent to prison.

Civil-rights lawyers complained, futilely, that workers had been steamrolled
into giving up their rights, treated more as a presumptive criminal gang
than as potentially exploited workers who deserved a fair hearing. The
company that harnessed their desperation, like so many others, has faced
no charges.

Immigrants in detention languish without lawyers and decent medical care
even when they are mortally ill. Lawmakers are struggling to impose
standards and oversight on a system deficient in both. Counties and towns
with spare jail cells are lining up for federal contracts as prosecutions
fill the system to bursting. Unbothered by the sight of blameless children
in prison scrubs, the government plans to build up to three new family
detention centers. Police all over are checking papers, empowered by
politicians itching to enlist in the federal crusade.

This is not about forcing people to go home and come back the right way.
Ellis Island is closed. Legal paths are clogged or do not exist. Some
backlogs are  so long that they are measured in decades or generations. A
bill to fix the  system died a year ago this month. The current strategy,
dreamed up by restrictionists and embraced by Republicans and some
Democrats, is to force millions into fear and poverty.

There are few national figures standing firm against restrictionism. Senator
Edward Kennedy has bravely done so for four decades, but his Senate
colleagues who are running for president seem by comparison to be in
hiding. John McCain supported sensible reform, but whenever he mentions
it, his party starts braying and he leaves the room. Hillary Rodham
Clinton has lost her voice on this issue more than once. Barack Obama,
gliding above the ugliness, might someday test his vision of a new
politics against restrictionist hatred, but  he has not yet done so. The
American public?s moderation on immigration reform, confirmed in poll
after poll, begs the candidates to confront the issue with courage and a
plan. But they have been vague and discreet when they should be forceful
and unflinching.

The restrictionist message is brutally simple ? that illegal immigrants
deserve no rights, mercy or hope. It refuses to recognize that illegality is
not an identity; it is a status that can be mended by making reparations and
resuming a lawful life. Unless the nation contains its enforcement
compulsion, illegal immigrants will remain forever Them and never Us,
subject to whatever abusive regimes the powers of the moment may devise.

Every time this country has singled out a group of newly arrived immigrants
for unjust punishment, the shame has echoed through history. Think of the
Chinese and Irish, Catholics and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Children
someday will study the Great Immigration Panic of the early 2000s, which
harmed countless lives, wasted billions of dollars and mocked the nation?s
most deeply held values.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/opinion/03tue1.html



From DBachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 10:03:14 2008
From: DBachmozart at aol.com (Dennis Brasky)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:03:14 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] slow death in Gaza
Message-ID: <102a88f8e8e2a5d410ebdec3efdd09b4@www.blackagendareport.com>

The following page from the "blackagendareport.com" web site has been sent to you by Dennis Brasky ( DBachmozart at aol.com ).

You can access it at the following URL:
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=644&Itemid=1



From lnp3 at panix.com  Wed Jun  4 11:31:00 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:31:00 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] An epic recession?
Message-ID: <4846D154.6020602@panix.com>

http://www.zcommunications.org/zmag/viewArticle/17793


From johnaimani at earthlink.net  Wed Jun  4 11:38:44 2008
From: johnaimani at earthlink.net (johnaimani)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:38:44 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] on Hayek, Mises,
	etc-Reason Magazine review of "Socialism After Hayek"
Message-ID: <017e01c8c669$d6554f80$6400a8c0@D4PKYZ41>

A comrade forwarded this to me.  It is Reason Magazine review of  Socialism After Hayek, by Theodore A. Burczak, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 172 pages, $19.95

In 1995 the economist Peter Boettke published a paper titled "Why Are There No Austrian Socialists?" He intended to prod the devotees of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and F.A. Hayek (1899-1992), the two best-known exponents of the pro-market "Austrian" approach to economics, into articulating their arguments in ways that did not reduce them to ideological shoe pounding. But he also wanted to demonstrate to leftists that the Austrians' arguments were not mere dogma, that they were a series of analytical and empirical propositions about how the world worked that happened to lead to the conclusion that, if a healthy and wealthy economy is one of our goals, free markets are the best way to reach it.

The question in Boettke's title was a rhetorical one; he wasn't actually proposing a Misesian socialism. But in the intervening decade, Austrian economics in general and Hayek's work in particular have experienced a newfound, if sometimes grudging, respect. Several scholarly biographies of Hayek have appeared. The Society for the Development of Austrian Economics now runs the best-attended panels at the annual Southern Economic Association meetings, and "Hayek Studies" is a growth industry across the social sciences and even in neuroscience. Now, with the publication of Theodore Burczak's Socialism After Hayek, a scholar on the left has confronted Hayek's critique of socialism in a sympathetic and sustained way. Burczak, who teaches economics at Denison University, has produced a slim but very deep volume that contains the most fundamental challenge to Hayek's defenses of the market since his debates with the Polish socialist Oscar Lange in the 1930s. The book should reopen some conversations that have been closed for too long.

Lange and his allies argued that the complexity of modern society and the triumphs of modern science meant that the unplanned "anarchy" of capitalist production had to be replaced or supplemented by scientific management. Hayek argued that the very complexity of a capital-using economy is what would doom attempts to manage it. Burczak's market-socialist hybrid recognizes the power of Hayek's critique of central planning and markets' ability to coordinate the decentralized activities of individual people. Rather than substituting planning for markets, Burczak wants to supplement the market: He would stake all adult citizens with a rather large hunk of tax-funded wealth, and he would mandate worker ownership and management of firms. These changes, he argues, will enhance the chances that people will live "choiceworthy" lives-that they'll have the means and opportunities to make substantive decisions about the directions of their lives, as opposed to, say, choosing between starvation or working for minimum wage.

Hayek's critique of planning first came to the fore during what is known as the socialist calculation debate. Ludwig von Mises opened that conversation with a 1920 article on economic calculation and his 1922 book Socialism, both of which argued that no state could allocate resources rationally in the absence of private ownership of the means of production-or, more colloquially, that socialism in the classic sense was "impossible." Only private ownership, Mises argued, leads to a market that can produce meaningful prices, which are necessary to help people decide which of the many alternative uses of capital are most productive. For Mises and those who built on his arguments, the shortages and waste that plague real-word socialist economies are not incidental errors that could be corrected with better management; they are problems endemic to socialist institutions.

Lange replied in a 1936 paper, "On the Economic Theory of Socialism." Neoclassical economic theory, he argued, demonstrated that a system combining public ownership of capital with choice in consumer goods and occupations could produce a general equilibrium. The concept of "general equilibrium" was relatively new at the time but later became central to modern microeconomics; it is best understood as that state of affairs in which prices for both consumer goods and inputs enable all market participants to maximize utility or profit, and in which all resources are allocated with perfect efficiency. This combination of markets in consumer goods with public ownership of capital was dubbed "market socialism," and Lange's claim that Mises was wrong to declare socialism impossible carried the day for about 50 years. Much as Burczak pays tribute to Hayek in developing his modern version of market socialism, Lange quipped that future socialist planners should erect a statue of 
Mises to thank him for asking the questions they had now begun to answer.

Full at https://www.reason.com/news/show/120457.html

From pance at rogers.com  Wed Jun  4 11:50:30 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:50:30 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The Age of Oprah - Cultural Icon For the Neoliberal
	Era
In-Reply-To: <b06123fb3414e7fcf046a73e39b195a9@www.blackagendareport.com>
Message-ID: <743524.5911.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

--- Dennis Brasky <DBachmozart at aol.com> wrote:

> You can access it at the following URL:
>
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=650&Itemid=1
> 
> 

Good article. Also sobering are the comments at the
bottom of the article. One person (signed
Christine)thinks that Oprah's "supporting the most
pro-government socialist candidate we've seen in
decades" (meaning Obama). Of coarse, this person
didn't back up this statement - but it does seem like
the general public sees him this way.

We have a long way to go, if the general public really
thinks that Obama is a socialist. 

Pance.



From spalmer999 at yahoo.com  Wed Jun  4 12:11:38 2008
From: spalmer999 at yahoo.com (Steve Palmer)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:11:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Some useful statistics .... Re:  The withering economy
In-Reply-To: <48455F99.5010608@panix.com>
Message-ID: <877607.88980.qm@web81905.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

For anyone interested in tracking the actual underlying trends, here are some
interesting statistics or sources of statistics:

Shadow Government Stats
-----------------------
http://www.shadowstats.com/
Recalculates official statistics on a consistent basis to get at the 'real'
numbers for unemployment, inflation, GDP growth (or lack of it), money supply
etc.

Noteworthy are a series for M3 (the money supply, broadly interpreted) which
has diverged significantly from M2 over the past couple of years. The Bushies
stopped publishing M3 because it was 'too expensive' to calculate. As Marxists,
we know that money supply increases are a result, not a cause of price
increases/GDP increases. The gap between M3 and M2 gives some indication of the
degree of price increases due to speculation.

The Wilshire 5000
-----------------
No, not some brand of cheese: it 'represents the broadest index for the U.S.
equity market, measuring the performance of all U.S. equity securities'.
http://www.wilshire.com/Indexes/Broad/Wilshire5000/

The panel on the right shows that since its peak on Oct 9th 2007, the
capitalized value of US companies has fallen about 11%. This can only increase
the rate of profit by a trivial %age. If it was 10%, it would rise to about
11%. Way to go ...

Profits
-------
A quarterly press release from the BEA, easily found from the home page - look
for Corporate Profits.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2008/pdf/gdp108p.pdf

Check out Table 12. Domestic profits peaked in Q2 of 2007. In Q1 2008 were at
$1,172.4bn. 'Receipts from rest of the world' - ie profits on US overseas
investments for Q1 2008 were $533.1bn - 45% of the domestic number. In 2005,
this was 31%. So US capitalism is becoming increasingly dependent on overseas
investment.

(A parenthetical FYI for those who think 'Foreign Direct Investment' means 100%
subsidiaries: by BEA definitions 'a U.S. direct investor owns or controls 10
percent or more of the voting securities of its incorporated foreign affiliate
(or has an equivalent interest in its unincorporated foreign affiliate)' - a
pretty low threshold.)

Exports of capital
------------------
Another BEA quarterly release. Go to Balance of Payments, International
Transactions.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/2008/pdf/trans407.pdf

Increases in the export of capital are a classic indicator of overaccumulation.
Table 1, p10 shows these up from $1,062bn in 2006 to $1,183bn in 2007 - about
94% of the level domestic profits. This is up from a low of $291.3bn in 2002 -
about 40% of the level domestic profits. As a percentage of non-residential
fixed investment (loosely, 'productive investment'), overseas investment has
risen from 27% to 80%. 

Steve

--- Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:

> http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06032008.html
> 
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/spalmer999%40yahoo.com
> 


"I study a lot. That is one of the responsibilities of every revolutionary." Hugo Chavez.


      


From wsredden at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 12:19:04 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:19:04 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] McKinney & Nader
Message-ID: <a50797a90806041119g47dff3c0rf2de8fbbf9810c25@mail.gmail.com>

I agree with Comrade Mage on the issue of 'name recognition' when comparing
Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney but I disagree on the implications one can
distill from it and strongly feel that we can't let this criteria determine
who receives our support.  One cannot draw too much from Nader's 'name
recognition' considering that it is more than offset by the open hostility
felt towards him by a group who considered themselves his political
fellow-travelers at one point but who will never vote for him under any
circumstances.  Much of his name recognition equates him, however falsely,
as the saboteur of the 2000 elections for the progressive prince, Al Gore.

Sure, more people may know Ralph.  But that gives us little to no indication
of the kind of support he will receive from those who 'recognize' him.

So which campaign stands most prepared to propel the too-long-dormant
movement forward?  That has to be the question we ask ourselves.

Due to his age, the demographics of the working class, and his track record
as a political candidate once the election ends, I fear that Nader maxed out
his popular support in 2000.  While one certainly must appreciate the
political stand he has taken over the last 8 years (I voted for him twice),
it should also be recognized that the most effective vehicle for inducing a
level of consciousness that moves people to action and organizes them into a
movement this election cycle has to be the McKinney campaign.

Numbers aren't the only measure of success; in fact, they're ancillary to
the ends which we seek.  The McKinney campaign seems to me the most
practical vehicle to develop a nucleus of people able to move forward after
the election towards the organization of a serious political movement
capable of challenging a prospective Obama administration - to crack into
its, whose support comes chiefly from the constituencies that Comrade
Bustelo, Brown and others have written about so extensively.

The Nader campaign, in spite of its many virtues, does not have nearly the
same potential as the embryonic campaign of McKinney does even if, right
now, he's certainly in an optimal place.   In an ideal world, Nader would
have offered his full-throated support to McKinney and mediated a ticket of
McKinney/Gonzalez.
Solidarity,
Shawn

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 11:44 AM, Shane Mage <shmage at pipeline.com> wrote:

>
> On Jun 4, 2008, at 10:53 AM, Dan Russell wrote:
>
> > I walked into the cafeteria at work this morning to see Obama
> celebrating
>
> his victory with the Zionists at AIPAC...disappointing but not the least
> > surprising.
>
> Were you hoping for something else?  The choice is between McKinney/?
> and Nader/Gonzalez.  All three are worthy radicals campaigning on
> excellent platforms, but at this point Nader's historical
> accomplishments and public standing (what psephologists call "name
> recognition") make him far and away the preferable choice for radicals.
>
> Shane Mage
>
> "Thunderbolt steers all things...it consents and does not consent to
> be called Zeus."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/wsredden%40gmail.com
>

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Wed Jun  4 12:26:35 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:26:35 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Obama's speech to AIPAC
Message-ID: <BAY127-W53EB2BF7EC746F7278C683D7B50@phx.gbl>


A link to the transcript, along with excerpts and analysis:

http://lefti.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html#1635647428320907741


_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008

From david at miradoiro.com  Wed Jun  4 13:37:40 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:37:40 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] McKinney & Nader
References: <a50797a90806041119g47dff3c0rf2de8fbbf9810c25@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <003a01c8c67a$76d995a0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "Shawn Redden" <wsredden at gmail.com>
>I agree with Comrade Mage on the issue of 'name recognition' when comparing
> Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney but I disagree on the implications one 
> can
> distill from it and strongly feel that we can't let this criteria 
> determine
> who receives our support.  One cannot draw too much from Nader's 'name
> recognition' considering that it is more than offset by the open hostility
> felt towards him by a group who considered themselves his political
> fellow-travelers at one point but who will never vote for him under any
> circumstances.  Much of his name recognition equates him, however falsely,
> as the saboteur of the 2000 elections for the progressive prince, Al Gore.

But come now, people who think all progressive votes should go to the 
Democrats are hardly going to vote for anyone but the Democrat nomenee, 
especially when, like it or not, it is a charismatic and well-sold 
personality to many people on the left-wing of the Dems.

--David.



From markalause at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 13:41:10 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 15:41:10 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <517f3cab0806040856u5fff1ed3t922c40d1b00c1e00@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
	<517f3cab0806040856u5fff1ed3t922c40d1b00c1e00@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806041241t542c3bedw24947bafe9e015e5@mail.gmail.com>

I wouldn't quite say that Nader pre-emptively snubbed the Greens,
though I do think he should have gone to the wire fighting for the
nomination...if only as a way to build a national framework for his
own campaign.

However, the GPUS leadership was determined to thwart his nomination
and he decided that it was not worthwhile to play a game by its
ever-shifting rules.  One story repeatedly widely is that once he
withdrew, some of the noisiest pro-McKinney GPUS leaders simply backed
away from the work needed to build her campaign.  Heading off Nader at
the pass had been their only concern.  There are also related rumors
that McKinney's having serious problems bucking the Obama tsunami in
terms of raising money and recruiting the volunteers needed for a
nationl campaign.

ML


From lnp3 at panix.com  Wed Jun  4 13:57:27 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:57:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Obama at AIPAC
Message-ID: <4846F3A7.2010100@panix.com>

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/326710


From mikedf at amnh.org  Wed Jun  4 14:12:53 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:12:53 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Obama seen as a "Socialist"? was Re: The Age of Oprah -
 Cultural Icon For the
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <49617.216.73.251.194.1212610373.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

Totally to the contrary, "if the general public really thinks that Obama
is a socialist" and, believing this, votes for him, then we have a
tremendous opening.

> Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:50:30 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Pance Stojkovski <pance at rogers.com>
> Subject: Re: [Marxism] The Age of Oprah - Cultural Icon For the
>        Neoliberal        Era
> To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
>        <marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu>
> Good article. Also sobering are the comments at the
> bottom of the article. One person (signed
> Christine)thinks that Oprah's "supporting the most
> pro-government socialist candidate we've seen in
> decades" (meaning Obama). Of coarse, this person
> didn't back up this statement - but it does seem like
> the general public sees him this way.
>
> We have a long way to go, if the general public really
> thinks that Obama is a socialist.
>
> Pance.



From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 14:16:19 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:16:19 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 11:44 AM, Shane Mage <shmage at pipeline.com> wrote:

> Were you hoping for something else?  The choice is between McKinney/?
> and Nader/Gonzalez.

Why are you counting out Brian Moore/ Stewart Alexander of the SP USA?
They aren't running a sectarian campaign, and have reached out to
Solidarity, the Peace and Freedom Party, etc, and Moore has also
stated that he is not in competition with other third-parties. His
campaign is also openly talking about socialism, which has immense
educational value. (Presidential campaigns are a good pedagogical
opportunity to educate people about socialism.)

RC.


From david at miradoiro.com  Wed Jun  4 14:28:31 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:28:31 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Obama seen as a "Socialist"? was Re: The Age of Oprah
	- Cultural Icon For the
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<49617.216.73.251.194.1212610373.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
Message-ID: <004001c8c681$8f1666f0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "Mike Friedman" <mikedf at amnh.org>
> Totally to the contrary, "if the general public really thinks that Obama
> is a socialist" and, believing this, votes for him, then we have a
> tremendous opening.

Not really, because, Obama is not a socialist, and cannot deliver socialism, 
so if people vote for him thinking they're going to get socialism, and then 
Obama does what he will most likely do, carry forward a bourgeois programme, 
people will think that is what socialism is, and be disappointed in it. It's 
a form of brand dilusion, so to speak.

--David.



From mikedf at amnh.org  Wed Jun  4 14:55:21 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:55:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <49687.216.73.251.194.1212612921.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

This name recognition thing can be a dead end and a sign that we are
caught in the trap of bourgeois electoralism, particularly if we equate
name recognition with "electability." That seems to be the criterion by
which some on this list either opt for or against Nader-Gonzalez.
Electability is a criterion for progressives that have the illusion that
politicians will actually achieve something under the present set-up,
doubtful even in a mildly reformist sense, as the Bernie Saunders
experience indicates. Socialist campaigns simply should not have this goal
in the current context. A party that enjoys mass support is another
matter. Lou pointed out in an earlier post that the value of a socialist
campaign lies in its validation of a break from the two party system and
in its projection of an alternative to the bourgeois consensus. I would
add to this how it relates to social movements: does it demobilize or
stand aside from social movements or does it promote and participate in
organization and movement (clearly the tendency of the McKinney campaign,
I don't know about Nader-Gonzalez). By these criterion, name recognition
is far less important than party activism and, insofar as name recognition
has any value, it is as a vehicle to promote social movement and a mass
political expression of that movement. But, we should not have an approach
that, implicitly or otherwise, puts the cart before the horse.



From wsredden at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 15:26:38 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:26:38 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] McKinney & Nader
In-Reply-To: <003a01c8c67a$76d995a0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <a50797a90806041119g47dff3c0rf2de8fbbf9810c25@mail.gmail.com>
	<003a01c8c67a$76d995a0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <a06240802c46cb61ad259@[192.168.1.3]>

I agree with you, and this is exactly my point.

The ABB, Nation-liberal left who 'recognizes' 
Nader but not McKinney - the kind who 'respect' 
the work he's done for all these years but wish 
he'd not be a 'spoiler' - are the very people who 
boost his 'name recognition' numbers.  But 
they'll NEVER vote for him.  In fact, his 
'recognition' to them could very well decrease 
his vote total.

C-Mac's campaign represents something new that - 
even her absolute numbers are smaller - 
represents the embryonic power of a true working 
class movement that Nader's Presidential runs no 
longer do.

Solidarity,
Shawn

At 9:37 PM +0200 6/4/08, David Pic?n ?lvarez wrote:
>From: "Shawn Redden" <wsredden at gmail.com>
>>I agree with Comrade Mage on the issue of 'name recognition' when comparing
>>  Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney but I disagree on the implications one
>>  can
>>  distill from it and strongly feel that we can't let this criteria
>>  determine
>>  who receives our support.  One cannot draw too much from Nader's 'name
>>  recognition' considering that it is more than offset by the open hostility
>>  felt towards him by a group who considered themselves his political
>>  fellow-travelers at one point but who will never vote for him under any
>>  circumstances.  Much of his name recognition equates him, however falsely,
>>  as the saboteur of the 2000 elections for the progressive prince, Al Gore.
>
>But come now, people who think all progressive votes should go to the
>Democrats are hardly going to vote for anyone but the Democrat nomenee,
>especially when, like it or not, it is a charismatic and well-sold
>personality to many people on the left-wing of the Dems.
>
>--David.
>




From mikedf at amnh.org  Wed Jun  4 15:33:21 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:33:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Obama seen as a "Socialist"? was Re: The Age of Oprah -
 Cultural Icon For the
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <49735.216.73.251.194.1212615201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

> Not really, because, Obama is not a socialist, and cannot deliver
socialism,
> so if people vote for him thinking they're going to get socialism, and then
> Obama does what he will most likely do, carry forward a bourgeois
programme,
> people will think that is what socialism is, and be disappointed in it.
It's
> a form of brand dilusion, so to speak.
>
> --David.


Nope. Think about it. Socialism is BAD, EVIL. If people ***in this
country*** (do you live in the U.S.? Europe is way different, in terms of
political culture, where the social dems have given another meaning to
socialism in practice) vote for a candidate wearing that label, it would
suggest they have an idea of what socialism stands for. If Obama doesn't
come through, they would not necessarily throw out the baby with the
bathwater, but search for "the real deal". The fact that a majority would
knowingly  -- at least vaguely -- vote for socialism, and Obama's likely
trajectory, would create an opportunity to present that "real deal", or at
least to explain further what socialists stand for. However, this is very
iffy, given that I don't really think that "the general public" actually
identify Obama as a socialist, nor do I think a majority would support
Obama if they really think he is a socialist. At this stage, the only ones
who use that label are on the conservative right. I was merely responding
to Pance's generalization with another one.



From jonflanders at jflan.net  Wed Jun  4 15:34:29 2008
From: jonflanders at jflan.net (Jon Flanders)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:34:29 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The Age of Oprah - Cultural Icon For the
	Neoliberal	Era
In-Reply-To: <743524.5911.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
References: <743524.5911.qm@web88007.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1212615269.5420.9.camel@localhost>

I wonder why lately I have never been able to access the Black Agenda
site?

Jon Flanders


On Wed, 2008-06-04 at 13:50 -0400, Pance Stojkovski wrote:
> --- Dennis Brasky <DBachmozart at aol.com> wrote:
> 
> > You can access it at the following URL:
> >
> http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=650&Itemid=1
> > 
> > 
> 
> Good article. Also sobering are the comments at the
> bottom of the article. One person (signed
> Christine)thinks that Oprah's "supporting the most
> pro-government socialist candidate we've seen in
> decades" (meaning Obama). Of coarse, this person
> didn't back up this statement - but it does seem like
> the general public sees him this way.
> 
> We have a long way to go, if the general public really
> thinks that Obama is a socialist. 
> 
> Pance.
> 
> 
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/jonflanders%40jflan.net



From david at miradoiro.com  Wed Jun  4 16:01:50 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:01:50 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Obama seen as a "Socialist"? was Re: The Age of Oprah
	- Cultural Icon For the
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<49735.216.73.251.194.1212615201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
Message-ID: <000901c8c68e$98c06360$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "Mike Friedman" <mikedf at amnh.org>
> Nope. Think about it. Socialism is BAD, EVIL. If people ***in this
> country*** (do you live in the U.S.? Europe is way different, in terms of
> political culture, where the social dems have given another meaning to
> socialism in practice) vote for a candidate wearing that label, it would
> suggest they have an idea of what socialism stands for. If Obama doesn't
> come through, they would not necessarily throw out the baby with the
> bathwater, but search for "the real deal". The fact that a majority would
> knowingly  -- at least vaguely -- vote for socialism, and Obama's likely
> trajectory, would create an opportunity to present that "real deal", or at
> least to explain further what socialists stand for. However, this is very
> iffy, given that I don't really think that "the general public" actually
> identify Obama as a socialist, nor do I think a majority would support
> Obama if they really think he is a socialist. At this stage, the only ones
> who use that label are on the conservative right. I was merely responding
> to Pance's generalization with another one.

Hmm, I suppose you have a point. I read a reasonable amount of US political 
articles, but that's not the same as living there and experiencing a culture 
which considers socialism almost a curse word. In that context, the majority 
voting for what they identify (rightly or wrongly) as socialism, would 
indeed be some kind of progress. That said I agree with you that most people 
don't think of Obama as a socialist, and the right seems to think everyone 
on the left of themselves is a council communist in disguise. (Assuming they 
knew what council communism was :-))

--David.



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Wed Jun  4 16:22:41 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 18:22:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] URGENT: Cuban 5 convictions upheld,
	but sentences for 3 vacated
Message-ID: <184533.1212618161135.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Court rules on sentences of 'Cuban 5'
By WALTER PUTNAM ? 25 minutes ago

ATLANTA (AP) ? A federal appeals court has again upheld the
politically charged convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents
accused of spying in the U.S., but vacated sentences of three of
them, including two who are serving life terms.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
returned those cases to a federal judge in Miami for resentencing
based on findings in an opinion filed Wednesday that the spies
gathered no "top secret" information. It was the third time the case
had come before the court.

The full 11th Circuit court already upheld the convictions of the
so-called "Cuban Five" in August 2006. It rejected claims that their
federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread
opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the communist Cuban
government.

The five have been lionized as heroes in Cuba, while exile groups say
they were justly punished.

In the appeal ruled on Wednesday, the five challenged a judge's
refusal to suppress evidence from searches conducted under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sovereign immunity, discovery
procedures, jury selection and alleged lack of evidence to support
their convictions.

"We conclude that the arguments about the suppression of evidence,
sovereign immunity, discovery, jury selection and the trial are
meritless, and sufficient evidence supports each conviction," Circuit
Judge William H. Pryor wrote.

The latest decision included the life sentence for Gerardo Hernandez,
who was convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four
Miami-based pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. The panel split
2-1 to uphold Hernandez' life term.

The four slain pilots flew planes that were part of the Brothers to
the Rescue organization, which dropped pro-democracy pamphlets on the
island.

Hernandez and the others ? Ruben Campa, also known as Fernando
Gonzalez; Rene Gonzalez; Luis Medina, aka Ramon Labanino; and Antonio
Guerrero ? were members of what was known by Cuban intelligence as
The Wasp Network.

The panel vacated the life terms of Medina and Guerrero and Campa's
19-year sentence, agreeing with their contentions that their
sentences were improperly configured because no "top secret
information was gathered or transmitted." The judges concurred with
Campa that his sentence was too strict because he was not a manager
of supervisor of the network.

The five acknowledged being Cuban agents but said they were not
spying on the United States. They said their focus was on U.S.-based
exile groups planning "terrorist" actions against the Castro
government.

After a trial that lasted six months, they were convicted in 2001 of
acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of
espionage conspiracy for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases.

A three-judge 11th Circuit panel overturned the convictions in 2005,
saying there should have been a change of venue. But the full court
reversed that decision, 10-2.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five denounced the decision
to uphold the convictions.

"It flies in the face of the truth. The five men are not guilty of
any crime," said Gloria La Riva, the committee coordinator. "They
were saving lives by stopping terrorism. They never had weapons. They
never posed any harm to the people of the United States."


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From markalause at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 16:57:10 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 18:57:10 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
	<908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806041557g1914db92raffa8e4a3cfa10d8@mail.gmail.com>

If the Green Party doesn't deserve support because it blew the
opportunities it had after 2000, what about the Socialist Party which
blew opportunity after opportunity over the previous EIGHTY YEARS to
build and maintain an independent political party of working people?

Now, I wouldn't rule out supporting an SP candidate, but there is ONE
PARAMOUNT DUTY to anyone serious about independence political action
in the United States: the promotion of the largest possible attempt to
have an impact.  People are rightly critical of Nader or the Greens
for failing to do this.

The Socialist Party never even thought itself under any obligation to
try...  Not any more than the Peace and Freedom or the Socialist
Workers or the Socialist Labor or the Vegetarian Labor Parties....
The lot of them have acted with no regard for building anything other
than themselves.  At the end of the entire campaign, they'll claim so
many additional hundred subscribers to their paper or visitors to
their forums and pat themselves on the back with a hearty claim of a
"victory."

But why would any people who aren't already members of their specific
club give them any serious consideration?

ML


From markalause at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 17:01:21 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 19:01:21 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <49687.216.73.251.194.1212612921.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<49687.216.73.251.194.1212612921.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806041601o22984fc6sb2ce8e2c1aef94fb@mail.gmail.com>

Obviously, name recognition IS a MAJOR CONSIDERATION in terms of
getting out our message, whether we like it or not.

If it's irrelevant, we would be talking about someone like Jared Bell
rather than former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

ML


From pance at rogers.com  Wed Jun  4 18:32:51 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 20:32:51 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Obama seen as a "Socialist"? was Re: The Age of Oprah
	- Cultural Icon For the
In-Reply-To: <49617.216.73.251.194.1212610373.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
Message-ID: <mailman.12.1212625953.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

-----Original Message-----
Mike Friedman
> Totally to the contrary, "if the general public 
> really thinks that Obama is a socialist" and, 
> believing this, votes for him, then we have a
> tremendous opening.


I agree with what you say above. But my original comment had to do with a
different interpretation of Christine's comment. I took it as red-baiting
Janice Peck (and the Black Agenda website). Look at Christine's definition
of socialism - "the most pro-government socialist" - is that what real
socialists think of socialism - being "pro-government"?  Or is that the
definition of socialism by a very closed-minded conservative?

All I was trying to say was that if people define socialism as being
"pro-government" and the height of this socialism is embodied in Obama - we
have a really long way to Marxist socialism. But this is slightly off-topic.


I think the main point is that the original interview is very good -
defining neoliberlism in the context of Oprah and pop-culture. 

Pance.





From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Wed Jun  4 18:50:15 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:50:15 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Emergency protests on behalf of the Cuban Five
Message-ID: <BAY127-W4097744CFA05CCC97323D7D7B40@phx.gbl>


A list of emergency actions on behalf of the Cuban Five is going up here, with 
new activities being added as we speak, so check back, and email the webmaster 
there if you know of others:

http://www.freethefive.org/updates/ActionAlerts/AADayAfter011008.htm


_________________________________________________________________
It?s easy to add contacts from Facebook and other social sites through Windows Live? Messenger. Learn how.
https://www.invite2messenger.net/im/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnHow

From wsredden at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 19:18:25 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:18:25 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806041601o22984fc6sb2ce8e2c1aef94fb@mail.gmail.com>
References: <mailman.1.1212602403.22865.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<49687.216.73.251.194.1212612921.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
	<b16d8daf0806041601o22984fc6sb2ce8e2c1aef94fb@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a06240800c46ce8deb83a@[192.168.1.3]>

Nobody ever said it wasn't a consideration.  Otherwise, La Riva or 
Jared Bell or Mumia would be the best choice.  It becomes a problem 
when it's a factor that eclipses all others.

There's a balance to be struck and a basic realization that unless 
bourgeois elections serve as a vehicle to develop the people's 
consciousness, they are a waste of time.  Through her name 
recognition, her core constituency, and the potential of her campaign 
to develop something with a life span that goes beyond the next 5 
months, McKinney's candidacy has relevance that transcends her 
'recognition'.

It's the JOB of her campaign to raise her name recognition and 
patiently explain its relevance.  That may not happen overnight. 
But, ESPECIALLY under an Obama administration that continually 
betrays those who have most vocally supported it, it will happen so 
long as it has the institutional strength to persevere.

Solidarity,
Shawn


At 7:01 PM -0400 6/4/08, Mark Lause wrote:
>Obviously, name recognition IS a MAJOR CONSIDERATION in terms of
>getting out our message, whether we like it or not.
>
>If it's irrelevant, we would be talking about someone like Jared Bell
>rather than former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
>
>ML


From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 19:19:14 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:19:14 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] The Influence of Israel in Westminster
Message-ID: <bdc.29b830f0.35789912@aol.com>


 
 
clip - 
One of Blair's first acts on  becoming an MP in 1983 was to join Labour 
Friends of Israel. But the major  change only occurred after he rose to control of 
the Labour party. To carry out  his planned policies, he needed to try to 
break the funding influence of the  trade unions. So he needed an ally with ample 
funds.
 
In 1994, a legal friend and colleague of his, Eldred  Tabachnik, Q.C., the 
former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews,  introduced him to 
Michael Levy, a pop music mogul and fundraiser for Jewish and  Israeli causes, a 
member of the Jewish Agency World Board of Governors, and a  trustee of the 
Holocaust Educational Trust. This was at a dinner party hosted by  the Israeli 
diplomat Gideon Meir.
 
Soon afterwards Blair was invited to Levy?s palatial home and tennis  courts. 
According to Andrew Porter of The Business, Levy expressed his  willingness ?
to raise  large sums of money for the party? if there was a ?tacit 
understanding that Labour would never  again, while Blair was leader, be anti-Israel?.
 
The result: Levy ran the Labour Leader?s Office Fund to finance  Blair?s 
campaign in  the 1997 General Election. Levy in effect made New Labour possible. 
For this he  was rewarded immediately with a peerage, as were some of their 
other donors.  Levy has described himself as ?a leading international Zionist? 
and he has since praised  Blair for his ?solid  and committed support of the 
State of Israel?.
 
But, Blair needed a constant source of funds if he was  to reduce the 
influence of the unions ? and, it seems, he needed to hide its  source lest it be 
questioned. One of the better known figures at Labour Friends  of Israel is David 
Abrahams, a Jewish property developer. The President of the  Zionist 
Federation, Eric Moonman vouches for him: ?I know David well and have travelled with  
him on a number of occasions.? Abrahams took on part of the task of  secretly 
funding New Labour. He gave more than ?650,000 to the Party under four  other 
people?s names  ? a move since admitted to be unlawful by the Prime Minister 
Gordon Brown but  which has had no legal consequence. 
full article -- 
 
_http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=13821_ 
(http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=13821) 
 







**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 19:33:33 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:33:33 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Bill Moyers - Friday - The Media, McClellan and War
Message-ID: <c4b.2c3ace42.35789c6d@aol.com>


PBS Airtime: Friday, June 6, 2008, at 9:00 p.m. EDT  on PBS (check local 
listings at _http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html_ 
(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html) ).

There's nothing new in Scott McClellan's book about  the propaganda campaign 
or the role of the press in selling the war, so why is  it such big news? 
Journalists Jonathan Landay and John Walcott of McClatchy  newspapers and Greg 
Mitchell of Editor & Publisher analyze the reaction of  the administration and 
the media to McClellan's book. Landay and Walcott were  part of an award-winning 
team of journalists at Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy)  that consistently 
challenged the administration's case for war and Mitchell is  the author of "So 
Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits - and the  President - Failed on 
Iraq." The program reviews how the press is handling other  important stories 
today.




**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Wed Jun  4 19:43:22 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:43:22 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Al Nakba - How Palestine Became Israel
Message-ID: <c62.31a85322.35789eba@aol.com>



_http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-nakba.html_ 
(http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-nakba.html) 
 



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au  Wed Jun  4 20:46:16 2008
From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:46:16 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] Via Campesina farmers to heads of state: Time to change
 food policies! | Links
Message-ID: <48475378.8010900@greenleft.org.au>

Rome, June 3, 2008 -- Now that the FAO expects that hunger will affect 
an extra 100 million people by the end of the year, heads of states and 
leaders from around the world are gathering in Rome for the FAO 
"High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate 
Change and Bioenergy".

The international peasant?s movement Via Campesina welcomes this sudden 
high level interest in food and agriculture production, but reminds 
governments and international institutions that the current climate and 
food crisis are not the result of any sudden natural disaster. They are 
the fruit of decades of policies of trade ``liberalisation'' and of the 
vertical integration of production, processing and distribution by 
corporate agriculture.

Full http://links.org.au/node/462

Subscribe free to /Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373



From jansen.l12 at gmail.com  Wed Jun  4 22:10:04 2008
From: jansen.l12 at gmail.com (Linda Jansen)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:10:04 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
Message-ID: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>

*On McKinney v. Nader:  I'd rather support Nader, with his party-building
shortcomings, than support McKinney and the Green Party, which (at least
locally) is a swamp.   I'm afraid electoralism is non-starter this year and
we definitely need to get started.   Linda *

Stephen Lendman on Ralph Nader v. Obama (Portion below; whole thing
here: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9182)


> Nader's site states that "these twelve issues represent the tip of the
> political iceberg." But they show how big money controls both parties.
> Without change, democratic governance is impossible, and that, for Nader (in
> a May 31 Wall Street Journal interview), is today's "central" political
> issue - "the domination of corporations over our elections, and over so many
> things where commercial values used to be verboten -commercializing
> childhood....universities (nearly everything). What's happened in the last
> 25 years is an overwhelming swarm of commercial supremacy (and) Obama has
> bought into that."
>
> Obama's Record - The Measure of the Man
>
> He preaches change but supports the status quo. He's beholden to power as a
> stealth DLC member that's essential for any Democrat aspirant. It makes him
> gallingly disingenuous, deceitful to voters, and "safe" for corporate
> supporters who back him. He says individual donors supply most of his
> funding, that he gets none of it from lobbyists, and that they won't crowd
> out working Americans if he's elected.
>
> In fact, big money owns him. He raises over $1 million a day. Wall Street
> lords love him. So do corporate law firms; other finance, insurance and real
> estate interests; the health industry; communications and electronics firms;
> various other businesses; and the Center for Responsive Politics reports
> that his top five donors are corporate lobbyists - the same ones he claims
> to take no money from.
>
> He preaches opposition to NAFTA and wants it renegotiated. It's a "charade"
> says Nader. "There's no way he'll touch NAFTA or WTO." His health care plan
> puts insurance companies in charge and lets Big Pharma price-gouge
> consumers. He's beholden to corporate interests. "If he wins, his
> appointments will give "lobbies and PACs (what they) want." He knows how
> Washington works; was fully briefed to be sure; and he "made his peace with
> that." He's a political animal like the others. Big money is comforted, and
> why not. No one gets top Washington jobs unless they're "safe." For
> president, it's practically a blood oath, and Obama qualifies.
> Nader dissects his record. He's party line all the way, not a "transforming
> leader," and his running mate, Matt Gonzales, goes further. He calls his
> voting record "uninspired." Appalling would be more descriptive. While still
> in the Illinois legislature, he opposed the Iraq war. Then as a 2004 US
> Senate candidate, he switched and claimed "There's not that much difference
> between my position and George Bush's...." When elected, he proved it. He
> supported every defense budget and war supplemental and as president will
> "expand and modernize the military." He voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as
> Secretary of State despite her falsifying justification for war. There's
> more.
>

-- 
Power concedes nothing without a demand--Frederick Douglass
Make the demand!

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 00:13:15 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 02:13:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806041557g1914db92raffa8e4a3cfa10d8@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
	<908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806041557g1914db92raffa8e4a3cfa10d8@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806042313m17c4cc23od3e2add29abcb2da@mail.gmail.com>

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 6:57 PM, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com> wrote:

> If the Green Party doesn't deserve support because it blew the
> opportunities it had after 2000, what about the Socialist Party which
> blew opportunity after opportunity over the previous EIGHTY YEARS to
> build and maintain an independent political party of working people?

Well, I will only say that "this is not your father's Socialist
Party". You have to judge the SP by what it is doing *today*, not by
what it did in the 1980s or 1950s. The same goes for any party.

>
> Now, I wouldn't rule out supporting an SP candidate, but there is ONE
> PARAMOUNT DUTY to anyone serious about independence political action
> in the United States: the promotion of the largest possible attempt to
> have an impact.  People are rightly critical of Nader or the Greens
> for failing to do this.

The SP's position is that they won't "promote" Nader or McKinney
because Nader or McKinney does not talk (openly at least) about
socialism. You can hardly blame a party that calls itself the
"Socialist" party to at least want to support a candidate who is
openly socialist.
>
> The Socialist Party never even thought itself under any obligation to
> try...  Not any more than the Peace and Freedom or the Socialist
> Workers or the Socialist Labor or the Vegetarian Labor Parties....
> The lot of them have acted with no regard for building anything other
> than themselves.  At the end of the entire campaign, they'll claim so
> many additional hundred subscribers to their paper or visitors to
> their forums and pat themselves on the back with a hearty claim of a
> "victory."

My understanding is that the SP goal is to try to create awareness
about socialism. That seems an entirely laudable (or is it
"laudatory") goal to me. Not so much building their party. For
instance, the SP presidential candidate Brian Moore wasn't even an SP
member until this year, but had run independent political campaigns
(for Congress, etc). That SP nominated a candidate who wasn't
affiliated with the SP but had a long history of involvement in
non-two-party politics, certainly bespeaks an openness and
nonsectarian spirit about the SP.

> But why would any people who aren't already members of their specific
> club give them any serious consideration?

Presumably because (1) you want people to learn about socialism and
(2) the SP candidate Moore is talking to people about socialism.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 00:27:54 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 02:27:54 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Fwd: Anthony Arnove: Will Obama End the War?
Message-ID: <908b689f0806042327y67ef414fs917d4ed85c0385be@mail.gmail.com>

http://socialistworker.org/print/2008/06/04/will-obama-stop-the-war

*Will Obama stop the war?*

June 4, 2008 | Issue 673 <http://socialistworker.org/issue/673>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Anthony Arnove is the author of *Iraq: The Logic of
Withdrawal*

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

*BARACK OBAMA presents himself as a candidate who will end the U.S. war on
Iraq. Knowing the details of what he proposes, is it accurate to say that
he'll end the war?*

PEOPLE WHO believe Barack Obama will end the occupation of Iraq are likely
in for a rude awakening. Despite talking about withdrawal from Iraq, his
plan would keep troops in the country for years to come, likely well beyond
his potential first term.

Obama has also left open the possibility that if he reduces the overall
troop levels in Iraq--something that from a military standpoint is very
likely, given how overstretched the United States is now--he would increase
the number of mercenaries in Iraq.

Writing in the *Nation* magazine, journalist Jeremy Scahill
reported<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill>,
"A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama has told the *Nation* that if elected Obama will not
'rule out' using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in
Iraq."

Obama says that he will "have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within
16 months." But "combat brigades" only make up about half the troops in
Iraq.

In addition to the mercenaries and private contractors, that would leave
tens of thousands of troops involved in so-called counterinsurgency
operations. That's the same rationale the Bush administration uses for
keeping troops in Iraq. Other troops would stay for "training" operations.
This, too, is the Bush argument: we'll stand down as the Iraqis stand up.

But there's no way the Iraqi police or security forces will ever have any
legitimacy as long as they are seen as collaborating with an unwanted
foreign occupation. That's why "Iraqization" of the conflict is leading in
the same direction that "Vietnamization" led during the U.S. war against
Vietnam: prolonging the disaster.

Other troops will remain for "force protection." That's a complete oxymoron.
If the U.S. wasn't in Iraq as an occupying power, if it didn't have military
bases, if it wasn't building in Baghdad the largest embassy of any
government in the world, there would be no need for such troops.

This is also the reasoning given for why we need so many mercenaries in
Iraq--and may need more. As Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary of state for
management, told James Risen of the *New York
Times*<http://socialistworker.org/print/2008/06/04/www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/opinion/16fri2.html?ref=opinion>,
"If the contractors were removed, we would have to leave Iraq."

[...]

Full: <
http://socialistworker.org/print/2008/06/04/will-obama-stop-the-war>


From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 00:58:46 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 02:58:46 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Remembering Tiananmen
Message-ID: <d51.2c3a6a48.3578e8a6@aol.com>



The massacre in Beijing, 19 years ago today, is
officially a  non-event but in reality it was a crucial
moment in China's history

By  Jonathan Fenby
Wednesday June 4 2008
The Guardian

For some, the  events that occurred in Beijing 19 years
ago today have been pushed towards  the sidelines of
history.

The Great Leap Forward and the consequent  famine or the
10 years of the Cultural Revolution were, in  purely
quantitative terms, much longer and bigger (including
in terms of  victims) that the massacre of protesters on
the night of June 3-4  1989.

Besides the economic expansion of the last decades, the
Beijing  Spring can all too easily take on the aura of a
carnival which ended in  tragedy and, basically, led
nowhere. Ken Livingstone compared it to the poll  tax
riot in London, and "friends" of China take care to
describe it as the  Tiananmen Incident or, at most, as a
"clampdown". The protesters have been  suppressed or
forced into exile across the globe, except for those
who  have come to terms with the regime that rules in
the new China; a few are  still in prison.

What happened that night is a non-event as far as  the
rulers of China are concerned; commemoration is
suppressed and, if it  is remembered at all, the
occasion is portrayed as a glorious defence of  the
people's true interests by the army. How many people
died remains  unknown, though what is clear is that most
were not students in Tiananmen,  but ordinary citizens
of the capital trying to stop the armoured  vehicles
after previous successes at blocking their progress to
the  square.

Yet June 4 remains a crucial moment in China's history,
as I  have sought to show in a new history of China that
seeks to link past and  present. The killings of June 4
were enough of a tragedy in themselves. But,  beyond the
deaths along the boulevard leading to Tiananmen and
then in the  square, the outcome of the Beijing Spring
confirmed China in a political  course which reaches
back into distant history, but from which,  crucially,
Deng Xiaoping and his elderly colleagues decided not to
divert  19 years ago.  

full --
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/04/rememberingtiananmen19yea
rs>






**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 01:40:15 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 03:40:15 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Why a Cultural Boycott of Israel is Needed
Message-ID: <c75.2e6dfde5.3578f25f@aol.com>


 
 
By REMI KANAZI  
At  what point does rhetoric stop and effective action begin? For 
Palestinians,  decades of dialogue and supposed peace overtures have proved fruitless, 
only  serving to protect the status quo: sixty years of continual dispossession, 
forty  years of occupation, and a systematic repudiation of international and 
 humanitarian law. The situation for Palestinians will not improve without  
constructive movement forward?which rejects collusion with the Israeli  
government by exercising boycott, divestment and sanctions (known as  BDS). 
During the 1980?s,  BDS of South Africa included a cultural boycott whereby 
musicians and artists  from around the world were prohibited from performing in 
the apartheid state.  
In addition to internationally supporting the subjugated black population,  
this policy was instituted to express that no real dialogue?economic, academic, 
 or cultural?could take place in concert with the atrocities of apartheid. 
With  regard to Israel, the implementation of international BDS is but one 
necessary  measure to shift the balance away from the oppressor and help place it 
in the  hands of the oppressed.  
It is imperative  to note that a cultural boycott is not aimed at 
individuals, but rather  institutions and a state. Frequently, Israelis travel the world 
and speak out  against their nation?s policies, and many support a full 
cultural and academic  boycott. A cultural boycott does not hinder the prospects for 
peace; rather it  serves to empower conscientious Israelis and Palestinians, 
and provides the  international community with a viable non-violent solution 
to the current  impasse. 
full -- _http://counterpunch.org/kanazi06042008.html_ 
(http://counterpunch.org/kanazi06042008.html) 






**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From owsky2003 at yahoo.com  Thu Jun  5 03:44:11 2008
From: owsky2003 at yahoo.com (Owen Richards)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 06:44:11 -0300 (ART)
Subject: [Marxism] Direct Action: New Socialist Newspaper Launched
Message-ID: <169641.57095.qm@web53811.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

The newly-formed Revolutionary Socialist Party has launched the
first issue of its new monthly newspaper Direct Action:

http://www.directaction.org.au/





Direct Action - two earlier versions

By John Percy

This is the first issue of a new paper, Direct Action, but it
has two proud precursors, each with an excellent tradition.

The first Direct Action was the paper of the Wobblies (IWW -
Industrial Workers of the World) from 1914 to 1917. The Wobblies
were an organisation of militant workers that arose in the
United States a century ago and took root in Australia soon
after.

The second Direct Action, which began publication in 1970, was
the paper of Resistance (then called the Socialist Youth
Alliance), and then, from early 1972, also of the Socialist
Workers League, which later became the Democratic Socialist
Party. For 20 years, Direct Action presented the positions of
revolutionary socialism in Australia before we switched to
publishing Green Left Weekly.

The first Direct Action began in January 1914, produced by the
IWW in Sydney. The editorial in the first issue explained: ?For
the first time in the history of the working-class movement in
Australia, a paper appears which stands for straight-out
direct-actionist principles, unhampered by the plausible
theories of the parliamentarian.?

In my book on the history of Resistance and the DSP, I noted
that the IWW?s ?revolutionary message was ceaselessly hammered
home in Direct Action. The paper ridiculed the petty-bourgeois
reformism of the Labor Party. It attacked the arbitration
system, the pet creation of the ALP leadership. It attacked the
nationalism, the racism and the imperialist jingoism of the ALP
hierarchy ? against which it counterposed international
solidarity of the working class in its struggle against
capitalism.

?With the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, the
social-democratic parties on both sides betrayed their
working-class supporters and their own anti-war pledges. They
fell in behind their own ruling classes and marched off to the
slaughter. It was not just a betrayal of principles, but suicide
for the labour movement. The ALP positively grovelled. Even
before the outbreak of hostilities, ALP leader Andrew Fisher in
July pledged our last man and our last shilling to the
inter-imperialist conflict.

?The Wobblies? was one of the few voices raised against the
slaughter. The caption on the cover of the August 10, 1914,
Direct Action said: `War! What for? ... War is Hell! Send the
capitalists to hell and wars are impossible.? They didn?t mince
their words in scoring the Labor fakers. `Down all the stretch
of that blood-red tragedy ... which is the history of the
working class, men and women have been crucified and gaoled and
tortured for their class, but our present-day representatives of
labour must howl cheek by jowl with the capitalistic carrion for
Blood! Blood! Blood! If the politicians of Australia want war,
let them take their own carcases to the firing line to be
targets for modern machine guns and food for cholera. If they
want blood, let them cut their own throats. Workers of the World
Unite! Don?t become hired murderers! Don?t join the army or
navy!?

?The IWW played an outstanding role in opposing the war and
conscription. The Sydney IWW club invited other radical groups
to join it in an Anti-Conscription League, and they carried on
an unremitting campaign. They organised against the desertion of
the ALP, whose leader Billy Hughes supported conscription and
eventually split to become Conservative prime minister.?

Direct Action went weekly from October 1915 and achieved an
impressive circulation during the war, reaching a print run of
15,000. In 1916, IWW membership was estimated at 2000, the
majority in the Sydney area.

The capitalists and the ALP were alarmed by the spread of IWW
influence. The Sydney Morning Herald ranted: ?IWWism has
obtained a firm hold upon the trade unions of New South Wales,
and through these unions, a good grip upon the helm of the
Labour ship of this state.? The capitalist state escalated its
repression, with hysterical propaganda, new laws, raids on IWW
offices and violent attacks.

In March 1916, the government prosecuted Direct Action over a
cartoon by Syd Nichols (creator of Fatty Finn). It portrayed a
soldier crucified on a cannon, blood dripping into a skull
labelled ?war profits?, held by a fat capitalist cheering, ?Long
live the war! Hip Hip Ooray, Fill ?em up again.? The publisher
received 12 months? jail. Other IWW leaders were framed, jailed,
deported.

The IWW was smashed, and Direct Action closed down in 1917, but
IWW members contributed to the founding of the Communist Party
following the Russian Revolution.

The second Direct Action was the name of the paper of our
movement from 1970 to 1990. We introduced the paper with an
editorial that outlined our conception of the paper, and our
goals: ?Direct Action is not a paper ?for the whole left?. It is
a paper of a particular segment of the left, with a distinct and
defined political position, and will attempt to present the
position of the Socialist Youth Alliance in a clear and coherent
way.

?To publish a paper without an organisation to build and be
built by it is political irresponsibility. It is to play with
politics. Only when a paper has an organisation to build, and
that organisation has a program to guide it, does a little
left-wing venture such as ours take on any meaning...

?Here is no place to try to give a rundown of what our political
position is ? that will come across in the rest of the paper and
in future issues ? but there are a few basic socialist
principles that most other tendencies on the left seem to
forget, and therefore they must be reaffirmed at every step.

?Firstly, the necessity for mass action independent of any of
the bourgeois channels...

?Secondly, the unity of theory and practice, and the sterility
of both blind activism and isolated theory...

?To us it is clear. The theoretical basis for building a
socialist movement already exists. We make no claim to be
theoretically brilliant but we have learnt some lessons that
many socialist intellectuals have not. They merely play with
theory, without bothering to build an organisation to put it
into practice. For them it?s a game, a fad. This month?s
plaything seems to be Althusser, and of course, the opportunists
as well as the armchair revolutionaries clutch at this latest
straw, in the hope that here may be yet another reprieve that
will allow the intellectuals and opportunists to postpone once
more into the still unripe and distant future, the central task
facing revolutionary socialists ? the construction of an
organisation.?

We had a clear party-building perspective from then on.

The first issue of the second Direct Action, priced at 10 cents,
was sold at the second national Vietnam Moratorium mobilisations
in September 1970, and the demand for such a paper surpassed
even the expectations of our enthusiastic young paper sellers. A
new, exciting-looking left paper, hot off the printing press ?
it was long overdue.

DA served us well for those first 20 years, and contributed
significantly to our tendency?s growth as, bit by bit, we began
to challenge the Communist Party as the main organisation on the
left in Australia. The name helped convey our championing of
class-struggle militancy against the class-collaborationist
politics of both the ALP and the CPA. The style and layout of
the paper helped too, as we also drew on the tradition of the
underground radical press that had emerged during the youth
radicalisation of the 1960s.

Our experience of Direct Action for 20 years was overwhelmingly
positive. The change to Green Left Weekly was a result of
declining DA sales at the end of the 1980s, and the increasing
urgency of responding to environmental issues. Unfortunately,
over the last five years the current leadership of the DSP ?
renamed the Democratic Socialist Perspective at the end of 2003
? has drifted away from the revolutionary socialist politics
espoused by the publishers of Direct Action 1970-90 and the
first 15 years of GLW. Now they have expelled from the DSP many
of the leaders and activists who contributed to the success of
DA and GLW, and we are compelled to relaunch Direct Action, the
third version.

We are confident that we can take up the challenge and rebuild
on the proud history of those earlier Direct Actions.

[John Percy was a founding leader of Resistance, and the
founding editor of Direct Action in 1970. He was national
secretary of the DSP from 1991 to 2006. He is the author of A
history of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance
1965-72, Resistance Books, Sydney, 2005. He is a member of the
Revolutionary Socialist Party.]


__________________________________________________
Correo Yahoo!
Espacio para todos tus mensajes, antivirus y antispam ?gratis! 
?Abr? tu cuenta ya! - http://correo.yahoo.com.ar


From david at miradoiro.com  Thu Jun  5 04:25:56 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:25:56 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
Message-ID: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>


From fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com  Thu Jun  5 05:40:17 2008
From: fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com (Angelus Novus)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 04:40:17 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Need Official English Translation for Marx Letter to
	Danielson
Message-ID: <18480.8764.qm@web50105.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


Hello all,

I am currently translating a text that makes reference
to a letter written from Marx to his Russian
translator Danielson in 1879, in which Marx states the
following:

"Wie sich nun diese Krise auch entwickeln mag ? deren
detaillierte Beobachtung f?r den Erforscher der
kapitalistischen Produktion und f?r den
professionellen Theoretiker freilich von h?chster
Wichtigkeit ist ?, sie wird wie ihre Vorg?ngerinnen
vor?bergehen und einen neuen >industriellen Zyklus<
mit all seinen verschiedenen Phasen von Prosperit?t
usw. einleiten."

My translation would be:

"However the present crisis might develop - a detailed
observation of it is admittedly of paramount
importance for the investigator of capitalist
production and the professional theoretician - it
will, likes its predecessors, blow over and usher in a
new "industrial cycle" with all of its various phases
of prosperity, etc."

However, I prefer to use the "official" translations
available to most English speakers in the Marx-Engels
Collected Works, but I do not have those volumes, and
the letter in question (19 September, 1879).  The
original German MEW source is Volume 34, page 372.

Any help is greatly appreciated.




      


From brownh at hartford-hwp.com  Thu Jun  5 05:58:34 2008
From: brownh at hartford-hwp.com (Haines Brown)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:58:34 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
In-Reply-To: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus> (message from
	=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?= on Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:25:56
	+0200)
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <E1K4E70-0001YK-DE@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>

It is interesting how some people from the US (whom I presume
contributed most of the commentary on this article about an opinion
poll taken in Hungary) tend to see the measure of their well being in
terms of political forms. Many here in the US are so taken in by the
propaganda fed to them by the media that quality-of-life issues for
them reduce to such formalities. To the extent this is true, I believe
it is both significant and dangerous.

Of course, democratic forms or civil rights are important and do
affect the quality of our lives, but if we are really in touch with
the working class, even here in the US, political forms are not the
primary way that we assess our situation.

One might object that this is because we take them for granted, but if
we think at all about it, this is not so. Many people understand that
we don't have any real democracy and either choose not to participate
at all or do so for a few minutes only every two or four years. Civil
rights are often empty as well, as most people realize. What counts is
their substance - their actual implementation and impact on our
lives. One can't separate form and content, and form without much real
content has little value. And, to the extent this describes our
situation, we should not take seriously what has little value.

What do people here think of when discussing the quality of their
lives?  For example, my impression is they think about the buying
power of their income in relation to both basic subsistence and
cultural expectations. Can we put appetizing or nutritious food on the
table? Do we have the assurance of stable decent housing?  Do we have
job security, and is our work experience appealing? Do we have decent
medical care? But social relations contribute perhaps as much to the
quality of our lives as our economic condition. Do we have a rich
social environment that is stable, reliable and rewarding? Are family
relations stable and positive? And there are also cultural factors. Do
our children get a decent education? Are there social norms that are
positive and give purpose to our lives and which we can offer our
youth as direction in their lives?

I believe that economic, social and cultural matters such as these are
really what are on people's minds. Of course, they also have an
opinion on such political issues as foreign policy and the goings on
in Washington, but it is often in disgust and disappointment, only
becoming a bit more positive during the heat of an election every four
years. But even then, it resembles passive entertainment such as a
circus or sporting match. In any case, such matters are not directly
private, but have to do with the state institution and as such may
seem to contradict our real personal and social interests.

The majority of the comments appended to the article were dismissive
of the Hungarians polled: they are fools, ignorant, liars. Assuming
the poll is at all valid, it strikes me as unwise to discount the
opinion of others just because it fails to accord with our own biases
and prejudices. This is especially so when we are blind to anything
that does not accord with the capitalist ideology that we all too
easily swallow.

There are various definitions for fascism, but an important one
emphasizes that it subsumes private life under the state. If political
formalities becomes a surrogate for our real economic, social and
cultural interests, are we not open to fascism?

Haines Brown 


From charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us  Thu Jun  5 06:43:17 2008
From: charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us (Charles Brown)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:43:17 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Demonstrate Against the Banks
Message-ID: <4847A724.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>

Demonstrate Against the Banks
Friday  -  June 6  -  4 PM
Demand that the Banks and Mortgage Companies STOP Destroying Our
Communities!
Stop the Foreclosures and Evictions NOW!

Gather at the Spirit of Detroit Statute at the Coleman A. Young
Municipal Center
Woodward & Jefferson, downtown Detroit

March up Woodward to Campus Martius

Called by the Moratorium NOW Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and
Evictions




This message has been scanned for malware by SurfControl plc. www.surfcontrol.com


From david at miradoiro.com  Thu Jun  5 06:48:58 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:48:58 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<E1K4E70-0001YK-DE@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>
Message-ID: <001d01c8c70a$87407d10$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "Haines Brown" <brownh at hartford-hwp.com>
> Of course, democratic forms or civil rights are important and do
> affect the quality of our lives, but if we are really in touch with
> the working class, even here in the US, political forms are not the
> primary way that we assess our situation.

There seems to be a tendency to think that any increase in abstract freedom 
is worth any decrease in concrete freedom. Abstract freedom being, roughly, 
what one could in principle do unopposed by the State or other institutions, 
and concrete freedom being what one can in effect do, given the reality of 
things, the economic situation, etc. This is a fairly weird quirk, but it 
seems to hold for many people. Perhaps it is a transposition of the 
psychological trait that causes most people to overestimate their abilities, 
which also causes them to overestimate their bargaining power or leverage, 
and makes them believe that they will be able to transform that abstract 
freedom into concrete freedom by individual action. No matter that this is 
proven wrong time and time again.

> What do people here think of when discussing the quality of their
> lives?  For example, my impression is they think about the buying
> power of their income in relation to both basic subsistence and
> cultural expectations. Can we put appetizing or nutritious food on the
> table? Do we have the assurance of stable decent housing?  Do we have
> job security, and is our work experience appealing? Do we have decent
> medical care? But social relations contribute perhaps as much to the
> quality of our lives as our economic condition. Do we have a rich
> social environment that is stable, reliable and rewarding? Are family
> relations stable and positive? And there are also cultural factors. Do
> our children get a decent education? Are there social norms that are
> positive and give purpose to our lives and which we can offer our
> youth as direction in their lives?

Part of the problem is that many of those things are very difficult to 
quantify, whereas things like purchasing power, hours of leisure, etc, are 
at least more amenable to an illusion of quantification (not making a claim 
one way or the other on whether that illusion is accurate or not). It is 
difficult to determine improvements or failures in the cultural norms, the 
educational system, and even comparisons are difficult. This perhaps does 
not excuse the economistic tendency to ignore those factors, but makes it 
comprehensible.

> The majority of the comments appended to the article were dismissive
> of the Hungarians polled: they are fools, ignorant, liars. Assuming
> the poll is at all valid, it strikes me as unwise to discount the
> opinion of others just because it fails to accord with our own biases
> and prejudices. This is especially so when we are blind to anything
> that does not accord with the capitalist ideology that we all too
> easily swallow.

Well, isn't it expecting a lot that people will see new evidence and 
immediately think "oh, there is something in there, maybe Marx was not the 
Antichrist after all". Ideally, of course, people would be more rigorous 
about the way they make judgements, but, in practice, there is a very strong 
hegemonic ideology that opposes such a stance, and breaking with it entails 
a strong cognitive dissonance that many people find hard to accept. It would 
entail admitting that the cold war was wrong, that the capitalist State 
doesn't look for our interests, that the political parties, the media, the 
education establishment (for the most) and other institutions we trust and 
need to trust to live in society are subverted against our interests. 
Speaking outside the US here, but I don't imagine this is any easier there.

--David.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 07:16:53 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:16:53 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Sex and the City
Message-ID: <4847E745.1030009@panix.com>

I was a big fan of the HBO show but decided not to see the movie since I 
have a strong feeling that I would have the same reaction as David Walsh:

http://wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/sex-j05.shtml

The wife liked it a lot, though.


From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 07:19:31 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:19:31 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Secret plan to keep US control over Iraq
Message-ID: <4847E7E3.40001@panix.com>

Independent.co.uk
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control

Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal 
immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

By Patrick Cockburn
Thursday, 5 June 2008

A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American 
military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of 
the US presidential election in November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to 
The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in 
Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would 
occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and 
enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the 
Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. 
President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he 
can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been 
vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term 
settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential 
nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president 
in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, 
John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of 
victory in Iraq ? a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a 
premature military withdrawal.

America currently has 151,000 troops in Iraq and, even after projected 
withdrawals next month, troop levels will stand at more than 142,000 ? 
10 000 more than when the military "surge" began in January 2007. Under 
the terms of the new treaty, the Americans would retain the long-term 
use of more than 50 bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also 
demanding immunity from Iraqi law for US troops and contractors, and a 
free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq 
without consulting the Baghdad government.

The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until 
now. The leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq. "It is 
a terrible breach of our sovereignty," said one Iraqi politician, adding 
that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimise the 
government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.

The US has repeatedly denied it wants permanent bases in Iraq but one 
Iraqi source said: "This is just a tactical subterfuge." Washington also 
wants control of Iraqi airspace below 29,000ft and the right to pursue 
its "war on terror" in Iraq, giving it the authority to arrest anybody 
it wants and to launch military campaigns without consultation.

Mr Bush is determined to force the Iraqi government to sign the 
so-called "strategic alliance" without modifications, by the end of next 
month. But it is already being condemned by the Iranians and many Arabs 
as a continuing American attempt to dominate the region. Ali Akbar 
Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful and usually moderate Iranian leader, 
said yesterday that such a deal would create "a permanent occupation". 
He added: "The essence of this agreement is to turn the Iraqis into 
slaves of the Americans."

Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is believed to be personally 
opposed to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government 
cannot stay in power without US backing.

The deal also risks exacerbating the proxy war being fought between Iran 
and the United States over who should be more influential in Iraq.

Although Iraqi ministers have said they will reject any agreement 
limiting Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they 
will sign in the end and simply want to establish their credentials as 
defenders of Iraqi independence by a show of defiance now. The one Iraqi 
with the authority to stop deal is the majority Shia spiritual leader, 
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In 2003, he forced the US to agree to a 
referendum on the new Iraqi constitution and the election of a 
parliament. But he is said to believe that loss of US support would 
drastically weaken the Iraqi Shia, who won a majority in parliament in 
elections in 2005.

The US is adamantly against the new security agreement being put to a 
referendum in Iraq, suspecting that it would be voted down. The 
influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his followers to 
demonstrate every Friday against the impending agreement on the grounds 
that it compromises Iraqi independence.

The Iraqi government wants to delay the actual signing of the agreement 
but the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney has been trying to force it 
through. The US ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, has spent weeks 
trying to secure the accord.

The signature of a security agreement, and a parallel deal providing a 
legal basis for keeping US troops in Iraq, is unlikely to be accepted by 
most Iraqis. But the Kurds, who make up a fifth of the population, will 
probably favour a continuing American presence, as will Sunni Arab 
political leaders who want US forces to dilute the power of the Shia. 
The Sunni Arab community, which has broadly supported a guerrilla war 
against US occupation, is likely to be split.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 07:29:08 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:29:08 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Norm Geras attacks Marxmail subscriber
Message-ID: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>

http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2008/06/judging-practices.html


From johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz  Thu Jun  5 07:58:27 2008
From: johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz (John)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:58:27 +1200
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
In-Reply-To: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <1212674307.5883.65.camel@john-desktop>


On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 12:25 +0200, David Pic?n ?lvarez wrote:
> >From a recent poll:
> 
> Most Hungarians believe that life was better in the J?nos K?d?r era before 
> Communism collapsed in 1989-90, according to a survey by market researchers 
> Gfk
> Piackutat?.
> 
> In all, 62% of the 1,000 people interviewed said they were happiest in the 
> period preceding the change of regime, up from 53% in 2001. Those favouring 
> the
> K?d?r era were generally the elderly rather than the young, and those with 
> lesser schooling. The number saying that the pre-1990 era was the worst fell
> from 20% in 2001 to 13% today.

i think it's significant that the only age group that didn't prefer the
pre 1989-90 era were those who weren't alive during that time or were
under ten years old, ie too young to really remember or have to have
thought about concrete reality ...
Cheers,
John




From naskha3 at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 08:04:31 2008
From: naskha3 at gmail.com (Nasir Khan)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 16:04:31 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Need Official English Translation for Marx Letter to
	Danielson
In-Reply-To: <18480.8764.qm@web50105.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
References: <18480.8764.qm@web50105.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <18d70e600806050704t26d83027t59c873b696f38089@mail.gmail.com>

Hello,

The following is the English version  of  the reference  you  are looking for:

However the course of this crisis may develop itself--although most
important to observe in its details for  the student of capitalistic
production and the  professional theoricien--it will pass over, like
its predecessors, and initiate a new 'industrial cycle' with all its
diversified phases  of prosperity, etc.

Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol: 45, Progress Publishers, Moscow
(1991), p. 355

MARX TO NIKOLAI DANIELSON
IN ST PETERSBURG

London, !0 April 1879
 (Here the  date of letter is 10 April 1879, not 19 September 1879 as
you mention .)

The word theoricien , a  French word, is italicised in the above quotation.

Nasir Khan



On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 1:40 PM, Angelus Novus
<fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> I am currently translating a text that makes reference
> to a letter written from Marx to his Russian
> translator Danielson in 1879, in which Marx states the
> following:
>
> "Wie sich nun diese Krise auch entwickeln mag ? deren
> detaillierte Beobachtung f?r den Erforscher der
> kapitalistischen Produktion und f?r den
> professionellen Theoretiker freilich von h?chster
> Wichtigkeit ist ?, sie wird wie ihre Vorg?ngerinnen
> vor?bergehen und einen neuen >industriellen Zyklus<
> mit all seinen verschiedenen Phasen von Prosperit?t
> usw. einleiten."
>
> My translation would be:
>
> "However the present crisis might develop - a detailed
> observation of it is admittedly of paramount
> importance for the investigator of capitalist
> production and the professional theoretician - it
> will, likes its predecessors, blow over and usher in a
> new "industrial cycle" with all of its various phases
> of prosperity, etc."
>
> However, I prefer to use the "official" translations
> available to most English speakers in the Marx-Engels
> Collected Works, but I do not have those volumes, and
> the letter in question (19 September, 1879).  The
> original German MEW source is Volume 34, page 372.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/naskha3%40gmail.com
>


From leninstombblog at googlemail.com  Thu Jun  5 08:37:34 2008
From: leninstombblog at googlemail.com (Lenin's Tomb)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 15:37:34 +0100
Subject: [Marxism] Norm Geras attacks Marxmail subscriber
In-Reply-To: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
References: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
Message-ID: <c17d8d380806050737w1030f58kc5361457861c86f9@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 2:29 PM, Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:
> http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2008/06/judging-practices.html

The post says: "If I leave a twenty pound note on my garden wall every
Saturday evening with a letter attached to it saying 'This money is
mine', I might believe that the letter will deter everyone from taking
the money, but that belief will almost certainly be false and my
practice, real as may be, won't be altogether rational unless I want
the money taken."

If he did that, I would assume he did actually want the money to be
taken in order to confirm his thesis that human beings are venal
creatures (thus unworthy of a post-liberal social order).


From fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com  Thu Jun  5 08:40:11 2008
From: fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com (Angelus Novus)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 07:40:11 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Need Official English Translation for Marx Letter to
	Danielson
Message-ID: <607747.32504.qm@web50106.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


Dear Nasir,

Thank you so much for your help!  I greatly appreciate
it.




      


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 09:00:18 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 11:00:18 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
Message-ID: <28153791.1212678018919.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

One wonders if there's been a further effort on cultural levels
to communicate with people about these matters and those days.
The film GOOD-BYE, LENIN presented a nuanced image of how life
had been during the period of the GDR, which left the orbit of
capitalism under Soviet occupation following the defeat of the
Nazis during World War II. Similarly, THE LIVES OF OTHERS gave
viewers another, darker side of life during the GDR. The first
wasn't nostalgic at all, though some people seemed to think it
was, but it apparently gave some people some context within
which they could reflect on what they had lost with the fall
of the GDR.

One also wonders about the growth of the political left there
in Hungary and Eastern Europe now that the reality of life in
a capitalist society is becoming clearer to some as it goes
through a second and begins to face a third decade.

Having not had a genuinely indigenous socialist revolution,
and then in the aftermath of the Soviet union's rush in to
prevent capitalism's restoration in 1956, there have to be 
individuals and groupings there who are pondering what would
be needed to develop a functional and sustainable socialism.

Here's what some Germans have been thinking about:

JUVENTUD REBELDE
The opportunity to modify the German Democratic Republic 
passed too quickly. 
Dagmar Enkelmann, deputy of the Left Party of Germany, 
tells of her experience during the days of the fall of the 
Berlin wall and the reasons that led to the collapse of s
ocialism in her country.

FULL:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1786.html


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
=============================================================

(OK, so it was done surreptitiously, but it confirms what visitors to the
island have known and told anyone who was interested for years. Cubans do
not seek and aren't interested in changing the system or bring back the
Capitalist system, where there wasn't any political freedom, as it's said
to exist in the United States. Under the Batista dictatorship, elections
which were scheduled were cancelled, and no one in the U.S. government
had any complaints. Indeed, they rushed to endorse the new regime headed
by Batista. Cubans who either remember (a minority of older people, of
course) or those with some political and historical understanding, must
understand these things to one degree or another, and so this report is
confirmation that the revolution's educational system has given Cubans
an understanding that their problems are rooted in a mixture of things:
Washington's blockade and Cubans' own errors. Today, Cubans are in a
better position to begin to address their own problems. My impression 
is very strong that what they want want to keep their system but want it
to function better, to provide more of the material necessities of life,
and consumer goods, as their first priority.)
=========================================================================

THE NEW YORK TIMES
June 5, 2008
In Rare Study, Cubans Put Money Worries First
By MARC LACEY

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/world/americas/05cuba.html 

MEXICO CITY ? A rare study conducted surreptitiously in Cuba found that more
than half of those interviewed considered their economic woes to be their
chief concern while less than 10 percent listed lack of political freedom as
the main problem facing the country.

?Almost every poll you ever see, even those in the U.S., goes to
bread-and-butter issues,? said Alex Sutton, director of Latin American and
Caribbean programs at the International Republican Institute, which
conducted the study. ?Everybody everywhere is interested in their purchasing
power.?

The institute is a nonprofit democracy-building group affiliated with the
Republican Party that strongly opposes Cuba?s Communist government.

The results showed deep anxiety about the state of the country, with 35
percent of respondents saying things were ?so-so? and 47 percent saying they
were going ?badly? or ?very badly.? As for the government?s ability to turn
things around, Cubans were skeptical, with 70 percent of those interviewed
saying they did not believe that the authorities would resolve the country?s
biggest problem in the next few years.

The study, to be released on Thursday, was conducted from March 14 to April
12, after Ra?l Castro officially took over the presidency.

Since taking office, Ra?l Castro has rolled out a variety of changes,
lifting longstanding restrictions on the sale of cellphones and consumer
items, access to tourist hotels and renting cars, among other things. 
The survey did not specifically ask Cubans about those changes.

Conducting surveys in Cuba is difficult and the institute did not seek the
required permission from the authorities.

For the study, Latin American interviewers talked to 587 Cuban adults face
to face across all of Cuba?s provinces. A telephone survey was not
considered because large segments of the population do not have phones.

In 2006, the Gallup Organization conducted a survey in Havana and Santiago
that found that more Cubans approved of Fidel Castro?s leadership than
disapproved of it. The previous Gallup poll, in 1994, found that Cubans
considered the revolution that brought Mr. Castro to power more of a success
than a failure. Most Cubans in that survey also attributed their economic
woes to the American trade embargo.

The International Republican Institute conducted its first Cuban study in
October and plans regular interviews with a cross section of Cubans.

The study to be published Thursday found that young people were much more
critical of Ra?l Castro?s government than their parents and grandparents
were. Nearly 70 percent of Cubans 18 to 29 said that if given a chance they
would support a democratic system with multiparty elections, freedom of
speech and freedom of expression. Among those 60 or older, support for such
a change dropped to 44 percent.

Cubans of all ages supported an economic overhaul. More than 80 percent said
they backed a market economic system that included the right to own property
and run businesses.

Cuba?s problems were ranked this way: low salaries and high cost of living,
double currency standard, lack of political freedoms, embargo and isolation,
food scarcity, lack of medicines, poor transportation infrastructure and
lack of housing or dilapidated conditions.

Given an opportunity to rate Ra?l Castro from zero to 10, with zero being
?very bad? and 10 being ?very good,? the average of the Cubans? responses
was 5.55.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us  Thu Jun  5 09:03:48 2008
From: charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us (Charles Brown)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:03:48 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Marx on his dialectic
Message-ID: <4847C813.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>

M. Block ? ?Les Th?oriciens du Socialisme en Allemagne. Extrait du Journal des Economistes, Juillet et Ao?t 1872? ? makes the discovery that my method is analytic and says: ?Par cet ouvrage M. Marx se classe parmi les esprits analytiques les plus eminents.? German reviews, of course, shriek out at ?Hegelian sophistics.? The European Messenger of St. Petersburg in an article dealing exclusively with the method of ?Das Kapital? (May number, 1872, pp. 427-436), finds my method of inquiry severely realistic, but my method of presentation, unfortunately, German-dialectical. It says:

?At first sight, if the judgment is based on the external form of the presentation of the subject, Marx is the most ideal of ideal philosophers, always in the German, i.e., the bad sense of the word. But in point of fact he is infinitely more realistic than all his forerunners in the work of economic criticism. He can in no sense be called an idealist.?

I cannot answer the writer better than by aid of a few extracts from his own criticism, which may interest some of my readers to whom the Russian original is inaccessible.

After a quotation from the preface to my ?Criticism of Political Economy,? Berlin, 1859, pp. IV-VII, where I discuss the materialistic basis of my method, the writer goes on: 

?The one thing which is of moment to Marx, is to find the law of the phenomena with whose investigation he is concerned; and not only is that law of moment to him, which governs these phenomena, in so far as they have a definite form and mutual connexion within a given historical period. Of still greater moment to him is the law of their variation, of their development, i.e., of their transition from one form into another, from one series of connexions into a different one. This law once discovered, he investigates in detail the effects in which it manifests itself in social life. Consequently, Marx only troubles himself about one thing: to show, by rigid scientific investigation, the necessity of successive determinate orders of social conditions, and to establish, as impartially as possible, the facts that serve him for fundamental starting-points. For this it is quite enough, if he proves, at the same time, both the necessity of the present order of things, and the necessity of another order into which the first must inevitably pass over; and this all the same, whether men believe or do not believe it, whether they are conscious or unconscious of it. Marx treats the social movement as a process of natural history, governed by laws not only independent of human will, consciousness and intelligence, but rather, on the contrary, determining that will, consciousness and intelligence. ... If in the history of civilisation the conscious element plays a part so subordinate, then it is self-evident that a critical inquiry whose subject-matter is civilisation, can, less than anything else, have for its basis any form of, or any result of, consciousness. That is to say, that not the idea, but the material phenomenon alone can serve as its starting-point. Such an inquiry will confine itself to the confrontation and the comparison of a fact, not with ideas, but with another fact. For this inquiry, the one thing of moment is, that both facts be investigated as accurately as possible, and that they actually form, each with respect to the other, different momenta of an evolution; but most important of all is the rigid analysis of the series of successions, of the sequences and concatenations in which the different stages of such an evolution present themselves. But it will be said, the general laws of economic life are one and the same, no matter whether they are applied to the present or the past. This Marx directly denies. According to him, such abstract laws do not exist. On the contrary, in his opinion every historical period has laws of its own. ... As soon as society has outlived a given period of development, and is passing over from one given stage to another, it begins to be subject also to other laws. In a word, economic life offers us a phenomenon analogous to the history of evolution in other branches of biology. The old economists misunderstood the nature of economic laws when they likened them to the laws of physics and chemistry. A more thorough analysis of phenomena shows that social organisms differ among themselves as fundamentally as plants or animals. Nay, one and the same phenomenon falls under quite different laws in consequence of the different structure of those organisms as a whole, of the variations of their individual organs, of the different conditions in which those organs function, &c. Marx, e.g., denies that the law of population is the same at all times and in all places. He asserts, on the contrary, that every stage of development has its own law of population. ... With the varying degree of development of productive power, social conditions and the laws governing them vary too. Whilst Marx sets himself the task of following and explaining from this point of view the economic system established by the sway of capital, he is only formulating, in a strictly scientific manner, the aim that every accurate investigation into economic life must have. The scientific value of such an inquiry lies in the disclosing of the special laws that regulate the origin, existence, development, death of a given social organism and its replacement by another and higher one. And it is this value that, in point of fact, Marx?s book has.? 

Whilst the writer pictures what he takes to be actually my method, in this striking and [as far as concerns my own application of it] generous way, what else is he picturing but the dialectic method? 
http://www.marx.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/p3.htm


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From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 09:20:47 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:20:47 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Heavy Metal in Baghdad
Message-ID: <4848044F.10007@panix.com>

If there is anything good to come out of the war in Iraq, it is film 
documentary. Over the past four years or so, there has been a steady 
stream of excellent movies. The latest of these is ?Heavy Metal in 
Baghdad? that showed briefly in theaters to universal acclaim. With a 
modest budget, the documentary allows the principals to speak for 
themselves. Acrassicauda, the Latin nomenclature for the black scorpion 
that is found in the Iraqi desert, is the name of Iraq?s only heavy 
metal band. Their struggle for survival, both physically and culturally, 
is a reminder of the sustaining power of rock-and-roll.

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/heavy-metal-in-baghdad/


From charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us  Thu Jun  5 09:29:03 2008
From: charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us (Charles Brown)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:29:03 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Use and abuse of biology
Message-ID: <4847CDFF.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>

8 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 
 A classical critique of sociobiology, July 21, 1999 
By A Customer

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From charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us  Thu Jun  5 09:29:51 2008
From: charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us (Charles Brown)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:29:51 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Go _Red_ Wings
Message-ID: <4847CE2F.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>

The Stanley Cup is red. Go Wings.

Lenin


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From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 10:41:21 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:41:21 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Israel's make-believe of negotiations
Message-ID: <c0a.39028d51.35797131@aol.com>



By Arjan El Fassed and Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 June  2008

Israel needs a Palestinian state -- or at least the
illusion of  one -- to mask the reality of apartheid where
millions of Palestinians, soon  to be the majority
population between the Jordan River and the  Mediterranean
Sea, are ruled by a Jewish sectarian government in  which
they have no rights. EI co-founders Arjan El Fassed and
Ali Abunimah  comment.

_http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9585.shtml_ 
(http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9585.shtml)  



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From markalause at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 12:46:05 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:46:05 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806042313m17c4cc23od3e2add29abcb2da@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
	<908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806041557g1914db92raffa8e4a3cfa10d8@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806042313m17c4cc23od3e2add29abcb2da@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806051146x7019ca5aue74bb0beb8bfff57@mail.gmail.com>

Look, if people can't survive without being a member of club, I guess
the Socialist Party's as good as any, but the idea that it's so you
can talk about socialism as laughable as is the assumption that you
can't so so when you support Nader or McKinney.

But you can't have it both ways and claim the heritage of the SP (Debs
and all) only to claim that it's just burst forth from the forehead of
Marx.

Goups do when they make fetishes of their own organization's needs at
the expense of the well-being of the broader movement are sects.  In
its electoral policy--rather a key part of being a "party"--the SP
seems to fit the bill just as surely as the SLP, the SWP, the PFP, ad
alphabetium.

ML


From jbustelo at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 13:04:45 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 15:04:45 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806051146x7019ca5aue74bb0beb8bfff57@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
	<517f3cab0806040753u21fb3d4ay1671ca49b1da1c8c@mail.gmail.com>
	<2666AAF0-678C-442C-8988-B08F8FECF662@pipeline.com>
	<908b689f0806041316q6db42f90gca382883eb0e1e48@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806041557g1914db92raffa8e4a3cfa10d8@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806042313m17c4cc23od3e2add29abcb2da@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806051146x7019ca5aue74bb0beb8bfff57@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806051204o6941cc1eh995056aef31ec91b@mail.gmail.com>

Ruthless &c. says, "Why are you counting out Brian Moore/ Stewart
Alexander of the SP USA?"

And why are you discounting the Lydia H. Sigourney / Little Joe Gould
slate?  Lydia is not only famous in her own family, not to mention
several others, but Gould's odontological crisis --immortalized by the
poet-- highlight the shortcomings of all the national health schemes
of the bourgeois and non-bourgeois candidates.

Joaquin


From jbustelo at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 13:15:27 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 15:15:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W17F50CA9AC17D4EAF0F0C6D7B50@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W17F50CA9AC17D4EAF0F0C6D7B50@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806051215m35100af0i827b21acecec231f@mail.gmail.com>

Eli perspicaciously noted: "Obama
is now sporting an American flag pin on his lapel, one tiny but not totally
insignificant piece of evidence that he'll remain firmly within the fold of the
American political establishment."

I thank Eli for straightening us out on that one. Not having seen a
post from him denouncing Obama for several days, I had begun to ask
myself whether Eli, Ruthless, et al had been going soft on the
Democrats. Fueling my dread further, I remembered I hadn't seen a
single useless post by Walter all week.

But then I reminded myself that another explanation is that I hadn't
looked at any posts on the list for most of a week, for reasons having
to do with my currently living in a cheap motel after my nomal abode
decided to do an incredible simulation of the inside of Noah's ark, if
it had sprung a leak.

And thereby saw that all is well with the world.

Joaqu?n

From mikedf at amnh.org  Thu Jun  5 14:36:41 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 16:36:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] FRSO: 2008 Presidential Elections: Defeat McCain
In-Reply-To: <mailman.3.1212688808.2051.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.3.1212688808.2051.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <15550.63.117.245.134.1212698201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

http://www.frso.org/about/statements/2008/defeatmccain.htm

-- 
Michael Friedman
Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior
City University of New York

Institute for Comparative Genomics
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street and Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

Office: 212-313-8721
--------------------
"Ya me gritaron mil veces
que me regrese a mi tierra,
Porque aqui no quepo yo
Quiero recordarle al gringo:
Yo no cruce la frontera,
la frontera me cruzo"
- Los Tigres del Norte



From wsredden at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 15:26:59 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:26:59 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Query on China
In-Reply-To: <4847C813.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>
References: <4847C813.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>
Message-ID: <a0624080bc46e07f029da@[192.168.1.3]>

All,

Could anyone please recommend some books that provide good analysis 
of the economic, social, and political developments in China 
beginning around the time of the Cheng Ho's voyages and continuing to 
the Revolution & Civil War?

I tried the searching through the archives but had a lot of trouble 
narrowing down the search list to something manageable and useful.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Solidarity,
Shawn


From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 15:51:57 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:51:57 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Query on China
In-Reply-To: <a0624080bc46e07f029da@[192.168.1.3]>
References: <4847C813.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>
	<a0624080bc46e07f029da@[192.168.1.3]>
Message-ID: <20080605215157.274BE1B451@mailbackend.panix.com>


>Could anyone please recommend some books that provide good analysis
>of the economic, social, and political developments in China
>beginning around the time of the Cheng Ho's voyages and continuing to
>the Revolution & Civil War?
>
>I tried the searching through the archives but had a lot of trouble
>narrowing down the search list to something manageable and useful.
>
>Thanks in advance for the help.
>
>Solidarity,
>Shawn

Jonathan Spence's "The Search for Modern China" starts with the Ming 
Dynasty and goes to 1989. I would also look into John Fairbanks and 
Orville Schell although neither of them has written anything that 
covers as much history. All of them are liberals. On Marxist 
scholarship, I would strongly recommend Maurice Meisner but his works 
are strictly based on contemporary China.  



From mqduck at sonic.net  Thu Jun  5 10:24:58 2008
From: mqduck at sonic.net (Jeffrey Thomas Piercy, El Pato Comunista)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:24:58 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Rock In Chinese
Message-ID: <4848135A.8000309@sonic.net>

In his review of "Heavy Metal in Baghdad", Lou mentioned the magazine 
"Vice". I found an interview there with China's "father of rock and roll":


*One thing we don?t get is how come you don?t see more Chinese influence 
in the world? The country is completely huge, but everything that comes 
out of it seems like it?s just aping the West. I mean, you?re making 
rock ?n? roll in Chinese, which is cool and everything, but is there 
really anything that ?Chinese? about it?*

You?re asking some very sensitive questions, but I want to answer you 
because I think this is something people are beginning to talk about. 
People here like to separate things into two clear, separate sides. One 
is Chinese and traditional, and the other is Western, more modern and 
international.

A lot of times it seems like China is behind economically and 
politically and it?s hard to figure out why. We could be so much more. I 
think the first thing we need as a nation is to have more self-respect. 
Confucius totally destroyed Chinese culture. He?s the worst thing that 
ever happened to China. Young people need to wake up and stop believing 
in Confucius. Don?t listen to him?he?s an old guy who was born over 2000 
years ago. He may have said something that was OK for his time, but not 
for now. China has old traditions and a great culture, but this doesn?t 
mean that they necessarily make any sense. Something went wrong along 
the way, because we lost our creativity. Young people today have a lot 
more freedom. They listen to western music, but they still don?t create. 
They just listen and then copy.

I think it?s a lot like taking care of fish. If you want a fish to live, 
you need fresh water, but if you change the water too quickly the fish 
will also die. Chinese culture is like a lake in which the water is not 
really clean, but the fish are still alive. And Western culture is like 
the fresh water. Some fish will swim into it and think ? I like this,? 
?I can look good,? ?I can look like a model,? ?I can live like I?ve 
dreamed,? but the fish might end up looking like a model while they?re 
half dead.


Full: http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n3/htdocs/fuck_confucious.php


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:04:39 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:04:39 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <b42c9ffb0806051215m35100af0i827b21acecec231f@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W17F50CA9AC17D4EAF0F0C6D7B50@phx.gbl>
	<b42c9ffb0806051215m35100af0i827b21acecec231f@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806051504o7c3d602cj485b061dc4c40f8e@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 3:15 PM, Joaqu?n Bustelo <jbustelo at gmail.com> wrote:

> Eli perspicaciously noted: "Obama
> is now sporting an American flag pin on his lapel, one tiny but not totally
> insignificant piece of evidence that he'll remain firmly within the fold of the
> American political establishment."
>
> I thank Eli for straightening us out on that one.

What is your *substantive* reaction to the pin-wearing incident? Your
response was heavy on sarcasm but thin on substance.


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 16:07:06 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:07:06 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Query on China
References: <4847C813.84C9.00BF.0@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>
	<a0624080bc46e07f029da@[192.168.1.3]>
Message-ID: <088e01c8c758$7e293b60$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Basic Introduction-- Economic Change in China, c.1800-1950, Philip
Richardson, Cambridge University Press.

Deeper exploration of the economic forces at work:

P. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China, Stanford
University Press.

P. Huang,  The Peasant Family and Rural Development in Yangzi Delta,
1350-1988, (Stanford)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shawn Redden" <wsredden at gmail.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 5:26 PM
Subject: [Marxism] Query on China


> All,
>
> Could anyone please recommend some books that provide good analysis
> of the economic, social, and political developments in China
> beginning around the time of the Cheng Ho's voyages and continuing to
> the Revolution & Civil War?
>
> I tried the searching through the archives but had a lot of trouble
> narrowing down the search list to something manageable and useful.
>
> Thanks in advance for the help.
>
> Solidarity,
> Shawn
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/sartesian%40earthlink.net
>



From jbustelo at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:10:13 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:10:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com>

Ralph Nader has made the U.S. gasoline crisis a central axis of his
2008 presidential campaign.

In a counterpunch article at the end of May, he rails against "price
gouging" and "speculation" insisting that this is the fundamental
cause of the sky-high oil prices.

He quotes a variety of bourgeois sources, all of whom insist supplies
are adequate, even plentiful:

*  *  *

Over the time since early 2007, U.S. demand for petroleum has fallen
by 1 percent and world demand has risen by 1.3 percent. Supplies of
crude are so plentiful, according to the Wall Street Journal, "traders
of physical crude oil say their market is suffering from too much
supply, not too little."

Iran, for instance, is storing 25 million barrels of heavy, sour crude
oil because, in the words of Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's oil
governor, "there are simply no buyers because the market has more than
enough oil."

Mike Wittner, head of oil research at Societe Generale in London
agrees. "There's various signals out there saying for right now, the
markets are well supplied with crude."

*  *  *

However, statistics compiled by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration tell a very different story.

Here is the average daily world oil supply, in millions of barrels:

2003 - 79.62
2004 - 83.12
2005 - 84.63
2006 - 84.60
2007 - 84.59

As can be seen, production has been essentially flat for three years.
How can these numbers be reconciled with the claims that a) demand is
growing but b) supplies are adequate?

On the face of it, these two claims can't be reconciled except through
the traditional bourgeois mechanism of supply and demand. The price
has risen until "effective demand" has been REDUCED to the level of
supply. To return to what a few years ago was considered a "high"
price for crude --$30 a barrel, or its equivalent in euros at the
exchange rates of those days-- would require higher production of,
perhaps, something like 90 million barrels a day.

But there is more to the way the crisis is manifesting that just an
overall supply of crude.

Part of the explanation is that barrels of oil are not necessarily
interchangeable. The reference price we see quoted on TV is for light,
sweet crude, which is the easiest kind to refine. Refining "sour"
crude (with more sulphur) and heavier grades is more expensive and
can't necessarily be done in the same refinery, at least not without
significant adjustments, even retrofitting of additional equipment, or
taking more time in the refining process, adding to costs another way.

When you think about it, this is precisely the way one would expect
the approach of peak oil to manifest -- as a shortage of the "best"
kind of crude oil.

Another part of the explanation is that oil reference prices are
quoted in dollars, which have depreciated rapidly. This is really a
manifestation of war-induced inflation, as Bush's military adventures
abroad and the continuing expansion of the Pentagon budget are
financed by ever-increasing deficits. Since a large part of this U.S.
sovereign debt is being exported, the net result is a drastic loss in
the dollar's purchasing power in relation to other currencies --
inflation is showing up in the prices of imported goods, especially
from Europe and Japan.

Still another part of the explanation is a mismatch at the output end
of the refineries, similar in a sense to the mismatch at the input
(i.e., light sweet versus sour heavy crudes). The divergence in the
price of a gallon of diesel and one of gasoline that has emerged over
the past year is a clear indication that refineries should be
producing more diesel and less gasoline. However, the output mix isn't
so easy to adjust beyond a few percent, as this requires large
investments in additional equipment at existing refineries and/or new
refineries properly outfitted.

Realistically, we cannot know if this is "the" peak oil moment, or
merely the sort of temporary plateau one can logically expect as the
world strains and staggers to "the" peak oil moment. But it is already
enough to give us a taste of things to come.

One is the sudden obsolescence of huge installed productive capacity
as demand for gas guzzlers collapses. Gas at > $3/gallon was enough to
provoke this, and the pump price hasn't yet really caught up with the
price of crude (because of the differential between gasoline and
diesel) even at the current $4 a gallon. the GM plant closings and
layoffs are just the tip of the iceberg. Double the price of gasoline
again, as has happened over the last couple of years, and automobile
dealers won't even be able to move a Prius. The issue isn't going to
be getting a 30 MPG Civic or Fit, but moving to mass transit.

Another casualty already visible is the airline industry. Increase
prevailing fare levels and what happens? United and Continental have
been giving us answers the last couple of days. There is a sudden huge
excess of capacity, what might be called a "moral" depreciation of
exiting fixed capital stock that rapidly reduced the value of a
significant portion of the airplane fleet to what a scrap metal dealer
would pay. And we will soon hear the screams from Boeing and Airbus as
their order books get decimated.

Further knock-on effects will take time to become evident. One is a
downturn in world sourcing, of everything from food to manufactured
goods. As the price of fuel and therefore transportation increases,
effective accessible markets will shrink. High bulk/weight goods will
be the first to be affected, ultra-high-tech miniscule luxury items
like the iPod last. But local/regional sourcing will provide
increasing price advantages despite wage differentials.

Location, location, location has long been the cry of real-estate
hucksters as they seek to take advantage of ghettoization and then
gentrification of the formerly ghettoized neighborhoods. Already in
Atlanta I see house ads that boast of nearness to the previously
much-despised and therefore unmentionable MARTA rail lines. Despite
the real estate crisis, relatively high-density (for Atlanta)
construction projects, such as townhouses and condo conversions of
industrial/warehouse spaces are continuing within walking distance of
MARTA stations. Even if this isn't "the" peak oil crisis and gas
prices come down again, sooner or later, most likely sooner, there
will be THE "peak oil" crisis and then the collapse of the market for
suburban McMansions with no easy access to mass transit will become
inevitable.

*  *  *

I'd like to be able to say that one reason to support Nader or
McKinney or (why not?) both (after all, the bourgeoisie supports BOTH
its bourgeois candidates and it's not unusual to see PAC's and moneyed
individuals giving to BOTH campaigns in a race) is that they are
facing up squarely to what it really going on.

Frankly, although he is completely vague about it, and I have little
doubt his concrete measures (if any!) will defend and benefit
bourgeois interests, Obama is much, much closer to the mark when he
HONESTLY tells people there is no real solution to the gasoline crisis
except for developing alternative energy sources and breaking "our"
(the United States's) "petroleum addiction."

I think this is but one aspect of a broader crisis facing the left, or
the few miserable remnants of it in the United States, and reflected
in  thoughtless slogans like "money for" jobs, education, health care,
free dope, mass transit, bigger baseball stadiums or whatever "not for
war." This neatly overlooks the reality that the U.S. has so many
resources precisely because of "war," the super-exploitation of the
Third World, and saying "no money for war" is also saying no to the
fruits of war, imperialist super-profits.

The strategic aim of the Iraq adventure was precisely to re-enforce
U.S. imperialist control and cheap access to a large portion of the
world's remaining easily-accessible petroleum resources. It is now
clearer than ever that this U.S. War, because it could not succeed,
had the OPPOSITE effect of loosening U.S. control, not only and
perhaps not even mainly in the Middle East, but halfway across the
world, in Latin America.

Lest we forget, one reason crude oil sold for as little as $10 a
barrel ten years ago was Venezuelan scabbing on OPEC quotas. As soon
as comrade Chavez occupied the Miraflores Palace as president of
Venezuela, that scabbing came to a screeching halt, and Third World
countries began getting a fairer price for their hydrocarbon
resources. It was, in retrospect, the very first, and a very telling
sign of the direction he was heading, something that was noticed by
very few on the left at the time (notable exceptions being some Latin
American revolutionaries, like the Cubans and the Argentine National
Left). But if the Bolivarian Revolution has been able to advance as
far as it has, this has been in large part bought by the blood of
Iraqi and Afghani patriots, whatever their ideological conceptions,
who have bogged down American imperialism into another Vietnam-style
quagmire.

And, listening to some of the more prominent expressions of what Left
we have left in this country, it seems what we are offering is only
capitalist consumerism on steroids. Down with the greedy oil
monopolies that keep us from consuming, no the current 20 million
barrels a day, but 25 or 30 million barrels.

At some point we have to recognize the implications of what now is
often said by many leftists, but with no real understanding or
conviction: the consumerist life style of the "advanced" imperialist
countries --and first and foremost by a mile and a half, the United
States-- is unsustainable, it is a crime against humanity, it is
genocide and worse, ecocide.

Much of the leftists in the United States trace their REAL roots, not
so much to the Communist Manifesto and labor movement of the 19th and
early 20th Century, but to the worldwide youth radicalization and
rebellion of the 1960's. Stung and demoralized by the failure of our
naive dreams of those years, some of us turned to the "old left" of
"class politics," but many more to a confused radical liberalism in
spaces like the left wing of the democratic party, the Quakers, the
Unitarians and so on.

I do not know how to turn back the clock, how to undo the divergence
between sectors that I believe share fundamentally similar outlooks
and values, whatever ideological superstructures we've now imposed on
them.

But if it can be overcome to some degree, at this time, in the U.S.
political space as it now exists, I think the fundamental axis of left
politics has to go beyond anti-corporate muckraking and denunciations,
and squarely face up to the consequences of saying no money for war,
of saying the U.S. life style is unsustainable.

The heart of that message, I believe, needs to be a promise not of
freedom from want, but of freedom from wanting. Freedom from want, in
this country, with its current resources, is an almost trivial
promise. Take a few percent from the top, give a few percent to the
bottom, couple it with a couple of reforms like a living wage and
national health care, and after a few years you're done. Unless, of
course, you're in a society PERMEATED by bourgeois propaganda that
says if you've only got a Honda Fit instead of an SRV, or a corolla
instead of a prius, or anything but a hummer, then you're a worthless
piece of shit. Which is PRECISELY the society we live in. The one that
tells you what a miserable failure you are because your McMansion
doesn't have his-and-her exercise rooms even though you're uncoupled
and live alone. That says what a shit you are that you didn't get your
18-year-old daughter a NEW car for her graduation present. And so on.
THEN you're never done.

In other words, I believe the battle the U.S. left needs to wage today
is a battle of ideas and fundamentally about *values.* This is, to be
brutally frank, NOT NOT NOT a "class" message as that is traditionally
understood on the left, but first and foremost a message addressed to
the intelligentsia, and most especially the youth. I believe it is a
message that will also be accepted and understood, in time, by the
lower layers of the working class and especially the oppressed
nationalities as people lose their illusions that they, too, can have
a McMansion and a hummer. I ALSO believe it will have little-to-no
resonance, and on the contrary be met with extreme hostility, by those
sections of the working people wedded to the privileges they have a
males, or as white people, or simply as residents of a country like
the U.S.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:10:13 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:10:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
In-Reply-To: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806051510g45cd0af2r9ec2bdca922d551e@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 6:25 AM, David Pic?n ?lvarez <david at miradoiro.com> wrote:

> From a recent poll:

As Louis has repeatedly pointed out on this list, socialists should
put little store on opinion polls. The majority of the people of
Panama opined at the time (just before the invasion) that the US
invasion of Panama was desirable.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:14:22 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:14:22 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
In-Reply-To: <001d01c8c70a$87407d10$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<E1K4E70-0001YK-DE@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>
	<001d01c8c70a$87407d10$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806051514n1eb568d0k3689f4cc56cbf53@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 8:48 AM, David Pic?n ?lvarez <david at miradoiro.com> wrote:
> From: "Haines Brown" <brownh at hartford-hwp.com>
>> Of course, democratic forms or civil rights are important and do
>> affect the quality of our lives, but if we are really in touch with
>> the working class, even here in the US, political forms are not the
>> primary way that we assess our situation.
>
> There seems to be a tendency to think that any increase in abstract freedom
> is worth any decrease in concrete freedom. Abstract freedom being, roughly,
> what one could in principle do unopposed by the State or other institutions,
> and concrete freedom being what one can in effect do, given the reality of
> things, the economic situation, etc.

But what happened to "Es mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodillas", as
Zapata said?

(Trans: "It's better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees").


From jansen.l12 at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:30:11 2008
From: jansen.l12 at gmail.com (Linda Jansen)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 15:30:11 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
Message-ID: <a06719f50806051530m6df6a7at6d4fa47817a0901f@mail.gmail.com>

>
> Eli perspicaciously noted: "Obama
> is now sporting an American flag pin on his lapel, one tiny but not totally
> insignificant piece of evidence that he'll remain firmly within the fold of the
> American political establishment."
>
> Hey, Eli.  Are you sure it wasn't an Israeli flag?????

Linda

-- 
Power concedes nothing without a demand--Frederick Douglass
Make the demand!

From dave.walters at comcast.net  Thu Jun  5 16:35:38 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:35:38 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <48486A3A.9010907@comcast.net>

JB:
"Ralph Nader has made the U.S. gasoline crisis a central axis of his
2008 presidential campaign."

Personally I'm totally underwhelmed by Nader's rather grade school understanding
of energy issues, but this one particular article was good.

JB:
"Frankly, although he is completely vague about it, and I have little
doubt his concrete measures (if any!) will defend and benefit
bourgeois interests, Obama is much, much closer to the mark when he
HONESTLY tells people there is no real solution to the gasoline crisis
except for developing alternative energy sources and breaking "our"
(the United States's) "petroleum addiction."

Actually, this was Bush's message in his next to last State of the Union address. 
Of course he meant it DISHONESTLY but the message was the same, if I remember (I KNOW! 
I actually listened to it).

So....JB...you getting like Obama, very flowery words, little substance. So...'values'???
Care to elaborate? Besides adopting the terminology of the last Republican primary battle 
I'm sure you have something more in mind and relatively more progressive. Care to share?

David



From jbustelo at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 16:39:09 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:39:09 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806051504o7c3d602cj485b061dc4c40f8e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <BAY127-W17F50CA9AC17D4EAF0F0C6D7B50@phx.gbl>
	<b42c9ffb0806051215m35100af0i827b21acecec231f@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806051504o7c3d602cj485b061dc4c40f8e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806051539m1cf6cb87je447cd7d1b4a884a@mail.gmail.com>

"Ruthless" asks me:

"What is your *substantive* reaction to the pin-wearing incident? Your
response was heavy on sarcasm but thin on substance."

Well, that IS my substantive reaction.

As for the details, at an event a few weeks ago, a veteran who was
having a hard time getting medical care asked Obama if he would wear
the pin as a show of support to people like him. Obama said he would,
and he has. If you know more about it than that, please let us know.

As for the deeper meaning of it all, Obama was, is and will be an
American patriot. If you have any doubt, read his books. Listen to his
speeches. Look at his campaign paraphernalia. Peruse the web site.

Which does not AT ALL change the reality that masses of Black people
see Obama and his campaign as the embodiment of a new, giant step in
their historic fight for political rights, for political inclusion and
representation. We on the left --as especially in the
Trotskyist/anti-Democratic Party left-- have tended to downplay or
ignore this *movement* because it has found expression primarily
within the Democratic Party, something that has tremendously limited
its impact and blurred its character. But despite that, it is there,
and insofar as it goes, it is entirely progressive.

Which doesn't mean this is the ONLY issue at play or consideration
involved in approaching a tactical stance on the elections. But
certainly, if you don't take this into account in your tactics, you're
almost certainly going to be quite off the wall in what you say.

Joaqu?n

From charles1848 at sbcglobal.net  Thu Jun  5 17:20:30 2008
From: charles1848 at sbcglobal.net (Charlie)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:20:30 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Query on China
Message-ID: <484874BE.5010109@sbcglobal.net>

You could start with these ten pages by Joseph Needham:
http://assets.cambridge.org/052108/7325/excerpt/0521087325_excerpt.pdf

For the 19th and early 20th century, you might browse the endnotes in 
the four- or five-volume Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung.

Charles Andrews



From sartesian at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 17:22:49 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:22:49 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Couple of things:  OECD daily demand in BOE/day has dropped  over the
2007-2008 period. Demand from China, India etc. has increased, but all
in all, over the past 50 years the matching of supply and demand in the
oil markets has been pretty well matched.  My view is that the run up in
oil prices is nothing other than the commodity equivalent of the run up
in stock prices during the dotcom bubble.. or real estate values in
Japan in the 80s and early 90s...

Secondly, no less connected a source than James Baker and his institute
have pointed out how little oil companies have invested in capital
improvements in relation to previous years, in relation to cash flows,
in relation to earnings over the the past 7 years.  Cash has been king,
and stock buybacks have been the king's ransom. I think that explains
the "flatness" of production better than the peak theory.

Thirdly, if the peak were at hand, we would see sustained, dramatic
increases in the cost of production for oil.  But we do not, not even in
areas like the North Sea where production has declined in areas where
extraction is more expensive than the 10 cents to $2.00/barrel costs of
the Mideast producers.  Statoil of Norway just reported, I  think, that
costs of production are about $5.00/barrel-- almost identical to costs
of 15 years ago.

Fourth-- Venezuela's scabbing on quotas was hardly the reason for
$10/barrel oil in 1998.   Venezuela's daily production declined from
1980-1992, yet there was the huge price break of 1986.  Venezuela's
output increased throughout the 90s, certainly, although less
proportionately than the UK's and Norway's from the "past-peak" North
Sea fields. Actually, the US bourgeoisie in 1998 were fingering Iraq
(and Iran) as the "culprits."

Venezuela's production continued to increase under Chavez, until the
PDVSA management lock-out of 2002 cut production.  Since then,
production has been restored although not obtaining its 1998-1999-2000
highs, this more the product of damage to the fields due to the lockout
than Chavez's policy.

Most significantly, looking at the production of  Russia and the former
SSRs of central Asia, production in 2005 had been restored to its 1980
level after the disaster of the mid 90s and is in fact very close to the
1986 peak, the year the price break forced the Soviets to literally
begin working their fields to death...

All in all, don't think peak theory explains any of this.

And I don't think the rebound impacts are going to do anything to help
mass transit-- other than to provide good advertising for those areas
that already have it.  Recession is recession is recession.  Capital
expenditures will be reduced.  And few things are more capital intensive
than rail mass transit.

One more thing:  It is very hard to argue that the war, or oil prices,
creates super-profits that somehow benefit workers in the US, when the
war and oil prices have been accompanied by reductions in manufacturing
employment, measurable reductions in worker and "poor" share of national
income,   reduced social infrastructure benefits-- like health care,
education, etc.

So in conclusion, first things first-- we need a much better analysis of
why and what.  Peak oil doesn't cut it.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joaqu??n Bustelo" <jbustelo at gmail.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 6:10 PM
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil



From ethanyoung at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 16:11:28 2008
From: ethanyoung at earthlink.net (Ethan Young)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:11:28 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Conference on Globalization, this weekend, NYC
Message-ID: <31943866.1212703888275.JavaMail.root@elwamui-ovcar.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

The 2008 Global Studies Conference on Nationalism 
and Globalization in Conflict in Transition 
will take place from Friday June 6 through Sunday June 8 
at the downtown Manhattan campus of Pace University - 
1 Pace Plaza near the Brooklyn Bridge. 

A full schedule and more information on 
Association can be found at http://www.net4dem.org/mayglobal/ and 
http://www.globalstudiesassociation.org/


From jbustelo at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 17:30:43 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:30:43 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <48486A3A.9010907@comcast.net>
References: <48486A3A.9010907@comcast.net>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806051630k5c325601v1d5f2fb0a2c81098@mail.gmail.com>

David:

"So....JB...you getting like Obama, very flowery words, little
substance. So...'values'???
Care to elaborate? Besides adopting the terminology of the last
Republican primary battle
I'm sure you have something more in mind and relatively more
progressive. Care to share?"

I'm sure if I tried I could give tons of examples counterposing
"freedom from wanting" to "freedom from want." But I've been over this
ground a lot on the list, and anyways, it's not original, it's the
pretty standard Cuban critique of U.S. consumerism and how it messes
with you mind. The point is capitalism DRIVES people psychologically
to "want" all kinds of things that in no rational way it could be said
they "need," for example, being surrounded by several tons of metal to
transport a payload of a 50 or 70 or 100 kilo body, one person. A lot
of it is structural, but mostly it's about convincing you that your
half-empty 20 gig iPod is a piece of shit because now a 40 gig model
has come out, and it has a little green light or fleck and everyone
can see you're listening to last year's model.

It's rebelling against media-conglomerate-imposed faddism that tells
you the way to prove your individual worth is by accepting the latest
"fashion."

Becuaset this socially imposed consumerist bulimia ALSO crowds out all
sorts of other things, like the enjoyment of just associating with
others, and forces people into a mindset where they measure their
self-worth by what things they have. It's the ultimate expression of
commodity fetishism --your self-worth is measured by the things you
own-- and you accept the capitalist monopolies' definition of what
those things are "worth."

This is all rooted in the capitalist mode of production, and its need
to continually expand, which constantly creates new "needs," partly
rational on some level, but most often irrational. For example, given
how U.S. society is physically laid out and interconnected, a car is
mostly a "necessity" right now in a very real sense, at least in
places like Atlanta. But nobody "needs" a hummer, or one of these many
other models that are hyper-computerized and ultra-motorized so that
the window opens with the bat of an eyelash. Putting a few EXTRA tons
of steel, a couple of dozen motors and processors to control them,
etc. etc. etc., in a car is a use of resources that competes, among
other things, with getting a vehicle that can get, say, 100km/liter or
a couple hundred miles a gallon. When measured against the actual
energy and resources required to deliver the payload --the human
being-- to a destination at a distance of one, five, ten or 100 miles
from the starting point, a car is an absolutely insane misallocation
of resources, but even granting that, accepting that, U.S. cars are
insane misallocation of resources compared to the individual vehicular
transportation that could exist were production approached not from
the angle of maximizing profits but maximizing the yield from the
expenditure of labor and consumption of resources.

What people need to understand is that this waste of resources has all
sorts of negative "externalities" --to use the capitalist economists'
term of art-- from causing climate change to killing babies by the
thousands in the third world. Because the resources needed to build
their drinking water and to educate their parents on making water safe
are instead being used so that you don't have to operate a hand crank
to roll down a car window.

What I mean by "values," frankly, is something that I thought would be
easily understood. Like "live simply so that others may simply live."
But these projected as values for society as a whole, rather than
solely individual commitments, although I do believe also they should
find reflection even on an individual level, because I can't see
someone being very convincing about society needing to change in this
way if they jump into a hummer after giving a very rousing speech as a
green advocate.

And it means, yes, returning at least some to the counter-cultural,
"pirate" ethos of  the youth culture of the 60's. NOT buying CD's and
DVD's with all their wasteful packaging and merchandising when you can
download them. Sharing, not so much the latest teeny bopper sensation
but things like the Pilger documentaries which are impossible to get
(at a reasonable price) in the U.S., the "Eyes on the Prize" PBS
series on the Civil Rights Movement and similar works which can't be
legally distributed because of copyright issues or just because the
bourgeois media monopolies don't want you to have them.

Joaquin


From mqduck at sonic.net  Thu Jun  5 17:33:31 2008
From: mqduck at sonic.net (Jeffrey Thomas Piercy, El Pato Comunista)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:33:31 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism.
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806051510g45cd0af2r9ec2bdca922d551e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <000301c8c6f6$8b865430$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<908b689f0806051510g45cd0af2r9ec2bdca922d551e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <484877CB.7000806@sonic.net>

Ruthless Critic of All that Exists wrote:
> As Louis has repeatedly pointed out on this list, socialists should
> put little store on opinion polls. The majority of the people of
> Panama opined at the time (just before the invasion) that the US
> invasion of Panama was desirable.

No offense meant to either of you, but this is a pretty pathetic appeal 
to authority. Why not just say "socialists should put little store on 
opinion polls"?


From dave.walters at comcast.net  Thu Jun  5 17:49:56 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:49:56 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Capitalism and the rise of Mixed Martial Arts
Message-ID: <48487BA4.5010407@comcast.net>

Some random thoughts on the biggest growing sport in world history.
--David Walters

If any you few sports fans out there in Marx-land haven't noticed, the 
fastest growing sport *in the world* is Mixed Martial Arts. It 
officially was launched in 1993 under the auspices of the Ultimate 
Fighting Championship, to this day, the largest and best financed of the 
fight promotions internationally. It has, now, bypassed boxing as the 
most watched marital art, in both audiences and revenue. I've been 
watching it since then...

UFC No. 1 was fought as a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckled, anything-goes, 
no-time-limits-fight-until-submission (or knock-out, or...loss of blood) 
fighting match...and done in an eight-sided metal 'gage' six feet high. 
It was, for all intents and purposes, true gladiator style fighting sans 
weapons, and, death. Everything else was the same. Especially the blood.

The clearly vicious nature of this style of fighting was compounded by 
the fact that the early UFC had no weight divisions. A 150 lbs 
Afro-French kick boxer could (and did) go up against a 350 lbs Sumo 
wrestler from Osaka. Ouch-Squash! Exactly. The amount of blood spilled 
and numerous (but ultimately minor) injuries and breaks brought this 
sport to the attention of the more conservative elements of the 
capitalist State. Moves were made to ban it, and in fact, about 24 US 
states still ban it. Az. Senator John McCain was horrified and called 
hearings. Yet the popularity grew, made so by pay-per-view on cable and 
satellite. And it grew.

The term "Mixed" in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the beginning meant 
mixed 'styles': the aforementioned "Kickboxing vs Sumo" "Jujitsu vs 
Boxing" "Karate vs Judo" "Panktraton (a Greek MMA) vs Sambo (a Russian 
MMA that goes back to the Civil War days)". This is the way the MMA was 
promoted until the last 10 years or so. Because of the rules it was 
evident that the "traditional" fighter from boxing, karate, etc known as 
'striking sports' because you stand up and throw kicks and punches was 
useless if you were taken to the mat by an experienced wrestler or 
ju-jitus expert.

Full: verleft.blogspot.com


From cbcox at ilstu.edu  Thu Jun  5 17:51:47 2008
From: cbcox at ilstu.edu (Carrol Cox)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:51:47 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
References: <BAY127-W47005C3D06A60A91D13946D7BA0@phx.gbl>
	<908b689f0806031656u18712b13oddc53e8157deec06@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806040719p1858fb35xe9aea79ce9dfa222@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806040738k3d2eb571n4d1dd5780533cc9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <48487C13.F99B61CF@ilstu.edu>

Look, Clinton is just another DP politician, brighter & more competent
than some, less bright & competent than other; about the same degree of
ruthlessness. And of course as willing to commit mass murder as any DP
presidential candidate, past or present, a war criminal of course.

But almost all the criticisms that focus on her _personally_, whether
from RP, other DPs or marxists, reek of sexism, resentment of a pushy
woman. They become offensive. Were she male there would be just as much
negative criticism, but it would not have the same reek, it would not
see him as somehow nastier personally, regardless of how many traits he
shared with her. I might add, that most personal criticisms of Obama
(who is also just another DP politician and war criminal) tend to focus
on his competence or probable competence. That is racist.

Carrol



From dave.walters at comcast.net  Thu Jun  5 17:52:04 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:52:04 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Mixed Martial Arts correct blog link
Message-ID: <48487C24.9060206@comcast.net>

sorry, wrote the link to my blog incorrectly:

veryleft.blogspot.com

David


From Paula_cerni at msn.com  Thu Jun  5 18:03:55 2008
From: Paula_cerni at msn.com (Paula)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:03:55 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] The US, China and Latin America
Message-ID: <BAY122-DS5F0038E5EC27751F6D70B80B70@phx.gbl>

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JE31Ad01.html

Paula

From markalause at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 18:04:13 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:04:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] FRSO: 2008 Presidential Elections: Defeat McCain
In-Reply-To: <15550.63.117.245.134.1212698201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
References: <mailman.3.1212688808.2051.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<15550.63.117.245.134.1212698201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806051704p7a9d72faq1a6db4635a2a9d1e@mail.gmail.com>

Looks backhanded support for Obama from the Freedom Road
Socialists....  The statement, however, makes the case indirectly with
lots of fuzziness around the edges.

His differences from the other candidates are exaggerated, as is his
willingness to foster serious discussions about issues like race.  I
think the argument could be made just as completely the other
direction, that his disassociation from Rev. Wright, etc. forestall
such a discusison.

Also, I'm not at all persuaded that his election will be better for
the movement, as the statement asserts.

ML


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 18:30:25 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:30:25 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The US, China and Latin America
Message-ID: <15182616.1212712225398.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

A process of international realignment is going on, with economic, social,
political and cultural dimensions. Last night I saw a terrific documentary
film which recently began its theatrical release here in Los Angeles called
HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, which presented a range of film clips and comments, by
Chinese-Americans, and by white people from the United States who played
Chinese characters in feature films through the twentieth century. By no
means entirely negative, the movie showed a wide range of different ways
in which Chinese people, characters and individuals have been dealt with
in the U.S. film industry. Seen all in a single program, you get a sense
of both positive an negative portrayals, some of which were quite positive,
though the latter didn't get much circulation outside of a relatively small
Chinese-American market when they were in the theaters a long time ago.

Economically, as well, as the ASIA TIMES article also suggested, China is
part of an emerging new world trend, not yet congealed as an alternative
bloc, but at least a tendency, to which Cuba, for obvious historical and
geo-political reasons, has chosen to orient itself toward.

Here's a further discussion of some of the diplomatic consequences of the
decline of Washington's influence in the final stages of the Bush regime:

----------------------
from the June 03, 2008 edition - 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p01s07-usfp.html
Diplomacy thriving, but without U.S.
The fall election and an era of diffused power may be factors.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
 
Washington

Just this spring, a number of diplomatic initiatives and conflict-
settlement discussions are taking place without the United States, 
raising questions about the reach and strength of American global 
power.

The world may be simply witnessing a lull in US diplomatic results 
until voters pick a replacement for George W. Bush ? a particularly 
unpopular American president on the international stage. But another 
reason could be at work: Is this the waning of American primacy and 
the dawn of an era of diffused power? 

FULL:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p01s07-usfp.htm

These can also be understood theoretically by a consideration of
the analyses put forward by H. Micheal Erisman on Cuban foreign
policy. 

Here's one sample of Erisman's thinking:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs531.html

Walter Lippmann


==========================================================================

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
from the June 02, 2008 edition - 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p01s02-usec.html
Amid economic slowdown, signs of new world order
Emerging markets are helping buoy global growth.

By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The world economy is cooling this year thanks to a slowdown in the
United States, but something new is playing out: This slowdown is
serving to amplify a shift in financial power toward Asia and
developing nations.

Countries such as China and India are now big enough to help guide
the global economy. In the past, a sharp downshift in the US and
Europe would decisively slow the rate of global growth.

This time, emerging markets appear poised to grow collectively by 6.7
percent this year, according to recent forecasts by the International
Monetary Fund. As a result, the IMF sees world gross domestic product
(GDP) growing 3.7 percent, even though the US might experience a
recession.

The US economy remains the world's mightiest. But even for Americans,
this new economic order has immediate implications:

?Policymakers at the Federal Reserve must worry about upward price
pressures for food and fuel ? driven largely by rising demand in
developing nations. That problem calls for tighter monetary policy,
while the domestic consumer slump calls for the opposite policy.

?Demand for US exports from these new markets is providing a helpful
cushion for growth, yet trade tensions could be an issue in the US
presidential election.

?Money from emerging markets is playing an increasingly important
role in the US financial system.

"We have a new pecking order in the world economy in terms of
influence on global growth and economic power," says Michael
Cosgrove, an economist in Dallas. "[Historically] we would see oil
prices fall with a slowdown in the US and Europe?. That no longer
holds."

The dynamism of the "BRIC" bloc ? Brazil, Russia, India, and China ?
is not new, but their stunningly rapid rise in this past decade is
now being tested in the laboratory of tough times.

For consumers and workers worldwide, what's playing out is a tug of
war between two opposing problems.

First is the weakness in the US and some other advanced nations as a
housing slump and related credit squeeze hits households. That's
dragging GDP growth down on all continents.

Second is inflation, a symptom of the strength of emerging nations.
Their demand for commodities explains much of the surge in fuel and
food prices worldwide. It's this problem that is, at present, taking
center stage as a global worry.

"The good news here is that the standard of living for a lot of
people is improving," says Mr. Cosgrove, publisher of the EconoClast
newsletter. But for now, "the bad news is that it pushes up prices."

What's changed in the world economy is not just the rate of growth of
countries labeled developing or emerging. It's also the size of their
economic output.

"What's different this time is that the emerging market economies
have been growing so rapidly that they've emerged," says Ed Yardeni,
an economic forecaster at Yardeni Research in Great Neck, N.Y.
"They've become very large."

Now, these nations are accounting for more than half the world's
economic growth in a given year. And, when measured in terms of the
domestic purchasing power of their incomes, these countries are also
approaching half of global economic output, according to IMF figures.

This makes it a different world from just seven years ago, the last
time the US was in a recession. Then, America's nosedive brought
global GDP growth down to 2.2 percent in 2001. Considering the
expectation that GDP should keep pace with population growth, that
was in effect a worldwide recession.

Oil prices were not a concern then. But growth in developing nations
fell sharply to 3.8 percent from 5.9 percent in 2000.

This year, by contrast, the IMF forecasts a recession in the US but
growth well above 6 percent in developing countries ? down just a
percentage point from last year.

Recession or not, how the American economy fares depends partly on
trends in emerging markets.

One issue is cash supply. Historically, emerging economies are
importers of capital. Now, "sovereign wealth funds," investment funds
controlled by developing nation governments are helping US banks
survive mortgage-related losses. More broadly, nearly half of US
capital inflows over the past year and a quarter came from China,
Brazil, Mexico, and Russia, according to Bank of America.

Emerging economies are also influencing monetary policy. The Federal
Reserve has been lowering interest rates to stave off a banking
crisis. But rising commodity prices mean the Fed has to be ready to
fight inflation with higher interest rates.

Economists at Merrill Lynch predict that the current global economic
cycle hinges on when monetary authorities in creditor nations ? many
in the developing world ? clamp down on inflation.

Other economists caution against viewing emerging economies as being
in the driver's seat. "The US is still the biggest by far," says Jay
Bryson of Wachovia Corp in Charlotte, N.C.

He predicts that inflation pressures will abate as the world feels
the cooling effect of the slowdown in US and Europe.

Developing nations are also trading more than ever, offsetting the US
slowdown. But these trade ties are also controversial, especially
with China.

A backlash against trade with developing nations is possible in the
aftermath of the US election this fall.

It's a thorny political question ? how to deal with policies that may
not help every worker or that help some nations more than others.
"Before, say, 1985, the United States got the majority of the gains
from trade" with other nations, says Cosgrove. Since then, he
reckons, "the US has a smaller share of the gains from trade."

Trade remains helpful for America and the world, but the danger is
that voter psychology is shifting, he says.


========================================================
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JE31Ad01.html


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 18:30:56 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:30:56 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] FRSO: 2008 Presidential Elections: Defeat McCain
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806051704p7a9d72faq1a6db4635a2a9d1e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <mailman.3.1212688808.2051.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<15550.63.117.245.134.1212698201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
	<b16d8daf0806051704p7a9d72faq1a6db4635a2a9d1e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806051730u37e1dd1fob9ec9f6231a986db@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 8:04 PM, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com> wrote:

> Also, I'm not at all persuaded that his election will be better for
> the movement, as the statement asserts.
>

Elaborate, please?


From obeynow20001 at yahoo.com  Thu Jun  5 18:43:49 2008
From: obeynow20001 at yahoo.com (Alex Briscoe)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:43:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
Message-ID: <216322.30566.qm@web81705.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Thanks for the post, David.

I generally agree that if the rules are in place, MMA
could be a way to learn an art with others.

However, like boxing, it will be used for venal gain
and result in serious injury for a significant number
of fighters.  Look what happened to Muhammed Ali.

I recently joined a studio that teaches Krav Maga
(Israeli combat system) to re-learn something
practical and to get back into shape.  I opted for a
group class because I'd be much more motivated to
exercise with fellow students, learning practical
skills, than I was just interacting with machines. 
Unfortunately, however, capitalist alienation has
poked its head into my plans.

The problem is that the classes are based on go as
fast and hard as you can in an hour.  Plus, there's
this really bad krautrock that the Romanian instructor
plays for much of that hour.  Not conincidentally, the
hour long fast and hard approach allows the studio
owners to schedule as many classes as possible for
maximum profit.

The other problem with the classes is that they are
taught from the perspective of hard core self defense
rather than getting into shape, socializing and
learning some practical self defense.  However, a more
leisurely, social buch of classes would preclude
maximizing the number of classes and revenue.  I can
see someone wanting to be well trained, but I still
think that the studio pushes too hard and too soon.

A few months ago I was late for the KM class, so I
went to the MMA class bec of my background in
wrestling and judo.  We didn't really stretch
beforehand, although we did do warm-up exercises. 
Then we did some practice scrimmage- my usual partner
is a retired semi-pro who outweighs me by at least 80
lbs.  Well, after a couple of sessions, I pulled a
muscle in my shoulder and was off on injury for two
months.

Anyway, I'd like to go to the nice lesbian karate dojo
to take it easy, at least to start, but I signed a
damn contract, so I have to go back to the bad
krautrock.

I'm also 40 this year and not into the machismo and
ego and chopsocky chuck norrisness of it- I just want
to lose weight, get in shape, learn something
practical at a reasonable pace and increase my level
of sexiness.  Too much to ask for the serious MMAers,
I guess.

***************************
***************************
http://www.votenader.org
http://www.ilgp.org
http://www.northsidegreenparty.org
http://www.greenallianceusa.org
http://www.labornotes.org
http://www.solidarity-us.org
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org


      


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Thu Jun  5 18:54:09 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:54:09 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Clinton open to being Obama's VP
Message-ID: <BAY127-W459C17B78DEE50D66059FED7B70@phx.gbl>


Not to make too big a deal of the flag pin incident, since it was pretty much a 
throwaway observation on my part, but I will go one more round:

Ruthless: "What is your *substantive* reaction to the pin-wearing incident? Your
response was heavy on sarcasm but thin on substance."

JB "Well, that IS my substantive reaction.

"As for the details, at an event a few weeks ago, a veteran who was
having a hard time getting medical care asked Obama if he would wear
the pin as a show of support to people like him. Obama said he would,
and he has. If you know more about it than that, please let us know."

JB, who is evidently a real political junkie and on top of that works for a news 
network, may know about this, but I seriously doubt many others do. I just did a 
quick search at THE site for Democratic Party junkies, Daily Kos, and couldn't 
find any reference to it.

In short, outside of the 50 people who are aware of what JB writes, the rest of 
the world sees exactly one thing when they see a flag pin on Obama's lapel - a 
concession to the jingoist, "America-first," "let's kick some foreign ass and 
get some revenge" attitude that has pervaded the ruling class of the country 
since 9/11 when the flag pins came out of the closet. Obama is no dummy. He 
knows very well that when people see that pin, they aren't thinking it's a show 
of support for medical care for wounded veterans, rather they're thinking "we've 
got to prevail over Iran and and all those other 'enemies' of ours."

No, the pin isn't REMOTELY as significant as Obama's actual STATEMENTS on 
subjects like Iran, but it is definitely of a piece with them. And it is very 
definitely, as I said, "one tiny but not totally insignificant piece of evidence 
that he'll remain firmly within the fold of the American political 
establishment." And, I should have added, that message is directed not at the 
American people in general, and certainly not at us, who are well aware of that, 
but at the ruling class itself, to show that yes, he is indeed prepared to do 
their bidding, and they can be comfortable with him in charge. And just as he is 
slowly backing away from the idea of talking with those "enemies" (Hamas, 
Ahmadinejad), putting on the pin is just one more signal of that intent.


_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008

From dave.walters at comcast.net  Thu Jun  5 19:04:56 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:04:56 -0700
Subject: [Marxism]  capitalism, mma
Message-ID: <48488D38.6090907@comcast.net>

Krav Maga can be quite brutal, and if you get an actual Israeli teaching it, it's almost suicidal.

You are right about MMA. I did the post as simple educational on it, an intro kind of.

My suggestion is to take jujitsu. My 17 year old takes it and he's incredibly strong 
now. I think he can just about "take me" out. Scary, considering what a skinny little 
runt he was a year ago. It's quite practical and a good work out.

David



From cbcox at ilstu.edu  Thu Jun  5 19:12:12 2008
From: cbcox at ilstu.edu (Carrol Cox)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:12:12 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
References: <216322.30566.qm@web81705.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <48488EEC.B4C2F1DF@ilstu.edu>



Alex Briscoe wrote:
> 
>
> However, like boxing, it will be used for venal gain
> and result in serious injury for a significant number
> of fighters.  Look what happened to Muhammed Ali.

Boxing has indeed destroyed the health of many, but in Ali's case it was
Parkinson's Disease, not boxing, that did him in.

Carrol



From Paula_cerni at msn.com  Thu Jun  5 19:38:36 2008
From: Paula_cerni at msn.com (Paula)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:38:36 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Norm Geras attacks Marxmail subscriber
In-Reply-To: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
References: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
Message-ID: <BAY122-DS2C0CD31E9C9DA52F5ADCF80B70@phx.gbl>

Geras misses the point. To insist that religious beliefs are irrational is 
simply to explain them away.

Marxists should recognize in the essay the reference to Hegel's dictum that 
the real is rational and the rational is real. Geras apparently didn't. I 
take this dictum to imply that the irrational, in so far as it exists, has a 
kernel of rationality - it results from real conditions that can be 
understood and changed.

To take a different example, we might say patriotism is irrational - but we 
say it because we know it to correspond to certain conditions that are 
already being transcended. Yet we don't get anywhere by proclaiming the 
irrationality of patriotism. Instead, we explain its power over humanity in 
terms of humanity's own real history.

As for Geras's last point, that 'not all injury is social' and 'not all 
human ills are remediable' - I don't disagree. But, by definition, anything 
religion (or politics!) can remedy is remediable. Humans are practical 
beings - they deal only with things that can be dealt with.

Paula
 



From sartesian at earthlink.net  Thu Jun  5 19:39:49 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 21:39:49 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
References: <48488D38.6090907@comcast.net>
Message-ID: <091b01c8c776$35f97b70$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Be careful with jujitsu-- strangle, lock, throw-- is not the best way to
develop muscle tone, especially when you are the one being strangled and
thrown.

Look, all these fighting methods are killing arts--  every part of your
body is supposed to be the weapon, every part of your opponent is a
target.  And the "code,"  Bushido etc. that accompanies many of them is
downright reactionary.  No surprise, right?

My suggestion is to find a style or dojo that strictly limits sparring
to the higher if not highest ranks, and does not allow strikes above the
shoulders.

Even demonstrations of techniques mustbe strictly controlled-- have you
ever seen anyone get hit in "gallbladder 20" during a demonstration?
Scary.  Arms and legs splay out, and the victim drops like a sack of
cement off the back of a truck.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Walters" <dave.walters at comcast.net>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 9:04 PM
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma


> Krav Maga can be quite brutal, and if you get an actual Israeli
teaching it, it's almost suicidal.
>
>



From markalause at gmail.com  Thu Jun  5 19:44:49 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 21:44:49 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] FRSO: 2008 Presidential Elections: Defeat McCain
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806051730u37e1dd1fob9ec9f6231a986db@mail.gmail.com>
References: <mailman.3.1212688808.2051.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
	<15550.63.117.245.134.1212698201.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>
	<b16d8daf0806051704p7a9d72faq1a6db4635a2a9d1e@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806051730u37e1dd1fob9ec9f6231a986db@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806051844h37788d61v558991cce98904d6@mail.gmail.com>

I wrote:
>
>Also, I'm not at all persuaded that his [Obama's] election will be better for
>the movement, as the statement asserts.
>

To which Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote
>
> Elaborate, please?
>

I think the responsibility of elaborating falls to the authors of the
Freedom Road statement who asserted that it would.  They didn't give
any reasons, and seemed to assume that it was self-evident, I guess.

Just a few observations, though...

I think that the campaign raised a shitstorm of racist sentiment among
Democrats and we're now moving towards a broader election.  As I've
suggested, the GOP machines are going to do everything but put on
clean sheets before its over.  In and of itself, none of this will do
the movement good.

During the Democratic nomination fight, the standard was that Obama
himself responded and very poorly overall.  Even when he took a stab
at trying to discuss race and racial anger, he ended up retreating
apologetically, as he has on almost any hint of an advanced,
progressive stance he's taken.

Related, while his election could raise expectations, as did JFK's in
1960, there isn't really now a nationally coherent, fighting civil
rights movement to boot him in the ass.

The problem is that so many things can happen between now and then,
and the real impact of Obama's campaign, his presidency, and his
entire career are in the hands of those who've bankrolled his campaign
and those who are employed as his "bi-partisan" political and media
consultants...

ML


From michael at ecst.csuchico.edu  Thu Jun  5 19:55:34 2008
From: michael at ecst.csuchico.edu (Michael Perelman)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:55:34 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
In-Reply-To: <091b01c8c776$35f97b70$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
References: <48488D38.6090907@comcast.net>
	<091b01c8c776$35f97b70$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
Message-ID: <20080606015534.GB7400@tiglon.ecst.csuchico.edu>

My nephew played the villian in one of the karate kid movies.  He got a ruptured 
blood vessel.  The doctors did not think that he would survive the ambulance ride.
-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com


From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 20:03:09 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:03:09 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
In-Reply-To: <20080606015534.GB7400@tiglon.ecst.csuchico.edu>
References: <48488D38.6090907@comcast.net>
	<091b01c8c776$35f97b70$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<20080606015534.GB7400@tiglon.ecst.csuchico.edu>
Message-ID: <20080606020308.89F6813653@mailbackend.panix.com>


>My nephew played the villian in one of the karate kid movies.  He 
>got a ruptured
>blood vessel.  The doctors did not think that he would survive the 
>ambulance ride.
>--
>Michael Perelman

This is him, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Kanan 



From obeynow20001 at yahoo.com  Thu Jun  5 20:20:58 2008
From: obeynow20001 at yahoo.com (Alex Briscoe)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:20:58 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
Message-ID: <566630.45553.qm@web81703.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Yeah, I'm kind of dubious about the whole martial arts
thing.  I like the practicality and exercise of it,
but there's too much machismo and a lot of potential
for injury.  And a lot of the instructors are right
wing a-holes.

The thing I like about Krav Maga is that it's very
practical and doesn't come with the mystical bs. 
Plus, much of the class is mexican or philipino-
they're generally pretty cool, not really right wing.
There are some Jewish and slavic right wing a-holes,
but they're a minority.  Still, the macho thing is
definitely there.  I just wish most of them would
chill out, be more social, but the way the classes are
structured with maximum macho in minimum time, that's
not going to happen.  

Re jujitsu: saw an interesting episode of that show
where those two guys go around training in various
martial arts.  Apparently, the Japanese tested jujitsu
vs judo and judo won out pretty decisively.  Don't ask
me the details, I'm no expert on the two forms, but
the episode made an impression.  

Now that I think about it, I think the point was that
jujitsu was created for knights who came down off
their horses, as a series of moves towards a killing
blow, often involving the dagger.  Judo took jujitsu
and revamped it with moves and technique that took
into account modern streetlife, police work.  Perhaps
Brazilian jujitsu is a modern reworking of trad Jpnse
jujitsu to make it more like judo?  I don't really
know.

When I lived in Japan, my university sponsor was a
member of the JCP and was pretty disdainful of the
major martial arts schools- a lot of those a-holes
used to go around doing goon work for the ruling party
against leftists in the 60s.

Funny story: I drop in on Japan Day at a Buddhist
temple here and they're doing a demo of Kendo (like
Japanese fencing with lacquer armor, bamboo swords). 
The announcer is getting all mystical and there's the
oriental music playing in the background, the two
fighters are doing the whole Steven Segal, cool face
off thing....some working class Black guy happens to
walk past, checks out the scene and yells, "Beat his
assz!"  I was dyin'......

***************************
***************************
http://www.votenader.org
http://www.ilgp.org
http://www.northsidegreenparty.org
http://www.greenallianceusa.org
http://www.labornotes.org
http://www.solidarity-us.org
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org


      


From michael at ecst.csuchico.edu  Thu Jun  5 20:32:33 2008
From: michael at ecst.csuchico.edu (Michael Perelman)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:32:33 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] capitalism, mma
In-Reply-To: <20080606020308.89F6813653@mailbackend.panix.com>
References: <48488D38.6090907@comcast.net>
	<091b01c8c776$35f97b70$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<20080606015534.GB7400@tiglon.ecst.csuchico.edu>
	<20080606020308.89F6813653@mailbackend.panix.com>
Message-ID: <20080606023232.GA7450@tiglon.ecst.csuchico.edu>


yes.  

On Thu, Jun 05, 2008 at 10:03:09PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote:
> 
> >My nephew played the villian in one of the karate kid movies.  He 
> >got a ruptured
> >blood vessel.  The doctors did not think that he would survive the 
> >ambulance ride.
> >--
> >Michael Perelman
> 
> This is him, right?
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Kanan 
> 
> 
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/michael%40ecst.csuchico.edu

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com


From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 21:01:07 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 23:01:07 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Message-ID: <c4e.3539cab5.357a0273@aol.com>



clip  -
 
   
 
Arab leaders have reacted  with anger and disbelief to an intensely 
pro-Israeli speech delivered by Barack  Obama, the US Democratic presumptive 
presidential nominee.
 
Obama told the influential  annual policy conference of the American Israel 
Public Affairs Council (Aipac):  "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel 
and it must remain  undivided."

 
His comments appalled  Palestinians who see occupied East Jerusalem as part 
of a future Palestinian  state.
 
Saeb Erekat, the chief  Palestinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera on Thursday: 
"This is the worst thing to  happen to us since 1967 ... he has given 
ammunition to extremists across the  region".


 
full - 
 
_http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/93FE247B-452D-4022-8374-088D8704C1DE.h
tm_ 
(http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/93FE247B-452D-4022-8374-088D8704C1DE.htm) 



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From lnp3 at panix.com  Thu Jun  5 21:05:30 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:05:30 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Raytheon 9 update
Message-ID: <20080606030529.B846816DE@mailbackend.panix.com>

The Raytheon 9 trial in Belfast is going through some twists and turns.

The Prosecution finished about a week ago and some of the evidence 
given in direct testimonyby police and Raytheon employees has helped 
to build the defence case
-linking the Derry plant to Raytheon's international works and 
killing in Lebanon.
-the lack of violence amongst the 9 who were charged with affray and 
5 other charges.

Monday saw the defence call their opening witness Eamonn McCann and 
here is relflection I wrote later (we were not allowed to take notes 
in the courtroom)
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/ 87799

Tuesday saw the charge of affray dropped
Here's something from BBC published on that
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ ireland/foyle_and_west/ 7437931.stm

Since Wednesday there has been some strange twists and turns and the 
trial is now poised at a pivitol moment.  A gag order operates under 
the laws of subjudice.  The defence has requested people not publish 
their speculations etc.

The trial has been adjourned to Friday June 5th., 2 pm Laganside 
Court 14 Belfast.  The jury has not been dismissed.

Support the defendants - oppose Raytheon.
Check www.raytheon9.org

Ciaron O'Reilly
Blog  http://ciaron.wordpress.com/


"The poor tell us who we are,
The prophets tell us who we could be,
So we hide the poor,
And kill the prophets."
Phil Berrigan 



From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 21:30:31 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 23:30:31 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under US Control
Message-ID: <c25.395e05c4.357a0957@aol.com>


 

By Patrick  Cockburn

05/06/08 "_The Independent_ 
(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html) " --- A 
secret deal being  negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military 
occupation of Iraq  indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US 
presidential election in  November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been  leaked to The 
Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in  Iraq. Iraqi 
officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy  permanent 
bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity  from Iraqi 
law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the  basis 
for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also  threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. 
President Bush wants to push  it through by the end of next month so he can declare 
a military victory and  claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by 
perpetuating the US presence  in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut 
pledges by the Democratic  presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US 
troops if he is elected  president in November.

full - 
_http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20044.htm_ 
(http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20044.htm) 
 
 
 
New Agreement Lets US Strike Any Country From Inside  Iraq
 


A proposed Iraqi-American security agreement will include permanent  American 
bases in the country, and the right for the United States to strike,  from 
within Iraqi territory, any country it considers a threat to its national  
security, Gulf News has learned.

_http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20045.htm_ 
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ut0ClcY_E4XwBGKRD4GPr1lxY7CR8qOHnghVhA1R1NIg0DTp0VpqSbv1u2N-myasIcUE
yLV7ty6iOFU2KpmWBYvYBGMeKQEwnK9lN6qy9j_Mbjf2FR3HhfJrDTQJpptKm-r7QHjaaLLhDKlFAg
CwlAGSHPNZeZfC) 





**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Thu Jun  5 21:40:49 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 20:40:49 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under US Control
Message-ID: <BAY127-W42C0D6C88EC2A00C13C956D7B70@phx.gbl>


I of course have no secret knowledge of the secret plan. However, the reports 
we're hearing in the press are SO outrageous that I have to say - beware the 
straw man! We all know that major figures in Iraq, like al Sadr, are protesting 
the proposals, and now we have outrage being drummed up here as well. It's all a 
little too perfect, the perfect setup for a "compromise" that was intended all 
along, where the proposal goes from "the U.S. controls Iraqi airspace for ten 
years" to "the U.S. controls Iraqi airspace for four years" and the "U.S. has 
ten permanent bases" to "the U.S. has four permanent bases" etc. and suddenly 
everybody, from Obama to al Sadr, is happy with the "reasonable" version of the 
proposal.

As I said, I have no secret knowledge, it's just a theory...

By the way, this is nonsense:

"But by
perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut
pledges by the Democratic  presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US
troops if he is elected  president in November."

The agreement can't possibly "perpetuate the US presence in Iraq." It can 
perpetuate the RIGHT of US troops to be in Iraq, but only the next President and 
the next Congress can perpetuate the FACT. If Obama really wants to withdraw 
troops, he can go right ahead.


_________________________________________________________________
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From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Thu Jun  5 22:04:16 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 00:04:16 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Is This Change? Obama Woos AIPAC
Message-ID: <d52.2c5b70b7.357a1140@aol.com>



_http://counterpunch.org/walsh06052008.html_ 
(http://counterpunch.org/walsh06052008.html) 



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Thu Jun  5 22:07:36 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 21:07:36 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Is This Change? Obama Woos AIPAC
Message-ID: <BAY127-W10785A49108ABCE5BB263BD7B70@phx.gbl>


I just caught a bit of CNN's Candy Crowley interviewing Obama today. She 
pointedly asked him about his "undivided Jerusalem" statement, and noted how it 
had aliented Palestinian leadership and was a possible obstacle to peace. 
Obama's response (paraphrased)? "Well, I'm sure I said some things which pissed 
off the Jewish (or perhaps he said Israeli) leadership as well."

I must have missed that part of his speech.


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From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Thu Jun  5 23:40:13 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 22:40:13 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Iran Makes the Sciences A Part of Its Revolution
Message-ID: <BAY127-W36AAB9285927D172849AB2D7B70@phx.gbl>


By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, June 6, 2008; A01

TEHRAN -- As Burton Richter, an American Nobel laureate in physics, entered the 
main auditorium of Tehran's prestigious Sharif University, hundreds of students 
rose to give him a loud and lengthy ovation. But Richter, wearing a white suit 
and leaning on a cane, said he was the one who should be awed.

"The students here are very impressive," Richter said, lauding the high level of 
education at Sharif. "I expect to hear a lot more from you all in the future."

The students, young men and women with laptops and smart briefcases, giggled in 
their seats. A woman took pictures of the Stanford professor emeritus, whose 
visit last month was part of a privately funded academic program run by the 
National Academies of the United States and universities in Iran.

"Mr. Richter is an example for us," explained Ismael Hosseini, a 23-year-old 
electrical engineering student who had managed to get a seat near the stage. 
"But soon I will be able to listen to an Iranian scientist who has received a 
Nobel Prize for his or her work," he said. "We are all studying and researching 
hard to receive this honor."

Iran's determination to develop what it says is a nuclear energy program is part 
of a broader effort to promote technological self-sufficiency and to see Iran 
recognized as one of the world's most advanced nations. The country's leaders, 
who three decades ago wrested the government away from a ruler they saw as 
overly dependent on the West, invest heavily in scientific and industrial 
achievement, but critics say government backing is sometimes erratic, leaving 
Iran's technological promise unfulfilled.

Still, Iranian scientists claim breakthroughs in nanotechnology, biological 
researchers are pushing the boundaries of stem cell research and the country's 
car industry produces more cars than anywhere else in the region.

"Iran wants to join the group of countries that want to know about the biggest 
things, like space," Richter said to the students during his speech at Sharif 
University, which draws many of the country's best students. Every year, 1.5 
million young Iranians take a national university entrance exam, or "concours." 
Of the 500,000 who pass and are entitled to free higher education, only the top 
800 can attend Sharif, considered Iran's MIT.

At Sharif, students work in fields including aerospace and nanotechnology. While 
some end up advancing Iran's nuclear program or finding work in other 
technological fields in Iran, many, especially PhD candidates, are lured by 
employers or universities in Australia, Canada and the United States.

"Our visitors are flabbergasted when they come to our modern laboratories and 
see women PhD students. Often they had a completely different image of Iran, not 
as an academic country," said Abdolhassan Vafai, a professor at Sharif. "Here, 
we educate our students to solve problems that affect all humanity, like hunger, 
global warming and water shortages."

But in Iran, scientists are also expected to serve ideological goals. Iran's 
leaders hold up their inventions as proof that the country's 1979 revolution has 
made it independent and self-sufficient.

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened Iran's first space center in February, 
he issued a launch order sending a test missile into space and proclaimed that 
"no power can overcome Iran's will."

Iran hopes to launch its second satellite -- the first was launched commercially 
by a Russian company -- within weeks, using a locally made rocket. Iran's 
advances in this field cannot be independently verified.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has encouraged scientific 
breakthroughs for geopolitical reasons. "If you are in pursuit of a science, you 
bring dissatisfaction and displeasure to the enemy of the revolution's 
aspirations," Khamenei said during a visit to Iran's stem cell research center 
in 2006.

In 1979, revolutionaries accused Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the country's 
U.S.-backed autocrat, of having made Iran dependent on other states for 
technology, military equipment and industrial hardware.

During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, the country faced an enemy supported by 
superpowers that isolated Iran. Squadrons of U.S.-made F-4 fighter jets were 
grounded because of U.S. sanctions that barred Iran's access to spare parts.

"In the war, the whole world was against us. We learned that we had to stand on 
our own two feet," said Manoucher Manteqi, chief executive of Iran's largest 
carmaker, Iran Khodro. The state-run company produced more than 600,000 cars in 
2007 and has no equivalent in the Middle East. India's Tata Motors produced just 
over 400,000 vehicles in 2007; French automaker Peugeot Citroen -- with which 
Iran Khodro has a joint venture -- makes about 3.5 million vehicles a year 
worldwide.

"The sanctions forced us to use our full potential. We are now commercializing 
what we learned back then," explained Manteqi, who wore a worker's coat to show 
unity with his assembly-line colleagues during an interview in March.

Iranians worry about the impact of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear 
program. "They will lead to limitations in our cooperation with other 
countries," Manteqi said. "But they also mean that others cannot use Iran's 
potential, like foreign carmakers we want to cooperate with. Iran needs 1.5 
million cars a year -- this is an interesting market. Under sanctions, we might 
have to do things ourselves, but we are used to that."

"If the West refuses Iran nuclear technology, it means they might pressure us in 
the future over development of other technologies," said Nasser Aghdami of the 
Royan stem cell institute in Tehran. The state-sponsored facility does research 
on human embryonic stem cells. "Our religious authorities have decided that we 
can do research on fetuses until 4 months old," he explained.

"We exchange information with scientists in the U.S. I feel science should be 
above politics," Aghdami said.

But when he wanted to order a new ultracentrifuge machine needed for research, 
he found that his foreign counterparts weren't allowed to send the equipment to 
Iran because it was considered "dual use" -- technology that could be applied to 
Iran's nuclear program. The nuclear centrifuges that Iran produces cannot be 
used for stem cell research.

"This shows that we still need a lot of willpower to achieve our goal," Aghdami 
said. Iranian stem cell scientists are already involved in efforts to reprogram 
skin cells into embryonic cells in order to bypass ethical problems, he said. 
"Only three other countries -- Germany, the U.S. and Japan -- are involved in 
this. We are proud to compete with the best."

Persia, as Iran was known until the 19th century, made discoveries in the 
natural sciences, mathematics and philosophy. After the Arab-Islamic invasion in 
the 7th century, Persian scientists developed medical alcohol and made important 
contributions in algebra and chemistry.

"Everybody wants their kids to study here. Step into a taxi in Tehran and the 
driver will tell you this is his second job to support his kids in university," 
said Hashem Rafii-Tabar, a professor at a research institute in Tehran. He 
returned to his homeland six years ago to set up a department for nanotechnology 
for a consortium of nine Iranian universities. His students are making 
conceptual designs for nanodevices that can identify and destroy individual 
cancer cells.

"We have high ambitions," Rafii-Tabar explained. "Already we are the number one 
in nanotechnology in the region, maybe only equaled by Israel. Iran produces 
more papers on this subject in international scientific indexed publications 
than any other country in the region. However, Iran has not yet submitted 
patents, official new inventions. Its regional competitors have also not reached 
this stage."

The Iranian government supports the nanotechnology project. Last month a 
nanotechnology supercomputing center was opened, financed by the government.

Rafii-Tabar observed that science projects in Iran often take off with a flying 
start but later run aground. "When a new field of research comes to Iran, it 
incubates, goes on to be taught at the famous universities, but revolutions and 
changes of government have stopped projects in the past," he said. "We used to 
be big in IT, but we still need foreign software for our ATM machines."

At Iran Khodro's factory west of Tehran, the day shift had just ended. But 
Manteqi, the CEO, was not leaving. "I should work harder than everyone else, 
because many things still go wrong," he explained with a smile. "As the late 
Ayatollah Khomeini said: 'If we want it, we can do it.' We have more experts and 
professionals in Iran than in any of the neighboring countries. If they are 
managed properly, we can fulfill our ambitions. Iran can do this in cooperation 
with the rest of the world, but, if needed, we can also do it by ourselves."


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From lueko.willms at t-online.de  Thu Jun  5 23:33:44 2008
From: lueko.willms at t-online.de (=?iso-8859-1?q?L=FCko_Willms?=)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:33:44 +0200 (MES)
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Message-ID: <1K4Vyw-0IQ06y0@fwd31.t-online.de>

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 23:01:07 EDT, Dbachmozart at aol.com wrote:

> His comments appalled  Palestinians who see occupied East Jerusalem as 
part 
> of a future Palestinian  state.

  and they prompted Abbas, the president of the Palestine Authority, to 
stretch a hand of brotherhood to Hamas, and to call for talks and 
negotiations to re-establish Palestinian unity in the struggle against 
the Zionist colonial settler state. 
 
  A very welcome move! But one which was critisized right away by Mr. 
Obama. Hamas should not have a seat at the negociating table according 
to Obama. 

> Saeb Erekat, the chief  Palestinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera on 
Thursday: 
> "This is the worst thing to  happen to us since 1967 ... he has given 
> ammunition to extremists across the  region".

  I have seen that on Aljazeera English, and I can say that I have never 
seen Sa'eb Erekat being so angry (yes! I now have Aljazeera English in 
my Cable TV!). 

  Well, it was not only Barack Obama's speech, but also those by Ms. 
Clinton and Mr. McCain, who made clear that there was, is, and will 
always be an unshakable support from the White House for the Israeli 
colonial settler state. Apparently Arab leaders had hoped that Barack 
Obama would change that, and they were disillusioned by his AIPAC 
speech. 

  Nontheless, I would like to see B. Obama becoming the next POTUS. And 
I would like him to chose somebody else but Ms. Clinton as his 
vice-presidential running mate. 


Comradely yours, 
L?ko Willms
Frankfurt, Germany
--------------------------------
visit http://www.mlwerke.de Marx, Engels, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotzki in 
German




From leninstombblog at googlemail.com  Fri Jun  6 01:10:10 2008
From: leninstombblog at googlemail.com (Lenin's Tomb)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 08:10:10 +0100
Subject: [Marxism] Norm Geras attacks Marxmail subscriber
In-Reply-To: <BAY122-DS2C0CD31E9C9DA52F5ADCF80B70@phx.gbl>
References: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
	<BAY122-DS2C0CD31E9C9DA52F5ADCF80B70@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <c17d8d380806060010l1f5c879bl6bcd13cc21c5aaea@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 2:38 AM, Paula <Paula_cerni at msn.com> wrote:
> Marxists should recognize in the essay the reference to Hegel's dictum that
> the real is rational and the rational is real. Geras apparently didn't.

He wouldn't: to the extent that he can still be called a marxist (is
it possible to be such while not entertaining a commitment to
revolutionary socialism?), he is an analytical marxist, and presumably
hasn't much time for Hegel.


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 02:02:33 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 04:02:33 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
Message-ID: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 7:33 PM, Jeffrey Thomas Piercy, El Pato
Comunista <mqduck at sonic.net> wrote:


>
> No offense meant to either of you, but this is a pretty pathetic appeal
> to authority. Why not just say "socialists should put little store on
> opinion polls"?

Opinion poll says most Cubans want a multiparty system, market economic system

[...]

"The study to be published Thursday found that young people were much
more critical of Ra?l Castro's government than their parents and
grandparents were. Nearly 70 percent of Cubans 18 to 29 said that if
given a chance they would support a democratic system with multiparty
elections, freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Among those 60
or older, support for such a change dropped to 44 percent.

"Cubans of all ages supported an economic overhaul. More than 80
percent said they backed a market economic system that included the
right to own property and run businesses."

Full: <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/world/americas/05cuba.html?ref=americas>


From Midhurst14 at aol.com  Fri Jun  6 02:55:09 2008
From: Midhurst14 at aol.com (Midhurst14 at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 04:55:09 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Message-ID: <c87.2f585403.357a556d@aol.com>

This is early days to judge the veracity of Obama's statements
If he does carry it out, its awful
However, how much longer does the US ruling class believe it can continue  
with the Israeli albatross
Obama may be the catalyst for an agonising reappraisal
George Anthony



   

From johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz  Fri Jun  6 03:04:43 2008
From: johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz (John)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:04:43 +1200
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
In-Reply-To: <c87.2f585403.357a556d@aol.com>
References: <c87.2f585403.357a556d@aol.com>
Message-ID: <1212743083.5666.15.camel@john-desktop>


On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 04:55 -0400, Midhurst14 at aol.com wrote:
> This is early days to judge the veracity of Obama's statements
> If he does carry it out, its awful

This might be an appropriate response when he says something outside the
orthodoxy. When he says it'll be business as usual, I don't see why we
should assume he'll do anything but what he said.

> However, how much longer does the US ruling class believe it can continue  
> with the Israeli albatross

As long as they think it's useful to them would be my guess.
Cheers,
John



From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Fri Jun  6 03:07:06 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:07:06 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
 Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>

Ruthless Critic of All that Exists schrieb:
> [...]
>
> "The study to be published Thursday found that young people were much
> more critical of Ra?l Castro's government than their parents and
> grandparents were. Nearly 70 percent of Cubans 18 to 29 said that if
> given a chance they would support a democratic system with multiparty
> elections, freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Among those 60
> or older, support for such a change dropped to 44 percent.
>
> "Cubans of all ages supported an economic overhaul. More than 80
> percent said they backed a market economic system that included the
> right to own property and run businesses."
who makes these opinion pools or studies, based on what criteria, with 
what purposes? be always warned of the enemies out there!


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 04:05:27 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 06:05:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 5:07 AM, Dogan Gocmen <dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Ruthless Critic of All that Exists schrieb:

> who makes these opinion pools or studies

"For the study, Latin American interviewers talked to 587 Cuban adults
face to face across all of Cuba's provinces. A telephone survey was
not considered because large segments of the population do not have
phones."


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 04:08:44 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 06:08:44 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 6:05 AM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 5:07 AM, Dogan Gocmen <dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Ruthless Critic of All that Exists schrieb:
>
>> who makes these opinion pools or studies
>
> "For the study, Latin American interviewers talked to 587 Cuban adults
> face to face across all of Cuba's provinces. A telephone survey was
> not considered because large segments of the population do not have
> phones."
>

More details are at their website:

<http://www.iri.org/lac/cuba/2008-06-05-Cuba.asp>


They say:

"Cuba also restricts opinion surveys without government authorization
and supervision. For that reason, IRI utilized an original methodology
for its survey. From March 14-April 12, 2008 interviewers from other
Latin American countries discreetly engaged Cubans in public areas
with their questionnaires. A total of 587 Cuban adults were asked
questions ranging from perspectives on the economy to the performance
of the current Castro regime. The survey has a margin of error of +/-
four percent, and a 95 percent level of confidence. The survey was
conducted in all 14 Cuban provinces. "

<http://www.iri.org/lac/cuba/2008-06-05-Cuba.asp>


From brownh at hartford-hwp.com  Fri Jun  6 05:40:58 2008
From: brownh at hartford-hwp.com (Haines Brown)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:40:58 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Norm Geras attacks Marxmail subscriber
In-Reply-To: <BAY122-DS2C0CD31E9C9DA52F5ADCF80B70@phx.gbl>
	(Paula_cerni@msn.com)
References: <4847EA24.4030609@panix.com>
	<BAY122-DS2C0CD31E9C9DA52F5ADCF80B70@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <E1K4aJW-0002Lc-2C@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>

> Marxists should recognize in the essay the reference to Hegel's
> dictum that the real is rational and the rational is real. Geras
> apparently didn't. I take this dictum to imply that the irrational,
> in so far as it exists, has a kernel of rationality - it results
> from real conditions that can be understood and changed.

I, for one, could use some clarification of the meaning of "rational"
here.

Hegel's dictum makes no sense to me. I think of the word "rational" in
three general senses: a) a kind of thinking that provides explanation,
b) formally valid arguments, c) a kind of action in the world that
lends itself to desired outcomes. All are subjective in whole or
part. While mind itself is certainly real, and the mind's
representation of the world _may_ have truth value, when we say
"real", are we not making an ontological statement about a reality
that is independent of thought?  If so, it seems to have no connection
with the term "rational". The word "irrational" seems merely the
opposite of these three meanings and so remains subjective and
therefore a matter separate from the issue of whether something is
"real" in the ontological sense of being independent of mind.

Given this framework, is religion irrational? (a) It does offer an
explanation of the world, which is much a part of its appeal. (b)
Whether it offers formally valid arguments strikes me as an open
question, for while a theologian can be quite logical, his premises
seem to contradict our usual criteria of truth. c) I suspect we all
would agree that religion is not directly conducive to desired
outcomes (however, a sociologist might point out that it indirectly
supports success, for if we act in terms of coherent system of values,
we are more likely to succeed). In short, I don't think a dismissal of
religion because it is irrational gets us very far.

Furthermore, to dismiss religious behavior as irrational might
arrogantly discount an important sector of the working class as being
incapable of rational thought and imply they are inferior beings. So I
recommend that we criticize religious faith, not from the outside in
this way (dismissing people as knaves or fools), but from the
inside. That is, we should think of ourselves as somehow being
religious, even if we happen to be atheists, so that we might grasp
more deeply how religious beliefs affect our situation in the world.

More specifically, we need to be aware of the difference between 
the anthropological and the sociological approaches to religion. The
former tends to look at how faith functions in mental life; the latter
on how institutions function in society. A critique of religion needs
to be fully aware of which is the target. For example, in the European
Enlightenment, the target of criticism was the latter, not the
former. I suspect that in a Marxist discussion of religious
irrationality, the concern is instead for the former.

So what is religion in an anthropological sense? Obviously it has to
do with something that transcends this world, such as hidden
(non-empirical) forces or a state of being that is independent of this
world. The problem is, and the reason why I suggested
that we can all put ourselves in the shoes of the believer, even those
of us who are atheists, is that there are two ways in which we must
accept the existence of transcendent or hidden forces. The first is because
consciousness of the transcendental is a distinctive feature of the
human mind. Consciousness, however we explain it, is an emergent
process that does not reduce to the mental state that gives rise to
it; it therefore _is_ a kind of mental self-transcendence. Secondly,
it is good to remember that the natural sciences are replete with
hidden forces (called unobservables). Radical empiricists might not
accept this, but their position has fallen into disfavor of late.

The problem with religious consciousness is that (other than in the
very limited sociological sense I mentioned before) it does not lend
itself to effective action in the world. It entails an ontological
dualism (the natural and the supernatural) that makes rational thought
more difficult; its appeal to hidden forces does not lend itself to
empirical (worldly) justification because the supernatural does not
emerge from the material world, but from a state of mind.

This ineffectiveness in the world is not simply because, like a
disease, some people got the supernatural into their heads, but
because the further back we go in time, the less developed are the
forces of production. With less worldly efficacy, there is less reason
to look to our natural powers to achieve a desired outcome.

It is frequently mentioned that this typically modern view of
religious history must face the awkward fact that religious faith
seems to be currently on the upswing; religion should have died out in
the twentieth century due to the predominance of positivism (to
suggest that positivism was the hobby horse of the elite and therefore
irrelevant to the working class is implicitly arrogant). But that
didn't happen. But if we see faith as a result of powerlessness in
natural terms, and we inquire about the relation of actual power and
the perceived need for such power, it turns out people are very
powerless today. Like exploitation in Marxist terms, it is relative
exploitation that is really significant, not absolute exploitation;
only the former has explanatory power.

To elaborate this a bit, power is not an absolute, but is relative to
our need to exercise it. In neolithic times, people had little power
over circumstance, but they sensed there was a very limited arena in
which power might be exercised. Today, state's insist that they are
accountable to us, and so we are made acutely aware that we have
little power to affect the state's behavior. Today we feel that we
should be able to purchase a range of goods that not only ensure our
subsistence, but are provide personal gratification in psychic, social
and cultural terms. But even when we can buy such goods, they seem
empty of real value. Capitalism encourages a remarkable expansion of
personal expectations, but cannot really satisfy them. This relative
powerlessness offers a ground for religious faith, such as responding
to capitalist anomie by mining values from the Old Testament.

Just some idle speculation on my part, but I believe that dismissing
religion because it is irrational is really not very helpful.

Haines Brown      



From bauerly at yorku.ca  Fri Jun  6 05:53:33 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:53:33 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Global Research on the oil price bubble
Message-ID: <1212753213.4849253da693b@mymail.yorku.ca>

By Michel Chossudovsky

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9191

Global Research, June 5, 2008

The Oil Price Bubble--

The movement in global prices on the New York and Chicago mercantile exchanges
bears no relationship to the costs of producing oil. The spiraling price of
crude oil is not the result of a shortage of oil. It is estimated that the cost
of a barrel of oil in the Middle East does not exceed 15 dollars. The costs of a
barrel of oil extracted from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, is of the order
of $30 (Antoine Ayoub, Radio Canada, May 2008)
The price of crude oil is currently in excess of $120 a barrel. This market
price is largely the result of the speculative onslaught.

Fuel enters into the production of virtually all areas of manufacturing,
agriculture and the services economy.  The hikes in fuel prices have
contributed, in all major regions of the World, to precipitating tens of
thousands of small and medium sized businesses into bankruptcy as well as
undermining and potentially paralyzing the channels of domestic and
international trade.
The increased cost of gasoline at the retail level is leading to the demise of
local level economies, increased industrial concentration and a massive
centralization of economic power in the hands of a small number of global
corporations. In turn, the hikes in fuel backlash on the urban transit system,
schools and hospitals, the trucking industry, intercontinental shipping,
airline transportation, tourism, recreation and most public services.

Inflation
The rise in fuel prices unleashes a broader inflationary process which results
in a compression of real purchasing power and a consequent Worldwide decline in
consumer demand. All major sectors of society, including the middle classes in
the developed countries are affected.
These price movements are dictated by the commodity markets. They are the result
of speculative trade in index funds, futures and options on major commodity
markets including the London ICE, the New York and Chicago mercantile
exchanges.
The dramatic price hikes are not the result of a shortage of fuel, food or
water.
This upheaval in the global economy is deliberate. The State's economic and
financial policies are controlled by private corporate interests. Speculative
trade is not the object of regulatory policies. The economic depression
contributes to wealth formation, to enhancing the power of a handful of global
corporations
According to William Engdahl;
 "... At least 60% of the 128 per barrel price of crude oil comes from
unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups
using the London ICE Futures and New York NYMEX futures exchanges and
uncontrolled inter-bank or Over-The-Counter trading to avoid scrutiny. US
margin rules of the government's Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow
speculators to buy a crude oil futures contract on the Nymex, by having to pay
only 6% of the value of the contract. At today's price of $128 per barrel, that
means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows
the other $120. This extreme 'leverage' of 16 to 1 helps drive prices to wildly
unrealistic levels and offset bank losses in sub-prime and other disasters at
the expense of the overall population. (See More on the real reason behind high
oil prices, Global Research, May 2008)
Among the main players in the speculative market for crude oil are Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley, British Petroleum (BP), the French banking conglomerate
Soci?t? G?n?rale, Bank of America, the largest Bank in the US, and
Switzerland's Mercuria. (See Miguel Angel Blanco, La Clave, Madrid, June 2008)

British Petroleum controls the London based International Petroleum Exchange
(IPE), which is one of the world's largest energy futures and options
exchanges. Among IPE's major shareholders are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

According to Der Spiegel, Morgan Stanley is one of the main institutional actors
in the London based speculative oil market (IPE). According to Le Monde,
France's Soci?t? G?n?rale together with Bank of America and Deutsche Bank have
been involved in spreading rumors with a view to pushing up the price of crude
oil. (See Miguel Angel Blanco, La Clave, Madrid, June 2008)



From bauerly at yorku.ca  Fri Jun  6 06:18:39 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:18:39 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <1212754719.48492b1ff29ba@mymail.yorku.ca>

Would it be possible to both reject the liberal idea of peak oil and Nader's
anti-corporate progressivism?  Would there be a way to understand the current
oil and food crises without resorting to 'values' and 'lifestyles' or bad oil
companies and oil cartels?  Is there any sort of analysis that seeks to probe
deeper than neoclassical equilibrium theories of supply and demand, one that
seeks to expose the political and social forms of power that undergird human
misery?  Is there a way to understand the ecological limits of capitalism
without positing the problem as one of individual over-consumption, perhaps a
way to show that the issue is based on class power relations and not humans
society v. nature?

If only some 19th Century thinker would have given us a way to do this.



From wsredden at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 06:19:05 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 08:19:05 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungary, Cuba and NED polling
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a06240801c46ed7d21d13@[192.168.1.3]>

Evidently the IRI has moved away from bankrolling coups in Haiti and 
fixing elections in Venezuela to running unbiased public opinion 
surveys like this one.  Whew!  That's a relief.  I wonder what their 
board of trustees thinks about this shift:

http://www.iri.org/board.asp

More importantly, I wonder what their sole source of funding - the 
United States government - thinks about it.  After all, one of their 
founders said in 1991 that, "A lot of what we do today was done 
covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."

There is, however, something that I find interesting about these two 
'polls':  the young people in both cases seem to be the most ardent 
supporters of a market based system that can deliver the important 
things like shoes with lights in them.

Obviously this Cuba poll is absurd in the way that it frames the 
question - "would you like ten million dollars or gangrene" - but can 
we draw anything from the demographic breakdown of those polled?  Are 
the numbers jimmied this way by the NED as a propaganda maneuver to 
build a psuedo-fascist student left in Cuba as it has done in Eastern 
Europe and as it is doing in Venezuela and Lebanon?  Or has 
'globalization' really been successful insofar as one of its main 
aims has been to propagandize on behalf of capitalism and create a 
sense of hostility and impossibility to any alternatives?

Solidarity,
Shawn



At 6:08 AM -0400 6/6/08, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists wrote:
>On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 6:05 AM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
><ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 5:07 AM, Dogan Gocmen 
>><dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>  Ruthless Critic of All that Exists schrieb:
>>
>>>  who makes these opinion pools or studies
>>
>>  "For the study, Latin American interviewers talked to 587 Cuban adults
>>  face to face across all of Cuba's provinces. A telephone survey was
>>  not considered because large segments of the population do not have
>>  phones."
>>
>
>More details are at their website:
>
><http://www.iri.org/lac/cuba/2008-06-05-Cuba.asp>
>
>
>They say:
>
>"Cuba also restricts opinion surveys without government authorization
>and supervision. For that reason, IRI utilized an original methodology
>for its survey. From March 14-April 12, 2008 interviewers from other
>Latin American countries discreetly engaged Cubans in public areas
>with their questionnaires. A total of 587 Cuban adults were asked
>questions ranging from perspectives on the economy to the performance
>of the current Castro regime. The survey has a margin of error of +/-
>four percent, and a 95 percent level of confidence. The survey was
>conducted in all 14 Cuban provinces. "
>
><http://www.iri.org/lac/cuba/2008-06-05-Cuba.asp>
>
>________________________________________________
>YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
>Set your options at: 
>http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/wsredden%40gmail.com

From craig at red-bean.com  Fri Jun  6 06:26:23 2008
From: craig at red-bean.com (Craig Brozefsky)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:26:23 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Political Fads Was:  Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <78ebbac60806060526t66088309tf1271cfaca8e5096@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM, Joaqu?n Bustelo <jbustelo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It's rebelling against media-conglomerate-imposed faddism that tells
> you the way to prove your individual worth is by accepting the latest
> "fashion."

This includes political fashions as well.

The function of brands and fads in politics was made very clear to me
at a recent dinner party for an old roommate.  I was accosted by a
UofChi Law school grad, who was feeling mighty fine after landing a
gig at a big firm here in Chicago, for not falling into line and
supporting "our" candidate, Obama.

I had mentioned that earlier that day I had my first experience of
testifying under oath, at a State Board fo Elections hearing for one
of our Green Party candidates.  The State Rep. candidate, Tim Quirk,
had been challenged (the objection was filed by a SBOE employee!) by
the electoral law attack-dog of the Dem machine.  I testified, as the
Secretary of the Cook County Green Party Central Committee, that we
had followed all our own bylaws and the state code covering the
appointment of committeemen and the conduct of the slating committee
which put Tim on the ballot.  This, BTW, was when I discovered that
you are not supposed to laugh out loud at lawyers even when they make
the most outrageous arguments, like waving the public notice of the
appointements we filed with the SBOE while carrying on about how we
gave no public notice.

After revealing my party allegiance, I was quickly attacked for being
a splitter and a spoiler for not supporting Obama.  I responded with
patience and soft language, because it was a dinner party in honor of
a friend.

Then a recent UofChi Econ grad who works at the Fed Reserve in some
peon capacity joined the lawyering in explaining to me that Obama had
an awesome brand, and that branding was the core of politics.  I was
then treated to showing of all the Obama buttons the lawyer had made,
lots of head shots.  At one point there was an appeal made to
education authorities, "I know this stuff, I took International Human
Rights classes", after asserting that the NATO invasion of Kosovo was
a great uniting of nations to stop a genocide.  At that point I beat a
hasty retreat because the Obama love fest  had turned into a flirting
vehicle between the two young professionals.

These were truly two of the most well-educated idiots I have ever met.

A week later I found out we had won the support of the SBOE hearing
officer who was reccommending to the SBOE that Tim be kept on the
ballot.  A small victory, but sweetened because we were outgunned, and
on enemy territory.

> And it means, yes, returning at least some to the counter-cultural,
> "pirate" ethos of  the youth culture of the 60's. NOT buying CD's and
> DVD's with all their wasteful packaging and merchandising when you can
> download them. Sharing, not so much the latest teeny bopper sensation
> but things like the Pilger documentaries which are impossible to get
> (at a reasonable price) in the U.S., the "Eyes on the Prize" PBS
> series on the Civil Rights Movement and similar works which can't be
> legally distributed because of copyright issues or just because the
> bourgeois media monopolies don't want you to have them.

Amen to that.


From gary.maclennan at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 06:29:04 2008
From: gary.maclennan at gmail.com (gary.maclennan at gmail.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 05:29:04 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
In-Reply-To: <c87.2f585403.357a556d@aol.com>
References: <c87.2f585403.357a556d@aol.com>
Message-ID: <ff5b77d90806060529m5d80db56s8213fe76fe777bda@mail.gmail.com>

 <Midhurst14 at aol.com> wrote:

> Obama may be the catalyst for an agonising reappraisal
> George Anthony
>
> Hi George,


I do not think Obama or his remarks will be a catalyst for anything.  The
Angry Arab has him right at his blogspot <angryarab.blogspot.com>.  Obama is
anxious to prove his loyalty to the system and will be super aggressive.

What will be a catalyst for the Arab revolution will be the collapse of one
of the pro-West regimes.

regards

Gary

>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/gary.maclennan%40gmail.com
>

From bauerly at yorku.ca  Fri Jun  6 07:09:07 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:09:07 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>

---As can be seen, production has been essentially flat for three years.
How can these numbers be reconciled with the claims that a) demand is
growing but b) supplies are adequate?---

You are confusing production with reserves.  Production is flat because global
extraction is at approx 80% of capacity and US refineries are running at approx
70% capacity.  This is a manufactured shortage not peak oil.  Also, as someone
else mentioned there has been little increase in price of production (I love
how they call extraction production in the oil business).

The whole theory of peak oil is based on neoclassical theories of supply and
demand equilibrium which obfuscate the political (read class) aspects.  It is
based on an acceptance of the idea that an economic formula can predict how a
complex social system will allocate a scarce resource.  While there are
obviously limits to oil use, the particularities of the current conjuncture
have more to do with capitalism than with a declining resource base.

---Obama is much, much closer to the mark when he
HONESTLY tells people there is no real solution to the gasoline crisis
except for developing alternative energy sources and breaking "our"
(the United States's) "petroleum addiction."---

I think everyone agrees that US society uses too much oil, this is not a
leftists position. This does not mean that the only solution to the oil price
rise (is this really a gasoline crisis?  Europeans have had $5 gas for a
decade), and therefore the only problem, is the overuse of a finite resource. 
While I agree that SUV's and the whole US consumerist lifestyle is
unsustainable, the bourgeoisie has figured out that they can profit from this
by using the MSM to over-hype peak oil and sell you the necessary goods to
consume our way out of the 'crisis'.  While at the same time they can cash in
on the hysteria by raising prices through manipulation.  When Obama says we
need to break our petroleum addiction he mean we, individual consumers, need to
use our liberal individualist power to consumer our way out.  It operates just
as Marx explained, it obfuscates the true power relationships that created the
problem.  It is not that our things are bad, or that we are bad because we
'choose' them.  It is the objectified human relationships in the form of things
that prevent a more ecologically benign society.

The Krugmanite solution- increased mass transit, downgraded lifestyles,
increased population densities- are all necessary steps.  However, there is a
difference between seeking them within the parameters of capitalist social
realtions or exposing how production and a society oriented toward profit
maximization have both produced these problems and will produce new problems if
the solutions simply shift consumption towards 'green' alternatives within
capitalist society.

---In other words, I believe the battle the U.S. left needs to wage today
is a battle of ideas and fundamentally about *values.* This is, to be
brutally frank, NOT NOT NOT a "class" message as that is traditionally
understood on the left, but first and foremost a message addressed to
the intelligentsia, and most especially the youth.---

If you really want to influence the youth you need to stop talking about the
1960's and about 'values'.  I would also fundamentally challenge the notion
that we should not talk about class (not sure what you mean by traditionally
understood on the left).  Class needs to be THE message (I would also dump the
'battle of ideas' 60's mantra).  Class as the way to understand the lack of
true democracy and control over our own society.  Class as the inability to
elect a true representative of the society that we want.  Class as the driving
force of war, ecocide, hunger, racism, despair....  Class as the analytical
tool to uncover the connection between society and the economy.  These are
issues that everyone can understand, not just the intelligentsia and youth.  We
must move beyond being a sect that is attempting to build a secret movement of
intellectuals and college students.  Our analysis and ideas must become common
sense.  As Ralph Milliband explained; culture is not what supports the
capitalist systems repressive apparatus, culture is the repressive apparatus of
the capitalist system. Values and culture as political strategy reinforce
bourgeois rule.

---And I can see myself just as easily or more easily starting a
useful discussion from Obama's vague statements about oil addiction
than from Nader's (frankly) demagogic anti-corporate muckraking. The
problem is not just that corporate interests are in control, but what
they DO with that control, and not mostly in terms of the marginal
immediate material well-being of people in the U.S., but in terms of
the fundamental sustainability of human civilization as a whole.---

I don't understand this.  If the problem is what certain interests do with their
control, than how would Obama's postion, which denies that there is even any
class aspect to oil or food prices, offer a better starting point than one that
is too anti-corporate?  It would appear to me that the Obama position is to
shift the chairs on the sinking Titanic, while Nader is complaining about where
he has to sit.  I agree that the whole point needs to be about the large whole
in the ship.

Brad






From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Fri Jun  6 07:17:18 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 06:17:18 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] An admission: I was wrong about Obama's flag pin
Message-ID: <BAY127-W13139950BB55159B653971D7B70@phx.gbl>


Thanks to the Daily Show last night, I now know I was quite wrong about Obama. 
He was NOT wearing an American flag pin during his talk to AIPAC.

He was wearing a pin showing crossed American and Israeli flags.

I wonder which wounded veterans that was honoring?


_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008

From wsredden at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 07:27:05 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 09:27:05 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] An admission: I was wrong about Obama's flag pin
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W13139950BB55159B653971D7B70@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W13139950BB55159B653971D7B70@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <a06240800c46eeb178377@[192.168.1.3]>

The USS Liberty, perhaps - were the flags double-crossed?


At 6:17 AM -0700 6/6/08, Eli Stephens wrote:
>Thanks to the Daily Show last night, I now know I was quite wrong about Obama.
>He was NOT wearing an American flag pin during his talk to AIPAC.
>
>He was wearing a pin showing crossed American and Israeli flags.
>
>I wonder which wounded veterans that was honoring?
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
>http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008
>________________________________________________
>YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
>Set your options at: 
>http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/wsredden%40gmail.com



From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 07:37:12 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:37:12 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The economic roots of South African xenophobia
Message-ID: <48493D88.5070503@panix.com>

Xenophobia, Neo-liberalism, and NEPAD:
The End of African Unity?
by Shawn Hattingh

Introduction

In August and September of 1974, people across the length and breadth of 
South Africa celebrated the coming independence of Angola, 
Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique.  People like Mamphela Rampele led massive 
rallies honoring the success of the liberation movements in these 
countries.  There was even spontaneous dancing in the streets, and the 
air was filled with a sense that South Africa would soon be joining 
these countries in ending racist and capitalist oppression through 
revolution.  This was due to the fact that the defeat of the Portuguese 
Empire in Africa gave South Africans a renewed sense of hope, which was 
one of the catalysts that ignited the 1976 uprisings against apartheid. 
  In those heady days African Unity was not an empty phrase; it was 
rather the ideological backbone of the fight against capitalism, 
imperialism, and apartheid.  By the end of the decade South Africans 
were fighting and dying side by side with Angolans and Zimbabweans in 
the struggle against the racist forces of Rhodesia and apartheid South 
Africa.  People from all over Africa were making massive sacrifices to 
help free their bothers and sisters in South Africa by providing refuge 
and moral and material support on a massive scale.  Hope sprung eternal 
for a united Africa: an Africa that could collectively defeat 
imperialism and gain its freedom.

Fast forward to May 2008. Small groups of South Africans were once again 
in the streets, but there was no dancing and celebration.  This time, 
they were not fighting side by side with Angolans and Zimbabweans; they 
were hunting them down!  Over the last few weeks xenophobic attacks have 
erupted in some areas in South Africa.  The political leaders across the 
country have assured all and sundry that it has only been a small 
section of the population, driven mostly by criminality, who perpetrated 
these attacks.  This, however, does not give the full picture. 
Xenophobia has been rearing its ugly head in this country since at least 
the 1990s.  Within the last few years, various arms of the state, such 
as the police force, have been directly involved in routinely harassing 
people from other parts of the continent.1 The leader of the official 
opposition in the country, Helen Zille, has on occasion accused 
foreigners of being the source of South Africa's drug problem.2  Even 
Jacob Zuma, the darling of sections of the South African Communist Party 
and COSATU, recently told an audience at a COSATU May Day rally in the 
North West that the ANC would take strong measures to restrict the 
"scores of illegal immigrants" in South Africa.3  Of course, since the 
xenophobic attacks began, the likes of Zuma and Mbeki have belatedly 
rallied to condemn them.  Nonetheless, they have been largely unwilling 
to move beyond their simplistic criminality thesis to identify the 
underlying causes that have led to such violence.  In reality it is the 
dire political and economic situation that exists across Africa and 
within South Africa that has created the breeding ground for such 
attacks.  People from all parts of Africa have come to South Africa to 
escape the abject poverty and misery that they have been forced to live 
under in their home countries.  Frustrated with broken promises, 
poverty, and unemployment, some South Africans have turned their anger 
towards these people, blaming them for taking their houses and jobs. 
Yet, the reality is that it is not other Africans that are taking jobs 
and houses away; it is rather neo-liberal capitalism and the legacy of 
apartheid that has done this.  In fact, neo-liberal economic policies 
have caused increasing inequality and increasing competition amongst the 
poor to survive.  The sad irony is that some of the victims of 
neo-liberalism in South Africa have chosen to attack fellow victims who 
have come to this country from other parts of Africa.  This all happens 
while the real perpetrators, who have forced neo-liberalism onto the 
people of South Africa and the rest of Africa, sit smugly in their plush 
downtown Sandton, Pretoria, Sydney, New York and London offices looking 
for new ways to exploit the people and resources of this country and the 
rest of the continent.  In reality, the global elite have waged a 
virtual economic war from their offices and boardrooms against the 
people of Africa and South Africa in order to enrich themselves.  This 
has given rise to the conditions in which xenophobia and other forms of 
ethnic violence can thrive.


full: http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/hattingh050608.html


From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 07:56:59 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:56:59 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Continuing economic woes
Message-ID: <4849422B.4010301@panix.com>

Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2008; Page A1
Real-Estate Woes of Banks Mount
Lenders Dumping Bad Loans at Discount;
Regulators See Losses Continuing
By MICHAEL CORKERY, JONATHAN KARP and DAMIAN PALETTA

Federal regulators warned Thursday that banking-industry turmoil would 
continue as financial institutions come to terms with piles of bad loans 
they made to finance the construction of homes and condominiums.

Until now, most of the damage to banks from the housing crisis has come 
from homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. But amid a dismal spring 
sales season for new homes, loans to home and condo builders are looking 
increasingly shaky. Banks have begun to dump them at what will likely be 
steep discounts, setting the stage for billions of dollars in fresh losses.

"As long as the housing market is on a downward path, as long as those 
prices continue to fall, I think there's a risk that the losses could 
continue to mount on a variety of loans," Federal Reserve Vice Chairman 
Donald Kohn told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.
[Trouble Brewing]

At the same hearing, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila 
Bair said banks that aren't diversified, or those with high exposures to 
residential construction and development, are of particular concern. 
"That's where we are really seeing the delinquencies spike," she said.

The surprisingly gloomy outlook is at odds with the sentiment of 
investors, who appear to have moved on from worrying about the health of 
the financial system to obsessing about gasoline prices and consumer 
spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.97 points, or 1.7%, 
on Thursday on the back of surprisingly strong retail-sales data.

The health of the economy is heavily dependent on the willingness of 
banks and other financial institutions to lend to consumers and 
businesses. Many banks have already taken substantial losses, and either 
will have to pare their lending or raise new capital to rebuild their 
safety nets. The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have been 
pressing banks to raise capital so as not to further reduce lending.

Banks with swelling portfolios of troubled loans tied to land and 
housing are struggling to unload some of their real-estate debt. IndyMac 
Bancorp Inc., a Pasadena, Calif., lender, is trying to sell $540 million 
in loans made to finance land purchases and housing construction 
projects. Winning bids on many of the loans were, on average, about 60 
cents on the dollar, according to people familiar with the matter. But 
some winning bids were only about 20 cents on the dollar.

Cleveland-based KeyBank, a unit of KeyCorp., is trying to unload $935 
million in loans tied to land and residential developments, while 
Wachovia Corp. is shopping a $350 million loan portfolio, according to 
two people who have seen the offerings. Representatives of the banks 
declined to comment.

The sales are a response to a growing problem: Home builders are falling 
behind on loan payments, and the value of the land and housing 
developments that serve as loan collateral is plummeting. Over the next 
five years, U.S. banks could "charge off" as bad debt between 10% and 
26% of their loans tied to residential construction and land assets, 
which would amount to about $65 billion to $165 billion, according to a 
report sent to clients Thursday by housing research firm Zelman & 
Associates. That compares with charge-offs of about 10% of 
construction-related bank assets, totaling $31.6 billion, when adjusted 
for inflation, during the last housing downturn in the late 1980s and 
early 1990s. In 2007 and the first quarter of this year, banks wrote 
down just 0.7% of such assets, according to Zelman.
[Rising Concern]

"We believe this period of procrastination is nearly over," says Ivy 
Zelman, chief executive of Zelman & Associates.

The prospect of a new wave of losses worries federal regulators, given 
the large proportion of loans to housing developers held by many banks 
and thrifts. The problems are worse at small banks that can't easily 
absorb losses, and at banks with big exposure in states hit hard by the 
housing crisis. Banks in Arizona have 36% of their total loans tied to 
construction and development. In Georgia that number is 34%, and in 
North Carolina it's 28%. Zelman said construction and development loans, 
as a percentage of total loans, are at their highest levels since at 
least 1975.

Grab Bag of Assets

IndyMac is trying to sell debt backed by a grab bag of assets, including 
partially built subdivisions, condo buildings and large parcels of raw 
land covered in sagebrush in parts of California, where the housing 
crisis is acute, according to people familiar with the offering.

Selling real-estate loans could help larger lenders like IndyMac shore 
up their balance sheets. But such sales, by setting a market value for 
distressed real-estate loans, could trigger problems at smaller banks 
with real-estate exposure, which might have a difficult time absorbing 
such losses.

Office of Thrift Supervision Director John Reich told Congress that the 
number of savings-and-loan associations at a heightened risk of failure 
jumped from 12 at the end of March to 17 today. Federal regulators have 
met privately with Treasury officials to discuss the potential fallout 
from a larger number of bank failures, people familiar with the matter 
said. Four banks have already failed this year, more than in the prior 
three years combined.

The FDIC's Ms. Bair said she would be "very surprised" if a large bank 
failed, but added that "we need to be prepared for all contingencies."

Federal regulators said they have increased scrutiny of banks with high 
concentrations of real-estate loans, with Comptroller of the Currency 
John Dugan saying a formal initiative is in place to review asset quality.

Signs of Improvement

At the same time, regulators praised the banking industry for raising 
capital and for building up reserves against losses. They added that 
some pockets of the credit markets were showing signs of improvement.

Over the last week, for example, direct lending by the Federal Reserve 
to investment banks and commercial banks declined, suggesting that 
credit strains across the industry were easing. Average daily borrowing 
by securities firms was $8.3 billion in the week ending Wednesday, down 
from $12.3 billion a week earlier, the Fed said Thursday.

Real-estate lenders had been hoping for a decent spring sales season for 
new homes, which would have helped builders stay current on their loans. 
But the selling season has been a bust. The rate of foreclosures on 
homeowners hit a record, as did the rate at which they fell behind on 
their mortgage payments. In the first quarter, 6.35% of mortgages were 
at least 30 days delinquent, not including those already in foreclosure, 
a rise of 1.51 percentage points from the year-earlier period.

"We've seen a real change in the market," says Ricardo Chance, a 
managing director at KPMG Corporate Finance LLC, who is helping troubled 
builders restructure their businesses. "Finally the banks are 
capitulating and saying, 'Let's mark to market and flush this all out.' 
The market is going to get worse. We don't want to hold on to this stuff."

The glut of foreclosed homes has made life hard for home builders. "I've 
been through three cycles, and this is the worst," says Mark Connal, a 
vice president at Michael Crews Development, a closely held Escondido, 
Calif., builder. "You can buy brand new homes for less than the cost of 
construction."

At the peak of the housing boom, during the second quarter of 2005, 
luxury-home builder Toll Brothers Inc. signed 3,120 contracts. In its 
latest quarter ended April 30, buyers signed just 929 contracts for new 
homes in the builder's 300 communities across the nation.

In Riverside County, Calif., where the housing market is dismal, 
developers are offering upgrades and services to move unsold homes. 
"They used to landscape the front yard," says Gloria Britt, of 
Prudential California Realty in Riverside. "Now they're doing the back, 
upgrading the patio, whatever the buyer asks for."

Write to Damian Paletta at damian.paletta at wsj.com

---

NY Times, June 7, 2008
Unemployment Rate Hits 5.5%; Payrolls Shrink for Fifth Month
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

The American unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent last month, the 
government said on Friday, the biggest increase in more than two 
decades. The report was the latestsign that workers face a darker 
outlook even as they struggle to cope with the housing slump and high 
energy prices that have cut into their spending power.

Employers also shed 49,000 jobs in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
said in a statement. Payrolls have shrank every month this year, the 
worst losing streak since 2003. Manufacturers, construction companies 
and the retail sector were the hardest hit, as businesses struggled with 
lower demand and looked to cut costs.

The jump in the unemployment rate, which was 5 percent in April, led to 
a sharp increase in the number of Americans who looked for jobs in May. 
The size of the work force grew, but fewer jobs were available, nudging 
up the percentage of unemployed to its highest level since October 2004.

The jump caught many economists off-guard.

?This is a pretty weak report. And you can?t dismiss a five-tenths of a 
jump in the unemployment rate, even if you figure there?s some flukiness 
to the data,? Ethan Harris, the chief United States economist at Lehman 
Brothers, said.

That flukiness referred to teenagers, who tend to enter the job market 
in May as schools let out for the summer; the result is a bloated labor 
pool, Mr. Harris said.

But the bad news could not be entirely blamed on the adolescent set, he 
said. ?The report suggests the trends in the labor market are quite weak.?

Economists said the report may keep the Federal Reserve from tightening 
interest rates in the near future. Fed policy makers meet again at the 
end of the month.

The government also revised down its payroll estimates for April and 
March for a net loss of 15,000 jobs.

The weak labor market is likely to raise anxieties among Americans, 
putting a pall on consumer spending. Many workers could be left with 
little room to maneuver if they lose their jobs, as home values decline 
and equity lines are maxed out.

Even employed Americans are feeling pressure. Salaries continued to 
shrink in May, after adjusting for inflation. Workers? wages grew in May 
but at an anemic pace, with rank-and-file employees earning $17.94 an 
hour, on average. That was a 5 cent increase ? or 0.3 percent ? from April.

In the last 12 months, hourly earnings have risen 3.5 percent, below the 
pace of inflation, which is running at about 4 percent a year.


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Fri Jun  6 08:17:13 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 10:17:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Continuing economic woes
References: <4849422B.4010301@panix.com>
Message-ID: <01fc01c8c7e0$049f7560$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Based on "marked to market" valuations, I think we are only about 1/3 of
the way through the write downs of the MBSC (mortgage backed securities
contraction),  with a commercial real estate crunch still to come.

Certainly, the loss and default on lower "tranche" issues were
"worrisome,"  but truly frightening for the bougeoisie is the overall
devaluation of all such instruments, a  sort of  viral replicating
margin call, as the accumulated chickens of overproduction come  to a
foreclosed home to roost.

But then again, fear and greed are the bi-polars of capital
accumulation.  So... as bad as things might get for the bourgeoisie,
things will be worse for everybody else.  A rich man can get through
poor times better than a poor man.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louis Proyect" <lnp3 at panix.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 9:56 AM
Subject: [Marxism] Continuing economic woes


Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2008; Page A1
Real-Estate Woes of Banks Mount
Lenders Dumping Bad Loans at Discount;
Regulators See Losses Continuing
By MICHAEL CORKERY, JONATHAN KARP and DAMIAN PALETTA




From nmgoro at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 08:31:32 2008
From: nmgoro at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?N=C3=A9stor_Gorojovsky?=)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:31:32 -0300
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2fa158550806060731u6eadf1d6tc8bbe084199b599@mail.gmail.com>

What makes opinion polls showing Hungarian "?stalgie" a credible fact
is not the "scientific validity" of the poll, but the source. They are
pro-imperialist, or imperialist, pollsters. This is exactly the kind
of evidence that can condemn a culprit, something like a voluntary
admission that you committed a crime. In the case of Cuba, the source
isn't nearly as reliable.

Anyhow, what should be taken into account is that the poll should be
framed with undisguising questions, such as "Would you rather live as
you live in Cuba, or as you believe most people live in
Conncecticut?", and "Would you rather live as you live in Cuba, or as
you believe most people live in Jamaica (substitute Dominican
Republic, Haiti, or whatever, ad libitum)?"

I bet SUCH A POLL would render quite predictable results.

 I can imagine a whole battery of questions to follow the two.

I bet the NED guys will not prepare such a poll, ever.

-- 

N?stor Gorojovsky
El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autor?a

From Midhurst14 at aol.com  Fri Jun  6 08:40:39 2008
From: Midhurst14 at aol.com (Midhurst14 at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 10:40:39 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Message-ID: <bcf.2964c666.357aa667@aol.com>

Follow the dialectical process.it never fails
George Anthony



   

From Midhurst14 at aol.com  Fri Jun  6 08:44:59 2008
From: Midhurst14 at aol.com (Midhurst14 at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 10:44:59 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Message-ID: <d52.2c690e8c.357aa76b@aol.com>

My considered view is that Israel has been living a Zionist lie ever since  
its inception
Whenever US imperialism starts to founder as have all empires, Israel will  
be dropped
Follow Brezinski and Kissinger for the first signs
George Anthony



   

From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 08:59:28 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:59:28 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Take Out
Message-ID: <484950D0.8030900@panix.com>

As should be obvious from people who have been following my film reviews 
over the years, I place the highest value on works that take the 
struggles of ordinary working people as their subject matter. When such 
a work succeeds artistically, they earn my highest plaudits. As ?Take 
Out? met those goals with a budget of only $3000, you truly feel like 
you have entered the realm of the miraculous.

Co-directed by Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou, ?Take Out? is a 
documentary-like look at the working day of Ming Ding, an undocumented 
Chinese restaurant deliveryman. The film starts inauspiciously enough 
with the incursion of two loan-sharking thugs into the roach-invested 
two-bedroom apartment Ming shares with a number of other Chinese 
immigrant workers. Like everything else in this neorealist jewel of a 
movie, the apartment is real. Ming has to come up with the money he owes 
them for the fee they exacted for smuggling him into the U.S. or else. 
As a taste of what awaits him if he can?t come up with the money, they 
beat him with a hammer.

The remaining scenes take place either in the Chinese take-out 
restaurant or in the doorways of the apartments where Ming makes his 
deliveries. The restaurant was a real restaurant on the Upper West Side 
that accommodated the film-makers as people came in off the street to 
purchase their chicken lo mein, etc. Big sister, the woman who operated 
the cash register and took orders over the phone, was the actual 
employee of the restaurant. Her banter with the customers (she tells one 
who is over-demanding to fuck himself in Chinese) serves as a kind of 
aural thread throughout the movie substituting for a film score that 
would have been obtrusive.

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/take-out/


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 09:07:39 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:07:39 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <2fa158550806060731u6eadf1d6tc8bbe084199b599@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806060731u6eadf1d6tc8bbe084199b599@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806060807x373b0455w359fe299c7b2e94f@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 10:31 AM, N?stor Gorojovsky <nmgoro at gmail.com> wrote:

> "Would you rather live as you live in Cuba, or as
> you believe most people live in Jamaica (substitute Dominican
> Republic, Haiti, or whatever, ad libitum)?"

Detractors of Fidel always say that the comparison is invalid, because
even in 1958-59 Cuba was socially very advanced, with the best
literacy and health rates in Latin America -- certainly much more
advanced than Haiti, Dominican Rep. etc.

Also, the UN Human Development Index shows that currently even Uruguay
is better than Cuba in terms of human development. What to make of
this factoid? I have never seen this addressed. Is the UN using
imperialist measures to measure human development?


From cbcox at ilstu.edu  Fri Jun  6 09:18:46 2008
From: cbcox at ilstu.edu (Carrol Cox)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:18:46 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Take Out
References: <484950D0.8030900@panix.com>
Message-ID: <48495556.6C18359A@ilstu.edu>



Louis Proyect wrote:
> 
> ordinary working people 

Whenever I see this phrase I always wonder what it would a working
person who wasn't "ordinary" be? The phrase forms almost a single
(unpacked) word in the language of many, both marxists and non-marxists,
and I think it can be misleading.

In China of the 1930s would "ordinary peasant" have been a useful
phrase? One of the problems confronting the Russian Revolution was that
some important sectors of the Russian working class thought of
themselves as non-ordinary workers (e.g., phone operators) and opposed
the Revolution.

Carrol



From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 09:21:57 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:21:57 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Take Out
In-Reply-To: <48495556.6C18359A@ilstu.edu>
References: <484950D0.8030900@panix.com> <48495556.6C18359A@ilstu.edu>
Message-ID: <48495615.5050009@panix.com>

Carrol Cox wrote:
> 
> Louis Proyect wrote:
>> ordinary working people 
> 
> Whenever I see this phrase I always wonder what it would a working
> person who wasn't "ordinary" be? The phrase forms almost a single
> (unpacked) word in the language of many, both marxists and non-marxists,
> and I think it can be misleading.
> 

People should understand that Carrol is a professor emeritus.


From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 09:35:31 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:35:31 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Books on the American Revolution
Message-ID: <48495943.5050206@panix.com>

(Gary B. Nash is also the author of the excellent "The Unknown American 
Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create 
America")

NY Review, Volume 55, Number 11 ? June 26, 2008
Jefferson & Betrayal
By Edmund S. Morgan

Friends of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, and Agrippa 
Hull: A Tale of Three Patriots, Two Revolutions, and a Tragic Betrayal 
of Freedom in the New Nation
by Gary B. Nash and Graham Russell Gao Hodges

Basic Books, 328 pp., $26.00
Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black 
Founding Fathers
by Richard S. Newman

New York University Press, 359 pp., $34.95

Liberty had many friends in the eighteenth century. Here, in the book by 
Gary Nash and Graham Hodges, are three who took a stand for it in the 
American Revolution. Agrippa Hull of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a free 
black American, fought for it in the Continental Army as an orderly to 
Colonel Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the Polish military engineer who crossed the 
ocean to help the Americans against the British. Years later, after 
fighting losing battles for Polish freedom, Kosciuszko struck a blow for 
the liberty of America's enslaved blacks, in a pact with the third of 
the trio, the man whose words still speak for liberty in the Declaration 
he wrote in 1776.

Thomas Jefferson easily steals the show. He always does. Is it because 
he charms us as much as he charmed the people who trusted him with 
public office? Is it because he spoke so eloquently for what Americans 
want to think they are or can be? Is it because we recognize his 
shortcomings as our own? Or because we flatter ourselves that they are 
not ours? In Friends of Liberty he steals the show by disappointing us, 
as he does so often. Nash and Hodges sketch the lives of their other two 
subjects in as much detail as his, but the black Yankee and the Polish 
patriot earn their place in this book by giving him a show to steal.

Why else can Agrippa Hull be there? Hull's devotion to liberty can be 
shown only by association with Kosciuszko's. We are told what Hull might 
have said or might have done in Kosciuszko's presence at Ticonderoga, 
Saratoga, Valley Forge, and Monmouth Courthouse. But he left no traces 
of himself in any of those places. And what we learn of him in 
Stockbridge comes from the people he worked for. His first employer was 
Theodore Sedgwick, an eminent lawyer, whose young daughter he helped to 
look after. If his service with Kosciuszko makes him a friend of 
liberty, his much longer and better-documented life as Sedgwick's 
household servant tells a different story.

Before Hull's return to Stockbridge after the war, Sedgwick had also 
acted as a friend of liberty by arguing one of the legal cases that 
helped to end slavery in Massachusetts. But during the time that Hull 
served him Sedgwick showed no interest in taking liberty any further. 
His prominent role in lawsuits that deprived many people of their homes 
in the hard times of the late 1780s made him and his newly built mansion 
a target for the insurgents in Daniel Shays's rebellion of 1787. 
Faithful to the standing order, Hull enlisted in a militia company to 
quash the uprising.

As a congressman Sedgwick took a leading role in the passage of the 
first Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. He proposed sending the army to punish 
Virginia for passing the resolution that James Madison wrote against the 
infamous Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. As an ardent Federalist 
Sedgwick taught his daughter Catherine to "look upon a Democrat as an 
enemy to his country," and when Jefferson became president in 1800 he 
retired from politics to nurse his bitterness from a seat on the 
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Hull stayed with him for seven more years before taking a job with 
Barnabas Bidwell, another Massachusetts lawyer, who had belatedly 
abandoned the fading Federalist Party for Jefferson's Republicans. 
Association with Bidwell was a poor choice. In 1810 Bidwell was charged 
with embezzling $10,000 from Berkshire County and fled to Canada. His 
erstwhile servant lived on in Stockbridge until his death in 1848, 
acquiring and farming a small parcel of land, doing odd jobs, waiting on 
tables at festivities, and making a name as a village philosopher who 
delivered his homely wisdom in impromptu rhymes.

The town historian remembered Agrippa Hull as "perfectly free from all 
airs and show of consequence." He did not, so far as we are told, become 
a spokesman for the abolition of slavery, which is what the rest of this 
book is about. It is hard to escape the conclusion that the authors have 
included him as a foil to the Southern aristocrat who could speak so 
eloquently against slavery while living off it in a conspicuous show of 
consequence.

Kosciuszko, too, is here as a foil to Jefferson, but a much more 
instructive one. Like Jefferson he lived off the labor of others, the 
labor of people whom he virtually owned. One of Poland's lesser 
nobility, he was lord over hundreds of serfs. Like Jefferson he thought 
it was wrong for a part of mankind to ride booted and spurred over the 
rest. Unlike Jefferson, he shed his own boots and spurs. At his death he 
freed his serfs. Long before that, on a return visit to America in 1798, 
he collected his back pay as an officer in the Continental Army and made 
a will specifying how this money was to be used: in buying the freedom 
of American slaves and

     in giving them en education in trades or othervise and in having 
them instructed for their new condition in the duties of morality which 
may make them good neigh bours good fathers or moders, husbands or vives 
and in their duties as citisens teeching them to be defenders of their 
Liberty and Country and of the good order of Society and in whatever may 
Make them happy and useful.

To carry out his intentions Kosciuszko appointed a new and trusted 
friend, Thomas Jefferson. There can be no doubt that Jefferson, a lawyer 
by training, accepted this charge, set forth in words that he helped to 
craft. Although Kosciuszko made later wills in Europe, he intended this 
one to govern the disposition of his American funds. One of his last 
letters to Jefferson refers to "la destination invariable" of his money. 
By declaring in the will that "I hereby authorise my friend Thomas 
Jefferson to employ the whole thereof in purchasing Negroes from among 
his own or any others and giving them Liberty in my name," Kosciuszko 
directed Jefferson to give his slaves their freedom at no cost to himself.

The contradictions that Jefferson exhibited in what he said and did at 
different times still preoccupy his biographers. He was the great 
champion of states' rights in the 1790s, magnified the federal 
government's powers during his presidency, and then in retirement 
returned to championing states' rights. He hated owing money, but like a 
compulsive gambler found himself racking up debts to purchase fine 
wines, rare books, bibelots, and the other luxury items that made 
Monticello a showplace. He hated slavery, but not enough to curb the 
high style of living that it provided him.

Kosciuszko's generosity provided an opportunity to reduce, if not 
eliminate, this particular contradiction, not to say this hypocrisy, 
which Jefferson declined. When Kosciuszko died in 1817, Jefferson was in 
the process of founding the University of Virginia, an achievement 
equated on his tombstone with his authorship of the Declaration of 
Independence and of the Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty. 
Kosciuszko's will had directed him to provide for the education of the 
slaves he was to free. Busy as he was with the higher education of white 
male Virginians, he declared himself too old and feeble to fulfill the 
trust laid on him by his dear friend.

While Jefferson was indeed old, being then seventy-four, visitors to his 
hilltop retreat found him lively in body and mind. It was probably 
something more than flagging energies that made him unwilling to 
complete this one task. The authors tell us that at any time after 
Kosciuszko's death Jefferson could have bought and freed a large number 
of his slaves, perhaps all of them, under the terms of the will. 
Moreover, he had a fiduciary duty to do so. As will be seen, Jefferson 
did not wish to be the means of introducing more free blacks into a land 
from which he wanted them gone.

By happenstance the American Colonization Society was founded in the 
year of Kosciuszko's death. To Americans troubled by slavery but leery 
of racial mixing and fearful of racial strife, the ACS offered a way to 
educate and emancipate slaves while deporting them to Africa, where they 
would savor their newfound freedom in a colony rejoicing in the name of 
Liberia. John Hartwell Cocke, who collaborated with Jefferson on the 
university project, was an active supporter of the society. To this 
friend Jefferson transferred the executorship and the embarrassment of 
Kos?cius-zko's bequest, evidently hoping that Cocke would be able to 
make it serve the purposes of the society. Yet Kos?-ciuszko's money was 
still held in trust in 1847, when it amounted to nearly $50,000. The 
fund had probably increased in value by 1852 when the Supreme Court 
under Chief Justice Roger Taney (five years before his Dred Scott 
decision) declared Kos?-ciuszko's American will invalid and ordered 
distribution of the money to his heirs in Europe.

If Jefferson's mind were not so full of contortions, it would be 
surprising that he accepted Kosciuszko's charge in the first place. His 
conception of emancipation had always contemplated a Virginia purged of 
black people. He spent the years from 1776 to 1779 on a committee to 
rewrite the laws that the state had inherited from its existence as a 
colony. Among its proposals, "A Bill concerning Slaves," prepared by 
Jefferson and introduced in the legislature in 1785, would gradually 
have rid Virginia of slaves by withholding "the protection of the laws" 
from any imported thereafter and from any who were emancipated but 
failed to leave the state within one year.

He left no loopholes: "If any white woman shall have a child by a negro 
or mulatto, she and her child shall depart the commonwealth within one 
year thereafter. If they fail to do so, the woman shall be out of the 
protection of the laws," and so would her child if he or she failed to 
depart after reaching adulthood in service to an assigned master. These 
provisions were too draconian for the other members of the legislature 
and were struck from the bill as enacted, which merely forbade 
importation of slaves and restricted the movements and rights of 
existing slaves.

Jefferson's views on the subject did not change. Only once before his 
collaboration with Kosciuszko had he considered actually freeing his 
slaves. In 1788, responding to a friend's inquiries about a Quaker 
project to transform slaves into rent-paying tenants, Jefferson wrote 
briefly of his intention to try something similar. He would import 
German farmers and mix them with slaves as tenants on his lands in the 
diluted form of serfdom (metayage), similar to sharecropping, that still 
survived in France. The Germans would teach the slaves and their 
children the habits needed for freedom, and the children would grow up 
free. He never again mentioned this idea in any of his surviving papers. 
His Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) presented a proposal for 
educating, emancipating, and deporting Virginia's slaves. But he did not 
pursue this solution or any other in the remainder of his long political 
career.

Probably most Virginians who endorsed a general abolition shared his 
objective of a white Virginia, but not all. William Short, whom 
Jefferson cherished as his "adoptive son," had a vision of America as a 
melting pot. Writing to Jefferson in 1798, Short dwelt at length upon a 
gradual disappearance of "the aversion...to the mixture of the two 
colors" so that "all of our Southern inhabitants should advance to the 
middle ground between their present color and black." Short urged upon 
Jefferson the promotion of such a future by "the statesman, the 
philosopher, the philanthrope." Jefferson received Short's appeal and 
answered it less than a week before he helped Kosciuszko write his will. 
Responding to some of Short's incidental requests, he remained silent on 
his main point.

Of the Virginians who abhorred slavery and linked emancipation with 
exile, St. George Tucker offered the most ingenious scheme to encompass 
both. In a tract indicting slavery as a threat to republican government, 
Tucker proposed a plan for gradual emancipation on terms barring freed 
slaves from the rights enjoyed by other Virginians, "including suffrage 
and the right to hold office, own land, keep arms, marry a white person, 
or serve as witness or juror in cases involving whites." Denial of these 
rights, Tucker hoped, would be enough to make free black Virginians go 
somewhere else. In praising Tucker for his efforts, Jefferson predicted 
disaster for Virginia if some mode of emancipation was not worked out. 
But he did not actively support this scheme, and he probably was 
dissatisfied with Tucker's circuitous route to exile.

In advance of his countrymen in so many ways, Jefferson was also ahead 
in embodying the virulent racism that preceded and followed the Civil 
War. Emancipation, he believed, with or without education, would 
inevitably produce a bloodbath if blacks remained nearby, a slaughter 
ending in "the extermination of the one or the other race." His Notes on 
the State of Virginia concluded a discussion of the physical and mental 
capacities of blacks by comparing them to the white slaves of ancient 
Rome. "Among the Romans," he asserted, "emancipation required but one 
effort. The slave, when made free, might mix with, without staining the 
blood of his master. But with us a second [step] is necessary, unknown 
to history. When freed, he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture."

While uttering these sentiments Jefferson well knew that Virginia 
masters had long been staining their blood. One of his slaves, Sally 
Hemings, who arrived at his household in France in 1787, was the 
half-sister of his deceased wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. 
Jefferson would soon mix his blood with Hemings's by fathering her 
children. He carried her back to Virginia but never freed her. Their 
long, complicated, and close relationship, soon to be examined in a 
study by Annette Gordon-Reed,[*] need not detain us here. But the fact 
that she remained his lover and his chattel is one more bizarre 
contradiction in a life that thrived on contradictions.

Hemings was still at Monticello with over 130 other slaves when the 
Marquis de Lafayette came for a two-week visit in 1825. He subjected 
Jefferson to a torrent of friendly rebukes for not freeing them. 
Lafayette's secretary, in a gesture whose irony was lost on both 
Jefferson and the marquis, suggested a compromise: transforming them 
into serfs, attached to the land, so that they could not be sold away 
from their homes. But sold away they were. When Jefferson died a year 
later, his slaves, with the exception of Hemings's children, went to the 
highest bidder. Hemings herself was withheld from auction and freed at 
last by Jefferson's daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, who was, of 
course, her niece.

Jefferson remains an enigma. While he steals the show in Nash and 
Hodges's book, he is treated with the respect that his achievements will 
always command. But his betrayal of Kosciuszko adds one more, previously 
unnoticed, to the list of his many betrayals, of himself and of the 
liberty he enshrined.

In his premonition of a sanguinary outcome to emancipation, Jefferson 
observed that "the Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us 
in such a contest." He derived his conceptions of God's attributes and 
of human equality from moral philosophy rather than personal religious 
experience. But even as he wrote the words, other Americans were feeling 
the almighty presence in religious revivals. Many thousands were "born 
again" to a new life with new imperatives concerning what God required 
of men and what human equality meant. Especially among the Methodists, 
who reached America in the 1770s, the new birth generated an urge, 
amounting to a duty, to bring the experience of God's grace to others. 
The Methodists sought souls wherever they could find listeners and did 
not hesitate to reach out to slaves. By 1786, when they counted 20,000 
adherents, nearly 2,000 were black.

Among them was Richard Allen, converted in 1777, when he was seventeen 
and a slave to a Delaware planter. Allen talked his master into selling 
him his freedom for the large sum of $2,000, money he earned by cutting 
firewood from sundown to sunup, the slave's traditional allotment of 
personal time. While carting salt during the Revolution, Allen held fast 
to his Christian calling: "I never forgot to serve my Lord.... I used 
oft-times to pray, sitting, standing or lying." He was freed in 1783 and 
immediately began a career as an itinerant Methodist preacher, for the 
Methodists did not require formal training or ordination.

The rest of Allen's life, recorded in detail in Richard Newman's 
biography, is an emblematic story of hard-earned economic and 
evangelical success. In Philadelphia, where he finally settled, he 
continued to preach on street corners, sometimes five times a day. He 
learned the skills of chimney sweeping, one of the trades open to free 
blacks. As a master sweep he took apprentices and built a thriving 
business in addition to opening a nail factory. Acquiring land in larger 
and larger amounts, he eventually earned in annual property rentals as 
much as many Philadelphians made in a year. Conscious of his good 
fortune and eager to share his prosperity, he led in founding the Free 
African Society (1787) to encourage mutual aid among blacks. Nor did he 
stop preaching. He did not forget the obligations conferred by his new 
birth that, in his belief, eradicated all differences between man and man.

When Methodists organized as a church in 1784, they harbored antislavery 
principles. The following year the church adopted a discipline excluding 
slaveholders from membership, but said nothing about racial equality. At 
St. George's, where Allen occasionally preached, black members 
originally sat wherever they chose. After they became numerous, the 
trustees required them to sit along the walls. When it was next decreed 
that blacks be segregated in a newly built balcony, Allen led them all 
in a walkout. Records differ about the exact date of this event, but 
what followed was the creation of a separate black congregation, which 
first met in a blacksmith shop on a plot of Allen's land. In 1794 this 
congregation dedicated themselves as a church, which became famous as 
"the Mother Bethel," and two years later incorporated as the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church.

Organization of the AME Church followed the 1793 yellow fever epidemic 
that devastated Philadelphia. Allen and other blacks, erroneously 
believed to be immune to the disease by virtue of their race, did the 
city heroic service in caring for the sick and burying the dead. As no 
good deed goes unpunished, theirs was followed by complaints of 
overcharging for services (often performed gratis) and, predictably, of 
insolence, theft, and looting. Allen responded with a reasoned defense 
of black contributions to the city's survival in a publication that 
contained a carefully worded appeal for the abolition of slavery. "Will 
you," he asked, "plead our incapacity for freedom, and our contented 
condition under oppression, as a sufficient cause for keeping us under 
the grievous yoke?"

No one answered, but Allen emerged not only as a leader of black 
Methodists but as a spokesman for all blacks within a white-dominated 
society. From that position he eventually espoused in desperation what 
Jefferson had presented as a positive goal, that free blacks should 
leave the United States. Jefferson described them as incapable of living 
peaceably with whites; Allen despaired of whites ever letting them try. 
Allen was sure that Jefferson was wrong about the inevitability of 
bloody conflict between freedmen and their former masters. As a 
Christian he urged recognition of the universal human equality that 
Jefferson proclaimed but did not entirely believe.

The trouble was that so many other Americans refused to believe it. Even 
the Pennsylvania Abolition Society excluded members of the race it was 
dedicated to liberating. In published pleas for fair treatment of blacks 
Allen had always to express a studied deference that he did not feel. As 
his church grew and generated others, he had continually to divide his 
energies between building a black identity and promoting the integration 
of blacks as equals in American society.

As other historians have pointed out, black identity?the consciousness 
among blacks of a common cultural bond?had to be achieved in America, 
not Africa. It had to be built and fostered among peoples who in Africa 
had belonged to a variety of disparate, often hostile, cultures. Newman 
sees Richard Allen as a black founding father, engaged in developing "a 
nation within a nation," joining blacks to one another in separate 
institutions within the new republic. It has been a continuing challenge 
in which charismatic preachers have had a central role.

Allen foreshadowed Martin Luther King Jr. in repudiating violence as a 
means to this end. At every step Allen had to contend with white 
Americans for whom the blackness of blacks precluded their ever enjoying 
the same rights or even the same nationality. These prejudices were much 
stronger in Allen's time than in King's. Doubting that they could ever 
be overcome, Allen flirted with the solution dictated by the racism that 
drove the American Colonization Society. By 1817 young free blacks were 
not finding the same economic opportunities that Allen had enjoyed or 
made for himself in Philadelphia. But when a mass meeting of three 
thousand at his church listened to an appeal for the Colonization 
Society, they answered it with a resounding no. Most of them had been 
born in the United States. It was home to them, however degraded the 
condition in which their country kept them.

Allen did not give up. As bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, an honor conferred on him in 1816, he mixed the old evangelical 
fervor of mainstream Methodism with a determination to open a better 
future for blacks, if not in America then abroad. Haiti had emerged from 
revolution in 1825 as the first black republic in the Western 
Hemisphere. In correspondence with its president, Allen received 
promises of land and rights for black Americans who would move there, 
and several thousand took the offer. Their emigration alarmed Southern 
planters, who thought Haiti too close to home and ripe to become a haven 
for slaves who dared to run away and take ship for the island republic.

Before many years had elapsed, however, most of those who had tried the 
Haitian experiment chose to return to what Allen himself called "our 
mother country." Here they joined the growing number of free blacks, who 
held their first national convention, Allen presiding, in 1830. He 
pressed the convention members to consider Canada, where many slaves had 
already escaped to freedom and a measure of social and political 
equality. He was urging that solution when he died the next year, still 
imbued with his faith in the gospel of liberty yet conscious of the 
limits of American equality.

Jefferson hovers over this book too. He was wrong, and Allen knew he was 
wrong, about the racial bloodbath. When the nation sundered, there was 
war between North and South, not between white and black. But Allen was 
also right about the prospects of free blacks in the United States. As 
Jefferson had predicted, racial hostility grew among whites as blacks 
gained their freedom. Even the radical abolitionists, who opened their 
campaign as Allen was dying, did not generally identify liberty with 
equality. If the people who shouted no to colonization in 1817 believed 
that they would ever enjoy in their mother country the equality that 
Allen wanted for them, they were wrong. It did not happen in their time. 
Has it in ours?

Notes

[*] The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Norton, to be 
published in September 2008).


From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 09:40:27 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:40:27 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] From the annals of science
Message-ID: <48495A6B.9000803@panix.com>

Henry Louis Gates: You were quoted [in the Times of London article ] as 
saying you thought there was a relationship between color and libido, or 
sex drive.

James Watson: The remark I was telling was a joke. There was a poem by 
Byron, the sun makes you frisky. It was the link between the sun and 
sexuality. Well, if you get out in the sun, you will be more sexual. Ten 
years ago, someone was trying to produce a product that would turn your 
skin dark. He was making a chemical derivative of a stimulating hormone, 
which is turned out when your skin tans. He injected it into himself and 
he got a 10-hour erection.

HLG: Is that true? A 10-hour erection from this?

JW: He was scared it would never go down. But it had to be injected. 
Then Viagra came out, and the whole market disappeared. Anyways, I 
thought it was a great theory. It could have all been totally wrong. 
Poets write about the sun, and you associate sexuality with the 
Mediterranean?not the North Sea. I'm a biologist. I'm just interested in 
different things. But you know, I really am a very un-frivolous person, 
but I like to explain. If the sun makes you sexy, you know, it would be 
a useful fact for people to know.

full: http://www.theroot.com/id/46680


From leninstombblog at googlemail.com  Fri Jun  6 09:44:33 2008
From: leninstombblog at googlemail.com (Lenin's Tomb)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:44:33 +0100
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>
	<908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <c17d8d380806060844k151a92cbu2f067e8af5e7ebb@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 11:08 AM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:
> More details are at their website:
>
> <http://www.iri.org/lac/cuba/2008-06-05-Cuba.asp>

Excuse me, but you're not going to take the International Republican
Institute seriously are you?  I would guess there is a segment of
Cuban society that wants to liberalise the economy, given the current
difficulties, but the IRI is a  propaganda arm of the American empire
(scum, in other words).


From pance at rogers.com  Fri Jun  6 09:46:38 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:46:38 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060807x373b0455w359fe299c7b2e94f@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <686104.48059.qm@web88005.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

--- Ruthless Critic of All that Exists wrote:

> Also, the UN Human Development Index shows that
> currently even Uruguay
> is better than Cuba in terms of human development.
> What to make of this factoid? 
> I have never seen this addressed. Is the UN using
> imperialist measures to measure human development?
> 

Before anyone else takes a stab at answering Ruthless
- I'm curious, what do _you_ make of this factoid
Ruthless?

Pance.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 09:51:11 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:51:11 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
 Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <c17d8d380806060844k151a92cbu2f067e8af5e7ebb@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>	<4848FE3A.3050701@googlemail.com>	<908b689f0806060305w3d01f509s88b9ca58326cf0c2@mail.gmail.com>	<908b689f0806060308r2341242cqf3ad2e27ea4ec7c7@mail.gmail.com>
	<c17d8d380806060844k151a92cbu2f067e8af5e7ebb@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <48495CEF.7050400@panix.com>

Lenin's Tomb wrote:
> 
> Excuse me, but you're not going to take the International Republican
> Institute seriously are you?  I would guess there is a segment of
> Cuban society that wants to liberalise the economy, given the current
> difficulties, but the IRI is a  propaganda arm of the American empire
> (scum, in other words).

Even the Cuba-hating NY Times can not help but raise its eyebrows at the 
IRI: "The institute is a nonprofit democracy-building group affiliated 
with the Republican Party that strongly opposes Cuba?s Communist 
government."

It is times like this when I really wonder if there is any point in 
having Sayan "Ruthless" Bhattacharyya here. He interjects some item on 
the list that lots of people feel the need to correct, when the item 
itself would have no interest to us ordinarily. It is like having 
somebody posting something from David Horowitz's website just to see 
what kind of reaction it will stir up. Michael Pugliese used to do this 
all the time on various left-oriented lists and we really don't need it now.


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Fri Jun  6 09:52:17 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 08:52:17 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Obama on Jerusalem, withdrawal from Iraq
Message-ID: <BAY127-W6B5B20DA135F3BCDF8A8BD7B70@phx.gbl>


My transcript of yesterday's interview of Barack Obama by CNN's Candy Crowley:

http://lefti.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html#1689678418793539974


_________________________________________________________________
Now you can invite friends from Facebook and other groups to join you on Windows Live? Messenger. Add now.
https://www.invite2messenger.net/im/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_AddNow_Now

From nmgoro at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 10:04:44 2008
From: nmgoro at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?N=C3=A9stor_Gorojovsky?=)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 13:04:44 -0300
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism,
	Cubans long for market-system (?)
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806060807x373b0455w359fe299c7b2e94f@mail.gmail.com>
References: <908b689f0806060102v6a172c2fwa9267df07f27f2b0@mail.gmail.com>
	<2fa158550806060731u6eadf1d6tc8bbe084199b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806060807x373b0455w359fe299c7b2e94f@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2fa158550806060904k15d5cb0av8d76786c8df8e5e8@mail.gmail.com>

2008/6/6, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists <ok.president+marxml en gmail.com>:
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 10:31 AM, N?stor Gorojovsky <nmgoro en gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  > "Would you rather live as you live in Cuba, or as
>  > you believe most people live in Jamaica (substitute Dominican
>  > Republic, Haiti, or whatever, ad libitum)?"
>
>  Detractors of Fidel always say that the comparison is invalid, because
>  even in 1958-59 Cuba was socially very advanced, with the best
>  literacy and health rates in Latin America -- certainly much more
>  advanced than Haiti, Dominican Rep. etc.

OK.

Substitute Argentina, Uruguay, for Dominican Republic, Haiti.

-- 

N?stor Gorojovsky
El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autor?a

From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Fri Jun  6 10:49:17 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 09:49:17 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Israel's Deputy Prime Minister threatens to attack Iraq
Message-ID: <BAY127-W23BCA716AE6C75C6BEC32AD7B70@phx.gbl>


An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks "unavoidable" given the 
apparent failure of Western sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making 
potential, Transportation Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said 
Friday.

"If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will 
attack it. The sanctions are ineffective," Mofaz told the mass-circulation 
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

"Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable," said 
the former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who later served as defense 
minister.

http://lefti.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html#3096228997332911547


_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
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From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 11:07:23 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:07:23 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The future of media
Message-ID: <48496ECB.6080701@panix.com>

Microsoft's Ballmer on Yahoo and the Future

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 5, 2008; D01

In an animated discussion with Washington Post editors and reporters 
yesterday, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer offered his 
far-ranging views of upcoming changes in technology and the media.

(clip)

Q: What is your outlook for the future of media?

In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and 
advertising are going to be turned upside down -- my opinion.

Here are the premises I have. Number one, there will be no media 
consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. 
There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper 
form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.

Q: 10 years?

Yeah. If it's 14 or if it's 8, it's immaterial to my fundamental point. 
. . . If we want TV to be more interactive, you'll deliver it over an IP 
network. I mean, it's sort of funny today. My son will stay up all night 
basically playing Xbox Live with friends that are in various parts of 
the world, and yet I can't sit there in front of the TV and have the 
same kind of a social interaction around my favorite basketball game or 
golf match. It's just because one of these things is delivered over an 
IP network and the other is not. . . .

Also in the world of 10 years from now, there are going to be far more 
producers of content than exist today. We've already started to see that 
certainly in the online world, but we've just scratched the surface. . . 
. I always take my favorite case: I grew up in Detroit. I went to a 
place called Detroit Country Day School. They've got a great basketball 
team. Why can't I sit in front of my television and watch the Country 
Day basketball game when I know darn well it's being video-recorded at 
all times? It's there. It's just not easy to navigate to.

full: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/04/AR2008060403770_2.html

---

NY Times, June 6, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Bits, Bands and Books
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Do you remember what it was like back in the old days when we had a New 
Economy? In the 1990s, jobs were abundant, oil was cheap and information 
technology was about to change everything.

Then the technology bubble popped. Many highly touted New Economy 
companies, it turned out, were better at promoting their images than at 
making money ? although some of them did pioneer new forms of accounting 
fraud. After that came the oil shock and the food shock, grim reminders 
that we?re still living in a material world.

So much, then, for the digital revolution? Not so fast. The predictions 
of ?90s technology gurus are coming true more slowly than enthusiasts 
expected ? but the future they envisioned is still on the march.

In 1994, one of those gurus, Esther Dyson, made a striking prediction: 
that the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated 
would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative 
activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product ? software, 
books, music, movies ? the cost of creation would have to be recouped 
indirectly: businesses would have to ?distribute intellectual property 
free in order to sell services and relationships.?

For example, she described how some software companies gave their 
product away but earned fees for installation and servicing. But her 
most compelling illustration of how you can make money by giving stuff 
away was that of the Grateful Dead, who encouraged people to tape live 
performances because ?enough of the people who copy and listen to 
Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance 
tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market.?

Indeed, it turns out that the Dead were business pioneers. Rolling Stone 
recently published an article titled ?Rock?s New Economy: Making Money 
When CDs Don?t Sell.? Downloads are steadily undermining record sales ? 
but today?s rock bands, the magazine reports, are finding other sources 
of income. Even if record sales are modest, bands can convert airplay 
and YouTube views into financial success indirectly, making money 
through ?publishing, touring, merchandising and licensing.?

What other creative activities will become mainly ways to promote side 
businesses? How about writing books?

According to a report in The Times, the buzz at this year?s BookExpo 
America was all about electronic books. Now, e-books have been the 
coming, but somehow not yet arrived, thing for a very long time. 
(There?s an old Brazilian joke: ?Brazil is the country of the future ? 
and always will be.? E-books have been like that.) But we may finally 
have reached the point at which e-books are about to become a widely 
used alternative to paper and ink.

That?s certainly my impression after a couple of months? experience with 
the device feeding the buzz, the Amazon Kindle. Basically, the Kindle?s 
lightness and reflective display mean that it offers a reading 
experience almost comparable to that of reading a traditional book. This 
leaves the user free to appreciate the convenience factor: the Kindle 
can store the text of many books, and when you order a new book, it?s 
literally in your hands within a couple of minutes.

It?s a good enough package that my guess is that digital readers will 
soon become common, perhaps even the usual way we read books.

How will this affect the publishing business? Right now, publishers make 
as much from a Kindle download as they do from the sale of a physical 
book. But the experience of the music industry suggests that this won?t 
last: once digital downloads of books become standard, it will be hard 
for publishers to keep charging traditional prices.

Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry as we know 
it may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional 
material for authors? other activities, such as live readings with paid 
admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it?s 
good enough for me.

Now, the strategy of giving intellectual property away so that people 
will buy your paraphernalia won?t work equally well for everything. To 
take the obvious, painful example: news organizations, very much 
including this one, have spent years trying to turn large online 
readership into an adequately paying proposition, with limited success.

But they?ll have to find a way. Bit by bit, everything that can be 
digitized will be digitized, making intellectual property ever easier to 
copy and ever harder to sell for more than a nominal price. And we?ll 
have to find business and economic models that take this reality into 
account.

It won?t all happen immediately. But in the long run, we are all the 
Grateful Dead.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 12:43:25 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:43:25 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Oil prices skyrocket
Message-ID: <4849854D.3050904@panix.com>

NY Times, June 7, 2008
Oil Prices Skyrocket, Taking Biggest Jump Ever
By JAD MOUAWAD

Oil prices had their biggest-ever jump on Friday, after a senior Israeli 
politician raised the specter of an attack on Iran and the dollar fell 
against the euro.

The gains on Friday capped a second day of strong gains on energy 
markets, and fueled suspicions that commodities might be caught in a 
speculative bubble.

Oil futures surged more than $10, or almost 8 percent, to $138 a barrel, 
in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Friday?s rise 
followed a 5.5 percent jump on Thursday.

Even as uncertainties abound about the fundamentals of the market, 
geopolitical tensions in the Middle East regained center stage after 
Israel?s transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, said Friday that an 
attack on Iran?s nuclear sites looked ?unavoidable.? Iran is the 
second-largest oil producer within the OPEC cartel and any interruptions 
in its exports could push prices higher levels.

?The return of the Iranian risk premium calls for a careful assessment 
of the potential oil supply impact of military strikes on Iran,? said 
Antoine Halff, an analyst at Newedge, an energy broker.

The strong volatility in energy markets in recent weeks have continued 
to puzzle investors and traders. Prices keep rising despite a lack of 
shortages in the market, and strong evidence of lower consumption in 
industrialized countries. But investors seem to be caught in a bullish 
mood, focusing instead on perceived risks to future oil supplies and 
continued growth in oil demand from emerging economies that subsidize fuels.

The latest jump in oil prices also came as the dollar lost almost 1 
percent against the euro amid bleak economic news that fanned recession 
fears on Friday. The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent last month, 
the government said, the biggest increase in more than two decades.

Investors reacted to the latest forecast by a large Wall Street bank 
that oil prices would spike to $150 a barrel in the next month because 
of strong demand from Asian economies. Morgan Stanley said ?an 
unprecedented share? of Middle East oil exports are headed to Asia.

Some analysts also said that the threat of a strike by Chevron?s workers 
in Nigeria could lead to ?considerable? shutdowns of Nigerian 
production. A similar strike by Exxon Mobil workers last April, which 
lasted a week, reduced Nigerian output by 800,000 barrels a day, or 
nearly a third of the country?s daily exports.

A strike might delay the start of Chevron?s 250,000 barrels-a-day Agbami 
project, the country?s largest offshore venture, which is slated for 
June 15.

One view that has been gaining ground in recent months is that the 
commodity market is caught in a speculative bubble akin to the housing 
or technology bubble of the late 1990s. The notion is buffered by the 
fact the oil prices have doubled in 12 months despite a slowing economy.

That theory was raised by politicians in Washington and a slew of OPEC 
producers, who blame speculators for the staggering rally in oil prices. 
Speaking before Congress recently, George Soros, a prominent hedge fund 
investor, said the current oil markets presented some characteristics of 
a bubble.

?I find commodity index buying eerily reminiscent of a similar craze for 
portfolio insurance, which led to the stock market crash of 1987,? Mr. 
Soros said earlier this week. But he cautioned that an oil market crash 
was not imminent. ?The danger currently comes from the other direction. 
The rise in oil prices aggravates the prospects for a recession.?

Jeffrey Harris, the chief economist at the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission, who was speaking before another Senate committee last month, 
said he saw no evidence of a speculative bubble in the commodity market. 
Instead, Mr. Harris pointed out to a confluence of trends that have 
contributed to the oil price rally, including a weak dollar, strong 
energy demand from emerging-market economies, and political tensions in 
oil-producing countries.

?Simply put, the economic data shows that overall commodity price 
levels, including agricultural commodity and energy futures prices, are 
being driven by powerful fundamental economic forces and the laws of 
supply and demand,? Mr. Harris said. ?Together these fundamental 
economic factors have formed a ?perfect storm? that is causing 
significant upward pressures on futures prices across the board.?

Oil prices had been weakening in recent days but reversed dramatically 
after the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, 
suggested on Thursday that the bank might raise interest rates. That 
pushed up the euro against the dollar and prompted investors to buy into 
commodities to hedge against the weaker American currency.

Gasoline prices have also been rising steadily. American drivers are now 
paying an average of $3.99 for a gallon of gasoline nationwide, 
according to AAA, the automobile group. In many parts of the country, 
like California, Connecticut and New York, consumers are already paying 
well over $4. Diesel costs $4.76 a gallon on average.

?I don?t know how else to say it, this is not a bubble,? Jan Stuart, 
global oil economist at UBS, said. ?I think this is real. There is a 
whole bunch of commercial buyers out there who are spooked and are 
buying. You are an airline, right now, you?re scared. But I don?t see 
who would buy at these prices unless they need to.?



From dave.walters at comcast.net  Fri Jun  6 13:14:16 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:14:16 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Israel's Deputy Prime Minister threatens to attack Iraq
Message-ID: <48498C88.2060907@comcast.net>

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Kurds in Iraq lending a major hand to 
this operation. The IDF acts openly in Iraqi Kurdistan and has public 
offices there. Having a layover at paved airstrip for refueling is a 
real possibility. Then again, getting Iraqi gov't "permission" is going 
to be next to impossible. Iranian air defenses are of a higher quality, 
supposedly, than the Iranian ones were back in 1980s when the IDF took 
out Iraq's nuclear reactor. Look for a weekend strike so as not to take 
out too many Russian engineers.

The Israelis know, too, that even with US support, they can only set 
back, not destroy Iranian efforts to go nuclear. I'm still wondering 
whether they will even try to hit the reactor, now partially fueled with 
enriched uranium, at all...since you don't need a reactor to build an 
atom bomb, only enrichment facilities. In fact, no civilian reactor has 
ever been used to build an atom bomb, they've all be dedicated military 
or research reactors...like Israels.

David


From dave.walters at comcast.net  Fri Jun  6 13:17:13 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:17:13 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <48498D39.4050806@comcast.net>

Now I remember, JP did do a long reply, to me in fact, during last years 
abbreviated discussion on nuclear energy where he laid out the 
perspective in more detail. I would recommend JB get a blog where he 
could explore, and distill, his 'values' perspective into a kind of 
'paper' that could then be discussed more broadly. Just a thought.

David


From gdunkel at mindspring.com  Fri Jun  6 13:39:36 2008
From: gdunkel at mindspring.com (Greg Dunkel)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 15:39:36 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Books on the American Revolution
Message-ID: <32136281.1212781176933.JavaMail.root@mswamui-andean.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

When I hear these paeans to T. Jefferson, I think of the aid he sent to the slave owners of Haiti
to put down the rebellion that was sweeping that island when he was Washington's Secr't of State,
the first foreign aid that came from the United States to advance the cause of racism over the 
bodies of Black people through mass murder and attempted genocide. 

Then I think of the economic/political boycott he instigated against the newly independent nation of Haiti, the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere that lasted until the Civil War.

Perhaps T. Jefferson "charms" the author of this review. 

He disgusts me.

/greg

-----Original Message-----
>From: Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com>
>Sent: Jun 6, 2008 11:35 AM
>To: gdunkel at mindspring.com
>Subject: [Marxism] Books on the American Revolution
>

>Thomas Jefferson easily steals the show. He always does. Is it because 
>he charms us as much as he charmed the people who trusted him with 
>public office? Is it because he spoke so eloquently for what Americans 
>want to think they are or can be? Is it because we recognize his 
>shortcomings as our own? Or because we flatter ourselves that they are 
>not ours? In Friends of Liberty he steals the show by disappointing us, 
>as he does so often. Nash and Hodges sketch the lives of their other two 
>subjects in as much detail as his, but the black Yankee and the Polish 
>patriot earn their place in this book by giving him a show to steal.
>



From lnp3 at panix.com  Fri Jun  6 13:42:54 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:42:54 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Books on the American Revolution
In-Reply-To: <32136281.1212781176933.JavaMail.root@mswamui-andean.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
References: <32136281.1212781176933.JavaMail.root@mswamui-andean.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <4849933E.5060309@panix.com>

Greg Dunkel wrote:
> Perhaps T. Jefferson "charms" the author of this review. 
> 
> He disgusts me.

But the review states:

If Jefferson's mind were not so full of contortions, it would be 
surprising that he accepted Kosciuszko's charge in the first place. His 
conception of emancipation had always contemplated a Virginia purged of 
black people. He spent the years from 1776 to 1779 on a committee to 
rewrite the laws that the state had inherited from its existence as a 
colony. Among its proposals, "A Bill concerning Slaves," prepared by 
Jefferson and introduced in the legislature in 1785, would gradually 
have rid Virginia of slaves by withholding "the protection of the laws" 
from any imported thereafter and from any who were emancipated but 
failed to leave the state within one year.

He left no loopholes: "If any white woman shall have a child by a negro 
or mulatto, she and her child shall depart the commonwealth within one 
year thereafter. If they fail to do so, the woman shall be out of the 
protection of the laws," and so would her child if he or she failed to 
depart after reaching adulthood in service to an assigned master. These 
provisions were too draconian for the other members of the legislature 
and were struck from the bill as enacted, which merely forbade 
importation of slaves and restricted the movements and rights of 
existing slaves.


From markalause at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 14:01:13 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:01:13 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] fyi: who the GPUS ranks voted to nominate
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806061301k59192937k94697773b90e9f23@mail.gmail.com>

I'm passing this on for information of the list.

ML


----------------------------------------------------------------------

		Green Party of the U.S.
	2008 Presidential Nomination Race So Far:
		Popular Vote & Delegates Won

	By Chuck Giese -- Member, GP of California
		Updated June 3, 2008

The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) keeps a pretty
up-to-date tally of delegates won so far by each candidate
seeking the GPUS 2008 presidential nomination, broken down
by state.  So far, about 30 state Green parties have already
conducted their primaries, caucuses, or state party
conventions.  Of these, about 23 have reported their delegate
allocations (to specific candidates).  See
<http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/Delegate-Vote-Count.php>.

However, the GPUS has not been trying to collect from the
state parties their actual counts of the popular votes.
Despite this, about two thirds of the Green state parties
have reported their vote counts anyway, as a natural part of
announcing the results of their Green presidential preference
contests.  Unfortunately, the GPUS does not tabulate and
publish even this available information.

Naturally, many Greens across the country would be curious
to see the actual vote counts.  So here they are (in Table 1,
below).  This data is taken almost entirely from official
sources -- reports from state parties to the GPUS; reports on
the websites or in the newsletters of state parties; or
reports from state governments (where the primaries or
caucuses were conducted by the state government).  A few
reports were replies to individual queries, but even most of
these were from state party officers.

While the popular vote counts in Table 1 are the most useful
data in this report, there are two more tables that might be
of interest to a few people:

Table_2: Delegate allocations for the same states (those for
	 which vote count data is available), except for a
	 few who haven't reported delegate allocations yet.
	 This data is useful to compare with the popular vote
	 tallies.

Table_3: Delegate allocations for the rest of the states that
	 have reported (and totals for all reported states).

Note that while Ralph Nader withdrew from the GPUS nomination
race on Feb. 29, 2008, he had already accumulated quite a few
delegates, and even continued to receive a few more later, due
to write-in votes.  So he still appears in the tables.

Notes for tables 1-3 are in Appendixes 1-3; data sources are
in Appendix 4.



-------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE 1 -- Popular Votes Received by Each Candidate (So Far)

		(For the 20 states with data available)

_CANDIDATE_______ _VOTES_ _PERCENT

Jared Ball_______ __1,009 ___1.7%
Elaine Brown_____ __1,640 ___2.7%
Jesse Johnson____ ____711 ___1.2%
Cynthia McKinney_ _12,478 __20.5%
Kent Mesplay_____ __1,303 ___2.1%
Ralph Nader______ _22,564 __37.1%
Nader stand-in___ ____498 ___0.8%
Kat Swift________ __1,272 ___2.1%
Other____________ ____435 ___0.7%
NOTA_____________ _____31 ___0.1%
NOC______________ _____68 ___0.1%
Uncommitted______ ____677 ___1.1%
Blank____________ _18,201 __29.9%
----------------------------------
TOTAL____________ _60,886 _100.0%


NOTE:
   Tables are often mangled by e-mail list servers or by some
people's e-mail clients when they are set to translate
everything into plain text.  So only the totals by candidate
are reproduced above, and totals by state below.
   For the full tables, including breakdown by candidate AND
state, go to the full HTML version of this report:

<http://www.geocities.com/gp_fnu/gpus/gpus_popular_vote-20080603.htm>

(To avoid the long URL, just go to
<http://www.geocities.com/gp_fnu/gpus/>, then click on the
file name.)

(The full tables in the HTML document also have some
explanatory notes, and data sources.)

-------------------------------------------------------
TABLE 1(b) -- Popular Vote Totals by State (20 States)

_STATE__ __VOTES_

Ark_____ ____837
Calif___ _53,906
Colo____ _____26
Conn____ _____48
Del_____ _____12
DC______ ____529
Illinois __2,672
Maryland _____70
Mass____ __1,941
Mich____ _____47
Minn____ ____187
Neb_____ _____67
N_Car___ _____30
Ohio____ _____31
Penn____ ____134
RI______ _____36
Tenn____ _____21
Virginia _____88
Wash____ ____102
Wis_____ ____102
-----------------
TOTAL___ _60,886


------------------------------------------------
TABLE 2 -- Delegates Received by Each Candidate

	(Data from 17 states)

NOTE: Of the 20 states in Table 1 above, four have not
reported their delegate allocations yet: CT, DC, MN and
NE.  Among these, Connecticut has reported that its
delegate allocation must be proportional to the allocation
of popular votes.  So its delegate allocation is estimated
here.  Thus, this table contains data for 17 states.

_CANDIDATE_______ _DELEGATES_ _PERCENT

Jared Ball_______ _______10__ ___2.3%
Elaine Brown_____ ________9__ ___2.1%
Jesse Johnson____ _______17__ ___3.9%
Cynthia McKinney_ ______195__ __44.8%
Kent Mesplay_____ _______22__ ___5.0%
Ralph Nader______ ______133__ __30.7%
Nader stand-in___ ________8__ ___1.8%
Kat Swift________ _______16__ ___3.7%
Other____________ ________1__ ___0.2%
NOTA_____________ ________7__ ___1.6%
NOC______________ ________0__ ___0.0%
Uncommitted______ _______17__ ___3.9%
--------------------------------------
TOTAL____________ ______435__ _100.0%

(NOTE: For the full table, including data by state, go to
the HTML version of this report; see URL above.)



--------------------------------------------------------
TABLE 3 -- Overall Delegates Received by Each Candidate
	   (So Far)

(States not in Table 1 above, plus subtotals from Table 1)

_CANDIDATE_______ _DELEGATES_ _PERCENT

Jared Ball_______ _______10__ ___1.8%
Elaine Brown_____ ________9__ ___1.6%
Jesse Johnson____ _______28__ ___5.0%
Cynthia McKinney_ ______282__ __50.4%
Kent Mesplay_____ _______28__ ___5.0%
Ralph Nader______ ______140__ __25.0%
Nader stand-in___ ________8__ ___1.4%
Kat Swift________ _______25__ ___4.5%
Other____________ ________1__ ___0.2%
NOTA_____________ ________7__ ___1.2%
NOC______________ ________0__ ___0.0%
Uncommitted______ _______22__ ___3.9%
--------------------------------------
TOTAL____________ ______560__ _100.0%

(NOTE: For the full table, including data by state, go to
the HTML version of this report; see URL above.)


From markalause at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 14:09:17 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:09:17 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Books on the American Revolution
In-Reply-To: <48495943.5050206@panix.com>
References: <48495943.5050206@panix.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806061309m46990b06x6765540c302e2fbc@mail.gmail.com>

Edmund S. Morgan's AMERICAN SLAVERY, AMERICAN FREEDOM laid out the
essential evidence for "whiteness" long before the sociologists began
dabbling and remains the far superior source for understanding race in
the context of the British colonies on the American mainland.

Louis' description of Nash's book is spot on.

I always do find the preoccupation with Jefferson annoying and, for
all his wonderful complexity, a personalization of the issues
involved.  For a concise presentation of the most positive view of
Jefferson, see Richard Matthews THE RADICAL POLITICS OF THOMAS
JEFFERSON.

For modern radicals, the case for Tom Paine is far more straightforward.

ML


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Fri Jun  6 14:23:22 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:23:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Oil Prices Skyrocket, Taking Biggest Jump Ever $138+/BBL
Message-ID: <16761369.1212783802322.JavaMail.root@elwamui-sweet.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

June 7, 2008
Oil Prices Skyrocket, Taking Biggest Jump Ever
By JAD MOUAWAD

Oil prices had their biggest gains ever on Friday, jumping
nearly $11 to a new record above $138 a barrel, after a
senior Israeli politician raised the specter of an attack
on Iran and the dollar fell sharply against the euro.

The unprecedented gains on Friday capped a second day of
strong gains on energy markets, and fueled suspicions that
commodities might be caught in a speculative bubble.

Oil futures surged $10.75, or 8 percent, to $138.54 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The record gain
followed a jump of 5.5 percent on Thursday, bringing total
two-day gains to $16 a barrel.

Stocks fell sharply. The Dow Jones industrials fell 323.97
points, or 2.53 percent, in midday trading. Chevron Corp.
was the only stock that rose on the blue-chip index.

?This market is going to shoot itself in the foot,? said
Adam Robinson, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. ?It is
searching for a price that will build a safety cushion in
the system ? either as inventories or as spare capacity.
But this takes time. The market has gotten extremely
impatient and is not willing to wait.?

Even as uncertainties abound about the fundamentals of the
market, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East regained
center stage after Israel?s transportation minister, Shaul
Mofaz, said Friday that an attack on Iran?s nuclear sites
looked ?unavoidable.? Iran is the second-largest oil
producer within the OPEC cartel and any interruptions in
its exports could push prices higher levels.

?The return of the Iranian risk premium calls for a careful
assessment of the potential oil supply impact of military
strikes on Iran,? said Antoine Halff, an analyst at
Newedge, an energy broker.

The strong volatility in energy markets in recent weeks
have continued to puzzle investors and traders. Prices keep
rising despite a lack of shortages in the market, and
strong evidence of lower consumption in industrialized
countries. But investors seem to be caught in a bullish
mood, focusing instead on perceived risks to future oil
supplies and continued growth in oil demand from emerging
economies that subsidize fuels.

The latest jump in oil prices also came as the dollar lost
almost 1 percent against the euro amid bleak economic news
that fanned recession fears on Friday. The unemployment
rate surged to 5.5 percent last month, the government said,
the biggest increase in more than two decades.

Investors reacted to the latest forecast by a large Wall
Street bank that oil prices would spike to $150 a barrel in
the next month because of strong demand from Asian
economies. Morgan Stanley said ?an unprecedented share? of
Middle East oil exports are headed to Asia.

Some analysts also said that the threat of a strike by
Chevron?s workers in Nigeria could lead to ?considerable?
shutdowns of Nigerian production. A similar strike by Exxon
Mobil workers last April, which lasted a week, reduced
Nigerian output by 800,000 barrels a day, or nearly a third
of the country?s daily exports.

A strike might delay the start of Chevron?s 250,000
barrels-a-day Agbami project, the country?s largest
offshore venture, which is slated for June 15.

One view that has been gaining ground in recent months is
that the commodity market is caught in a speculative bubble
akin to the housing or technology bubble of the late 1990s.
The notion is buffered by the fact the oil prices have
doubled in 12 months despite a slowing economy.

That theory was raised by politicians in Washington and a
slew of OPEC producers, who blame speculators for the
staggering rally in oil prices. Speaking before Congress
recently, George Soros, a prominent hedge fund investor,
said the current oil markets presented some characteristics
of a bubble.

?I find commodity index buying eerily reminiscent of a
similar craze for portfolio insurance, which led to the
stock market crash of 1987,? Mr. Soros said earlier this
week. But he cautioned that an oil market crash was not
imminent. ?The danger currently comes from the other
direction. The rise in oil prices aggravates the prospects
for a recession.?

Jeffrey Harris, the chief economist at the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, who was speaking before another
Senate committee last month, said he saw no evidence of a
speculative bubble in the commodity market. Instead, Mr.
Harris pointed out to a confluence of trends that have
contributed to the oil price rally, including a weak
dollar, strong energy demand from emerging-market
economies, and political tensions in oil-producing
countries.

?Simply put, the economic data shows that overall commodity
price levels, including agricultural commodity and energy
futures prices, are being driven by powerful fundamental
economic forces and the laws of supply and demand,? Mr.
Harris said. ?Together these fundamental economic factors
have formed a ?perfect storm? that is causing significant
upward pressures on futures prices across the board.?

Oil prices had been weakening in recent days but reversed
dramatically after the president of the European Central
Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, suggested on Thursday that the
bank might raise interest rates. That pushed up the euro
against the dollar and prompted investors to buy into
commodities to hedge against the weaker American currency.

Gasoline prices have also been rising steadily. American
drivers are now paying an average of $3.99 for a gallon of
gasoline nationwide, according to AAA, the automobile
group. In many parts of the country, like California,
Connecticut and New York, consumers are already paying well
over $4. Diesel costs $4.76 a gallon on average.

?I don?t know how else to say it, this is not a bubble,?
Jan Stuart, global oil economist at UBS, said. ?I think
this is real. There is a whole bunch of commercial buyers
out there who are spooked and are buying. You are an
airline, right now, you?re scared. But I don?t see who
would buy at these prices unless they need to.?


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From jbustelo at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 15:08:21 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 17:08:21 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com>
	<08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>

I'll comment throughout Sartesian's post:

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 7:22 PM, sartesian <sartesian at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Couple of things:  OECD daily demand in BOE/day has dropped  over the
> 2007-2008 period. Demand from China, India etc. has increased, but all
> in all, over the past 50 years the matching of supply and demand in the
> oil markets has been pretty well matched.  My view is that the run up in
> oil prices is nothing other than the commodity equivalent of the run up
> in stock prices during the dotcom bubble.. or real estate values in
> Japan in the 80s and early 90s...

OK, so the position here is that effective demand is independent of
price. Which makes it very hard to explain WHY OECD (mainly, the
imperialist countries)  demand declined. As for the last 50 years,
that's not at issue. At issue are the last three years.

As for the comparisons with the dot-com bubble and the Japan real
estate bubble, there is this difference. The oil future prices (which
is what is quoted) have a very definite relation to the REAL, physical
market prices. Although complicated to execute, one would think if
what Sartesian claims is true (it's all a speculative bubble in the
futures market) someone would have made a real killing in the
arbitrage between futures and physical market prices, in essence,
complying with the futures contract by delivering the (much lower
priced) physical commodity. Or, if the speculative activity were in
the real physical market for crude oil, why one couldn't make a
killing "shorting" oil. To corner the physical market you actually
have to store the oil being withheld from the market somewhere. This
would show up, sooner or later, as an increase in inventories.

The claim that the hoarding is taking place in the form of producers
not pulling it out of the ground, however, is simply another way of
saying that production is not meeting demand, driving prices higher.
Pumping less crude than you could from oil wells does not involve
massive flows of speculative capital in any normal sense of the term.
I guess you could go around bribing producers to curtail production,
but to the extent the scheme succeeded it would cost you more and more
(because of the money the producers could make bringing the extra oil
to market increases) or it would involve a world cartel of all
producers in a position to increase production, but to create an
incentive for such a cartel you do not need the intervention of
speculative capital.

In other words, the nature of oil as a commodity makes Sartesian's
claim that this is another real estate or stock market bubble hard to
fathom.

> Secondly, no less connected a source than James Baker and his institute
> have pointed out how little oil companies have invested in capital
> improvements in relation to previous years, in relation to cash flows,
> in relation to earnings over the the past 7 years.  Cash has been king,
> and stock buybacks have been the king's ransom. I think that explains
> the "flatness" of production better than the peak theory.

All this says is that companies don't invest in increasing oil
extraction because they can't recoup the investment + a normal or
higher-than-normal profit. Far from contradicting peak oil theories,
the thesis that you get into a situation of diminishing returns for
investments in existing fields is PRECISELY one of the pillars of the
economic side of the peak oil theory (the other is that the cheapest
to exploit and largest fields have been discovered, and, on average,
new sources are smaller and more expensive to exploit, something which
has been amply borne out by the data).

Quite obviously Sartesian here has ventured beyond his depth,
presenting as an argument *against* peak oil data that on the contrary
*confirms* the theory.

>
> Thirdly, if the peak were at hand, we would see sustained, dramatic
> increases in the cost of production for oil.  But we do not, not even in
> areas like the North Sea where production has declined in areas where
> extraction is more expensive than the 10 cents to $2.00/barrel costs of
> the Mideast producers.  Statoil of Norway just reported, I  think, that
> costs of production are about $5.00/barrel-- almost identical to costs
> of 15 years ago.

I Sartesian is genuinely so confused that he thinks this is an
argument against peak oil. The argument is NOT that pumping from
EXISTING sources becomes dramatically more expensive, the argument is
that the NEW sources that replace the production of declining fields
are, on average, more expensive. For example, the Canadian and
Venezuelan tar sands projects, which are said to be profitable only at
what are traditionally considered high price levels (I've seen
estimates ranging from $30 to $70 a barrel, but these come from
different times and may well reflect, among other factors, the decline
of the dollar) COMPARED TO the costs that he cites for the Mideast or
Norway.

A similar thing can be said about Brazil's recent deep-sea
discoveries. They are potentially huge, but it isn't clear what price
would make them profitable, and there is even a question whether the
technology exists, or is within reach, that will allow them to be
exploited on a commercial basis.

> Fourth-- Venezuela's scabbing on quotas was hardly the reason for
> $10/barrel oil in 1998.   Venezuela's daily production declined from
> 1980-1992, yet there was the huge price break of 1986.  Venezuela's
> output increased throughout the 90s, certainly, although less
> proportionately than the UK's and Norway's from the "past-peak" North
> Sea fields. Actually, the US bourgeoisie in 1998 were fingering Iraq
> (and Iran) as the "culprits."
>
> Venezuela's production continued to increase under Chavez, until the
> PDVSA management lock-out of 2002 cut production.  Since then,
> production has been restored although not obtaining its 1998-1999-2000
> highs, this more the product of damage to the fields due to the lockout
> than Chavez's policy.
>
> Most significantly, looking at the production of  Russia and the former
> SSRs of central Asia, production in 2005 had been restored to its 1980
> level after the disaster of the mid 90s and is in fact very close to the
> 1986 peak, the year the price break forced the Soviets to literally
> begin working their fields to death...
>
> All in all, don't think peak theory explains any of this.

I agree with Sartesian that the "peak oil" theory doesn't explain any
of this. For one thing, it is easily verifiable that at no time in the
periods under discussion here (2000 and before) was a peak in oil
production reached, followed by a plateau and then a decline. Arguing
peak oil was responsible for this is like blaming a shortfall in auto
production in August on the wintry weather in Michigan.

Nor did I make any such claim. As to whether Venezuela scabbed on OPEC
quotas until 1999, and under Chavez halted the practice, I thought was
common knowledge. Official production figures aren't much use here, as
Venezuela never admitted what it was doing under pre-Chavez regimes
and PDVSA was being run by American interests. However, Sartesian
would then need to explain what all the fighting about control of
PDVSA was about in the first year or two of the Chavez government, and
in particular, why overall control was yanked from the office in
Houston back to Caracas.

Sartesian's point that Venezuela's excess production wasn't the ONLY
factor driving down the price of crude is true, OBVIOUSLY, but it was
a central factor in the breakdown in OPEC discipline/solidarity. As
for the U.S. blaming Iraq and Iran, well, who else? If the price had
been high they would also have blamed them. If the price had been in
mid-range and stable the U.S. would have found fault and blamed Iraq
and Iran. Like, duh...

Blaming Iraq and Iran had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH how much oil
was produced or not produced. Just like now, no one in the U.S.
questions the right of the U.S. to consume a quarter of the world's
petroleum, it's all China's fault for consuming A LOT LESS than the
U.S. despite having three times as many people.

> And I don't think the rebound impacts are going to do anything to help
> mass transit-- other than to provide good advertising for those areas
> that already have it.  Recession is recession is recession.  Capital
> expenditures will be reduced.  And few things are more capital intensive
> than rail mass transit.

There has already been a marked increase in the use of mass transit.
IF gasoline prices continue to increase, or rather, WHEN they do, and
people become convinced the increases are irreversible, the ruling
class will declare mass transit to be the "new normal" and expand it
massively, unless they've been able to come up with commercially
viable vehicles that are more efficient by an order or magnitude or so
(i.e., a couple of hundred miles a gallon, rather than a couple of
dozen).

> One more thing:  It is very hard to argue that the war, or oil prices,
> creates super-profits that somehow benefit workers in the US, when the
> war and oil prices have been accompanied by reductions in manufacturing
> employment, measurable reductions in worker and "poor" share of national
> income,   reduced social infrastructure benefits-- like health care,
> education, etc.

This is, of course, the anti-Marx, anti-Engels, anti-Lenin revisionist
"theory" that has held sway over much of the U.S. and other
imperialist country left for many decades. It comes down to the
fundamentally absurd statement, contradicted by a mountain of
statistical evidence and even the most vulgar, impressionistic
observation, that working people in imperialist countries do not
benefit from living in the richest countries in the world.

Sartesian's argument is that since war causes economic hardship and
dislocations, how can I claim working people benefit? Well, because
wars are essential to maintaining imperialism as a SYSTEM. Surely
Sartesian should be able to understand that working people in the U.S.
BENEFITED from American imperialism's victory over its rivals (and
also largely over its allies) in World War II even though the
statistics from the war years show no significant benefit, quite the
contrary.

But Sartesian provides a perfectly good example of the way US leftists
tend to argue and what is wrong with it. We say, war means less money
for XXXX right now. That's true. But war means continued US domination
and exploitation of the entire world. The U.S. as a country and a
society benefits over the long haul, either that, or the theses must
be that the U.S. ruling class insists on wasting money on armaments
and foreign military adventures that, on the whole, viewed over a
period of decades, are a net LOSS and therefore WEAKEN it as an
imperialist power.

But the whole thing is silly, EVERYONE KNOWS workers in imperialist
countries are better off, almost immeasurably so, than working people
in the Third World.

Is it so hard to understand that it is this privileged position that
is the material foundation of their patriotism, their religious
acceptance of imperialist ideology, as well as their well-nigh
complete nullity as a class political force in these countries?

The imperialist countries prosper BECAUSE they are imperialist and
transfer value produced throughout the world to their own imperialist
homelands, enriching them, MOSTLY --but not exclusively-- to the
benefit of the bourgeoisie.

In addition, the imperialists use the margin of maneuver afforded them
by their imperialist super-profits to buy social peace at home. That
is unquestionably clear from the immediate post-WWII decades, and I
suggest that the subsequent decades have been a cautious exploration
of how little of the superprofits must be sacrificed to keep the class
struggle in check, rather than a fundamental reversal of this policy
of buying social peace at home by granting workers in imperialist
countries a relatively privileged position in relation to working
people elsewhere.

> So in conclusion, first things first-- we need a much better analysis of
> why and what.  Peak oil doesn't cut it.

So, "in conclusion" -- facts are stubborn things. I gave in my
original post the most authoritative possible figures showing that for
three years of extraordinary, astounding, heart-stopping crude oil
price increases, production didn't increase one drop. This MAY NOT YET
BE the actual, definitive, final "peak oil" moment, but the stagnant
level of production has allowed us to see what economic and social
tendencies will be unleashed.

It isn't clear to me whether Sartesian rejects "peak oil"  as a
scientific theory, or  simply rejects that we are at that point now.
If the former, he should present his scientific/technical arguments.
If the latter, why he thinks my analysis of this being a forerunner
and indication of what peak oil will be like --even if it turns out
this is not yet it-- is mistaken.

Joaquin


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Fri Jun  6 16:28:44 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 18:28:44 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

And I'll respond, hopefully not reproducing unnecessary text:

1.(JB)"one would think if what Sartesian claims is true (it's all a
speculative bubble in the futures market) someone would have made a real
killing in the
 arbitrage between futures and physical market prices"

1a.  That is not at all my position.  I do not think this is the result
of speculation, no more than the build-up to the dotcom was speculation.
It was based on real economic drivers-- overproduction, and the attempt
to greater portions of real profits.  I do not think oil prices are the
result of speculation.  I do think there is no shortage of oil; there is
in fact overproduction which produced declining rates of profit which
the bourgeoisie sought to remedy by and through their faithful servant
OPEC.  In retrospect, I wasn't clear enough in my example, but I do not
credit speculation as the source of the expansion or contraction of the
capitalist economy.  Sorry for the earlier lack of precision.

2. (JB) "The claim that the hoarding is taking place in the form of
producers  not pulling it out of the ground, however, is simply another
way of  saying that production is not meeting demand, driving prices
higher."

2a. Again that is not my position.  I don't believe hoarding is going
on.  The price is not being driven by shortage.  And lack of capital
expenditures is not based on a shortage of the product, but on the ever
critical ROI-- return on investment.

3. (JB) ". Far from contradicting peak oil theories, the thesis that you
get into a situation of diminishing returns for investments in existing
fields is PRECISELY one of the pillars of the  economic side of the peak
oil theory (the other is that the cheapest to exploit and largest fields
have been discovered, and, on average,
> new sources are smaller and more expensive to exploit, something which
has been amply borne out by the data)"

3a.  JB has his cart before an ass-backwards horse.  For the theory to
hold water, or oil, the reverse has to be the case-- dramatically
increased investment with dramatically lower yields, not reduced
investment and sustained production.  For JB to be correct we would have
had to seen this in the 1990s, but in fact we don't.  We see increased
investment, use of more sophisticated technologies, and replacement
rates for annual production of app 125%, leading to.... 1998 and
$10/barrel oil, and the call to their faithful servant, OPEC in 1999.

As for the biggest fields all being discovered, and all successive
discoveries following a neat downward correlation of field size to date
of discovery-- no such correlation exists, and that "data," produced by
Laherrere (I always forget how to spell his name) was manipulated.
Cambridge Energy Research Associates did a nice job on skewering this
notion.

4. JB " I[s] Sartesian is genuinely so confused that he thinks this is
an argument against peak oil. The argument is NOT that pumping from
EXISTING sources becomes dramatically more expensive, the argument is
that the NEW sources that replace the production of declining fields
are, on average, more expensive"

4a.  To answer simply, no I'm not at all confused and JB would do well
to actually read M. King Hubbert's papers, and the works of some of his
followers at the Colorado School of Mines.  Hubbert bases his studies on
individual fields and he is not basing it on the costs of replacement.
He argues that the  individual fields produce on a bell curve as part of
their "natural" configuration, as production is ramped up.  The fields
then decline steadily despite the applications of technology and
expenditure.  From this he extrapolates to a "global" platform.  He does
not argue that costs remain the same for declining fields but that
finding new fields becomes prohibitively expensive.  In fact, expense is
immaterial to his argument.  Expense is an economic category, Hubbert
makes his argument rest, or so he thinks, on defined physical
quantities.

If one wants to argue that deep water drilling, "lifting costs," are
more expensive than costs in Saudi Arabia, there is no argument.  But
then there is no peak theory argument either, since the peak is based on
actual quantities, not the social categories of cost, price, technology,
and value.

5. (JB) "As to whether Venezuela scabbed on OPEC quotas until 1999, and
under Chavez halted the practice, I thought was common knowledge.
Official production figures aren't much use here, as Venezuela never
admitted what it was doing under pre-Chavez regimes and PDVSA was being
run by American interests. However, Sartesian would then need to explain
what all the fighting about control of PDVSA was about in the first year
or two of the Chavez government, and in particular, why overall control
was yanked from the office in Houston back to Caracas."

5a.  Well, if official production figures aren't much use here, then
what production figures is JB using that confirm the scabbing argument?
We know that Kuwait scabbed on quotas prior to Saddam's invasion, we
knew they were scabbing before the invasion, from production figures
that released by "official" sources-- like OPEC, like OECD.  We know
Saudi Arabia exceeded its quotas at the behest of the US to crack the
price and the back of the Soviets in 1986.  Nothing secret about that.
But what perhaps is not known that for 12 months prior to the price
cuts, so much oil was being produced that tankers couldn't unload, and
were being used as floating warehouses.    Anyway, where are the secret
production figures?

What I do know is common knowledge, according to my notes from the
2000-2002 period,  is that the conflict with PDVSA was not about
production, but about control of revenues, about the governments right
to access any portion or all of PDVSA revenues as it required, and with
PDVSA accountable to that government.  That's what triggered the
lock-out, not production quotas.

6. (JB) " There has already been a marked increase in the use of mass
transit. IF gasoline prices continue to increase, or rather, WHEN they
do, and people become convinced the increases are irreversible, the
ruling class will declare mass transit to be the "new normal" and expand
it massively."

6a.  Short answer:  "Wanna bet?"  Longer answer:  New starts in rail
mass transit were initiated prior to the 2007 doubling of oil prices;
before the MBS collapse; before the slowing of growth.  As the economy
slows and tax revenues are reduced, not to mention credit facilities dry
up,  "massive" fixed asset expenditures on mass transit mega project
will cease.  In NYC, MTA has already hired Richard Ravitch, former MTA
chairman who championed austerity, to "prune" its capital budget.
Funding for Fulton St, and WTC complexes is in danger; Access to
Region's Core is at rish; even 2nd Ave Subway is threatened.
Unfortunately the project I personally would like to see dumped into the
garbage can,  Long Island Rail Road's  East Side Access to Metro North's
Grand Central Terminal has not yet been butchered, but don't give up
hope....

7.  And finally, as for my anti-Marxist, anti-Lenin revisionism-- hey,
I've been called worse.  The question is not does capitalism benefit
from exploitation of less developed countries; the questions are: 1.
does such exploitation account for super-profits in either their rate or
mass of generation?  2. do workers wages, their "privileges" in the
advanced countries come from this "bucket" of profits?  Do such
privileges require the "super-exploitation" (provided it can be shown to
actually exist) of the less advanced countries.  I would think that all
anti-revisionist Marxists and Leninists would want to do a little leg
work-- looking at profits and investments of the advanced countries in
the less advanced--  but let's say that for another discussion.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joaqu??n Bustelo" <jbustelo at gmail.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil




From ppz at optusnet.com.au  Fri Jun  6 17:21:21 2008
From: ppz at optusnet.com.au (PPZ)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:21:21 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] Pakistan: Thousands protest price hikes
Message-ID: <1212794482.5385.7.camel@ppz-desktop>

http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/node/48



From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 17:28:52 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 19:28:52 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 12:10 AM, Linda Jansen <jansen.l12 at gmail.com> wrote:


>> He preaches change but supports the status quo. He's beholden to power as a
>> stealth DLC member that's essential for any Democrat aspirant. It makes him
>> gallingly disingenuous, deceitful to voters, and "safe" for corporate
>> supporters who back him. He says individual donors supply most of his
>> funding, that he gets none of it from lobbyists, and that they won't crowd
>> out working Americans if he's elected.
>>
>> In fact, big money owns him. He raises over $1 million a day. Wall Street
>> lords love him. So do corporate law firms; other finance, insurance and real
>> estate interests; the health industry; communications and electronics firms;
>> various other businesses; and the Center for Responsive Politics reports
>> that his top five donors are corporate lobbyists - the same ones he claims
>> to take no money from.

Odd...Univ of California is a "corporate lobbyist"?

Can universities even give money to candidates like this?  Something
seems strange here....

This table lists the top donors to this candidate (Obama) in the 2008
election cycle.
<http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?id=N00009638&cycle2=2008&goButt2.x=9&goButt2.y=4&goButt2=Submit>

Goldman Sachs 	$571,330
University of California 	$437,236
UBS AG 	$364,806
JPMorgan Chase & Co 	$362,207
Citigroup Inc 	$358,054
National Amusements Inc 	$320,750
Lehman Brothers 	$318,647
Google Inc 	$309,514
Harvard University 	$309,025
Sidley Austin LLP 	$294,245
Skadden, Arps et al 	$270,013
Time Warner 	$262,677
Morgan Stanley 	$259,876
Jones Day 	$250,725
Exelon Corp 	$236,211
University of Chicago 	$218,857
Wilmerhale LLP 	$218,680
Latham & Watkins 	$218,615
Microsoft Corp 	$209,242
Stanford University 	$195,262


From markalause at gmail.com  Fri Jun  6 19:49:36 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 21:49:36 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806061849s2cdb791avd36ca765cf38d565@mail.gmail.com>

I don't follow the quip about the University of California, but this
list is pretty much the "usual suspects" in terms of donors to a
ruling class candidate.

I was on a website once--lost the URL I'm afraid--where you could
click on the candidates and see the donors, then click on the donors
to see who all they were funding.  A lot of the big money soruces for
Obama are also big contributors to the campaigns of Clinton and
McCain.

ML


From DBachmozart at aol.com  Fri Jun  6 21:18:02 2008
From: DBachmozart at aol.com (DBachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 23:18:02 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] IHT.com Article: Race to the bottom: Mexico lowers wages
	to snare international auto production
Message-ID: <200806070318.m573I2gJ001293@web1.iht.com>


This IHT.com article has been sent to you by: DBachmozart at aol.com
Race to the bottom: Mexico lowers wages to snare international auto production
 

Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring schemes and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels.

------------------------------------------------------

Race to the bottom: Mexico lowers wages to snare international auto production
 The Associated Press
Thursday, June 5, 2008

Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring schemes and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels.


As more automakers turn to Mexico, a big argument for the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 ? that Mexico's low wage rates would slowly rise to close the gap with U.S. wages ? seems to have been thrown in reverse.


"The pressure has not been to raise the Mexican wages up, it's been to push the U.S. wages down," said Ben Davis, the director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity office in Mexico City.


And now Mexican wages are being pushed down even more.


Wage concessions were apparently key to persuading Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Union leaders at the plant told The Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of US$4.50 per hour.


"We agreed to it," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "We need to be more competitive. That's the truth. That's a reality."


The United Auto Workers union had hoped to preserve American jobs by offering a two-tier wage system last fall, cutting starting wages for new U.S. workers by half to about US$14.20 an hour. But it hasn't worked ? the jobs are flowing to Mexico, where starting wages at some plants also have been two-tiered, to as little as US$1.50 per hour with a lot less of the related pension and health care costs of U.S. workers.


With labor costs like these, Mexico is staying competitive with China, where an average worker at a foreign-owned factory or joint venture can make US$2 to US$6 per hour. While Mexican benefit costs run higher, Mexico may have already won the low-wage race.


Mexico also now has the advantage of a massive auto production platform based on experience with export plants and proximity to major markets that can't yet be beat in China, whose factories still produce mainly for its own domestic market.


Ford spokeswoman Alejandra Acevedo said she did not know what starting wages for new hires at Cuautitlan would be, but she acknowledged that to win the jobs, the plant had to compete against other Ford facilities worldwide.


"It makes business sense that labor costs are much lower here, and also it's much cheaper here to grow the local supplier network," said Acevedo, noting Mexico's free trade deals help slash the cost of importing parts and exporting cars, Acevedo said.


Other U.S. automakers also are squeezing wages. General Motors said Tuesday it will stop using relatively high-wage workers to assemble slow-selling pickups at its plant in central city of Toluca. A labor leader there said the union had gotten the message, and would offer to work for less to keep the plant alive.


"I think we are going to have to sacrifice something in order to continue to be competitive," said Edgar Arroyo, a union leader at the Toluca General Motors plant, where he estimated some workers earn about US$6 per hour, an extremely high rate by Mexican auto industry standards.


Nothing in NAFTA stops this drive to the wage floor. The treaty only requires countries to enforce their own minimum wage laws, which in Mexico means about US$5 per day.


Foreign investment in Mexico's auto industry is soaring, averaging about US$2 billion per year since the 1990s. Ford's US$3 billion investment in the Fiesta project may accelerate that trend.


Auto exports grew by almost 68 percent between 2004 and 2007 to 1.6 million units. Most went to the U.S., but also to European and other Latin American markets.


But since NAFTA's approval in 1993, the gap in overall manufacturing wages between Mexico and the United States has widened slightly, according to government figures.


At Volkswagen's plant in the central Mexican city of Puebla, union spokesman Arturo Monter blames low wages on Mexico's antiquated system of labor laws that favor employers and discourage strikes and union organizing.


Unlike in the United States, where a single national union, the UAW,organizes most auto plants, in Mexico unions are deeply split and may only represent workers at one manufacturer, or even at a single plant.


Union leadership at Monter's plant agreed to cut starting wages to US$1.50 an hour from US$1.95 a few years ago. It can now take as long as seven years to work up to earning what was once the entry-level wage, Monter said.


Still, those lower labor costs helped win a contract for an as-yet unnamed Volkswagen model, known at the plant only as "Project Zero," that the automaker had been considering building in the United States, Monter said.


A VW spokesman declined to comment on production plans, saying only that nothing had yet been confirmed.


Mexico's abundant, youthful work force is still drawn to auto plants despite the low wages, union leaders say, because the firms offer stable employment, a rarity in Mexico's working world.


"Despite the fact that we're negotiating what you could call a cheaper contract, I guarantee you that if we advertise for 2,000 workers, 10,000 people are going to show up," said Sosa Arreola, whose plant sits on the outskirts of Mexico City.




http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/04/business/LA-FIN-Mexico-Auto-Advantage.php


From obeynow20001 at yahoo.com  Fri Jun  6 21:59:37 2008
From: obeynow20001 at yahoo.com (Alex Briscoe)
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 20:59:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney et al
Message-ID: <390861.43868.qm@web81704.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Mark,

I think the site re funding of candidates is
opensecrets.org or some variation.

Re Nader or McKinney or obscure socialist:  Nader is
polling at 6%, according to the latest poll.  He's
raised something like $700K. He should be on the
ballot in 40 to 45 states. McKinney is struggling to
raise $100K and is nowhere in the polls.  She is being
given 20+ states to start with from the GP lines and
GP activists can only get her on _four_ more after
that.  If you want to contest the war, the budget,
climate catastrophe etc. at the national level, it has
to be with a viable left populist candidate.  I'm
sorry, that's just where we're at, right now.

Pushing the left pop critique further, you could
promote areallyinconvenienttruth.org, Green Left
Weekly articles etc while you support your local Nader
campaign.

But, to even support your local Nader campaign, Nader
has to be on the ballot.  So, you have to support the
ballot access drives right now.  Speaking of which,
the Nader campaign is looking to pay upwards of $1.50
per signature for the Illinois ballot access drive, so
if you or anyone reliable you know would be
interested, please email me offline.  The deadline to
hand in sigs is June 23 I believe.  The campaign has
25,000 sigs and is looking to get another 25,000 more.

Yours,

Alex

***************************
***************************
http://www.votenader.org
http://www.ilgp.org
http://www.northsidegreenparty.org
http://www.greenallianceusa.org
http://www.labornotes.org
http://www.solidarity-us.org
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org


      


From yossischwartz2003 at yahoo.com  Sat Jun  7 01:45:32 2008
From: yossischwartz2003 at yahoo.com (yossi schwartz)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 00:45:32 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] The danger of a new imperialist war
Message-ID: <51104.15956.qm@web53906.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

  Last Wednesday  Prime Minister of Israel  Ehud Olmert  who like most politicians in Israel under police investigation for corruption ,    sitting before  . President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy advisers David Welch and Elliot Abrams, begged for his political life. He tried to convince  them that they have no reason to be worried about  his  political fate and that his survival is in their best interest.  At the same time he  tried to persuade  them that a military attack on Iran is in their best  interests. Since 2002, every Prime Minister in Israel  visiting the White house has come with the same message. "In another six months, Iran will cross the technological threshold." and be.. able to produce nuclear weapons.  It was the same this time as well. American imperialism  does not doubt Olmert's loyalty, he showed it in the last barbaric war against Lebanon. However the white house is not
 convinced in light of the results of  US occupation of Iraq and their situation in Afghanistan  coupled with the military failures of the Zionist state, that opening a new military front is in the best interest of the American riling class. That it is not much for them to reach a deal with Tehran. One indication of it is that in spite of more legislation against Iran in the American  Congress these new laws have  not been  enforced and no American company is barred from trading with Iran. To make things worse for Olmert,  White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday that the United States was committed to solving the Iranian nuclear threat through diplomatic multilateral means. This declaration was made in direct response to Israeli Transportation Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Mofaz who  according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth declared on Thursday that  "if Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are
 ineffective"
  In other words the message to the Israeli ruling class' following Olmert's visit  is if you want to go to a war against Iran you are on your own.
   
   The Zionist  rulers of the Israeli imperialist state created by settler colonies stealing the entire land of the Palestinians are worried of the growing  influence of Iran's theocratic Shiite regime in  the Middle East. In the past US could rely on the military force of Iraq under the regime of  Saddam Hussein, to  contend  this influence. However the American imperialists destroyed this force and  today ironically enough  the local government under the American-British occupation  in  Iraqi state is led by a coalition of Shiite parties who are  influenced by the Iranian regime.
   
  For this reason the American ruling class is split over the question how to deal with Iran. While some sections of the US imperialists want to attack Iran, others want to come to terms with Iran and use it in the same way they used Iraq before they destroyed Saddam regime. To control the region and exploit the workers and the rich oil resurces. .
   
  .
   However, if the Israeli state will begin such a war it is not likely that the US will allow Israel to be defeated by  Iran. In response to the Imperialist pressures, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad  who has denied that Iran is building nuclear weapons ,has made many times the point that Iran has  "inalienable right" to produce nuclear energy. He has criticized Western governments for trying to create an "apartheid" system in peaceful nuclear technology..
   
  There is no question that the world will be much safer without nuclear  weapons. However short of a working class revolutions that will disarmed the imperialist armies,  these weapons of mass destruction  in the hands of the imperialists including the Israeli state is not only a threat to humanity in general but a means to install political terror in the mind of the oppressed nations and the super exploited working class in the countries of the "third world" Iran included.
   
  We as Marxists in Israel have a duty to defend  the Palestinians and the Arab and the Iranian masses  against Imperialist attacks and call on the working class movement around the world to side with Iran in a case Israel will attack it . Yes, the Iranian regime is an oppressive and build like any other capitalist mode of production on the exploitation of the working class. However  removing this regime and the state of Iran is the role of the Iranian working class at the head of the masses. The replacement of the existing regime in Iran by the imperialists as we see in Iraq would create a much worse situation for the working class in Iran. 
  The Iranian masses know it as well as they know that   Washington was behind the coup that  removed  the regime of  Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953 and brought back and installed the hated Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
  The solution for the suffering of the working class and the masses in the region is a working class revolution led by the Arab working class in particular in Egypt and the Iranian working class. In this revolutionary struggle the Palestinians masses struggling against the Zionist state for so many years will be in the front line.
  Such a revolution not only will united the region cut artificially by the imperialists by creating the socialist federation of the Middle  East, but part of it will be a Palestinian workers state from the sea to the river. We as Marxist  support only the right of self determination of the oppressed nations and in this country it means the Palestinians. Such a state will not only will return the close to one million refugees and their families who were expelled by the Zionists in 1947-8, but  will free the Israeli Jews living in this country from their role as a military force in the service of imperialism. 
  The Zionist state is a death trap for the Israeli Jews.
  Contrary to the Zionist claim Zionism is not the solution to the Jews it is a mortal enemy for their survival.
  In a Palestinian workers state the Israeli Jews living in this country will have equal democratic rights including the right for cultural autonomy.  
  
       

From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au  Sat Jun  7 02:12:37 2008
From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:12:37 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] Nigerian CWI on Cuba and Fidel
Message-ID: <484A42F5.5060007@greenleft.org.au>

*Kola Ibrahim* of the Democratic Socialist Movement of Nigeria looks at 
the legacy of Fidel Castro, the internationalisation of struggle and 
calls for ``working-class activists from Kenya to Venezuela to Georgia 
to Pakistan and the rest of the world'' to build a genuine working 
people's political platform....
Cuba has shown what can be achieved under a genuine socialist government.

Full http://links.org.au/node/463

Subscribe free to /Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373




From pance at rogers.com  Sat Jun  7 03:49:18 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 05:49:18 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] What is NATO Doing in Afghanistan?
Message-ID: <mailman.17.1212832119.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

June 6, 2008

NATO, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Pakistan 

 

What is NATO Doing in Afghanistan? 

By FAHEEM HUSSAIN 

 

What is NATO doing in Afghanistan? What are the true aims of NATO
intervention in the region? These are the questions that I mean to address
in this article. To understand what is happening in Afghanistan one has to
go back to the attack on Yugoslavia by NATO forces in February 1999.

 

http://www.counterpunch.org/hussain06062008.html

 

 


From naskha3 at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 03:58:37 2008
From: naskha3 at gmail.com (Nasir Khan)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 11:58:37 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Is the real problem 'Isolationism' or Bipartisan
	Aggression?
Message-ID: <18d70e600806070258l6cd84602mdadc7773f524bc7c@mail.gmail.com>

Republished: http://sudhan.wordpress.co
                    http://nasir-khan.blogspot.com


Is the Real Problem 'Isolationism' or Bipartisan Aggression?
By Ivan Eland | Antiwar.com, June 7, 2008

President George W. Bush and Democratic and Republican luminaries
broke ground recently at the future gleaming home of the United States
Institute of Peace on the National Mall. After absorbing the speeches
and, on the same day, the rather partisan Senate Intelligence
Committee's report that concluded the Bush administration lied to the
United States regarding its ill-fated invasion and occupation of Iraq,
one needs to dig just a bit to see what a bipartisan policy of
interventionism the United States really has. The existence of
bipartisan support for meddling in the business of other countries
stands in stark contrast to the President's remarks, which stated that
he feared the U.S. was becoming "isolationist and nervous."

Despite attending the launch of a government-funded organization
ostensibly dedicated to peace, former Republican Secretary of State
George P. Shultz praised President Bush's policy of preventive war,
saying, "In your time, I think this is one important idea that has
real legs and staying power." But the international community has long
dreaded such wars because threats are often invented or wildly
exaggerated to justify questionable "preventive" aggression, as
demonstrated by the Senate Intelligence Committee's findings about the
inflated threats during the run up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

At the groundbreaking, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made
an attempt to make us believe the two parties have opposing foreign
policies. Quoting Democratic President John F. Kennedy's 1963 words,
"The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war," was a
veiled jab at the President's Iraq policy. Of course, Pelosi didn't
mention that in 1961, Kennedy himself orchestrated the botched CIA
attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro. Later, in 1962, he
nearly initiated a nuclear world war for no strategic reason after the
Soviets installed missiles in Cuba, a move intended to counter future
U.S. invasions of the island.

Continued . . .


From PoliticNow at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 06:50:10 2008
From: PoliticNow at aol.com (PoliticNow at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:50:10 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Another Luxemburgism is Possible: Reflections on Rosa and
	the Radical Socialist
Message-ID: <bcc.2bc2486e.357bde02@aol.com>

_http://www-bunken.tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp/rosa_confe2007/pdf/papers/Pelz.pdf_ 
(http://www-bunken.tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp/rosa_confe2007/pdf/papers/Pelz.pdf)    

Mark  Derderian
"We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly of Freud  and Marx 
and out of which aesthetic and political views can be generated.  We need a 
moral philosophy in which the concept of love, so rarely mentioned  now, can 
once again be made central." Iris  Murdoch




**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From ecosocialism at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 07:03:00 2008
From: ecosocialism at gmail.com (Ian Angus)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 09:03:00 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] New at Climate and Capitalism
Message-ID: <733b65360806070603u5b37e173y52041c0e19ce3c79@mail.gmail.com>

CLIMATE AND CAPITALISM
An online journal focusing on capitalism, climate change,
and the ecosocialist alternative.

WHAT'S NEW at http://www.climateandcapitalism.com
June 1-7, 2008

What Would a Liveable City Look Like?
Today's cities are built and operated to serve the needs of the rich
and powerful rather than those of the working people

The 2nd of May Revolt at the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples
The United Nations censors indigenous people at a forum for indigenous people?

Cuba: The Food Crisis is Systemic and Structural
Cuban VP speaks to the UN conference on World Food Security

Solidarity with ?cosoci?t?! Stop Barrick's Lawsuit!
Freedom of expression under attack: Qu?bec ecological publisher sued
by Barrick Gold to force them into bankruptcy

Terra Preta Forum Demands Justice for Victims of the Food Emergency
A statement from the alternative to the UN conference on World Food Security

Ottawa Overturns Pro-Environment Court Decision in Record Time
Capitalist governments can act quickly when their class interests are at stake

Cuba: The Rich and Powerful Impede Solutions to Hunger
A revolutionary response to the "negligent text" adopted by the UN
conference on World Food Security


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sat Jun  7 07:16:15 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:16:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nutritional sovereignty in Venezuela
Message-ID: <20080607131618.D3A21F66B@mailbackend.panix.com>

In Venezuela, the Newest State Business Is a Dairy
Acquisition Embodies Ch?vez's Philosophy

By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 7, 2008; A01

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela -- Mauricio Herrera describes himself as a 
devoted soldier in President Hugo Ch?vez's self-styled revolution. So 
when oil workers opposed to Ch?vez went on strike in 2002, Herrera 
was among loyalists at the state oil company who revived production.

Now, with the government bedeviled by food shortages, Herrera has 
been called upon to carry out the president's orders in an entirely 
different sector: milk.

A chemical engineer with 32 years of experience in oil, Herrera is 
working at Los Andes Dairy, which was recently acquired by the state 
oil company. He is responsible for running a venerable firm with two 
pasteurization plants, 52 distributorships and 3,000 employees. His 
instructions are to boost production and ease Venezuela's dairy shortages.

In a country that has seen the state increasingly inject itself into 
the economy, nationalizing companies, applying currency controls and 
setting prices, the acquisition of Los Andes in this western city 
embodies Ch?vez's state-does-it-all philosophy.

The approach has largely discouraged private investment in Venezuela, 
while making some foods scarce. But since Ch?vez first won office in 
1998, he has wrested control of oil from multinational energy firms 
and nationalized the phone company, electric utilities and, more 
recently, an Argentine-controlled steel producer.

Shifting away from the production of yogurt and oatmeal -- products 
Herrera dismissively says the former owners churned out to generate 
profits -- Los Andes has ramped up milk production eightfold in a bid 
to achieve what the government calls "nutritional sovereignty."

"It's our responsibility," said Herrera, 57, who has a slight goatee 
and has learned to speak about milk with the same enthusiasm he once 
reserved for oil. "This is a question of conscience. This is a 
company that has to have a socialist focus."

Ch?vez announced the purchase of Los Andes in March as a solution to 
the food shortages that have chipped away at his government's 
popularity. Herrera and officials at the oil company said they did 
not know what the state paid for Los Andes, though milk industry 
officials said it was $180 million.

The president said he decided to purchase the dairy company after 
Rafael Ram?rez, the president of Petroleos de Venezuela, the state 
oil company, told him about it.

"He said, 'I have good news, they're selling a company,' " Ch?vez 
said recently on his nationally televised show, "Hello President." "I 
reviewed the characteristics of the company, and I said, 'Let's not 
waste a day. Buy it.' "

Although economists blame the food shortages here in part on rising 
demand, the president has said unbridled capitalism, unscrupulous 
speculators and hoarding by political opponents are to blame. He has 
also characterized the struggle to increase food production as part 
of an epic battle between his revolution and imperialist forces.

"We're going to have good nutrition for a people who deserve it," he 
said. "We're going to defeat the imperialist plan."

In the expansive plant here, where milk and juices are pasteurized, 
refrigerated, packed and shipped, workers in hard hats and white 
coats said the new ownership has not translated into a major 
transformation. Save for Herrera, the new president, the production 
managers remain the same as before. Workers had kind words for the 
old owners, but several said they agreed with the new philosophy of 
focusing on milk production.

"We're seeing now that there's more milk," said Carlos Escalona, one 
of the workers. "You can see the milk in the stores."

It is still too early to determine whether the mounting production at 
Los Andes will have a major effect on nationwide milk supplies. The 
company's goal -- about 53,000 gallons a day -- amounts to just 5 
percent of national production. Academics and economists who have 
studied Venezuela's agricultural sector doubt there will be any 
large-scale impact.

"Why don't they preoccupy themselves in increasing the production of 
oil instead of producing milk?" scoffed Carlos Machado, an expert on 
agriculture, referring to Petroleos de Venezuela's role at Los Andes. 
"What if milk producers were now starting to produce oil?"

A recent poll by Datanalisis, a Caracas polling firm, showed that 
Venezuelans have been concerned about the president's approach. More 
than 70 percent of respondents disapproved of how the government has 
handled food supplies, up from 42 percent in October.

Academics and food producers, meanwhile, say farmers and cattlemen 
are reluctant to invest in a country where price controls cut into 
profits and where land takeovers are a prominent feature of 
agricultural policy.

"It's a consequence of the government's policy of 
hyper-intervention," said Machado, who studies agriculture for the 
Institute of Superior Administrative Studies in Caracas and wrote the 
recently published book "Food Consumption in Venezuela."

"This has gone badly for governments that have done this in the 
past," he said, referring to the countries in the former Eastern 
Bloc, as well as North Korea and Cuba.

In Venezuela, price controls have been imposed on dozens of products, 
and economists and food producers say those controls have reduced 
production and generated a dramatic rise in imports. The country's 
cattle herd, for instance, contracted from 13.5 million head in 1999 
to 12.6 million now, as population spiked from 23 million to 28 
million. Imports now account for about 70 percent of all the meat 
consumed in Venezuela.

The system Venezuela has created means occasional shortages of 
basics, while those products whose prices are not state-mandated, 
like fruits and vegetables, have shot up in cost. At high-end 
grocers, shortages are evident in the lack of certain cuts of meat. 
In poor neighborhoods, it means long lines at state-subsidized markets.

The lack of milk has been perhaps what has most agitated consumers.

"There isn't enough milk, and you cannot invent it," said Roger 
Figueroa, president of the country's largest association of dairy 
producers. "We produce 40 to 45 percent of what we consume, and the 
rest has to be imported."

Jos? Mendez Duarte, a cattleman in the western state of Tachira, said 
milk and meat producers have watched with dread as squatters, spurred 
by government land policies, have seized farms. "Who wants to produce 
when you're threatened," he said. "You either maintain production at 
the level it has been, or it goes down. There is no motivation to produce."

Mendez said the government-set price on milk, although it was 
recently raised from about $2.80 a gallon to about $3.30, offers 
little incentive when production can cost even more.

"It is bad business to produce," he said. "The state wants to run 
everything. They want to have the farms. They want to run the companies."

Still, not all the news is dour, said Jos? Campos, president of the 
National Confederation of Growers and Cattlemen of Venezuela. He said 
the shortages are generated by a sharp increase in demand among the 
poor, who have benefited under a government that spends freely on 
subsidies and social programs.

He also said interest rates are far lower now than they were in past 
governments. That is helping create the kind of foundation Venezuela 
needs for production to increase.

"The positive message in this whole situation is that we have the 
legal framework for Venezuelan cattle production to take off," said 
Campos, who produces milk on his farm in the state of Maturin.

In recent weeks, shortages have eased as the government lifted price 
controls on some products. Regulators raised the price paid to 
producers on others. It also created an agency, closely allied with 
the state oil company, to distribute food.

Figueroa, of the dairy association, said that Ch?vez has shown a 
willingness to meet with producers to find ways to increase 
production. "If we don't resolve this domestic production problem, in 
a few years we are going to have a much more critical situation," he said.

Milk production has, to be sure, increased at Los Andes, from about 
5,300 gallons a day in March to upwards of 45,000 gallons a day in 
May as the company retooled, said Herrera, the president.

"We have a good plan," he said. "I am not talking to you about dreams 
and utopias. I am sure we are going to break all the production 
records this company had in its history."



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 07:56:31 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 09:56:31 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] DPA: Brazil, Cuba to provide free sex-change surgery
Message-ID: <33157749.1212846991510.JavaMail.root@elwamui-sweet.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Brazil, Cuba to provide free sex-change surgery
June 7th, 2008 - 5:08 am ICT by IANS

http://tinyurl.com/3zau7w

Brasilia/Havana, June 7 (DPA) Brazilian and Cuban
authorities are to provide free sex-change operations as
part of their healthcare plans. In Brazil, the Federal
Medicine Council has approved sex-change operations since
the late 1990s, but the procedure could only be conducted
in the private healthcare system at a very high cost. The
government will now begin paying for the operations, local
media reported Friday, citing President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva and Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao.

In communist Cuba, sex-change surgery was authorized for
the first time, and it will be offered free of charge,
sources at the National Centre for Sexual Education
(Cenesex) told DPA Friday.

The Brazilian minister announced that country?s move late
Thursday alongside Lula, as they opened the first National
Conference of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and
Transsexuals being held through Sunday in Brasilia.

Gomes Temporao said the move is in accordance with the
government?s homosexual rights policy.

?It is one more step towards the consolidation of that
policy, in which Brazil is a world leader,? he noted.

Lula said the state?s refusal to pay for such operations
would amount to ?discrimination?.

?When you pay your taxes, nobody asks you which is your
sexual option. Why discriminate against you when you freely
choose what to do with your body?? Lula said.

Gomes Temporao said the surgery will initially be performed
only in state university hospitals in large urban areas.

The move in Cuba was announced by a source at Cenesex,
which is headed by Cuban President Raul Castro?s daughter,
sexologist Mariela Castro. It was said to be part of the
framework of a programme for the ?integral? care of
transsexuals.

The resolution by the Public Health Ministry is operational
but has yet to be formally made public. The document was
signed earlier this week by Public Health Minister Jose
Ramon Balaguer, and stipulates the ?creation of a specific
health centre for transsexual people,? the sources added.

Mariela Castro said recently that a 28-person waiting list
for sex-change operations has already been approved in
Cuba. The only instance of such surgery so far in Cuba was
in 1988 and received so much criticism that the programme
was called off.

Cuban specialists are currently preparing alongside Belgian
colleagues, and it was not known when the surgery would
start to be performed on the communist island, Mariela
Castro said as she celebrated the International Day Against
Homophobia last month.

DPA


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sat Jun  7 08:26:18 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:26:18 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Goldman-Sachs: Really nasty news
Message-ID: <20080607142616.2E44212051@mailbackend.panix.com>

Record Oil Spike, High Jobless Rate Sink Stock Market
Dow's Plunge Casts Doubt on Recovery

By Steven Mufson and Neil Irwin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, June 7, 2008; A01

A soaring jobless rate, an unprecedented jump in oil prices and a 
sliding dollar sent tremors through financial markets yesterday and 
cast fresh doubt on how soon the U.S. economy would be able to break 
out of a pattern of feeble growth and financial instability.

The nation's unemployment rate shot skyward last month to 5.5 
percent, the biggest leap in more than two decades, and crude oil 
prices rocketed up $10.75 a barrel, sending U.S. stock markets 
tumbling and shaking the economic and political landscape just as the 
general election season begins.

It was one of the worst days of economic news in a year already 
well-stocked with disappointment. The Dow Jones industrial average 
reacted by plunging 394.64 points, or 3.13 percent, its sharpest 
decline since Feb. 27, 2007. Other major indicators also dropped 
about 3 percent.

"Today's events are a combination of really nasty news for American 
consumers," said Andrew Tilton, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs.

Crude oil prices hit a new trading record of more than $139 a barrel 
before settling at $138.54. This more than erased a drop earlier in 
the week and promised further increases in motor fuel prices. The 
nationwide average is already just a penny shy of $4 a gallon for 
regular gasoline.

The one-day increase in crude prices was the biggest ever in dollar 
terms, the largest in percentage terms since June 1996 and more than 
the cost of an entire barrel a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the jobless rate for May was up 0.5 percentage points from 
April, the Labor Department said, the largest swing in a single month 
since 1986. The number of jobs on employers' payrolls fell by 49,000, 
the fifth consecutive monthly decline for an economy that has shed 
324,000 jobs this year. Joblessness rose across race and gender. 
Professional, commercial, construction, business service and 
manufacturing employers all cut jobs.

"When you have an employment situation like that, and you see crude 
bounce . . . that's shocking to anything that's going to touch the 
consumer," said Bart Barnett, head of equity trading at Morgan 
Keegan, an investment and brokerage firm. "Outside of anything to do 
with oil, everything is down -- airlines, restaurants, furniture 
stores, retailers, transportation."

Much of the spike in unemployment was caused by an unusually large 
surge of teenagers and people in their 20s into the labor force. And 
those young workers had little success finding work. The jobless rate 
among 16- to 19-year-olds rose to 18.7 percent from 15.4 percent in 
April. Retailers, who employ a large number of unskilled teenagers 
during the summer, cut 27,000 positions in the month.

Rising unemployment, however, spread well beyond young people. The 
jobless rate rose among almost every other group -- men, women, 
blacks and whites. The rate was unchanged among Latinos.

At the same time, average weekly earnings for non-managerial workers 
appeared to lose ground to inflation, rising only 3.2 percent in the 
year that ended in May. Analysts expect this to be less than 
inflation over the same time span. That inflation figure has not yet 
been released.

"It's crystal clear that the economy is not generating the job and 
income growth people need to maintain their living standards," said 
Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

Job losses continued in the construction industry, which has been hit 
hard by the housing downturn. That sector lost 34,000 positions in 
May and has now lost 475,000 jobs since its peak two years ago.

There were worrisome signs in the professional and business service 
sector, which has been a stalwart of job creation in the past year. 
It lost 39,000 jobs, most of them temporary workers who are often 
shed to avoid layoffs of permanent employees.

"It's a muddling economy that continues to muddle on," said John 
Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia.

The renewed upturn in oil prices left many oil experts shaking their 
heads. Earlier in the week, prices had begun to decline. In 
congressional testimony, legendary hedge fund manager George Soros 
warned of an oil price "bubble." The Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission said it was investigating price manipulation and warned traders.

But the six-year climb in oil prices and the doubling in prices over 
the past year have burned many oil traders who previously bet on 
dropping prices. That has left little resistance to those pushing 
prices up, said Adam Robinson, an oil analyst at Lehman Brothers.

Yesterday's increase comes on top of a nearly $5.50 increase the day 
before, for a two-day jump of $16.24 a barrel, or 13 percent.

The increase in heating oil prices broke the one-day trading limit on 
the New York Mercantile Exchange and triggered a brief trading halt. 
Morgan Stanley analyst Ole Slorer predicted that crude oil would 
reach $150 by Independence Day.

"This is the worst possible news at the worst possible time," said 
John Townsend, a spokesman for the auto club AAA. "Any hope we had of 
relief at the pumps won't happen soon."

Jeffrey Kupfer, acting deputy secretary of the Energy Department, 
called the high oil prices a serious problem. "It's taken us a long 
time to get into the situation that we're currently in. It's going to 
take us some time to get out of the situation that we're in," he 
said. "In our view, those prices are really the result of tight 
markets, tight fundamentals."

With consumption of gasoline slumping in the United States, one of 
the main drivers behind world oil demand has been China's rapidly 
rising imports of diesel fuel to make up for coal-fired electricity 
lost since the Sichuan province earthquake and to stockpile in 
advance of the Summer Olympics.

The Morgan Stanley analysis pointed to a sharp increase in eastbound 
oil shipments from the Middle East to Asia and a substantial drop in 
tankers heading west from the Middle East to Europe and the United States.

But other analysts questioned whether the rise of oil prices in Asia 
was sustainable absent strong demand in the United States. Lehman's 
Robinson noted that in countries like Vietnam, fuel and food make up 
the bulk of household expenditures and were pushing inflation to 25 
percent. He said Asian central bankers may have to intervene.

The sharp rise in crude oil prices was also fueled in part by supply 
fears. Israel's Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz -- a former 
defense minister and contender for the post of prime minister -- told 
the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Ahronot that Israel would attack 
Iran if Tehran did not abandon its nuclear program.

Nigerian workers were also threatening to go on strike at Chevron 
operations in the oil-rich West African nation. Chevron produces 
about 350,000 barrels of oil there.

On stock markets, all of this news looked grim. High oil prices have 
drained money from consumers' pockets and boosted costs for most 
businesses. They have also siphoned about $1.5 billion a day out of 
the U.S. economy and into the coffers of oil-producing countries.

News that the European central bank indicated that its next rate move 
would be an increase, not a cut, also added to the gloom.

Stocks opened the day down sharply and continued to fall across the 
board except for a handful of gold and energy companies. Even some of 
the big oil company shares dipped as investors took profits.

"It's ugly. Everything is getting beat up today," said Todd Leone, 
managing director at Cowen & Co. "Right across the board, I have all 
red on my screen."

"It looks like the market is taking a return to the panic room," said 
Ed Rombach, a senior derivatives analyst at Thomson Financial.

Staff writers Jonathan Weisman and Tomoeh Murakami Tse contributed to 
this report.



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 09:34:00 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:34:00 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
	policies toward Cuba"
Message-ID: <00d701c8c8b3$e8edaa10$6401a8c0@new1501>

The contrast between China and Cuba which exist in some sectors of
the United States media, mirrors the reality that Cuba today remains
blockaded by Washington while the China (and Vietnam) have normalized 
ties with the United States. Well, what does the word "normal" mean in
this context? It means more or less freedom to travel between the two
countries and freedom to engage in normal, legal social and economic
transactions between the two countries.

With Cuba this is missing because US law is predicated on the idea of
starving Cuba into submission, in hopes that the Cuban people will
rise up and overthrow the Revolution, and then welcome the Miami
militants back to rule. If that's excessive, the purpose of the
blockade is also to make Cuba as unattractive an example of what a
post-capitalist society might look like as possible. This mediatic
counter-position doesn't seem to exist in the minds of the Chinese
think tank which is devoted to Cuban studies. As you can tell by
what they have to say, they support the Cuban Revolution with the
greatest enthusiasm. The translation of Fidel's words to make them
available to the Chinese people in their own language is, as they
put it, their give for the 50th anniversary of the Revolution.

Below is one article and an excerpt of another describing the work
and membership of the Chinese team who carried out the assignment.
I've often wondered whether there are Chinese translations of Fidel's
Reflection series, and, there are. I've also added a couple of links
to materials for further study of Cuba's relations with China.

The Chinese translation of CIEN HORAS CON FIDEL required the work of
a team of eight translators from the Spanish into Chinese. Most are
retired Chinese diplomats who had studied and worked in Cuba and they
are very strong in support of the Cuban Revolution. Juventud Rebelde
provided a report on the team members and the work they did to bring
Fidel's new book out in Chinese. In English it's called "MY LIFE" and
the authors credited are Fidel Castro and Ignacio Ramonet. If you
haven't got your copy yet, it's one you'll definitely want to read.
It's going to be a reference work those following Cuba will use for
reference for many, many years to come.


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
=====================================================================

JUVENTUD REBELDE
"Cien Horas Con Fidel" now available in Chinese

(excerpt)

?My message to comrade Fidel is that his book is very important and
rewarding to the Chinese people?s spirit. We wish him good health and
hope he keeps writing so we can keep translating his work?, Song
Xiaoping stated.

Huang Zhiliang, in turn, leaned back a little on his chair at the
Cuban embassy before he spoke slowly and with emotion: ?It?s been
nice and exciting to take part in this translation. I?m deeply
impressed by Fidel?s thoughts, enjoyable speech and overtones of
irony. He really is a very smart, charismatic leader. I wish him a
speedy recovery, and may he continue leading the Revolution. I always
tell my friends that the more familiar you get with Fidel Castro?s
ideas, the more you get to admire him?.

Before this dialogue, Xu Shicheng had been busy with a translation of
the ?Reflections of the Commander in Chief? that he was checking. His
message to Fidel came as a burst of verbal fire, his voice yearning
for days long gone but full of absolute certainty.

?Those of us who studied in Cuba are very attached to Fidel, the
Cuban people and the Communist Party of Cuba. We think it?s our duty
to help our people know about the Cuban Revolution, its leader?s
ideas and contributions both to that process and to the socialist
movement around the world?.
-------------------------------------------------
?What we do, we believe, is important to help achieve mutual
understanding between our two peoples. Cuba educated us and improved
our Spanish, so now we are returning our knowledge to Cuba. We thank
the Cuban people for our qualification. We meant the translation of
Cien horas con Fidel and the Reflections to be our special present as
well for the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution?.

FULL:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1970.html 
=======================================================================
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF CUBA (London, UK)
Cuba's Engagement with China: Domestic and Regional Implications
Dr. Adrian H. Hearn
Institute for International Studies
The University of Technology Sydney
6.30pm, Wednesday 30th July, 2008
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/cuba/events/forthcoming/hearn.cfm
========================================================================
ASIA TIMES
May 31, 2008

The makings of a China-Latin love affair
By William Ratliff

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JE31Ad01.html
========================================================================

JUVENTUD REBELDE
May 31, 2008
The U.S. must rethink its policies toward Cuba

What follows are the views expressed by the renowned scholar Song Xiaoping, 
director of the Center for Cuban Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.

By: Nyliam V?zquez Garc?a
E-mail: internac at jrebelde.cip.cu
May 31, 2008 - 00:08:28 GMT

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1969.html 
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

BEIJING.? Song Xiaoping, director of the Center for Cuban Studies of
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, takes his time to answer each
question. It?s clear to him that all the evidence provided by the
Cuban authorities about the U.S. involvement in the funding of
mercenaries in Cuba exposes the hostile nature of its policies.

?The U.S. has been the spirit behind these actions against the
Revolution from day one. Far from being secret, these policies are
fully known to the public, as well as to a long string of American
presidents who have openly declared their various attempts to
overthrow the Socialist Revolution in Cuba?, he assures.

With several books about our country and other articles on
specialized topics to his credit, Song Xiaoping is an expert in the
long-standing dispute between Cuba and the United States, the reason
that he stamps his words with an emphatic tone.

?We are aware that for almost five decades the United States has
refused to recognize a government elected by express wish of its
people and their dignity and fond of good State-to-State relations.

?Cuba has always been willing to negotiate with the U.S. on the basis
of equality and dignity to resolve bilateral matters of importance to
the lives of both peoples. Regardless, the U.S. rejects negotiations
and adopts a tough stance towards the Island. I remember President
Ra?l Castro?s speech on July 26, where he stated his willingness to
initiate contacts and talks to settle your differences, but always on
equal terms.

?As a scholar I think Cuba has adopted fair measures. The U.S. must
take its anti-Cuban policy up for reconsideration?.

Professor Song also refers to Washington?s double-dealing policy in
matters crucial to world stability, a recurring fact we can easily
demonstrate, he adds.

?What strikes everybody most is that in fields like human rights or
terrorism, the U.S. usually adopts double standards. I have read a
great deal about the case of Luis Posada Carriles, your typical
terrorist, who has been proved to have shot a Cubana airplane out of
the sky with 76 passengers on board. Despite the testimonial
evidence, the U.S. courts not only leave him free, but also protect
him?, he remarks in anger.

?This double-dealing position is cause for concern at international
level, and especially among peace-loving countries opposed to
terrorism?, he says.

Then he points out on a more optimistic and heartfelt note:

?Many sectors in the U.S. ?in the Congress, the Senate and the
business community? are in favor of good relations with Cuba. I feel
and notice that the American people wish to be friends and cooperate
with the Cuban people. Some people there frown on their government?s
hostility and want a change, and their voices are becoming louder and
louder. I think it?s about time that the U.S. gives some serious
thought to the possibility of having normal relations with Cuba?.

Before he finished, Professor Song talks about the Cuban doctors who
traveled to China to help the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan.

?I was moved deep in my heart by the arrival of the Cuban doctors.
It?s a sign of the Cuban people's friendship and their generous
feelings of internationalism for other peoples, including the
Chinese.

?These are times of real sorrow and self-sacrifice for my fellow
countrymen in Sichuan. And it?s precisely now that the Chinese people
are coping with so much hardship when the Cuban government?s help
tugs at your heartstrings?, he said, his voice faltering with
emotion.

---ooOoo--- 
========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN, CubaNews
Los Angeles, California
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraiso bajo el bloqueo"
======================================== 





From lnp3 at panix.com  Sat Jun  7 09:51:02 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:51:02 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
In-Reply-To: <00d701c8c8b3$e8edaa10$6401a8c0@new1501>
References: <00d701c8c8b3$e8edaa10$6401a8c0@new1501>
Message-ID: <20080607155100.1093612CBA@mailbackend.panix.com>

Walter advised us to read:

>ASIA TIMES
>May 31, 2008
>
>The makings of a China-Latin love affair
>By William Ratliff
>
>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JE31Ad01.html

I often wonder if Walter reads some of the stuff he crossposts here, 
especially the more obnoxious items like Ratliff's, a fellow at the 
Hoover Institute. If he read this item and thinks it is of 
inspirational value, that's all the more regrettable.

Ratliff:
Yet in the words of Mao Xianglin, an ILAS Cuba specialist, "Socialist 
Cuba can catch up with and surpass others only by moving rapidly to 
break out of its intellectual straitjacket and intensifying its 
reforms". Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has tried without success to get 
China to join an anti-American front. Though it is exploring oil and 
other matters, on balance China has more to lose than gain from 
Venezuela's efforts to destabilize the region and promote economic 
ideas that will certainly only make countries poorer and more unstable.

Comment:
Despite all the efforts by some to paint China as pro-socialist and 
anti-imperialist, it is pretty obvious from the above that it is not. 
When people advise Cuba to "break out of its intellectual 
straitjacket" and intensify its reforms, you can read through the 
double-talk and understand what it means: put an end to that 
socialist foolishness. And Chavez "has tried without success to get 
China to join an anti-American front." I wonder what the full story 
is on that. He must have asked them to offer some concrete resistance 
to the Empire. Good luck.

Ratliff:
Word has seeped out of Washington that at the Shannon meetings in 
2006 the Chinese promised not to meddle in Latin politics. Last year 
the author asked a top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official working 
in international affairs if China wanted to get involved changing 
political systems in Latin America. He said "No. Why should we? We 
are perfectly happy with a system controlled by elites that keeps 
real popular involvement to a minimum, so long as they do not crash 
and continue to enforce the agreements made with us."

Comment:
Let me repeat this with emphasis, even though I hate to use 
upper-case. Here it is appropriate. A top CCP official believes: WE 
ARE PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH A SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY ELITES THAT KEEPS 
REAL POPULAR INVOLVEMENT TO A MINIMUM, SO LONG AS THEY DO NOT CRASH 
AND CONTINUE TO ENFORCE THE AGREEMENTS MADE WITH US.

Ratliff:
The challenges for Latin American countries in the years ahead 
include investing the profits from China trade and FDI, and using the 
inspiration of the Chinese example, to lay a long-term foundation for 
national well-being, cultivating whatever traditional cultural and 
civic values do not prevent the development of broadly based economic 
progress. This will mean both rejecting the temptations of hopeless 
and disruptive Chavista populism and carrying out more than 
half-hearted reforms, both changes that would also benefit China and 
the United States.

Comment:
You'll note that Ratliff sees the US and China as having mutual 
interests in Latin America: rejecting Chavista populism and carrying 
out ore than half-hearted reforms. In other words, neoliberalism full 
steam ahead.

Ratliff:
China needs to reduce logistical problems of long distances, perhaps 
in part by more joint Latin ventures for the United States and Latin 
markets, cultivate greater common cultural ground, not least by 
increasing cultural institutes, and the like. Assuming the 
continuation of something like China's current development 
trajectory, and a lasting major US role in the Western Hemisphere, 
the two large nations could work together to promote a more stable 
and prosperous region that would benefit themselves and Latin 
Americans as well.

Comment:
What a joke. A more stable and prosperous region will only come about 
by adopting the very Chavista reforms that this Hoover Institute creep rejects.

Dr William Ratliff is a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover 
Institution and an adjunct fellow at the Independent Institute.  



From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Sat Jun  7 09:56:23 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:56:23 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
Message-ID: <BAY127-W40380BAA6CD7A2F0FD84BAD7B60@phx.gbl>


Walter:

"I often wonder if Walter reads some of the stuff he crossposts here,
especially the more obnoxious items like Ratliff's, a fellow at the
Hoover Institute. If he read this item and thinks it is of
inspirational value, that's all the more regrettable."

You know, Louis, I don't disagree with everything you say here, but for someone 
who thinks so little (and deservedly so) of Ratliff, you certainly give an awful 
lot of credibility (i.e., 100%) to the things he claims various Chinese have 
told him. Perhaps a little more skepticism would be in order on your part.


_________________________________________________________________
It?s easy to add contacts from Facebook and other social sites through Windows Live? Messenger. Learn how.
https://www.invite2messenger.net/im/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnHow

From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 10:00:15 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:00:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
	policies toward Cuba"
References: <BAY127-W40380BAA6CD7A2F0FD84BAD7B60@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <050501c8c8b7$93a1bd40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Not to speak for the moderator, but it is the convergence of China's
actions with Mr. Ratliff's reported conversations that make plausible
the words attributed to those officials in the interview.

Moreover,  whether or not the reported conversations are verbatim, what
Louis was pointing to was the deeply reactionary view attributed to the
Chinese leadership by an avowed deep reactionary and Walter's including
it in a recommended reading least based solely on a perception of
something "good" for Cuba.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eli Stephens" <elishastephens at hotmail.com>
You know, Louis, I don't disagree with everything you say here, but for
someone
who thinks so little (and deservedly so) of Ratliff, you certainly give
an awful
lot of credibility (i.e., 100%) to the things he claims various Chinese
have
told him. Perhaps a little more skepticism would be in order on your
part.





From bauerly at yorku.ca  Sat Jun  7 10:04:32 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:04:32 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The Substance Of Obama's Liberalism
Message-ID: <1212854672.484ab1905464b@mymail.yorku.ca>

By John Pilger

02 June, 2008
New Statesman

In this season of 1968 nostalgia, one anniversary illuminates today. It is the
rise and fall of Robert Kennedy, who would have been elected president of the
United States had he not been assassinated in June 1968.

Having traveled with Kennedy up to the moment of his shooting at the Ambassador
Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, I heard The Speech many times. He would "return
government to the people" and bestow "dignity and justice" on the oppressed. "As
Bernard Shaw once said," he would say, "'most men look at things as they are and
wonder why. I dream of things that never were and ask: Why not?'" That was the
signal to run back to the bus. It was fun until a hail of bullets passed over
our shoulders.

Kennedy's campaign is a model for Barack Obama. Like Obama, he was a senator
with no achievements to his name. Like Obama, he raised the expectations of
young people and minorities. Like Obama, he promised to end an unpopular war,
not because he opposed the war's conquest of other people's land and resources,
but because it was "unwinnable."

Should Obama beat John McCain to the White House in November, it will be
liberalism's last fling. In the United States and Britain, liberalism as a
war-making, divisive ideology is once again being used to destroy liberalism as
a reality. A great many people understand this, as the hatred of Blair and New
Labour attest, but many are disoriented and eager for "leadership" and basic
social democracy. In the U.S., where unrelenting propaganda about American
democratic uniqueness disguises a corporate system based on extremes of wealth
and privilege, liberalism as expressed through the Democratic Party has played
a crucial, compliant role.

In 1968, Robert Kennedy sought to rescue the party and his own ambitions from
the threat of real change that came from an alliance of the civil rights
campaign and the antiwar movement then commanding the streets of the main
cities, and which Martin Luther King had drawn together until he was
assassinated in April that year.

Kennedy had supported the war in Vietnam and continued to support it in private,
but this was skillfully suppressed as he competed against the maverick Eugene
McCarthy, whose surprisingly strong showing in the New Hampshire primary on an
antiwar ticket forced President Lyndon Johnson to abandon the idea of another
term.

Using the memory of his martyred brother, Kennedy assiduously exploited the
electoral power of delusion among people hungry for politics that represented
them, not the rich. "These people love you," I said to him as we left Calexico,
California, where the immigrant population lived in abject poverty, and people
came like a great wave and swept him out of his car, his hands fastened to
their lips.

"Yes, yes, sure they love me," he replied. "I love them!" I asked him how
exactly he would lift them out of poverty: Just what was his political
philosophy?

"Philosophy? Well, it's based on a faith in this country and I believe that many
Americans have lost this faith, and I want to give it back to them, because we
are the last and the best hope of the world, as Thomas Jefferson said."

"That's what you say in your speech. Surely the question is: How?"

"How?... by charting a new direction for America."

The vacuities are familiar. Obama is his echo. Like Kennedy, Obama may well
"chart a new direction for America" in specious, media-honed language, but in
reality, he will secure, like every president, the best damned democracy money
can buy.


http://www.countercurrents.org/pilger020608.htm




From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 10:06:27 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:06:27 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
Message-ID: <21581762.1212854787819.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

It is useful to read information from sources which doesn't agree
with one's own opinions. We ought to pay some attention to things
other people are saying and doing. We don't want to emulate them,
no do we agree with any particular point they may make. But paying
attention to what our adversaries write and do can be informative
and useful. How can we learn anything if we already know everything?

Last time I looked, the ultra-rightist institutions and voices in 
the United States had considerable political influence in country.

The main point of the posted material was to indicate the Chinese
solidarity with Cuba which is at odds with the attitude in the US
government which sees no problem having normal ties with China and 
with Vietnam, while maintaining an implacable blockade against the
government and people of Cuba. The Chinese want their people to 
read and study Fidel Castro's ideas. He was grateful for their
efforts and wrote a special preface for the Chinese edition of his
new book. Ratliff, no friend of Cuba nor of China, reflected the
expanded influence which China is having in Latin America, though
he of course doesn't feel any enthusiasm for it. At least he does
recognize it as a reality, one which he frets about.


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
==================================================================
LOUIS PROYECT writes:
I often wonder if Walter reads some of the stuff he crossposts here, 
especially the more obnoxious items like Ratliff's, a fellow at the 
Hoover Institute. If he read this item and thinks it is of 
inspirational value, that's all the more regrettable.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sat Jun  7 10:14:37 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:14:37 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
In-Reply-To: <21581762.1212854787819.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.
	earthlink.net>
References: <21581762.1212854787819.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20080607161440.0CBB619B70@mailbackend.panix.com>

Walter wrote:
>It is useful to read information from sources which doesn't agree 
>with one's own opinions. We ought to pay some attention to things 
>other people are saying and doing. We don't want to emulate them, no 
>do we agree with any particular point they may make.


This is what you posted:

ASIA TIMES
May 31, 2008

The makings of a China-Latin love affair
By William Ratliff

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JE31Ad01.html


I think everybody understands that this article was not crossposted 
in order to expose China's anti-revolutionary motivations. You posted 
it because it was meant to get us on the Chinese Friendship Society 
bandwagon. In the future, please try to read what you crosspost here 
in advance. If you did read it and posted it without taking violent 
exception to Ratliff's poisonous opinions, god have mercy on your soul.



From mikedf at amnh.org  Sat Jun  7 10:35:16 2008
From: mikedf at amnh.org (Mike Friedman)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:35:16 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] NYT: Job Losses and Surge in Oil Spread Gloom on Economy
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1.1212775203.12692.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
References: <mailman.1.1212775203.12692.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <34751.63.117.245.134.1212856516.squirrel@webmail.amnh.org>

June 7, 2008
Job Losses and Surge in Oil Spread Gloom on Economy
By PETER S. GOODMAN
The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent ? the
sharpest monthly spike in 22 years ? as the economy lost 49,000 jobs,
registering a fifth consecutive month of decline, the Labor Department
reported Friday.

The weak jobs report, coupled with a staggering rise in the price of oil ?
up a record $10.75 a barrel to more than $138 ? unleashed a feverish
sell-off on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down
nearly 400 points. The dollar plunged against several major currencies.

[...]

Professional and business services ? which include lawyers, accountants,
architects and management consultants ? led the way down in May, shedding
39,000 jobs, according to the report. Construction declined by 34,000.

Manufacturing lost 26,000 jobs. Retail payrolls shrank by 27,000 and
transportation and warehousing by 10,500. Finance and insurance lost 3,700
jobs, amid continuing worries that more red ink lies in wait for banks.

[...]

The jobs picture has become particularly punishing for more vulnerable
communities, with unemployment among African-Americans leaping to 9.7
percent in May from 8.6 percent in April . Over the same period,
joblessness among those ages 16 to 19 climbed to 18.7 percent from 15.4
percent.

Health care remained a bright spot, adding 33,900 jobs in May, while
restaurants and bars added 11,400 jobs.

Even those with jobs have been losing ground. Average hourly wages for
rank-and-file American workers ? roughly 80 percent of the American work
force ? nudged up to $17.94 in May, an increase of about 3.5 percent
compared to a year earlier. But over the same period, rising food and gas
prices contributed to inflation of roughly 4 percent, more than canceling
out the buying power of the extra wages.

[...]

The unemployment rate does not count people who have given up looking for
work. Over all, the percentage of working age Americans employed dropped
to 62.6 percent in May from 63 percent a year earlier.

In recent months, many companies have been cutting working hours for those
on their payrolls, eschewing layoffs while hoping the economy improves.

[...]

In May, those working part time because they could not find full-time work
or because of slack business nudged up to 5.23 million, from 5.22 million.
But that was a much smaller increase than in the previous month, a
possible sign that businesses are running out of hours to cut: next, they
may have to resort to layoffs on a larger scale.

---
Michael Friedman
Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior
City University of New York

Institute for Comparative Genomics
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street and Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

Office: 212-313-8721
--------------------
"Ya me gritaron mil veces
que me regrese a mi tierra,
Porque aqui no quepo yo
Quiero recordarle al gringo:
Yo no cruce la frontera,
la frontera me cruzo"
- Los Tigres del Norte



From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 10:50:04 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:50:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
Message-ID: <14073546.1212857404624.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

China's support for Cuba and China's expanded influence in the world
was the point of the article. It's not necessary to post disclaimers
for every item which is posted. Sometimes it's OK to assume that an
article is for information, and the reader can draw conclusions on
their own. We often post materials without comment, leaving it for
the reader to evaluate individually. It's quite boring to take it
as given that the reader can't figure out that a reactionary view
expressed by a reactionary individual is politically reactionary.

Personally, I don't subscribe to the view that China's motivations 
are "anti-revolutionary". China's economic, political and military
support for Cuba are a good thing, even if their motivations are
not part of a world-historic strategy to advance the proletarian
revolution on the planet. Even if their motivations were simply to
advance their own national interests in the world, helping Cuba is
helps reduce the influence of Washington's blockade on the island.

China is a rapidly-industrializing Third World country which still
is led, last I looked, by the Chinese Communist Party. Because of
that, the fact that the Chinese operate a think-tank devoted to
the study of Cuba is of some significance. And the fact that they
want to bring out the writings of Fidel Castro in the Chinese
language for their own national audience is, at least to me, an
entirely positive thing. I realize that not everyone shares the
view that Fidel Castro's writings are all that useful, but that
is my individual point of view.

Through the years Ratliff's materials have been posted to the
CubaNews list, by me. Sometimes I've introduced them with the
occasional comment, sometimes not. It's boring to do that all of
the time, and most people understand Ratliff is a reactionary.
Anywhere, here's an introduction I provided two years ago and
it seems to continue to stand up pretty well, in my opinion:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/54236

Concern for the soul is somewhat outside of my frame of reference.
Personally I'm a Jewish atheist and don't invest time or energy in
this sub-division of intellectual life. For those of a spiritual
orientation, I'd like to recommend this from Progreso Weekly, the
website based in Miami led by Cuban-Americans who want to see the
normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba:
http://progreso-weekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=492&Itemid=1


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California

===================================================================
LOUIS PROYECT writes:
I think everybody understands that this article was not crossposted 
in order to expose China's anti-revolutionary motivations. You posted 
it because it was meant to get us on the Chinese Friendship Society 
bandwagon. In the future, please try to read what you crosspost here 
in advance. If you did read it and posted it without taking violent 
exception to Ratliff's poisonous opinions, god have mercy on your soul.



















.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Sat Jun  7 11:08:19 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:08:19 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Rosa Luxemburg Conference 2007
In-Reply-To: <bcc.2bc2486e.357bde02@aol.com>
References: <bcc.2bc2486e.357bde02@aol.com>
Message-ID: <484AC083.6050800@googlemail.com>

It was a very rich konference. All papers can be downloaded from:

http://www-bunken.tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp/rosa_confe2007

(go to "papers")


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 12:00:51 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 14:00:51 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
	policies toward Cuba"
References: <14073546.1212857404624.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <054201c8c8c8$6cb450b0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Point of fact, Walter.  Ratliff is not "fretting about"  China's
influence in Latin America, he is welcoming it as an alternative, an
opposition, to Chavez's "destabilizing" influence.

The thrust of the article is not China's support for the revolutionary
tradition of Cuba, but rather China as a partner, and a bulwark, for
retaining the status quo..

Better to read first than equivocate later.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Walter Lippmann" <walterlx at earthlink.net>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink
its policies toward Cuba"


> China's support for Cuba and China's expanded influence in the world
> was the point of the article. It's not necessary to post disclaimers
> for every item which is posted.



From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 12:48:48 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 14:48:48 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] On the Sorry State of Construction
References: <877607.88980.qm@web81905.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <05a601c8c8cf$1f8a4540$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

(in particular for MP)

WSJ 060608:

Hispanic workers die on the job at higher rates than other workers, with
one in three of these deaths occurring in the construction industry....

The study was done by health researchers in Massachusetts, Michigan, and
New Jersey and at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.




From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 12:59:06 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 14:59:06 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: U.S. must rethink its
 policies toward Cuba"
Message-ID: <8857822.1212865146751.JavaMail.root@elwamui-sweet.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

It's fascinating to see how different human beings can read 
the same material and interpret them in divergent ways. 

There was no claim made here that China supported Cuba for 
revolutionary reasons. It's notable, however, that the team
of Chinese translators strongly support the Cuban Revolution, 
and the Chinese government sees fit to commission and to 
publish a Chinese edition of the most articulate contemporary
exponent of that Cuban revolutionary tradition. A peculiar way 
the Chinese government has of serving as, to use Sartesian's 
winged phrase, "a bulwark, for retaining the status quo."

So if someone wishes to denounce China for lack of revolutionary
motivation, that's fine: what ever floats your boat, but that
was neither a motive, much less the motive, attributed to China.
They do what they do for NATIONAL reasons, and STRATEGIC reasons.

Why would the Chinese government go to all the time and trouble to
translate Fidel Castro's latest production into Chinese, just for
nostalgia's sake and so they could get themselves together for a
round of singing "Auld Lang Sayn"?

William Ratliff is an opponent of the Cuban Revolution. He doesn't
want anything to happen which would strengthen the Cuban Revolution.
William Ratliff just recently went to Cuba where he met with one of
the best-known dissident leaders and together they complained that
Bush hasn't followed the example of Richard Nixon in going to China
and normalizing relations with the People's Republic. 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/76416

It's not necessary to agree with Ratliff to understand that an
end to the US blockade of Cuba would be good thing for Cuba. Cuba
wants and needs and end to the blockade, though its leadership is
certain to know that an end to the blockade would bring about more
problems and different problems.

One wonders why there's so much rage against those who strengthen
Cuba's hand vis-a-vis the United States? That's precisely what the
Chinese and Vietnamese are doing by maintaining such strong ties
with Cuba. Even on the basis of Chinese NATIONAL interests, this
would apply, because the rise of China, a Third World nation, to
modern world power is a good thing in and of itself. Some people
may not recall that's it's been a very short time since China won
its national independence: October 1, 1949, a rather short period
of historic time for a country which is THOUSANDS of years old.

According to Sartesian, China is a bulwark of the status quo. But
by providing all that support to Cuba, for its own nationalistic 
or national reasons, is this how China supports the status quo?
Sartesian's logic is rather confuddled, it would seem to me.

Perhaps the critics would prefer that instead of trading with 
Cuba, China and Vietnam should stop doing so, so as to avoid the
allegation that they are "bulwarks of the status quo"?


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
==================================================================
SARTESIAN writes:
Ratliff is not "fretting about"  China's influence in Latin America, 
he is welcoming it as an alternative, an opposition, to Chavez's 
"destabilizing" influence.

The thrust of the article is not China's support for the revolutionary
tradition of Cuba, but rather China as a partner, and a bulwark, for
retaining the status quo.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sat Jun  7 13:01:12 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:01:12 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: U.S. must rethink its
	policies toward Cuba"
References: <8857822.1212865146751.JavaMail.root@elwamui-sweet.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <05b001c8c8d0$daea4c80$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Well, it's painfully clear to the most casual observer, Walter indeed
does not read the articles he posts, or posts links, to the list.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Walter Lippmann" <walterlx at earthlink.net>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>



From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 13:10:25 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:10:25 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Cuito Cuanavale: A Tribute to Fidel Castro and the
	African Revolution
Message-ID: <c75.2ec20c94.357c3721@aol.com>



Horace Campbell, 

clip -
 
Most school children would have heard the axiom that each generation  
rewrites its own history. But it does so not merely by giving different answers  to 
old questions of exploitation but by posing entirely different questions.  When 
one understands this, it becomes clear why South African parliamentarians  
would be traveling to Cuito Cuanavale without encouraging the writing of the  
texts that can explain to the youths the realities of the battles to end  
apartheid. The leaders are afraid of this history because they fear that the  youths 
will gain the courage to find new forms of struggle against the new  ruling 
classes across Southern Africa. The absence of the memory of the  victories 
over colonialism and apartheid stem in part from the bankruptcy of the  political 
leaders in most of Southern Africa.
 
full --
 
 _http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/campbell060608.html_ 
(http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/campbell060608.html)   


All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it  is 
violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Arthur  
Schopenhauer (1788-1860)



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 13:13:56 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:13:56 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Destroing African Agriculture
Message-ID: <bde.2fbedd32.357c37f4@aol.com>



By Walden  Bello --
 
clip  --
 
Biofuel  production is certainly one of the culprits in the current global 
food crisis.  But while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has 
been a factor  in food prices shooting up, the more primordial problem has 
been the conversion  of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into 
chronic food importers.  Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), 
and the World Trade  Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains.

Whether  in Latin America, Asia, or Africa, the story has been the same: the  
destabilization of peasant producers by a one-two punch of IMF-World Bank  
structural adjustment programs that gutted government investment in the  
countryside followed by the massive influx of subsidized U.S. and European Union  
agricultural imports after the WTO?s Agreement on Agriculture pried open  markets.
 
African agriculture is a case study of how doctrinaire  economics serving 
corporate interests can destroy a whole continent?s productive  base. 
full --- 
_http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9196_ 
(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9196)   


All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it  is 
violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Arthur  
Schopenhauer (1788-1860)



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 13:19:03 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:19:03 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chinese think tank on Cuba: "U.S. must rethink its
	policies toward Cuba"
In-Reply-To: <21581762.1212854787819.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
References: <21581762.1212854787819.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806071219t1a072033p4a759f0136bc31fd@mail.gmail.com>

On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Walter Lippmann <walterlx at earthlink.net> wrote:

> It is useful to read information from sources which doesn't agree
> with one's own opinions.

99.99% of the opinion expressed by think tanks, opinion pages, etc of
newspapers, etc, does not agree with socialism (the latter being "our
own opinion").

Imagine what would happen if information from all these sources were
to be posted to Marxmail continuously.

We do not come to Marxmail to read about opinion which merely
"doesn't agree with our own opinions". There are lots of places (e.g.
New York Times) where we can read that. Posting such information is
important only when it has something particularly interesting to teach
socialists.


From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 13:36:57 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:36:57 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] William Blum's Anti Empire Report
Message-ID: <c92.2bc0ae61.357c3d59@aol.com>



_http://killinghope.org/aer58.htm_ (http://killinghope.org/aer58.htm) 



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 13:59:00 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:59:00 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Credit Default Swaps: Next Phase of an Unravelling Crisis
Message-ID: <d03.36369e4b.357c4284@aol.com>



     
The Financial Tsunami has not reached its Climax  
Credit Default Swaps: Next Phase of an  Unravelling Crisis 

By F. William Engdahl
 
_Global Research_ 
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001PXHAEczUP9qHkVuuwlSjAzxhZ38whDibEwCPKofI2Wv7ArSh95rH8Sdb-gictPP_IpWgbUwDDtIh7Q3f4Q5CMeArHcEh0c66XtHARyXSEKEtDZ
hkOq9Rxg==) , June 5, 2008
clip --

The Sub Prime Meltdown is but the Tip of the  Iceberg 

While attention has been focussed on the  relatively tiny US "sub-prime" home 
mortgage default crisis as the center  of the current financial and credit 
crisis impacting the Anglo-Saxon  banking world, a far larger problem is now 
coming into focus. Sub-prime or  high-risk Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, 
CMOs as they are called,  are only the tip of a colossal iceberg of dodgy 
credits which are  beginning to go sour. The next crisis is already beginning in 
the $62  TRILLION market for Credit Default Swaps. You never heard of them? It?s 
 time to take a look, then.



The next phase of the unravelling crisis in the  US-centered "revolution in 
finance" is emerging in the market for arcane  instruments known as Credit 
Default Swaps or CDS. Wall Street bankers  always have to have a short name for 
these things.  
As I pointed out in detail in my earlier exclusive  series, the Financial 
Tsunami, Parts I-V, the Credit Default Swap was  invented a few years ago by a 
young Cambridge University mathematics  graduate, Blythe Masters, hired by J.P. 
Morgan Chase Bank in New York. The  then-fresh university graduate convinced 
her bosses at Morgan Chase to  develop a revolutionary new risk product, the 
CDS as it soon became known.   
A Credit Default Swap is a credit derivative or agreement  between two 
counterparties, in which one makes periodic payments to the  other and gets promise 
of a payoff if a third party defaults. The first  party gets credit 
protection, a kind of insurance, and is called the  "buyer." The second party gives 
credit protection and is called the  "seller". The third party, the one that might 
go bankrupt or default, is  known as the "reference entity." CDS?s became 
staggeringly popular as  credit risks exploded during the last seven years in the 
United States.  Banks argued that with CDS they could spread risk around the 
globe.  
Credit default swaps resemble an insurance policy, as  they can be used by 
debt owners to hedge, or insure against a default on a  debt. However, because 
there is no requirement to actually hold any asset  or suffer a loss, credit 
default swaps can also be used for speculative  purposes.  
Warren Buffett once described derivatives bought  speculatively as "financial 
weapons of mass destruction." In his Berkshire  Hathaway annual report to 
shareholders he said "Unless derivatives  contracts are collateralized or 
guaranteed, their ultimate value depends  on the creditworthiness of the 
counterparties. In the meantime, though,  before a contract is settled, the counterparties 
record profits and losses  -often huge in amount- in their current earnings 
statements without so  much as a penny changing hands. The range of derivatives 
contracts is  limited only by the imagination of man (or sometimes, so it 
seems,  madmen)." A typical CDO is for five years term. 
Like many exotic financial products which are extremely  complex and 
profitable in times of easy credit, when markets reverse, as  has been the case since 
August 2007, in addition to spreading risk, credit  derivatives, in this case, 
also amplify risk considerably. 
Now the other shoe is about to drop in the $62 trillion  CDS market due to 
rising junk bond defaults by US corporations as the  recession deepens. That 
market has long been a disaster in the making. An  estimated $1,2 trillion could 
be at risk of the nominal $62 trillion in  CDOs outstanding, making it far 
larger than the sub-prime market.   

full - 
 
_www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9202_ 
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001PXHAEczUP9rLLV7mOnFWVjYhk76muhkHuzczuIv73Nzf8u7Yro97h0kyz4Bh-Re-WUAEo9uvqP
PKLpsQct26aca1HGGJf9pP9WEL9ONwL7oc1e8KbJjvn1JKA-xNdz486-_znaM5fQk0_IwmVIiP29TC
MFxSo-R-WnN0tb4iOQE=) 





**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk  Sat Jun  7 14:55:52 2008
From: youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk (Ben Ben)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 20:55:52 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [Marxism] Judas? Mary Magdelene!... Dylan hails Obama
Message-ID: <830089.58820.qm@web26308.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

The woolly, wisdom-of-all nature of his support is pretty rich considering he's spent the last decade complaining that he was or?is?not
the "voice of a generation"... wonder what Zappa would have said...
"America is in a state of upheaval," Dylan told The Times. "We've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up." 
The 66-year-old went on: "I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to." 
And he added that poverty, an issue which Mr Obama has promised to tackle if he were elected, was "demoralising" to society. 
"You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor," Dylan said. 
Full: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7441708.stm


      __________________________________________________________
Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html


From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Sat Jun  7 15:40:04 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 17:40:04 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] White Farmers in Zimbabwe and the Killings in S. Africa
Message-ID: <d4d.22b8481c.357c5a34@aol.com>



The Roots of 'Necklacing': Why White Farmers in  Zimbabwe Are Responsible for 
the Killings in South Africa
_http://www.alternet.org/audits/86984_ (http://www.alternet.org/audits/86984) 
  

South Africans wouldn't be killing Zimbabwean refugees if it weren't for  the 
stranglehold Zimbabwe's whites have on its  farmland.




**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From fred.fuentes at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 17:57:16 2008
From: fred.fuentes at gmail.com (Fred Fuentes)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 19:57:16 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Morales creates Cabinet post to defend nationalizations
	of companies in Bolivia
Message-ID: <b5a2a8180806071657l52cb91f5r41451da409d131a6@mail.gmail.com>

Morales creates Cabinet post to defend nationalizations of companies in Bolivia
The Associated Press, June 6, 2008
http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2008/06/morales-creates-cabinet-post-to-defend.html

Bolivia has created a new cabinet-level ministry to defend the country
from legal battles sparked by President Evo Morales' drive to
nationalize key sectors of the economy.

To be led by Hector Arce, a 37-year-old lawyer and former government
coordination minister, the new agency will back state efforts to
reclaim control of petroleum, mining, telecommunications and other
companies that were privatized during the 1990s, Morales said late
Thursday.

Details on the ministry's powers and responsibilities were not
immediately available, but it appears set to lead often testy takeover
talks with foreign companies, now handled by the foreign ministry.

Morales has sought control of many privatized industries, boosting
state ownership of Bolivia's oil and gas sector in 2006 ? a so-called
"nationalization" that grabbed headlines but allowed most foreign
companies to continue operations.

This year, he fully nationalized several natural gas producers and
logistics companies, including subsidiaries of the Spanish company
Repsol YPF and British Petroleum. He nationalized Bolivia's few
railroads in 2007.

Some companies have threatened to challenge the takeovers in
international court, prompting Bolivia to withdraw last year from a
World Bank tribunal that hears disputes between governments and
foreign businesses. The court's rulings are often biased in favor of
transnational companies, Bolivian officials claimed.

But still pending before the tribunal is an arbitration request from
Italy's Euro Telecom International, which is disputing Bolivia's move
to nationalize its subsidiary, Entel. The company was Bolivia's state
telephone company until it was privatized in 1995.

Swiss mining company Glencore International has also disputed Morales'
nationalization of a Bolivian tin smelter last year, citing an
investment treaty between the two countries. The case will likely be
resolved in ongoing talks over two other Glencore mines, said a mining
ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to discuss the negotiations.

At the urging of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund,
Bolivia underwent sweeping privatizations in the mid-1990s, selling
state-owned oil and gas, water, power, railroad and telecommunications
companies, along with the national airline and state pension plan.

But the policy's mixed results largely failed to spur the economic
growth the international creditors had hoped for, instead prompting
the anti-privatization sentiments that drive Morales' economic
policies.


From jbustelo at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 20:52:16 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 22:52:16 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>
References: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806071952od8493dey682ddd9dd155136d@mail.gmail.com>

My comments are interspersed throughout:

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 9:09 AM,  <bauerly at yorku.ca> wrote:
[actually, brad was quoting me here]
> ---As can be seen, production has been essentially flat for three years.
> How can these numbers be reconciled with the claims that a) demand is
> growing but b) supplies are adequate?---

[then he replied]
> You are confusing production with reserves.  Production is flat because global
> extraction is at approx 80% of capacity and US refineries are running at approx
> 70% capacity.  This is a manufactured shortage not peak oil.  Also, as someone
> else mentioned there has been little increase in price of production (I love
> how they call extraction production in the oil business).

I don't understand your claim that I've mixed up production and
reserves. I've not mentioned the issue of reserves *at all.*

The figures you give for utilization of extraction capacity and U.S.
refinery utilization are unfamiliar to me, and I question their
reliability. What is the source of these estimates?

It is, I concede, entirely possible and perhaps even likely that this
current three-year production plateau is not yet "peak oil" but rather
something else, including, conceivably, the result of concerted action
by oil producers, a conspiracy to restrain output.

But I remain sceptical that this latter scenario is the case.

I think this year's $100+ barrel prices give the imperialist
countries, which taken as a whole are net oil importers, plenty of
motivation to lean all over the Third World producing countries to
open the spigots, and if months of $100+ prices haven't done this,
certainly $125 or $150 barrels of crude will. The Saudi monarchy is in
no position to resist such demands, nor are the other middle eastern
rulers, the Nigerian government and so on. These are not solidly based
regimes with untapped reserves of popular, anti-imperialist support
for patriotic policies, but mostly corrupt, cynical cliques of
opportunists.

EVEN the incompetents in the Bush regime could see their way clear to
making, for example, the Saudi rulers an offer they couldn't refuse,
explaining the dialectical relationship between the health of these
rulers and an increased oil supply -- and even blame al Qaida for the
outrageous blowing up in mid air of a planeful of Saudi princelets, if
the Saudis are initially unpersuaded.

I do not believe the view that this is mainly or solely the work of
the international imperialist oil companies to be plausible. But were
that to be the case, the same principle is operative there, although
the instruments of persuasion are likely to be different.

> The whole theory of peak oil is based on neoclassical theories of supply and
> demand equilibrium which obfuscate the political (read class) aspects.  It is
> based on an acceptance of the idea that an economic formula can predict how a
> complex social system will allocate a scarce resource.  While there are
> obviously limits to oil use, the particularities of the current conjuncture
> have more to do with capitalism than with a declining resource base.

Which is to say: peak oil theories aren't applicable in such a direct,
immediate way to the communist geological operations and explorations
of the People's Commune of Altair VI, nor even to, say, medieval
Europe. It really applies mostly, in a strict and direct sense, to
this planet and the world economy we actually have right now.

I thank Brad for clearing this up, as some may have thought the
replicators on the later Star ship Enterprise would be unable to make
"oil, light, sweet," just as easily as "Tea, Earl Gray, Hot." Though I
would recommend to Captain Picard he not use the crude for
refreshment.

And, yes, Brad is right that the purely economic mechanisms of Adam
Smith-type theories are likely to be interfered with, in fact, are
already systematically interfered with, but I don't think this changes
the validity of the peak oil theory.

[snip]
> I think everyone agrees that US society uses too much oil, this is not a
> leftists position. This does not mean that the only solution to the oil price
> rise (is this really a gasoline crisis?  Europeans have had $5 gas for a
> decade), and therefore the only problem, is the overuse of a finite resource.
> While I agree that SUV's and the whole US consumerist lifestyle is
> unsustainable, the bourgeoisie has figured out that they can profit from this
> by using the MSM to over-hype peak oil and sell you the necessary goods to
> consume our way out of the 'crisis'.  While at the same time they can cash in
> on the hysteria by raising prices through manipulation.

I might quibble with one or another word but it seems to me Brad and I
don't really look at this all that differently, which makes me wonder
why he is addressing this to me in a polemical way.


> When Obama says we
> need to break our petroleum addiction he mean we, individual consumers, need to
> use our liberal individualist power to consumer our way out.  It operates just
> as Marx explained, it obfuscates the true power relationships that created the
> problem.  It is not that our things are bad, or that we are bad because we
> 'choose' them.  It is the objectified human relationships in the form of things
> that prevent a more ecologically benign society.

It is far from clear to me that this is what Obama means, that simply
as individuals we should adjust to $4, $6, or $10 gas. While he has
been completely and entirely vague, as is his wont, it seems to me he
has framed this as a social and governmental problem and not just an
individual one, although I'm sure IF he ever gets down to concretes,
there is likely to be much more than a little of what Brad believes
will be his message. But I would be surprised if that were the
entirety of it, as Brad seems to believe.
>
> The Krugmanite solution- increased mass transit, downgraded lifestyles,
> increased population densities- are all necessary steps.  However, there is a
> difference between seeking them within the parameters of capitalist social
> realtions or exposing how production and a society oriented toward profit
> maximization have both produced these problems and will produce new problems if
> the solutions simply shift consumption towards 'green' alternatives within
> capitalist society.

But of course, Ultimately a real solution can only be the one that
socialism potentially provides, not just of gearing economic activity
to serve human needs in the sense of making it possible for people to
find fulfillment rather than maximize profits, but also of reconciling
humanity and human society to the reality that we are inextricably a
part of this world and this biosphere. This is *precisely* at the
heart of the "battle of ideas" I propose the left needs to wage.

[Brad again quotes me]
> ---In other words, I believe the battle the U.S. left needs to wage today
> is a battle of ideas and fundamentally about *values.* This is, to be
> brutally frank, NOT NOT NOT a "class" message as that is traditionally
> understood on the left, but first and foremost a message addressed to
> the intelligentsia, and most especially the youth.---

[and then he replies]
> If you really want to influence the youth you need to stop talking about the
> 1960's and about 'values'.  I would also fundamentally challenge the notion
> that we should not talk about class (not sure what you mean by traditionally
> understood on the left).  Class needs to be THE message (I would also dump the
> 'battle of ideas' 60's mantra).  Class as the way to understand the lack of
> true democracy and control over our own society.  Class as the inability to
> elect a true representative of the society that we want.  Class as the driving
> force of war, ecocide, hunger, racism, despair....  Class as the analytical
> tool to uncover the connection between society and the economy.  These are
> issues that everyone can understand, not just the intelligentsia and youth.

The "battle of ideas" meme isn't really a 1960's you radicalization
one, but a 21st-Century Fidelista one. But it does tie in
fundamentally to the 60's and what happened then. As comrade Ricardo
Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People's Power
explained at the unveiling of John Lennon's statue in Havana, on the
20th anniversary of his assassination:

"The Sixties were much more than a period in a century that is ending.
Before anything else, they were an attitude toward life that
profoundly affected the culture, the society and politics, and crossed
all borders. Their renewing impulse rose up, victorious, overwhelming
the decade, but it had been born before that time and has not stopped
even up to today.

"To these years we turn our sights with the tenderness of first love,
with the loyalty that all combatants feel for their earliest and most
distant battle. With obstinate antagonism, some still denigrate that
time -- those who know that to kill history, they must first tear out
its most luminous and hopeful moment.

"This is how it is, and has always been in favor of or against 'the Sixties.'"

As for "class," I agree with most of what Brad says, especially and
most emphatically his presentation of the capitalist class and its
control being at the heart of all these. What I DISAGREE with is the
idea that there is a working class movement worthy of the name in the
United States today. I believe there has not been what Marx called a
"class for itself" movement among even a small sliver of the U.S.
working class certainly in my entire political lifetime (and I turned
57 today). Trying to base our activity and messages so as to influence
and appeal to that illusory "class" movement is precisely what I was
alluding to in saying the message I proposed wasn't a class message in
the sense the left usually understood it.






> We
> must move beyond being a sect that is attempting to build a secret movement of
> intellectuals and college students.  Our analysis and ideas must become common
> sense.  As Ralph Milliband explained; culture is not what supports the
> capitalist systems repressive apparatus, culture is the repressive apparatus of
> the capitalist system. Values and culture as political strategy reinforce
> bourgeois rule.

If I understand what Brad is saying here, I VEHEMENTLY AND TOTALLY
disagree. Even discounting the obvious polemical exaggerations and
distortions,

I think a lot of what is wrong with the U.S. Left is precisely this
idea that "we must move beyond" students and so on, i.e., that we can
voluntaristicaly change objective conditions that are the result of
weighty material factors.

The U.S. Marxist Left needs to accept reality: Although we view
ourselves as the conscious expression of an actually existing class
movement, we must accept the reality that we have no choice but to
lead a semi-sectarian existence, i.e., an existence in isolation from
that movement, because for a whole series of reasons that movement
does not manifest as a movement in the United States right now, had
not done so in decades, and assuming conditions going forward roughly
in the same ballpark as those that have prevailed for the last half
century of not, is unlikely to suddenly cohere as a class for itself
movement.

The left needs to stop blowing smoke up its own ass about a class
movement and class radicalization that quite simply DOES NOT EXIST.
The Left needs to rejoin the reality-based community.

The standard response by Marxists and especially groups to statements
like the one I'm making is to admit that, yes, the working class has
been "relatively quiescent" (or some similar term that OBFUSCATES the
QUALITATIVE difference between what Marx called "a class in itself"
and "a class for itself"), but, --oh happy coincidence!-- that is just
now coming to an end because of the cost of the war in Vietnam, the
Nixon wage-prize freeze, the Arab oil embargo, stagflation, Reagan's
attacks on the right to unionize, etc. etc. etc. down to today when
I'm sure the editors of some wannabe All Russia Central Organ are even
now penning the lead article for the next edition about the meaning of
the half-point jump in the unemployment rate announced on Friday.

[Brad quotes me:]
> ---And I can see myself just as easily or more easily starting a
> useful discussion from Obama's vague statements about oil addiction
> than from Nader's (frankly) demagogic anti-corporate muckraking. The
> problem is not just that corporate interests are in control, but what
> they DO with that control, and not mostly in terms of the marginal
> immediate material well-being of people in the U.S., but in terms of
> the fundamental sustainability of human civilization as a whole.---

[And he responds:]
> I don't understand this.  If the problem is what certain interests do with their
> control, than how would Obama's postion, which denies that there is even any
> class aspect to oil or food prices, offer a better starting point than one that
> is too anti-corporate?  It would appear to me that the Obama position is to
> shift the chairs on the sinking Titanic, while Nader is complaining about where
> he has to sit.  I agree that the whole point needs to be about the large whole
> in the ship.

My point is simply that Nader's propaganda implicitly refuses to
recognize that there is a problem beyond corporate greed and
manipulation, indeed the claim is precisely that the *entire* problem
is corporate manipulation. Perhaps it is just a narrowness of a few
recent campaign press releases and the person who wrote it for them, I
HOPE that is the case, because as I see it, the corporate manipulation
is the smaller problem, the bigger problem is the underlying problem
that is making possible the corporate manipulation, namely, that the
"life style" and not just that, but the whole socio-economic structure
of the U.S. and other advanced imperialist countries, the way they are
structured and organized concretely, is fundamentally unsustainable,
it is destined to crash, not into a brick wall, but a granite mountain
face.

There is a shorter distance between Obama's diagnosis of oil addiction
and that reality (the U.S. and imperialist "civilization" in general
is unsustainable) than there is between the (implicit) position of the
Nader campaign statements that there really isn't an issue about oil
supplies, which flows from the (explicit)  statement that the run up
in prices is just speculation and manipulation.

Joaquin


From markalause at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 21:23:52 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 23:23:52 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney et al
In-Reply-To: <390861.43868.qm@web81704.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <390861.43868.qm@web81704.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806072023g96b6a5escd4aaf8909c36b21@mail.gmail.com>

I think Alex makes key points, which--I notice--have gone unanswered.
I'd add, however, that some of these things are still up in the air.
We don't really know whether the GPUS campaign is going to Cobb it
again, but there's many an oppotunity for it do so between now and
November.

Nor, to be fair, do we really know if the Nader campaign is going to
follow through and build the rudiments of a third party movement that
can survive.

The difference is that we can't do anything to prevent the former and
can do a great deal to ensure the latter.  Those of us who share a
strategy aimed at the broadest progressive third party movement should
start thinking about building committees on independent progressive
political action as part of either candidacy (or with any elements of
the Reconstruction Party actually going independent in the
presidential election) with the express intention of cooperating in
the aftermath to build something more permanent.

If we don't do this in 2008--as we didn't in 2004 or 2000--we'll have
nobody to blame but ourselves.

Solidarity!
Mark L.


From jonflanders at jflan.net  Sat Jun  7 21:36:28 2008
From: jonflanders at jflan.net (Jon Flanders)
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:36:28 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <b42c9ffb0806071952od8493dey682ddd9dd155136d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>
	<b42c9ffb0806071952od8493dey682ddd9dd155136d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1212896188.5719.28.camel@localhost>


On Sat, 2008-06-07 at 22:52 -0400, Joaqu?n Bustelo wrote:
> that the
> "life style" and not just that, but the whole socio-economic structure
> of the U.S. and other advanced imperialist countries, the way they are
> structured and organized concretely, is fundamentally unsustainable,
> it is destined to crash, not into a brick wall, but a granite mountain
> face.

Exactly. We have a huge problem in talking to workers in the US, who
assume that the US can continue consuming twenty-five percent of the
world's petroleum while making up five percent of the world's
population. And a lot of them think that drilling in Anwar or invading
Venezuela will solve the problem, and that it is perfectly OK to do this
if we have to.

Nader does not grasp this nettle at all, much less deal with the
geological problems posed by peak oil.

The line I take in discussions of this question, is to say that the
problem with the corporations, specifically the oil companies,is not
"speculation" but their conscious decision not to inform the citizenry
that oil would peak some day and that we would have to make different
decisions about how we will transport goods and people, generate
electricity and heat our homes.

Like good drug dealers, they were quite happy to keep the junkies
supplied as long as possible. Along with their SUV peddling brothers in
the auto industry, who are now throwing workers out the door en masse.

Shifting the blame to "speculators" also raises the possibility of
anti-semitic  scapegoating. After all who might these speculators be?
George Soros? Goldman Sachs? Lehman Brothers? We've been down this road
before in history.

Jon Flanders



From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 21:46:54 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 23:46:54 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Violence on the Left: The Communists of West Bengal,
	by Martha Nussbaum
Message-ID: <908b689f0806072046o444c3d68gdec16f9c7d8703e9@mail.gmail.com>

Violence on the Left: Nandigram and the Communists of West Bengal
By Martha C. Nussbaum

Dissent Magazine, Spring 2008

[Martha C. Nussbaum is Distinguished Service Professor of Law and
Ethics at the University of Chicago, appointed in the Philosophy
Department, Law School, and Divinity School. She is an Affiliate of
the Committee on Southern Asian Studies and a board member of the
Human Rights Program.]

AFTER A PERIOD of relative impotence, the Hindu-supremacist right in
India has rebounded, with the December reelection of Bharatiya Janata
Party candidate Narendra Modi as chief minister in Gujarat. Modi's
role in the mass murders of Muslims in that state in February 2002 has
long been so well documented that he has been denied a visa to enter
the United States. [...]

Meanwhile, however, violence has been in the news from a very
different part of the Indian political spectrum. People connected to
the Communist government of West Bengal have been guilty of some
extremely vile actions, including rape and murder, toward dissident
peasants, in a struggle over land acquisition, and the government has
done nothing to prevent these terrible things. This struggle has split
the Indian left, between those who think that people on the left must
maintain solidarity in the face of right-wing threats and those who
insist on calling murder murder no matter who does it. It's a conflict
from which we can learn a lot, not only about Indian politics but also
about what stance a contemporary left movement can reasonably and
morally take on rural development issues. [...]

Full: <http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=1157>


From dave.walters at comcast.net  Sat Jun  7 22:52:49 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (dave.walters at comcast.net)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:52:49 +0000
Subject: [Marxism] More thoughts on Israel's treats against Iran
Message-ID: <060820080452.5780.484B65A1000E1FC50000169422007503309C9D0A9B040E99D20A900E0B@comcast.net>

Playing at possible agression scenerios by Israel against Iran got me thinking 
about how the Zionist IDF could accomplish what they want, with or without
US support.  In the last few days there is more and more 'chatter' about a 
possible Israeli strike...or US strike...against Iran.

I noted in an earlier post that the goal of any IDF attack on Iran would be extremely 
surgical...even if the used low yeild nukes and the goal would be to set back, not 
destroy, Iran's nuclear capabilities. 

Israel doesn't possess B-2 or B-52 bombers with which to saturate and area 
with hundreds 1 and 2 ton bombs. They don't possess enough missles to do 
this either. They pocess fighter planes, each capable of carrying about 8000lbs 
of bombs or less; extremely well trained pilots, arial refueling capabilities, AWACS 
area-radar, and kind of what the US has but on a much smaller scale. And they 
got nukes. About 100 nukes.

Looking at various maps...the only coastside 'near-Israel' atomic facilities is the Bushehr 
nuclear power plant, a civilian target that is only tangetially something of a military 
target since it's not really necessary for Iran to use to build their supposed atomic bombs.[Iran, as
of today, is planning to build 19 *more* nuclear power plants to energize it's future
in a sustainable and indigeiously fueled, way].

Israel does have the ability to place a sub right off the coast near Bushehr and 
launch cruise missles topped with nukes to various locations where the Iran's 
public, and suspected 'secret', enrichment facilities exist. All of these are hundreds 
of miles inland but easily reachable by short range sub-launched cruise missiles or 
by way of fighter-bomber based in Israel-friendly Kurdistan. While complicated, 
it's not impossible.

Mossad agents launched from these same subs can also land and attempt to murder 
Iranian technicians and engineeers as a further assualt on Iranian energy soveightry.  
I beleive  Israel is close to doing something like, especially if US continues to delay 
it's own military assault for it's stated goal of conintuned diplomacy.

Possible attack targets, all in urban areas:
#Ishfahen, a medium sized city, has a yellow-cake plant that is the first part of the fuel 
production and enrichment process.
#Arak location of both a heavy-water facility (heavy water is used to produce nuclear
bombs but is also used in heavy-water reactors, like the CANDU developed in Canada.
Arak also has a research reactor that will become active in 2014. It is of the type used
by Pakistan to develop it's first nucelar bomb.
#Lavizan and  Natanz major research facilities and fuel enrichment and research facilities.

One of the very scary scenerios is "Iranian anger unleashed". What Iran would do 
in retaliation not so much against Israel, but against imperialist interests around the 
world. I think the world should be scared about what Israel, in it's arrogence, might 
unleash.

David

From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 23:30:29 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:30:29 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Charlie Chaplin: "Murder is the logical extension of
	business"
Message-ID: <908b689f0806072230n8be6019t1123c8a8d2b82260@mail.gmail.com>

"Monsieur Verdoux," opening Friday for a weeklong run at Film Forum,
is subtitled "A Comedy of Murders," and, as the French critic Andr?
Bazin observed, it turns the Chaplin universe upside down. The
erstwhile tramp is here an honest bank clerk driven to homicide by the
1929 stock market crash. Condemned to death at the movie's end, he
declares his crimes paltry compared with those of Western
civilization: "As a mass killer, I'm an amateur by comparison." [...]

"Von Clausewitz said that war is the logical extension of diplomacy,"
Chaplin told an interviewer. "Verdoux feels that murder is the logical
extension of business." [...]

Full: <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/movies/08hobe.html?ref=movies>


From markalause at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 23:42:05 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:42:05 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <1212896188.5719.28.camel@localhost>
References: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>
	<b42c9ffb0806071952od8493dey682ddd9dd155136d@mail.gmail.com>
	<1212896188.5719.28.camel@localhost>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806072242r2a46720dr3cf1597b45a05a71@mail.gmail.com>

The problem's more complex than this.  The characterizations here
about what "workers" think are grossly oversimplified...indeed, a bit
simplistic.  On this ;point, as much else, you have a society so
historically more prosperous that it cultivated a civic cutlure that
could afford to live in denial.

The question of what different things people might believe is not as
relevant as the fact that enough of them will choose to believe what's
comforting to them despite any evidence to the contrary.

This shouldn't effect our analysis of what is actually happening
though, should it?

"Belief" can be notoriously broad and widespread and very, very thin
at the same time.  Something that can evaporate quickly.

ML


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sat Jun  7 23:59:04 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:59:04 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806072242r2a46720dr3cf1597b45a05a71@mail.gmail.com>
References: <1212757747.484936f324462@mymail.yorku.ca>
	<b42c9ffb0806071952od8493dey682ddd9dd155136d@mail.gmail.com>
	<1212896188.5719.28.camel@localhost>
	<b16d8daf0806072242r2a46720dr3cf1597b45a05a71@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806072259t778bb0efgea03ef3e7488ea7e@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 1:42 AM, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> This shouldn't effect our analysis of what is actually happening
> though, should it?
>
> "Belief" can be notoriously broad and widespread and very, very thin
> at the same time.  Something that can evaporate quickly.

"One of the biggest issues this year is the economic downturn. Shared
distress may trump racial divisions, he said.

"Democrats shouldn't think that things will always be the way they
have been, said Mr. Perlstein, a liberal. "Change does happen," he
said. "And it happens overnight." "

"Where Whites Draw the Line",
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/weekinreview/08mabry.html?ref=weekinreview>


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 00:04:57 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 02:04:57 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Gender-Race Interactions
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0805290803t6dd6efa6s29dcadbd254cd035@mail.gmail.com>
References: <b1e3bff30805272221x13c34715g411413ad1b770156@mail.gmail.com>
	<009701c8c16e$f2b17aa0$160715ac@Nautilus>
	<483E62B5.9226.9EADE3@kmccook.tampabay.rr.com>
	<b16d8daf0805290555o6cda7bd0j58cb0b490eca0594@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0805290623g6a88238cub397a10b69d5d3c5@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0805290803t6dd6efa6s29dcadbd254cd035@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806072304g5204ffb0i2ba5c1b554eda27a@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 11:03 AM, Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ruthless Critic of All that Exists <ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:

>> In the case of Obama: no. I was told he raised most of his money from
>> the Internet in small contributions from a very large number of
>> people. That is highly untraditional (if true).
>>
>
> I think one person or another seems to be saying this about half the
> candidates running ever since Howard Dean.  What this means varies
> with how they might choose to define "small contributions" and "a very
> large number," but we don't have to rely on hearsay...

Noam Cohen has an interesting article about Obama and the
Internet/decentralization in today's New York Times:

'But at the same time, Mr. Obama's notion of persistent improvement,
both of himself and of his country, reflects something newer ? the
collaborative, decentralized principles behind Net projects like
Wikipedia and the "free and open-source software" movement. The
qualities he cited to Time to describe his campaign ? "openness and
transparency and participation" ? were ones he said "merged perfectly"
with the Internet. And they may well be the qualities that make him
the first real "wiki-candidate."

'Wikipedia is the influential online encyclopedia that is in a
constant state of revision, thanks to its tens of thousands of
contributors around the world. There is no single "editor," no
presiding panel of experts for its 2.4 million articles in English.
Indeed, anyone can pick up an article and make changes immediately
("wiki-wiki" is Hawaiian for fast).

'Similarly, open-source software is created by groups working on
"patches," as programmers call them. Anyone can contribute, and the
most useful ideas thrive. A result has been successes like the Linux
operating system and the Firefox Internet browser.

'Yochai Benkler, a Harvard law professor whose book "The Wealth of
Networks" is a manifesto for online collaboration, points out a
crucial difference between Mr. Obama's approach to attracting
supporters and that of his chief rivals. "On the McCain and Clinton
Web sites, there is a transactional screen," Mr. Benkler said. "It is
just about the money. Donate, then we can build the relationship. In
Obama's it's inverted: build the relationship and then donate."

'For this reason there are thousands of people working across the
Internet to build enthusiasm for the campaign, some of it even gently
mocking, like Barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com, a site listing the many
examples of Mr. Obama's magical compassion. ("Barack Obama carries a
picture of you in his wallet"; "Barack Obama thought you could use
some chocolate.")

'For his part, Mr. Obama is quick to take himself out of the
narrative, even as he promises to remake Washington. 'This isn't
simply modesty. It reflects the utopian, community-building vision
central to the Internet. Wikipedia's unpaid collaborators, for
example, hope to "distribute a free encyclopedia to every single
person on the planet in their own language," says the site's
mastermind, Jimmy Wales. So too the thousands of programmers in the
open-source world intend not just to develop a free operating system,
but vanquish Microsoft.

'In this scheme, Mr. Obama's role, at least in the rhetoric, is less
leader than facilitator, a conduit for decentralized collaboration as
described by James Surowiecki in his book "The Wisdom of Crowds." "The
ethos of the Net is fundamentally respectful of and invested in the
idea of collective wisdom, and in some sense is hostile to the idea
that power and authority should belong to a select few," Mr.
Surowiecki wrote.

'This is not to say that open projects always produce the best
results. Thousands of ordinary people having their say can lead to
dubious outcomes. And in politics, particularly at the presidential
level, where decisions affect the lives of millions, the risks can be
great.

'For a candidate, there is always the danger of "making yourself
vulnerable" by "giving participants control of chunks of the
enterprise," Mr. Benkler said. Mr. Obama has to walk a careful line.
It's one thing to help popularize a campaign, quite another to shape
policy. And Mr. Obama's team has been as adamant as any about staying
on message.

'To some extent, however, Mr. Obama has invited policy ideas from
outsiders. Deb Barry, an Obama supporter in New Hampshire, said she
was impressed that the organization she belongs to, Educators for
Obama, had a chance to speak with his education-policy staff members
before the primary there. "I went into that conference call, kind of
with the impression that the purpose was for us to ask questions," she
said. In fact, "they were picking our brains. They had specific
questions they wanted to ask us, and were seeing how we felt about
what had already come out from the campaign."

'Not that Ms. Barry expects to play a direct role in shaping
government policy. "There is a huge limitation about how much contact
someone like me can have with the big decision makers," she said, but
a critical first step is reaching out: "Not just reaching out to
experts, with big titles and degrees after his name, but people with
experience."

'Other online activists are more skeptical about the openness to
outsiders. "The Obama campaign is still very much a top-bottom
operation," Markos Moulitsas Z?niga, of the influential DailyKos Web
site, wrote in an e-mail message. "They've made it very easy for
people to hop on the bandwagon, but those in the back of that wagon
still get no say in where the campaign is going."

'Yes, someone is driving the bandwagon, even if he constantly plays
down his role ? describing himself as a Rorshach image on whom others
project. Even Wikipedia has administrators who monitor the work there,
and open-source projects have their "leaders," who keep them on
course.

'In truth, there is no such thing as purely collective decision
making. As Mr. Surowiecki summed it up in his book: "It has
historically been unusual for change to bubble up from below on its
own. So it is, in fact, more likely that someone will take it on
himself to champion the idea of collective wisdom, and in that way
create the conditions that allow it to flourish. This is paradoxical,
but no more so than the fact that an individual, not a crowd, wrote
'The Wisdom of Crowds.' "  '

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/weekinreview/08cohen.html?ref=weekinreview>


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 01:01:43 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 03:01:43 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The FARC's "dirty bomb"
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0805162006u5934e9bcu78831c88dc27b3ff@mail.gmail.com>
References: <061e01c87e34$ad83bbf0$040ba8c0@albanta>
	<627146.75373.qm@web32407.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<908b689f0805162006u5934e9bcu78831c88dc27b3ff@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806080001y5e8fd76l10cceb0fef64c369@mail.gmail.com>

>> Joaquin Bustelo <jbustelo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>
>> One problem that the U.S. is having with its Colombian sock puppet is that
>> Uribe and his gang are so stupid they don't know when to stop lying.
>>
>> The tales coming out of the supposedly captured rebel computer are so
>> ridiculous and absurd on the face of it that they discredit themselves.

BBC
Colombia 'holds Venezuelan guard'

Colombia says it has arrested a Venezuelan national guard officer who
was trying to deliver assault rifle ammunition to Marxist rebels.

The officer is said to have been captured along with three others in
the southern Colombian province of Vichada, near the border with
Venezuela.

The arrest comes at a time of tension between the two neighbours.

The Bogota government has accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of
supporting Colombia's Farc guerrillas.

Full: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7442264.stm>


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 02:50:38 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 04:50:38 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
In-Reply-To: <484574EB.1090703@panix.com>
References: <484574EB.1090703@panix.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806080150p6d8dfa5cp9e083343517667dc@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 12:44 PM, Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:

> NY Times, June 3, 2008
> In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
> By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
>
> FORTUNA, Spain ? Lush fields of lettuce and hothouses of tomatoes line
> the roads. Verdant new developments of plush pastel vacation homes
> beckon buyers from Britain and Germany. Golf courses ? dozens of them,
> all recently built ? give way to the beach. At last, this hardscrabble
> corner of southeast Spain is thriving.

NY Times
June 7, 2008
Water-Starved California Slows Development
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

PERRIS, Calif. ? As California faces one of its worst droughts in two
decades, building projects are being curtailed for the first time
under state law by the inability of developers to find long-term water
supplies.  [...]

Full: <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/us/07drought.html?em&ex=1213070400&en=ea67aab7561b15f7&ei=5087%0A>


From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au  Sun Jun  8 03:35:16 2008
From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:35:16 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] Green Left - UNITED STATES: Behind the rise of Obama by
	Malik Miah
Message-ID: <484BA7D4.7050409@greenleft.org.au>

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/754/38953


From bauerly at yorku.ca  Sun Jun  8 07:15:01 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:15:01 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] =?iso-8859-1?q?=27Perhaps_60=25_of_today=92s_oil_price_?=
	=?iso-8859-1?q?is_pure_speculation=27?=
Message-ID: <1212930901.484bdb5560619@mymail.yorku.ca>


?Perhaps 60% of today?s oil price is pure speculation?

by F. William Engdahl


Global Research, May 2, 2008


The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation
of supply to demand. It?s controlled by an elaborate financial market system as
well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of
today?s crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and
hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has
to do with control of oil and its price. How?
First, the crucial role of the international oil exchanges in London and New
York is crucial to the game. Nymex in New York and the ICE Futures in London
today control global benchmark oil prices which in turn set most of the freely
traded oil cargo. They do so via oil futures contracts on two grades of crude
oil?West Texas Intermediate and North Sea Brent.
A third rather new oil exchange, the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), trading
Dubai crude, is more or less a daughter of Nymex, with Nymex President, James
Newsome, sitting on the board of DME and most key personnel British or American
citizens.
Brent is used in spot and long-term contracts to value as much of crude oil
produced in global oil markets each day. The Brent price is published by a
private oil industry publication, Platt?s. Major oil producers including Russia
and Nigeria use Brent as a benchmark for pricing the crude they produce. Brent
is a key crude blend for the European market and, to some extent, for Asia.
WTI has historically been more of a US crude oil basket. Not only is it used as
the basis for US-traded oil futures, but it's also a key benchmark for US
production.


?The tail that wags the dog?
All this is well and official. But how today?s oil prices are really determined
is done by a process so opaque only a handful of major oil trading banks such
as Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley have any idea who is buying and who selling
oil futures or derivative contracts that set physical oil prices in this
strange new world of ?paper oil.?
With the development of unregulated international derivatives trading in oil
futures over the past decade or more, the way has opened for the present
speculative bubble in oil prices.
Since the advent of oil futures trading and the two major London and New York
oil futures contracts, control of oil prices has left OPEC and gone to Wall
Street. It is a classic case of the ?tail that wags the dog.?
A June 2006 US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on ?The
Role of Market Speculation in rising oil and gas prices,? noted, ?
there is
substantial evidence supporting the conclusion that the large amount of
speculation in the current market has significantly increased prices.?
What the Senate committee staff documented in the report was a gaping loophole
in US Government regulation of oil derivatives trading so huge a herd of
elephants could walk through it. That seems precisely what they have been doing
in ramping oil prices through the roof in recent months.
The Senate report was ignored in the media and in the Congress.
The report pointed out that the Commodity Futures Trading Trading Commission, a
financial futures regulator, had been mandated by Congress to ensure that
prices on the futures market reflect the laws of supply and demand rather than
manipulative practices or excessive speculation. The US Commodity Exchange Act
(CEA) states, ?Excessive speculation in any commodity under contracts of sale
of such commodity for future delivery . . . causing sudden or unreasonable
fluctuations or unwarranted changes in the price of such commodity, is an undue
and unnecessary burden on interstate commerce in such commodity.?
Further, the CEA directs the CFTC to establish such trading limits ?as the
Commission finds are necessary to diminish, eliminate, or prevent such burden.?
Where is the CFTC now that we need such limits?
They seem to have deliberately walked away from their mandated oversight
responsibilities in the world?s most important traded commodity, oil.
Enron has the last laugh

As that US Senate report noted:
?Until recently, US energy futures were traded exclusively on regulated
exchanges within the United States, like the NYMEX, which are subject to
extensive oversight by the CFTC, including ongoing monitoring to detect and
prevent price manipulation or fraud. In recent years, however, there has been a
tremendous growth in the trading of contracts that look and are structured just
like futures contracts, but which are traded on unregulated OTC electronic
markets. Because of their similarity to futures contracts they are often called
?futures look-alikes.?
The only practical difference between futures look-alike contracts and futures
contracts is that the look-alikes are traded in unregulated markets whereas
futures are traded on regulated exchanges. The trading of energy commodities by
large firms on OTC electronic exchanges was exempted from CFTC oversight by a
provision inserted at the behest of Enron and other large energy traders into
the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 in the waning hours of the
106th Congress.
The impact on market oversight has been substantial. NYMEX traders, for example,
are required to keep records of all trades and report large trades to the CFTC.
These Large Trader Reports, together with daily trading data providing price
and volume information, are the CFTC?s primary tools to gauge the extent of
speculation in the markets and to detect, prevent, and prosecute price
manipulation. CFTC Chairman Reuben Jeffrey recently stated: ?The Commission?s
Large Trader information system is one of the cornerstones of our surveillance
program and enables detection of concentrated and coordinated positions that
might be used by one or more traders to attempt manipulation.?
In contrast to trades conducted on the NYMEX, traders on unregulated OTC
electronic exchanges are not required to keep records or file Large Trader
Reports with the CFTC, and these trades are exempt from routine CFTC oversight.
In contrast to trades conducted on regulated futures exchanges, there is no
limit on the number of contracts a speculator may hold on an unregulated OTC
electronic exchange, no monitoring of trading by the exchange itself, and no
reporting of the amount of outstanding contracts (?open interest?) at the end
of each day.? 1
Then, apparently to make sure the way was opened really wide to potential market
oil price manipulation, in January 2006, the Bush Administration?s CFTC
permitted the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the leading operator of
electronic energy exchanges, to use its trading terminals in the United States
for the trading of US crude oil futures on the ICE futures exchange in London ?
called ?ICE Futures.?
Previously, the ICE Futures exchange in London had traded only in European
energy commodities ? Brent crude oil and United Kingdom natural gas. As a
United Kingdom futures market, the ICE Futures exchange is regulated solely by
the UK Financial Services Authority. In 1999, the London exchange obtained the
CFTC?s permission to install computer terminals in the United States to permit
traders in New York and other US cities to trade European energy commodities
through the ICE exchange.
The CFTC opens the door
Then, in January 2006, ICE Futures in London began trading a futures contract
for
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, a type of crude oil that is produced
and delivered in
the United States. ICE Futures also notified the CFTC that it would be
permitting traders in the United States to use ICE terminals in the United
States to trade its new WTI contract on the ICE Futures London exchange. ICE
Futures as well allowed traders in the United States to trade US gasoline and
heating oil futures on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
Despite the use by US traders of trading terminals within the United States to
trade US oil, gasoline, and heating oil futures contracts, the CFTC has until
today refused to assert any jurisdiction over the trading of these contracts.


Persons within the United States seeking to trade key US energy commodities ? US
crude oil, gasoline, and heating oil futures ? are able to avoid all US market
oversight or reporting requirements by routing their trades through the ICE
Futures exchange in London instead of the NYMEX in New York.
Is that not elegant? The US Government energy futures regulator, CFTC opened the
way to the present unregulated and highly opaque oil futures speculation. It may
just be coincidence that the present CEO of NYMEX, James Newsome, who also sits
on the Dubai Exchange, is a former chairman of the US CFTC. In Washington doors
revolve quite smoothly between private and public posts.
A glance at the price for Brent and WTI futures prices since January 2006
indicates the remarkable correlation between skyrocketing oil prices and the
unregulated trade in ICE oil futures in US markets. Keep in mind that ICE
Futures in London is owned and controlled by a USA company based in Atlanta
Georgia.
In January 2006 when the CFTC allowed the ICE Futures the gaping exception, oil
prices were trading in the range of $59-60 a barrel. Today some two years later
we see prices tapping $120 and trend upwards. This is not an OPEC problem, it is
a US Government regulatory problem of malign neglect.
By not requiring the ICE to file daily reports of large trades of energy
commodities, it is not able to detect and deter price manipulation. As the
Senate report noted, ?The CFTC's ability to detect and deter energy price
manipulation is suffering from critical information gaps, because traders on
OTC electronic exchanges and the London ICE Futures are currently exempt from
CFTC reporting requirements. Large trader reporting is also essential to
analyze the effect of speculation on energy prices.?
The report added, ?ICE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and
other evidence indicate that its over-the-counter electronic exchange performs a
price discovery function -- and thereby affects US energy prices -- in the cash
market for the energy commodities traded on that exchange.?
Hedge Funds and Banks driving oil prices
In the most recent sustained run-up in energy prices, large financial
institutions, hedge funds, pension funds, and other investors have been pouring
billions of dollars into the energy commodities markets to try to take advantage
of price changes or hedge against them. Most of this additional investment has
not come from producers or consumers of these commodities, but from speculators
seeking to take advantage of these price changes. The CFTC defines a speculator
as a person who ?does not produce or use the commodity, but risks his or her
own capital trading futures in that commodity in hopes of making a profit on
price changes.?
The large purchases of crude oil futures contracts by speculators have, in
effect, created an
additional demand for oil, driving up the price of oil for future delivery in
the same manner that additional demand for contracts for the delivery of a
physical barrel today drives up the price for oil on the spot market. As far as
the market is concerned, the demand for a barrel of oil that results from the
purchase of a futures contract by a speculator is just as real as the demand
for a barrel that results from the purchase of a futures contract by a refiner
or other user of petroleum.
Perhaps 60% of oil prices today pure speculation
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley today are the two leading energy trading firms
in the United States. Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase are major players and fund
numerous hedge funds as well who speculate.
In June 2006, oil traded in futures markets at some $60 a barrel and the Senate
investigation estimated that some $25 of that was due to pure financial
speculation. One analyst estimated in August 2005 that US oil inventory levels
suggested WTI crude prices should be around $25 a barrel, and not $60.
That would mean today that at least $50 to $60 or more of today?s $115 a barrel
price is due to pure hedge fund and financial institution speculation. However,
given the unchanged equilibrium in global oil supply and demand over recent
months amid the explosive rise in oil futures prices traded on Nymex and ICE
exchanges in New York and London it is more likely that as much as 60% of the
today oil price is pure speculation. No one knows officially except the tiny
handful of energy trading banks in New York and London and they certainly
aren?t talking.
By purchasing large numbers of futures contracts, and thereby pushing up futures
prices to even higher levels than current prices, speculators have provided a
financial incentive for oil companies to buy even more oil and place it in
storage. A refiner will purchase extra oil today, even if it costs $115 per
barrel, if the futures price is even higher.
As a result, over the past two years crude oil inventories have been steadily
growing, resulting in US crude oil inventories that are now higher than at any
time in the previous eight years. The large influx of speculative investment
into oil futures has led to a situation where we have both high supplies of
crude oil and high crude oil prices.
Compelling evidence also suggests that the oft-cited geopolitical, economic, and
natural factors do not explain the recent rise in energy prices can be seen in
the actual data on crude oil supply and demand. Although demand has
significantly increased over the past few years, so have supplies.
Over the past couple of years global crude oil production has increased along
with the increases in demand; in fact, during this period global supplies have
exceeded demand, according to the US Department of Energy. The US Department of
Energy?s Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently forecast that in the
next few years global surplus production capacity will continue to grow to
between 3 and 5 million barrels per day by 2010, thereby ?substantially
thickening the surplus capacity cushion.?
Dollar and oil link
A common speculation strategy amid a declining USA economy and a falling US
dollar is for speculators and ordinary investment funds desperate for more
profitable investments amid the US securitization disaster, to take futures
positions selling the dollar ?short? and oil ?long.?
For huge US or EU pension funds or banks desperate to get profits following the
collapse in earnings since August 2007 and the US real estate crisis, oil is
one of the best ways to get huge speculative gains. The backdrop that supports
the current oil price bubble is continued unrest in the Middle East, in Sudan,
in Venezuela and Pakistan and firm oil demand in China and most of the world
outside the US. Speculators trade on rumor, not fact.
In turn, once major oil companies and refiners in North America and EU countries
begin to hoard oil, supplies appear even tighter lending background support to
present prices.
Because the over-the-counter (OTC) and London ICE Futures energy markets are
unregulated, there are no precise or reliable figures as to the total dollar
value of recent spending on investments in energy commodities, but the
estimates are consistently in the range of tens of billions of dollars.
The increased speculative interest in commodities is also seen in the increasing
popularity of commodity index funds, which are funds whose price is tied to the
price of a basket of various commodity futures. Goldman Sachs estimates that
pension funds and mutual funds have invested a total of approximately $85
billion in commodity index funds, and that investments in its own index, the
Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI), has tripled over the past few years.
Notable is the fact that the US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, is former
Chairman of Goldman Sachs.
F. William Engdahl is an Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization
(CRG) and author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New
World Order. He may be contacted at info at engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net




From bauerly at yorku.ca  Sun Jun  8 07:18:36 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:18:36 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Soros: Skyrocketing Oil Prices a Bubble
Message-ID: <1212931116.484bdc2c19910@mymail.yorku.ca>

Soros: Skyrocketing Oil Prices a Bubble
 Veteran investor George Soros, in an interview with the Telegraph, describes
speculation as a significant factor in the recent spike in oil prices. However,
he doesn't expect prices to break until there are signs of economic weakening.
Later in the post, I'll provide some information that suggests how traditional
supply/demand forces could have been swamped by the volume of futures trading.

First, from the Telegraph:
Speculators are largely responsible for driving crude prices to their peaks in
recent weeks and the record oil price now looks like a bubble, George Soros has
warned....

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Soros said that although the weak
dollar, ebbing Middle Eastern supply and record Chinese demand could explain
some of the increase in energy prices, the crude oil market had been
significantly affected by speculation.

"Speculation... is increasingly affecting the price," he said. "The price has
this parabolic shape which is characteristic of bubbles," he said.

The comments are significant, not only because Mr Soros is the world's most
prominent hedge fund investor but also because many experts have claimed
speculation is only a minor factor affecting crude prices....

However, Mr Soros warned that the oil bubble would not burst until both the US
and Britain were in recession, after which prices could fall dramatically.

"You can also anticipate that [the bubble] will eventually correct but that is
unlikely to happen before the recession actually reduces the demand.

"The rise in the price of oil and food is going to weigh and aggravate the
recession."....

He said: "The dislocations will be greater [than in the 1970s] because you also
have the implications of the house price decline, which you didn't have in the
1970s."

The warning undermines predictions that Britain will suffer only a brief and
relatively painless recession, unlike the precipitous dives of previous years.

Mr Soros also warned that the Bank's inflation report represents a "Faustian
pact", obliging it to keep interest rates high to control inflation, even as
the economy is starting to slump.

"You had the nice decade," he said. "Now that is over and you are in a
straitjacket."

Now let's consider how Soros' argument might be correct. In general, the notion
that spot prices accurately reflect supply an demand is a bit overdone. As
Matthew Simmons noted in 1998:
In our opinion
prices over the short-term tell us nothing about the supply and
demand fundamentals for oil. Rather than being a perfect indicator for the
fundamentals, price is a perfect indicator for the psychology of a small number
of funds.

There are two arguments made against the speculation thesis. One is arbitrage:
if oil was too high, someone would go short the future and buy oil in the cash
market cheaper, and earn the arbitrage profit.

The problem with that logic is that price discovery happens in the futures
markets; there isn't another venue for setting the price and thus arbitraging
it against futures. Worse, a substantial amount of that trading is either over
the counter (hence not reported to US futures regulators) or on the ICE
exchange in London (ditto).

The two most important visible markets are NYMEX and ICE, and far and away the
two most important types of crude (in terms of price discovery and setting
global prices) are West Texas Intermediate and North Sea Brent. A June 2006 US
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on ?The Role of Market
Speculation in rising oil and gas prices,? found:

there is substantial evidence supporting the conclusion that the large amount
of speculation in the current market has significantly increased prices....

Until recently, US energy futures were traded exclusively on regulated exchanges
within the United States, like the NYMEX, which are subject to extensive
oversight by the CFTC, including ongoing monitoring to detect and prevent price
manipulation or fraud. In recent years, however, there has been a tremendous
growth in the trading of contracts that look and are structured just like
futures contracts, but which are traded on unregulated OTC electronic markets.
Because of their similarity to futures contracts they are often called ?futures
look-alikes.?

The only practical difference between futures look-alike contracts and futures
contracts is that the look-alikes are traded in unregulated markets whereas
futures are traded on regulated exchanges. The trading of energy commodities by
large firms on OTC electronic exchanges was exempted from CFTC oversight by a
provision inserted at the behest of Enron ....

The impact on market oversight has been substantial. NYMEX traders, for example,
are required to keep records of all trades and report large trades to the CFTC.
These Large Trader Reports, together with daily trading data providing price
and volume information, are the CFTC?s primary tools to gauge the extent of
speculation....

In contrast to trades conducted on the NYMEX, traders on unregulated OTC
electronic exchanges are not required to keep records or file Large Trader
Reports with the CFTC, and these trades are exempt from routine CFTC oversight.
In contrast to trades conducted on regulated futures exchanges, there is no
limit on the number of contracts a speculator may hold on an unregulated OTC
electronic exchange, no monitoring of trading by the exchange itself, and no
reporting of the amount of outstanding contracts (?open interest?) at the end
of each day.

ICE started trading WTI futures (and provided screen in the US) which meant that
WTI trading was increasingly unsupervised by the CFTC. As the Senate report
noted,
ICE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other evidence
indicate that its over-the-counter electronic exchange performs a price
discovery function -- and thereby affects US energy prices -- in the cash
market for the energy commodities traded on that exchange.

Moreover, the 2006 report found that $25 of the then $60 a barrel price was due
to speculation, based oil inventory levels.

In recent testimony before Congress, Mike Masters discussed at some length how,
via the so-called Swaps Loophole, futures transactions on exchanges by
financial players, which ought to be listed as speculators (anyone other than a
commercial buyer or seller is "non-commercial") are instead classified as
commercials. Thus even the trading under the CFTC's surveillance is categorized
incorrectly.

Now let's look at the price discovery question. Derivatives markets can
supersede cash markets because it's more convenient to trade there. And we have
examples in other markets of derivative prices distorting price formation in the
cash markets.

Exhibit A is the credit default swaps markets. Estimates vary, but at $62
trillion, the amount of CDS is believed to be roughly ten times in aggregate
the amount of cash bonds (some names have much bigger multiples of CDS written
on them than others). This year, corporate bond issuers, even AAA rated ones
like General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway, have raised fund at costs over
the risk free rate that seem wildly high. Why? Disruption in the credit default
swaps markets due to a shortage of protection writers and blow-ups in
correlation models. It's generally agreed that the resulting price in the cash
markets are "wrong" but guess what? Via arbitrage, the CDS price drives the
cash market price.

Now remember, the CDS is ten times as big as the cash bond market. The Nattering
Naybob was so kind as to do the math on the size of a futures contract relative
to the underlying physical trading. Remember, you can arbitrage futures to
physical only if you are permitted to do so (only certain traders, known to
have access to the storage and transport, are allowed to take or make physical
delivery) and can actually obtain the relevant commodity:
Global Oil Production 2007 is 85.6 million barrels PER DAY.. times 365 = 31.244
Billion per year...The amount of Brent on ICE is only a small portion of the
whole.

Considering EIA estimates, total European oil production for 2007 of which the
bulk of Brent originates from is 5.426 million barrels per day times 365 days =
1.980 billion barrels per year.

Now divide 57 billion ICE Brent contracts by 1.980 billion barrels and the price
leverage is 28.78 to 1.

NOTE: The price of Brent as traded on the International Commodities Exchange is
predicated on barrels of Brent for delivery at Sullom Voe.

Brent crude is a blend of oil from several fields in the northern part of the
North Sea, including Ninian and the Brent field itself.

Sullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in
Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal.

Oil is pumped to Sullom Voe via the Brent and Ninian pipelines. Crude from the
Schiehallion and Clair fields are also exported from Sullom Voe.

According to a Bloomberg article,

"Brent exports from Sullom Voe peaked in 1985 at about 1.2 million barrels a
day."

2007, estimated total oil exports from the UK, which includes Sullom Voe:

616 million barrels divided into 57 billion virtual barrels = 92.4 to 1 pricing
leverage.

Consider: this is only the volume trading on exchanges. It does not include the
amount traded OTC, which is considered to be significant.

The argument against the notion that oil prices are distorted (which clearly is
possible given the weight of money in the futures market versus the actual
value of the physical commodity traded) is that if prices were too high, you'd
see physical hoarding of the commodity.

Consider where the mystery inventory might be:
1. Given the speed of the run-up, there may be a delay in hoarding taking place
(real world buyers and sellers may have thought prices would fall back, as they
did for a bit earlier this year).

2. Tankers full of Iranian crude are floating around the Gulf. Admittedly, this
is nasty, less preferred crude, but it is still in surplus

3. The Chinese are very secretive, and known to be stockpiling diesel, and
possibly crude as well to prevent any embarrassing outages before and during
the Olympics. According to Xinhua, China's oil and oil derivative products
growth 1Q 2008 versus 2007 is well ahead of GDP growth of 10.6%.:
China's net imports of crude oil was 44.95 million tonnes in the first quarter,
up 14.9 percent, and net imports of oil products rose by 31.8 percent from a
year ago to 5.47 million tonnes, according to General Administration of
Customs. China's imports of diesel in the first quarter surged over 600 percent
to 1.66 million tonnes and the imports of gasoline, rose by nearly twice to
76,654 tonnes.

The article also noted:
Deng Yusong, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State
Council, said that abnormal needs boosted by below-cost prices of refined oil
products controlled by the central government over concerns of the country's
rising CPI is another major reason contributing to the country's surging oil
consumption.

In other words, domestic players suspect that the government will have to raise
oil prices and are moving their purchases forward.

4. The IEA only counts primary inventory as inventory. Anything else is demand:
Demand is total inland deliveries plus refinery fuels and bunkers minus
backflows from the petro-chemicals sector. It is thus equivalent to oil
consumption plus any secondary and tertiary stock increases.

Further note how narrow the definition of primary stock is:
Unless stated otherwise, all stocks included in the report are primary. They
include stocks held in refineries, natural gas processing plants, oil terminals
and entrep?ts (where these are known), pipelines and stocks held on board
incoming ocean vessels in port or at mooring.

Thus any end user inventory, which is one place you might see hoarding, would
not be included as inventories.

5. Finally, some suppliers may simply be choosing not to pump. Some readers and
commentors have provided anecdotal evidence, and James Hamilton in his new
paper also provided some quotes from the Saudis and Kuwatis along those lines.
A reader gave the logic:
It is being left in the ground.

For over a hundred years the oil industry has been building out a huge
infrastructure for mining, transporting, refining and distributing oil and its
associated products.

It doesn?t make much sense to add to this infrastructure, if we?ve reached the
peak of physical throughput. Going forward, refining capacity will probably
move closer to the source of crude, and more of the transport will be devoted
to moving of product. But, that prospective shift is a detail.

There?s no accumulation of speculative inventories in the refining and
distribution chain, because there?s no slack in that chain, and won?t be any,
because, looking forward, creating such slack makes no sense.

The only way to ?hoard? oil effectively in these circumstances, is to delay oil
production from fields with low marginal unit cost, while shifting production
to fields or sources with high marginal unit costs. This conserves the expected
rents, in a balanced way. That is, those with low marginal cost oil to produce
see their wealth rising, while those with quasi-rents on infrastructure are
protected.




From sartesian at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 07:50:19 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:50:19 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>
	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
Message-ID: <064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Clearly, I do not subscribe to peak oil theories.  Never have, never
will.  But if the theory is thought to explain current oil price
movements, can the theory answer these questions:

1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his bell
curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
copper?  tin?

2. Fair warning:  before answering (1)-- one of Hubbert's initial
studies was on the coming shortage of.... coal.

3. Prices for copper have doubled and tripled from "historic norms" over
the past few years: is this evidence of a coming shortage of copper?
And gold?  Are we now facing a looming shortage of gold?

4. Peak oil theory is based on a correlation of reserves to output-- 
with declining (or in JB's case--flat) output the product of depleted
reserves-- yet  several countries show  production has declined while
"normal" "usual" reserves (excluding super-heavy, shale, and sand based
reserves) have increased.  Venezuela being the most obvious case.  Prior
to OPEC 1, Venezuela was the world's largest producer.  Production rates
declined over the 70s and 80s while usual reserves of light crude
doubled.

5. As a subset of  (4)--Actual production histories show that reserves,
actual reserves as defined by the SEC-- a quantity of oil that can be
produced in a defined period of time (usually 20-30 years), with
existing technology, and at a profit-- increase as production increases.
Peak oil theorists significantly revised their estimates of reserves
upwards during the 1990s.   How then, given the restrictions on capital
expenditure by the oil companies, and targeting of expenditures  on
development rather than exploration (thus limiting the identification of
new reserves), are we now certain that  this, 2008, is the peak?

6. If, has been proven, advanced technologies-- seismic imaging,
horizontal drilling, computer assisted exploration and production-- 
increase reserve estimates and maintain the life of fields long after
peak theorists predicted their end (North Sea fields being the case  in
point), why are further advances in technology incapable of repeating
this extension?

7. If, has been proven, current technologies are capable of  extracting
usable grade petroleum from super-heavy sources-- Athabasca, Orinoco-- 
why are the super-heavy reserves not included in peak oil theory
calculations?   If the answer is cost-- then that is no answer to the
peak oil theory which argues on depletion of the available, limited,
resource.   Cost is a social product, not a natural one.

8. If historically dramatic changes in oil prices have served to
redistribute profits, as in OPEC 1 and OPEC 2, and have served the
interests of the ruling strata of the ruling class (and clearly this has
been the case) economically (recycling petro-dollars, reducing standards
of living, driving austerity forward, etc.) and socially (placing the
Soviets under tremendous pressure), why are these price increases
different? (Sounds like one of the Passover questions, doesn't it?).

9. I thank all for their indulgence on this matter, and promise to
refrain from further argument on peak oil theory.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  8 08:14:25 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:14:25 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com>
	<08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>
	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
Message-ID: <20080608141421.CDAA4143E5@mailbackend.panix.com>

Sartesian wrote:
>7. If, has been proven, current technologies are capable of  extracting
>usable grade petroleum from super-heavy sources-- Athabasca, Orinoco--
>why are the super-heavy reserves not included in peak oil theory
>calculations?   If the answer is cost-- then that is no answer to the
>peak oil theory which argues on depletion of the available, limited,
>resource.   Cost is a social product, not a natural one.

I am no expert on "peak oil" but cost is definitely part of the 
calculation, as far as I know. The theory is not based the 
disappearance of oil but of *cheap* oil.

THE END OF CHEAP OIL

by Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherr?re,
Scientific American, March 1998

 From an economic perspective, when the world runs completely out of 
oil is thus not directly relevant: what matters is when production 
begins to taper off. Beyond that point, prices will rise unless 
demand declines commensurately.

full: http://dieoff.org/page140.htm




From lasainte at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 08:49:51 2008
From: lasainte at earthlink.net (La Sainte)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:49:51 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <6033010.1212936591752.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>





1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his bell
curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
copper?  tin?

Oil is not a mineral like copper and gold. It is the advanced stage of decomposed organic matter. Therefore, the source is limited. We are running out of oil.


Cherie




From jonflanders at jflan.net  Sun Jun  8 09:07:44 2008
From: jonflanders at jflan.net (Jon Flanders)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:07:44 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <6033010.1212936591752.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
References: <6033010.1212936591752.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <1212937664.5108.29.camel@localhost>


On Sun, 2008-06-08 at 09:49 -0500, La Sainte wrote:
> 1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his
> bell
> curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
> mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
> copper?  tin?

Yes, of course, its just that the peak is further out. At the rate coal
is being burned for electricity, if we don't fry the planet it may run
out sooner than we think. There's plenty of information on this out
there.
> 
> Oil is not a mineral like copper and gold. It is the advanced stage of
> decomposed organic matter. Therefore, the source is limited. We are
> running out of oil.

Coal is also a form of organic matter.

For an amusing look at the industry financed, constantly quoted in the
NY Times"expert' Daniel Yergin and his think tank, see:
http://home.entouch.net/dmd/cera.htm

He is finally predicting higher crude oil prices, so perhaps a big price
decline is due. Its amazing that companies actually spend big bucks for
his information, but perhaps its to do the opposite of what he
advocates. 

Jon Flanders




From bauerly at yorku.ca  Sun Jun  8 09:37:19 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:37:19 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] More on oil speculation
Message-ID: <1212939439.484bfcaf340d3@mymail.yorku.ca>

Speculators inflating commodity bubble?

Nick Massey
The Edmond Sun

EDMOND ? Before backing off, crude oil recently hit the $135 per barrel and some
analysts now see $200 oil as a real possibility. I do as well, although not
until late 2009 or so and not until after some type of meaningful correction
near term. Meanwhile, food riots have broken out across the globe as millions
of people effectively have been pulled back below the poverty line due to
soaring costs for basic necessities.

Whenever prices of anything have gone up dramatically, many people are ready to
blame it on ?speculators.? While speculators may have some short-term effect on
prices, most investment professionals, including myself, largely discount such
notions. In a free and liquid market, it would be difficult for speculators to
have that much influence. However, recently I came across evidence that
suggests it might actually be true.

Research has shown that commodities go through typical boom and bust cycles
every 29 to 30 years and reaches extremes in the late stages of this cycle. The
last peak was in 1980. But today, something new has entered the picture.
Commodity indexing has created an enormous source of new demand from large
institutional investors that has absorbed much of the market?s liquidity. It is
this new breed of broad commodity index funds that allocate blindly to all
sectors ? as well as the popular gold, oil, and other specialized ETFs ? that
have increasingly fueled this bubble as much as the industrialization of China
and the developing world.

In testimony before the U.S. Senate recently, hedge fund manager Michael Masters
offers the best commentary on the commodities bubble that I have seen to date.
In essence, Masters pointed out that commodity prices have increased more
during the past five years than at any other time in U.S. history. Commodity
price spikes have occurred in the past as a result of supply crises, such as
during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. But unlike previous spikes, supply is ample.
There are no lines at the gas pump and there is plenty of food on the shelves.

We are experiencing a demand shock coming from a new category of participants in
the commodities futures markets: Institutional investors. Specifically, these
are corporate and government pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, university
endowments and other institutional investors. Together, these investors now
account for a larger share of outstanding commodity futures contracts than any
other market participant.

Why is this a big deal? Traditional speculators provide liquidity by both buying
and selling futures. Index speculators buy futures and then roll their positions
forward. In other words, they never sell. Therefore, they consume liquidity
instead of providing it. While the commodities markets always have had
speculators, never before have major investment institutions seriously
considered the commodities futures markets as viable for larger scale
investment programs.

The most popular explanation for rising oil prices is the increased demand from
China. According to the Department of Energy, annual Chinese demand for
petroleum has increased in the past five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8
billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels. In the same five-year
period, Index Speculators? demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848
million barrels. In other words, they have almost created another China in
terms of demand. Do you think that might have an effect on prices?

In fact, Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the
equivalent of 1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as
much oil to their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve in the past five years.

According to Masters, the same situation exists with food prices. Food prices
have skyrocketed in the past six months. Economists typically focus on the
diversion of a significant portion of the U.S. corn crop to ethanol production
as part of the rise in prices. What they overlook is the fact that
Institutional Investors have purchased more than 2 billion bushels of corn
futures in the past five years. Right now, Index Speculators have stockpiled
enough corn futures to potentially fuel the entire United States ethanol
industry at full capacity for a year.

Index Speculators? trading strategies amount to virtual hoarding via the
commodities futures markets. What if someone came up with a way for investors
to buy large amounts of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices in order to
profit from the resulting increase in prices, making these essential items
unaffordable to sick and dying people? Society would be outraged. Where is the
outrage about the fact that people all across the world must pay drastically
more to feed their families, fuel their cars and heat their homes?

Traditional speculators go buy and sell and sometimes take physical possession
in the end, thus providing liquidity to the real commercial users of the
commodities and providing a useful service. The indexers do just the opposite.
Rather than provide liquidity, they compete for it. And their insensitivity to
price and supply/demand factors compounds the problem.

This clearly has helped fuel the commodity bubble, but it does not mean that we
should expect an imminent crash. A correction of some sort is likely near term,
but when and how much is anyone?s guess. As Lord Keynes famously said, ?markets
can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.?

This level of speculation, greater than in the 1970s, almost guarantees that
this bubble will become more parabolic in the next year or so and will create
extremes that ultimately will force both a major correction in the U.S. and
global equity markets and a global downturn. When this bull market in
commodities finally cracks, look out below. Thanks for reading.





From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  8 10:25:41 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:25:41 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Oil speculation--what's new?
Message-ID: <20080608162537.87E6BE4D0@mailbackend.panix.com>

The Herald (Glasgow), May 27, 2004

Speculators keep up pressure on oil price

A FRESH round of speculation helped drive up crude oil prices 
yesterday as prospects of rising output from the Opec cartel failed 
to deter petroleum bulls.

US crude prices jumped by around 11 cents to $ 41.25 a barrel on the 
New York Mercantile Exchange after a 58-cent drop on Tuesday. In 
London, North Sea Brent rose by 10 cents to $ 37.54 a barrel.

Heavy buying by highly speculative investment funds has driven oil 
prices up 27% this year on growing demand, supply security fears, and 
a tight US petrol situation ahead of the summer driving season that 
begins this weekend.

Oil analysts in London and New York said prices have failed to 
respond to Saudi Arabia's pledge to raise production sharply next 
month and pump at full capacity if necessary.

----

The Independent (London), October 9, 2000, Monday

OIL PREDICTED TO FALL SHARPLY TO $ 22

THE PRICE of oil is likely to fall sharply, boosting world economic 
growth, according to a report published this morning. The recent 
climb in prices to a 10-year high of $ 37.20 late last month was due 
to speculation, say economists at ING Barings. They predict a decline 
to $ 22 a barrel and below next year.

Last week saw a significant fall in prices as the United States began 
to release oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The benchmark 
Brent price was close to $ 30 on Friday.




From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 10:30:33 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 12:30:33 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <6033010.1212936591752.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
References: <6033010.1212936591752.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806080930p2995bc49nfc92a4d9355981ab@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 10:49 AM, La Sainte <lasainte at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his bell
> curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
> mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
> copper?  tin?
>
> Oil is not a mineral like copper and gold. It is the advanced stage of decomposed organic matter. Therefore, the source is limited. We are running out of oil.

I'm not sure I understand -- what does something being organic or
inorganic in origin have to do with how limited its source is? If you
mean that new oil is not being created, well, new minerals are also
not being created. Chemical elements can transform into one another
only in exceptional situations (e.g. nuclear reactions in the interior
of stars) but not otherwise. The organic/inorganic distinction seems
hardly relevant here.


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 11:20:11 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 10:20:11 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
Subject: [Marxism] PL: France: Marches Against Bush
Message-ID: <1658160.1212945611727.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

France: Marches Against Bush

Paris, Jun 8 (Prensa Latina) Leftwing parties, trade unions
and social organizations in France will make demonstrations
in the entire national territory against the upcoming visit
of US President George W. Bush.

Bush will be received by his French counterpart Nicolas
Sarkozy on Friday and Saturday, in a working meeting, 
where they will discuss international and common topics.

A communique signed by 30 organizations pointed out this
will be the occasion to express the popular rejection to
Bush s warlike policy, just like it is done in the US and
the rest of the world.

The text is expressing discomfort by the catastrophes
generated by the US interventions in other countries.

"The consequences of the war in the Middle East are misery,
corruption, terrorism, millions of civil victims and
destroyed countries," the document said.

The signatories of the document asked for the removal of
the US Army from these countries and the respect for the
rights of the peoples.

The organizations also reiterate that France should not
join the US and become a carrier of the demand that the
French people expressed in the demonstrations against the
war in 2003.

"We want to finish with the imperialistic looting, to build
a world of peace, solidarity and justice based on the
international cooperation," the official statement
concludes.

The letter is signed by the Revolutionary Communist League,
the French Communist Party, the Greens, Generation
Palestine, movement against Racism and for the Freedom of
the Towns and the Women Organization for Equality, among
other groups.

ef tac mbz

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From lasainte at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 11:32:16 2008
From: lasainte at earthlink.net (La Sainte)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 12:32:16 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
Message-ID: <16146460.1212946336433.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hybrid.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

First of all, the earth is roughly 4.5 billion years old. It has a diameter of about 8,000 miles. Minerals were formed when the earth was formed. Therefore, minerals can be found throughout the earth's interior, the lighter minerals (my guess) tending to be closer to the surface.

Life did not come on the scene in abundance until .5 billion years ago (the Cambrian Period). Because all life has existed on the surface (land and water), all decomposed (oil and coal) organic matter will not be found more than a few miles into the earth, even if we include the results of post-Cambrian tectonic plate shifting (earthquakes). The deepest oil well to date is 7 miles. Even if at some point oil is discovered 50 or even 100 miles below the surface, not only would the extracting be very, very expensive, it still does not compare to the almost limitless abundance of most minerals. 


Cherie  


>
>On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 10:49 AM, La Sainte <lasainte at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> 1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his bell
>> curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
>> mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
>> copper?  tin?
>>
>> Oil is not a mineral like copper and gold. It is the advanced stage of decomposed organic matter. Therefore, the source is limited. We are running out of oil.
>
>I'm not sure I understand -- what does something being organic or
>inorganic in origin have to do with how limited its source is? If you
>mean that new oil is not being created, well, new minerals are also
>not being created. Chemical elements can transform into one another
>only in exceptional situations (e.g. nuclear reactions in the interior
>of stars) but not otherwise. The organic/inorganic distinction seems
>hardly relevant here.
>



From jbustelo at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 11:42:29 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 13:42:29 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>

Ruthless wrote or quoted: "This table lists the top donors to this
candidate (Obama) in the 2008 election cycle." which prompted I think
it was Ruthless to comment that this was "odd" because it included the
University of California.

Here is the skinny on this. There are a variety of liberal web sites
pretty much peddling the same data, all extracted from FEC filings,
which are online. The data is presented in such a way as to make it
seem that the money is coming from the groups listed.

THAT IS A LIE. NOT ONE, I repeat, NOT ONE CENT is going to ANY
candidate from ANY of the organizations, corporations, universities
and so on that are listed. That would be a federal offense, and BOTH
the contributor AND the recipient would be liable for the violation.
(I *believe* corporate funds are allowed to finance certain
*operations* of PAC's, like soliciting employees to join, but NOT the
contributions themselves).

SOME of the money is coming from PACs (Political Action Committees)
associated with the given corporations. These moneys originate with
stockholders and employees of the given corporation *not corporate
funds.* Contributions to these PACs are (supposedly) completely
voluntary.

Corporate PAC's very often contribute to BOTH bourgeois candidates in
a general election, and to several in a primary. With the
contributions a matter of public record, you don't want to take the
risk of being seen as hostile to whoever may be the next
Congresscritter from your district, senator or president.

Which is not to say that many corporate PAC's and the circles that
comprise them don't take sides. They do, but that is more likely to be
reflected in, for example, a pattern of contribution to socalled
leadership PACs set up by congressmen, senators and others,
contributions to various sectoral or ideological PACs, individual
contributions and so on. PAC's contribute to each other in addition to
parties and campaigns, and there are literally thousands of PAC's, so
despite the claims about campaign finance laws, bourgeois interests
still have plenty of ways to launder their contributions. This means
that determining, for example, who the top financial circles in Wall
Street are really backing (if they have a preference) and how much
money they have sent the way of their preferred candidate is not
really possible without insider information.

As for the publicly available data, analyzing the pattern of
contributions has to be done fairly and conscientiously. MANY
corporate PAC's in the current "election cycle" will show up as having
made more contributions to Democrats than Republicans, quite simply
because the primary race in the Republican camp was over quickly, and
involved only a fraction of the money that was spent in the Democrat
contest. A conclusion that Corporations have "swung to the Democrats"
on this basis would be unwarranted.

In addition, the main component of the figures being reported are
those contributions made by individuals employed by those institutions
or corporations. The argument these is that these individual
contributions are also an attempt to buy favorable treatment for the
entity involved from government officials. Since the limit of a given
PAC's contribution to one candidate in the primaries and general
election is $5,000, the big majority of the funds attributed to
corporations aren't coming from them, but from individuals employed by
them. This highlights the importance of "bundlers," fund-raising
people who work different sectors of the bourgeoisie and upper middle
class, and are the backbone of most campaign fund raising.

These individuals often do represent "special interests" but which
money came from which bundler is not reported, only the individual
donor, not who was the intermediary that obtained the donation. But
the campaigns and candidates certainly know what interests backed them
heavily. The implicit idea of the liberal web sites that analyze
donation patterns is that the main interest being represented is
corporate -- and even of the typical campaign that isn't necessarily
100% true all the time.

However, when you have 1.5 million individual donors, as the Obama
campaign has, meaning about 3% of the Democratic Party voters in the
last couple of presidential elections, and perhaps 5% of more of the
hard-core  Democratic Party voter base, the identification of donors
representing the interests of their employers or sectors really breaks
down. And this can be seen in that several large universities are
listed as among the top sources of contributions for Obama, and almost
certainly this did not represent the fruit of an organized campaign
organized by the bourgeois sectors or elements involved in the given
institution. But more generally, Obama's campaign fund raising
advantage has come overwhelmingly from individual contributions over
the Internet, and Obama has placed qualitatively less effort into
traditional fund raising than other candidates and especially Clinton
-- the banquets and other private events where big $ bundlers, and
their lieutenants, interact with the candidate, so the future
officeholder can know who her or his friends are, i.e., what interests
s/he is beholden to.

What the data compiled by the liberal web sites show is that campaign
contributions to Obama are coming from many of the same kinds of
people as usually contribute to campaigns, especially highly
privileged professionals. But an unusually large amount is coming from
smaller contributors (<$200) who are not included in these
calculations. I have seen the claim, but am not sure whether it was
for a given period or overall, that more than half of Obama's funding
has come in contributions of less than $200. And even for the larger
contributions, the evidence suggests a much higher proportion of them
are coming directly from the individuals rather than through the
traditional route of influence-peddling bundlers (finance committee
chairs and members).

Joaquin


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  8 11:58:38 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:58:38 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Mongol
Message-ID: <20080608175834.9786F19922@mailbackend.panix.com>

When I got an invitation to the premiere of "Mongol-Part One", the 
new film about Genghis Khan playing in theaters everywhere as they 
say, I jumped at the opportunity since it would give me exactly the 
excuse I needed to read Jack Weatherford's 2004 "Genghis Khan and the 
Making of the Modern World". After seeing the film, I can happily 
report that even if the movie was not a joy to watch (which it is) it 
jibes with the Weatherford's version of the great Mongol conqueror.

Weatherford, an anthropologist at Macalaster College in St. Paul, 
Minnesota, has devoted himself to challenging prejudices about the 
"savage" and showing their contributions to historical progress. 
Arguably, Genghis Khan is the most stunning example of this ever 
seen. As Weatherford puts it in the introduction to his book:

"The only permanent structures Genghis Khan erected were bridges. 
Although he spurned the building of castles, forts, cities, or walls, 
as he moved across the landscape, he probably built more bridges than 
any ruler in history. He spanned hundreds of streams and rivers in 
order to make the movement of his armies and goods quicker. The 
Mongols deliberately opened the world to a new commerce not only in 
goods, but also in ideas and knowledge. The Mongols brought German 
miners to China and Chinese doctors to Persia. The transfers ranged 
from the monumental to the trivial. They spread the use of carpets 
everywhere they went and transplanted lemons and carrots from Persia 
to China, as well as noodles, playing cards, and tea from China to 
the West. They brought a metalworker from Paris to build a fountain 
on the dry steppes of Mongolia, recruited an English nobleman to 
serve as interpreter in their army, and took the practice of Chinese 
fingerprinting to Persia. They financed the building of Christian 
churches in China, Buddhist temples and stupas in Persia, and Muslim 
Koranic schools in Russia. The Mongols swept across the globe as 
conquerors, but also as civilization's unrivaled cultural carriers."

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/mongol/



From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Sun Jun  8 12:53:44 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:53:44 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENDER AND DISASTERS
Message-ID: <484C2AB8.9020502@googlemail.com>

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY TO ALL RELEVANT LISTSERVERS

THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENDER AND DISASTERS:

"CONSTRUCTING THE FUTURE IN RELIEF WORK: LEARNING FROM WOMEN'S 
EXPERIENCES IN CULTURALLY DIVERSE CONDITIONS

Date: 8-11 October 2008
Location: Derbent Hotel -- Kocaeli, Turkey
Workshop Host: Kocaeli University, Faculty of Economics and 
Administrative Sciences, Turkey

Deadline: July 15, 2008

Kocaeli University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, 
Turkey, seeks proposals for participating in an interdisciplinary 
international workshop for the victims of the recent disasters, 
emergency responders, relief workers, volunteers of voluntary 
organizations, governmental representatives, as well as the researchers 
who focus on gender related disaster topics.

The event will cover topics that integrate the gender perspective into 
all natural disaster related policies and decision-making processes with 
the consideration of cultural differences.

Lodging, breakfast and some meals will be provided for all participants. 
Limited funds available for travel support for the international 
participants coming from the non-Western world.

The language of the meetings will be Turkish and English. Simultaneous 
translation will be provided for all of the sessions.

Participants will be notified by August 10, 2008.

For more information please visit our website at 
http://www.genderanddisaster2008.org <http://www.genderanddisaster2008.org/>

For any queries, email to Ms. Derya Keskin Demirer at 
_info at genderanddisaster2008.org_

*Contact address:
*Y?cel Demirer ve G?ven Bak?rezer

Kocaeli ?niversitesi

I.ktisadi ve I.dari Bilimler Fak?ltesi

Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Y?netimi B?l?m?

Umuttepe Yerles,kesi 41380 I.zmit/Kocaeli

Phone: +90-262-303 16 05

Fax: +90-262-303 15 03



From MPerelman at csuchico.edu  Sun Jun  8 12:36:08 2008
From: MPerelman at csuchico.edu (Perelman, Michael)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 11:36:08 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] [Pen-l] Mongol
In-Reply-To: <20080608175834.9786F19922@mailbackend.panix.com>
References: <20080608175834.9786F19922@mailbackend.panix.com>
Message-ID: <15E29EFEC45DC34F8A91C46CBE80BF4428CD89C8@ESCHE.csuchico.edu>

Findlay, Ronald and Kevin H. O'Rourke. 2007. Power and Plenty: Trade,
War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press) credit Genghis Khan as perhaps the greatest
promoter of economic development.  Their take is that by encompassing
much of the world within a single empire, Genghis Khan created peaceful
conditions that trade to progress peacefully.  The result was an
enormous improvement in the rate of economic growth.



Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901
michaelperelman.wordpress.com



From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  8 14:11:10 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:11:10 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] RIDING TO THE AID OF JENGHIZ KHAN
Message-ID: <20080608201105.A57561D98B@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2004w02/msg00157.htm

RIDING TO THE AID OF JENGHIZ KHAN
[Hunter Gray / Hunter Bear]
[POSTED 10/7/01]

I'm coming to the side of Jenghiz [Genghis or Genghiz] Khan. I'm 
riding hot and hard -- tied feathers waving from my rifle. 
Provocatively. [And this is international in nature.]

I've been -- and it seems to me increasingly -- seeing weird 
comparisons between Jenghiz Khan and Hitler. In a word, I dispute all 
of this: diametrically, sharply -- right into the bone marrow. My 
first substantial college paper, as a freshman, was a 43 page 
[double-spaced] tribute to the Great Organizer and Strategist -- 
whose example, even now, stirs my blood and soul.

Not long ago, the Jenghiz Khan/Adolph Hitler issue arose on a far-off 
discussion list -- one of whose members asked me to contribute via 
him my thoughts. Here, just for the hell of it, are those thoughts -- 
followed by excerpts of my response to an especially thoughtful 
question that then arose:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jenghiz Khan et al. have frequently gotten a raw deal from history -- 
and to compare the Mongol leader with Hitler is flagrantly and 
cruelly denigrating to Jenghiz. I'll say a quick, corrective word on 
behalf of our cousins in the Gobi. As I outline the matter, the Grand 
Canyon of differences vis-a-vis Hitler / Nazism will be quite obvious.

Mongol social organization was classically and nomadically tribal 
[and tribalism is still a major component of the social scenery in 
Mongolia.] Among other things, this involves a cohesive network of 
kinship relationships, essentially democratic and egalitarian with 
communalistic dimensions -- and, traditionally, characterized by a 
hereditary [life] chief system. Jenghiz Khan [1162 - 1227], 
originally named Temujin or Temuchin, unified the related tribes in 
the Lake Baikal and general Mongolian region into what was 
essentially a confederated One Big Tribe encompassing all of the 
foregoing tribal characteristics -- and one which remained very 
democratic with himself as the leading chief. None of this was, I 
reiterate, a totalitarian or even authoritarian structure in any 
sense -- and, as a traditional tribal chief, Jenghiz was certainly 
not a dictator.

In a series of extraordinary military and political moves -- 
motivated by adventure and booty / tribute -- he and his descendant 
successors conquered China and environs, much of the northern Middle 
East, western Siberia, all of Russia -- and moved very deeply into 
Europe. They would have conquered all of Europe had Ogadai [Ogdai] 
Khan, then key chief, not died [1241.] Mongol tribal law required 
that all of Jenghiz's descendants return to Mongolia to pick the next 
chieftain. At that point the conquest -- then under the military 
leadership of Jenghiz's grandson, Batu -- stopped and the Mongols 
withdrew into Russia which, as the Golden Horde, they then held for 
more than three hundred years.

In the course of the Conquest, the Mongol leaders could be ruthless. 
If a jurisdiction did not heed their order to surrender, large 
numbers of the inhabitants were slain. If, on the other hand, the 
target surrendered, the people were well treated with virtually no 
changes in their life-style. The emergent Mongol "empire" was 
anything except totalitarian -- pervasive or otherwise: it imposed no 
Mongol culture -- including no religion, entertained no ideology of 
any kind, left the conquered people pretty much alone -- but it did 
systematically tax. And, in return, it provided protection for all of 
the people against any intruders.

Frankly, in a word, if the taxes were paid, no sweat.

The Mongols killed no one because of their race or ethnicity. In 
fact, the Mongols intermarried legally and freely and far and wide 
with those whom they conquered.

The vast Mongol "empire," never rooted in anything except traditional 
nomadic tribalism, eventually -- as was the case with the much 
smaller Toltec Empire of Meso-America [whose capital, Tula, was 
physically bigger than Rome] -- gradually returned to the old 
traditional tribalism as the Mongols [and Toltecs], perhaps sensing 
they were losing the traditional wild free life of the mountains and 
canyons and plains, went, as we Native people sometimes put it, "back 
to the blanket."

Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] 



From pt_costello at yahoo.com  Sun Jun  8 15:28:12 2008
From: pt_costello at yahoo.com (Pat Costello)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 14:28:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Salute to Israel Parade vs. Puerto Rican Day Parade: Some
	observations
Message-ID: <505329.80270.qm@web63106.mail.re1.yahoo.com>

I live near Central Park in New York and I like to take photos so I saw both the Salute
to Israel Parade last week and the Puerto Rican Day parade today.

It seemed to me there were huge differences in the way the parades were treated by
the city. 

The Zionist parade, although much smaller than the PR parade, was treated
to better access to Central Park and not interrupted by cross-town traffic. In fact,
there were huge city garbage trucks blocking every cross street.

There were barricades between the parade and the spectators but I could easily have crossed the barricades and walked into the parade
itself. I could enter the park at most entrances without any hindrance. One had the sense that the police were there to protect the parade from any "outside interference".

Every city lamp post along the route was festooned with both Israeli flags and American
flags. The parade participants and spectators appeared mostly white and middle-class with huge numbers of children. I saw 5 year olds wearing IDF t-shirts and people selling Rabbi Kahane t-shirts.

On the other hand, the Puerto Rican Day was interrupted often by cross-town traffic. Barricades and police were everywhere, much more so than at the Israel Day parade.
Police on horseback were conspicuous.  Spectators were absolutely prohibited from
crossing the barricades. No Puerto Rican flags adorned public property. One had the
sense that the security was there to protect the city from the parade. The crowd was very
working class and obviously latino. 

It was impossible to enter the Park except at 72nd street and then one had to pass
through a long corridor of barricades. Many important areas of the park such as
Bethesda Fountain were barricaded with police and park employees standing guard.
This was not the case last week when the park was mostly open for the Zionists.

In the park I ran into an old friend who is Puerto Rican. He was so angry about the
situation that he started yelling at the park employees behind the barricades, "Don't
let any Puerto Ricans in! They are savages!"

All of that said, both parades seemed to be one big commercial for American Airlines, the Daily News, various elected officials, etc. I don't remember parades being so overtly commercial many years ago. 







      

From dave.walters at comcast.net  Sun Jun  8 15:52:35 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (David Walters)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:52:35 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] The uselessness of the term "peak oil".
Message-ID: <484C54A3.9080700@comcast.net>

Peak oil. Even peak oil people don't use Hubbert anymore. He's been 
proven wrong that he's been reduced to the method of "if we use more oil 
than we produce, we'll run out of oil". Duh.

> 1. What makes oil different than other minerals? If Hubbert in his
> bell
> curve is indeed describing the "natural" course of production of a
> mineral, then is there a bell curve governing production of... coal?
> copper?  tin?

If you go theoildrum.com you'll find a link to this article:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article4086604.ece

Basically, it talks about plus $100/bbl oil bringing in all sorts of new 
reserves hitherto referred to as "nasty shit": tar, oil shale, oil 
sands, etc, etc. There is a known oil field on the Montana/North Dakota 
border area containing at least 3.6 billion barrels of oil. All the oil 
investment sites are going crazy as now this hitherto impossible-to-mine 
oil is quite readily available. Alberta's grotesque tar-sands project is 
expanding *exponentially* in terms of investment, oil out put and 
environmental destruction. The Venezuelan gov't is pouring in *billions* 
to develop what are probably the most massive oil reserves in world 
history (and only recently were called 'reserves'). Peak oil is such a 
relative term as to be useless now.

It is only "peak" if *every* technological means at whatever investment 
society makes can no longer increase the reserves and/or output of oil. 
It is no longer IF there is enough oil, it now if we WANT to use the oil.

BTW...theoildrum.com is still one of the best energy sites around 
covering most facets of the energy quandary, albeit a focus on 
hydro-carbons.

David Walters


From lnp3 at panix.com  Sun Jun  8 16:19:53 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:19:53 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Rethinking capitalism
Message-ID: <20080608221949.1A9F0E720@mailbackend.panix.com>

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_21/c4085newsyoun886972_page_3.htm

Rethinking Capitalism

"Adam Smith is probably dead. Maybe it's time to revisit Karl Marx." 
Those words were uttered not by some hidebound communist but by one 
of Turkey's most prominent capitalists, Ishak Alaton. The chairman of 
Alarko Holding, an $800 million conglomerate, is profiled in the May 
4 issue of BusinessWeek Turkey. Alaton believes companies worldwide 
must do more to bridge the growing chasm between the haves and 
have-nots?and good works are not enough. To maximize their profits, 
businesses need to maximize the well-being of their own workers and 
consumers as a whole. Call it Alaton's spin on Das Kapital.

?Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristina Linblad



From durable at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 16:39:49 2008
From: durable at earthlink.net (Barry Brooks)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:39:49 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
Message-ID: <484C5FB5.3030102@earthlink.net>

sartesian wrote:

> mineral, then is there a bell curve
> governing production of... coal? copper?
> tin?

Yes.

> 2. Fair warning:  before answering (1)--
> one of Hubbert's initial studies was on
> the coming shortage of.... coal.

What does that have to do with the obvious
fact non-renewable resources get used and
depleted. The only question is how fast.

Errors in predictions of the time scale and
the shape of the curves have nothing to do
with the underlying mechanism.

> 3. Prices for copper have doubled and
> tripled from "historic norms" over the
> past few years: is this evidence of a
> coming shortage of copper? And gold?  Are
> we now facing a looming shortage of gold? 
> 9. I thank all for their indulgence on
> this matter, and promise to refrain from
> further argument on peak oil theory.

When many things are happening at once
empirical evidence is often in the noise.
Looking at PAPER economy is a poor way to
understand the physical economy.

Those who don't believe in theories and
prefer to wait for empirical proof are a bit
like those who believe that the market will
send a signal soon enough.

Conservation before scarcity would be
possible if theories were understood and we
stopped letting prices make our decisions, as
if prices were much of a guide to anything real.

It's not just a theory that depletion happens.

Barry















From david at miradoiro.com  Sun Jun  8 17:04:47 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:04:47 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>
	<484C5FB5.3030102@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <000901c8c9bc$0d8dca90$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

From: "Barry Brooks" <durable at earthlink.net>
> Errors in predictions of the time scale and
> the shape of the curves have nothing to do
> with the underlying mechanism.

But a lot to do with the validity, usefulness and accuracy of the theory. I 
doubt many people think any particular resource, much less a complex 
hydrocarbon formed through biotic processes is going to last forever, but 
peak oil is a more powerful theory than "oil will run out when we use it all 
up", and it is in its power where it is more contentious as a correct 
theory.

> Those who don't believe in theories and
> prefer to wait for empirical proof are a bit
> like those who believe that the market will
> send a signal soon enough.

Those who like eating boiled eggs are a bit like those who enjoy atonalism. 
You see, I can make oracular pronouncements just as well. I haven't seen 
anyone not believing in theories as a whole on this list yet, though some of 
us are more willing to entertain some theories than others, in fact, all of 
us, I should say.

> Conservation before scarcity would be
> possible if theories were understood and we
> stopped letting prices make our decisions, as
> if prices were much of a guide to anything real.

So you don't think the law of value operates in a capitalist society then? 
You don't think the bourgeois prices represent the exchange value of a 
commodity and are in the main determined by the labour content of the 
commodity? Do you also have an alternative to the rest of Marxism?

--David.



From durable at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 17:20:24 2008
From: durable at earthlink.net (Barry Brooks)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:20:24 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Nader and Peak Oil
In-Reply-To: <000901c8c9bc$0d8dca90$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>	<484C5FB5.3030102@earthlink.net>
	<000901c8c9bc$0d8dca90$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <484C6938.1010300@earthlink.net>

David Pic?n ?lvarez wrote:

> So you don't think the law of value 
> operates in a capitalist society then? You
>  don't think the bourgeois prices
> represent the exchange value of a
> commodity and are in the main determined
> by the labour content of the commodity? Do
> you also have an alternative to the rest
> of Marxism?

Incremental understanding has some fancy
name, starts with d. Knowledge is mostly
additive.

When resources were abundant and labor was
scarce prices did reflect the labor input.
That was the greatest cost.

When resources are scarce and automation
makes labor surplus, price theory becomes
more difficult. Imagine, with robots wages
could tend towards zero.

And, there never will be a scientific price
theory, because prices are set by people and
their hopes, fears, expectations, lack of
knowledge, politics, power, etc.

If people from the future were here to bid up
resource prices on the futures markets what
price theory might come into play?

Don't you feel a need for an upgrade?

Barry





From bauerly at yorku.ca  Sun Jun  8 19:46:45 2008
From: bauerly at yorku.ca (bauerly at yorku.ca)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:46:45 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Oil speculation--what's new?
Message-ID: <1212976005.484c8b858ab69@mymail.yorku.ca>


Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities
futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. Chart One
shows Assets allocated to commodity index trading strategies have risen from
$13 billion at the end of 2003 to $260 billion as of March 2008,5 and the
prices of the 25 commodities that compose these indices have risen by an
average of 183% in those five years!

Commodity Index Investment vs. Spot Prices


The next table looks at the commodity purchases that Index Speculators have made
via the futures markets. These are huge numbers and they need to be put in
perspective to be fully grasped.

In the popular press the explanation given most often for rising oil prices is
the
increased demand for oil from China. According to the DOE, annual Chinese demand
for petroleum has increased over the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels
to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels.8 Over the same
five-year period, Index Speculators&#700; demand for petroleum futures has
increased by 848 million barrels. The increase in demand from Index Speculators
is almost equal to the increase in demand from China!

Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of
1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as much oil to
their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve over the last five years.

Index Speculator Demand Characteristics

Demand for futures contracts can only come from two sources: Physical Commodity
Consumers and Speculators. Speculators include the Traditional Speculators who
have always existed in the market, as well as Index Speculators. Five years
ago, Index Speculators were a tiny fraction of the commodities futures markets.
Today, in many commodities futures markets, they are the single largest force.15
The huge growth in their demand has gone virtually undetected by
classically-trained economists who almost never analyze demand in futures
markets.

Index Speculator demand is distinctly different from Traditional Speculator
demand; it arises purely from portfolio allocation decisions. When an
Institutional Investor decides to allocate 2% to commodities futures, for
example, they come to the market with a set amount of money. They are not
concerned with the price per unit; they will buy as many futures contracts as
they need, at whatever price is necessary, until all of their money has been
?put to work.? Their insensitivity to price multiplies their impact on
commodity markets.

Commodity Futures Market Size


As money pours into the markets, two things happen concurrently: the markets
expand and prices rise. One particularly troubling aspect of Index Speculator
demand is that it actually increases the more prices increase. This explains
the accelerating rate at which commodity futures prices (and actual commodity
prices) are increasing. Rising prices attract more Index Speculators, whose
tendency is to increase their allocation as prices rise. So their
profit-motivated demand for futures is the inverse of what you would expect
from price-sensitive consumer behavior.

You can see from Chart Two that prices have increased the most dramatically in
the first quarter of 2008. We calculate that Index Speculators flooded the
markets with $55 billion in just the first 52 trading days of this year.19
That?s an increase in the dollar value of outstanding futures contracts of more
than $1 billion per trading day. Doesn?t it seem likely that an increase in
demand of this magnitude in the commodities futures markets could go a long way
in explaining the extraordinary commodities price increases in the beginning of
2008?

There is a crucial distinction between Traditional Speculators and Index
Speculators: Traditional Speculators provide liquidity by both buying and
selling futures. Index Speculators buy futures and then roll their positions by
buying calendar spreads. They never sell. Therefore, they consume liquidity and
provide zero benefit to the futures markets.

Is this what Congress expected when it created the CFTC?

The CFTC Has Invited Increased Speculation

When Congress passed the Commodity Exchange Act in 1936, they did so with the
understanding that speculators should not be allowed to dominate the
commodities futures markets. Unfortunately, the CFTC has taken deliberate steps
to allow certain speculators virtually unlimited access to the commodities
futures markets.

The CFTC has granted Wall Street banks an exemption from speculative position
limits when these banks hedge over-the-counter swaps transactions. This has
effectively opened a loophole for unlimited speculation. When Index Speculators
enter into commodity index swaps, which 85-90% of them do, they face no
speculative position limits.

The really shocking thing about the Swaps Loophole is that Speculators of all
stripes can use it to access the futures markets. So if a hedge fund wants a
$500 million position in Wheat, which is way beyond position limits, they can
enter into swap with a Wall Street bank and then the bank buys $500 million
worth of Wheat futures.

In the CFTC?s classification scheme all Speculators accessing the futures
markets through the Swaps Loophole are categorized as ?Commercial? rather than
?Non-Commercial.? The result is a gross distortion in data that effectively
hides the full impact of Index Speculation.

Additionally, the CFTC has recently proposed that Index Speculators be exempt
from all position limits, thereby throwing the door open for unlimited Index
Speculator ?investment.? The CFTC has even gone so far as to issue press
releases on their website touting studies they commissioned showing that
commodities futures make good additions to Institutional Investors? portfolios.

Also the decline of the dollar accounts for 20-30% of the rise in oil prices
see:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121150088368615927.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries





From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 19:51:35 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 21:51:35 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
	<b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 1:42 PM, Joaqu?n Bustelo <jbustelo at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> As for the publicly available data, analyzing the pattern of
> contributions has to be done fairly and conscientiously. MANY
> corporate PAC's in the current "election cycle" will show up as having
> made more contributions to Democrats than Republicans, quite simply
> because the primary race in the Republican camp was over quickly, and
> involved only a fraction of the money that was spent in the Democrat
> contest. A conclusion that Corporations have "swung to the Democrats"
> on this basis would be unwarranted.

If your point is valid, then the point made by Mark Lause (quoted
below) seems to be invalid. I don't have enough expertise to determine
which of the two of you are correct on this.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 at 3:00 PM

I won't waste time discussing the detailed financing of these
campaigns--of which we are both essentially ignorant and likely to
remain so.

Campaigns are generally claiming
this as a sign of a popular groundswell of support.  Howard Dean set
the pattern for it. And, even if true, there's no equating money
gotten from the Internet as coming from the nickels and dimes of
schoolchildren.

The point I raise has to do with contributions from the other end,
the usual sources, the top, the same people and companies giving to
Clinton or to McCain.  That's how Obama raised his record-breaking
$265,000,000.   And that's where the dominant input comes from,
doesn't it?  And it's why Obama has been inching right as his
nomination nears.  And it's why it will likely be a full blown gallop
as he races with McCain.

ML


From durable at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 19:58:01 2008
From: durable at earthlink.net (Barry Brooks)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:58:01 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Would people from the future bid up prices if they were
 represented now?
In-Reply-To: <484C6938.1010300@earthlink.net>
References: <b42c9ffb0806051510p72eef987m992f8a4d335b39bd@mail.gmail.com><08b801c8c763$12bf5d40$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><b42c9ffb0806061408w18380ff8x8be313b18dbae678@mail.gmail.com>	<034401c8c824$ae5d3120$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03><064001c8c96e$971795f0$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>	<484C5FB5.3030102@earthlink.net>	<000901c8c9bc$0d8dca90$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<484C6938.1010300@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <484C8E29.6030505@earthlink.net>

Don't bother to argue with any price theory 
in particular. Prices will never be an 
adequate guide for planning.

In today's electronic international markets,
with binary purchasing media, with so much 
being produced cheap in one place and sold 
dear elsewhere, prices do get disconnected 
from labor. With lots of middle-men and high 
rates of mark-up and automation it is often 
true that labor costs play little role in price.

Basically the workers aren't paid much at 
all, virtual slaves. One old price theory is 
that prices rise to whatever the market will 
bear. But, now the workers are not the 
buyers, and they don't really get paid.

Even if prices accurately reflected local 
wage costs it would still be unwise to make 
planning decisions only on the basis of prices.

Let me make it clear. Any mechanism that sets
prices will not make following the money
a good idea.

Market believers have an un-targeted Achilles 
heel. Prices will always be an inadequate 
guide for planning, public or private, if the 
future isn't included. Prices are mostly 
about now, and a bit about harvest time. Only 
politics can curb the forget-the-future market.

Barry














From ecosocialism at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 20:22:15 2008
From: ecosocialism at gmail.com (Ian Angus)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 22:22:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
Message-ID: <733b65360806081922k3f282fb0k4487c46c14a0b260@mail.gmail.com>

New on Socialist Voice, just in time for Che's 80th birthday:

Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
by John Riddell
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=298


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Sun Jun  8 20:49:40 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 22:49:40 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Salute to Israel Parade vs. Puerto Rican Day Parade:
	Some observations
In-Reply-To: <505329.80270.qm@web63106.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
References: <505329.80270.qm@web63106.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806081949i2f72d8a2j406d17e7001d0425@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 5:28 PM, Pat Costello <pt_costello at yahoo.com> wrote:

> On the other hand, the Puerto Rican Day was interrupted often by cross-town traffic. Barricades and police were everywhere, much more so than at the Israel Day parade.
> Police on horseback were conspicuous.  Spectators were absolutely prohibited from
> crossing the barricades. No Puerto Rican flags adorned public property. One had the
> sense that the security was there to protect the city from the parade. The crowd was very
> working class and obviously latino.
>
> It was impossible to enter the Park except at 72nd street and then one had to pass
> through a long corridor of barricades. Many important areas of the park such as
> Bethesda Fountain were barricaded with police and park employees standing guard.
> This was not the case last week when the park was mostly open for the Zionists.
>
> In the park I ran into an old friend who is Puerto Rican. He was so angry about the
> situation that he started yelling at the park employees behind the barricades, "Don't
> let any Puerto Ricans in! They are savages!"

This was probably because in the past the Puerto Rican parade in NYC
has been marred by unruliness and disturbances:

"The events that happened early in the evening of June 11 after the
[Puerto Rican Day] parade ended on Fifth Avenue have caused
consternation among the board members, Mr. Perez said. In frenzied
attacks that attracted nationwide attention, hordes of young men, many
of whom had attended the parade, groped about 60 women in the
southeast corner of the park near 59th Street.

"The police have charged 30 men in the attacks and are searching for 17 others."

    NYT, Aug 4, 2000
    <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2DC143CF937A3575BC0A9669C8B63>


From suarsos at alphalink.com.au  Sun Jun  8 20:52:17 2008
From: suarsos at alphalink.com.au (Tom O'Lincoln)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:52:17 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] The uselessness of the term "peak oil".
Message-ID: <001401c8c9db$d4432490$0201a8c0@gx270>

David,

I read the article you linked to and notice this:


"Companies are also dipping into "unconventional" hydrocarbon deposits 
[including] the methane trapped in long-disused European coal mines."
This suggests that if carbon capture and storage (geo-sequestration) is used 
on a wide scale in the near future, a future energy price spike might lead 
to somebody extracting the gases again and using them. Or is there something 
to stop that happening?

This matters a lot in Australia, where the government is pushing carbon 
capture and storage because of the strategic importance of Australian coal 
mines.






From marvgandall at videotron.ca  Sun Jun  8 21:13:52 2008
From: marvgandall at videotron.ca (Marvin Gandall)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:13:52 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Oil speculation--what's new?
References: <1212976005.484c8b858ab69@mymail.yorku.ca>
Message-ID: <009801c8c9de$d8161e30$0202a8c0@MARV>

Bauerly writes:

Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the
commodities
futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase...

[...]

Also the decline of the dollar accounts for 20-30% of the rise in oil prices
===========================================
Plus greatly increased demand from China and other emerging economies;
decline of conventional fields (raising peak oil fears in the heart of the
industry http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2008-May/028509.html);
no price pressure on producers to expand volume through exploration; time
and cost constraints to bringing unconventional sources on stream; Iran war
fears; better discipline within OPEC; greater capacity of US and other oil
consuming service economies to absorb price shocks than in the 70s. All are
factors.

A serious US slowdown and the reduction of oil subsidies in China and other
developing economies would bring the oil price down in a hurry - also goosed
by speculators, this time closing out their positions.




From dave.walters at comcast.net  Sun Jun  8 21:15:48 2008
From: dave.walters at comcast.net (dave.walters at comcast.net)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:15:48 +0000
Subject: [Marxism] The uselessness of the term "peak oil".
Message-ID: <060920080315.16093.484CA064000C87EF00003EDD22064244139C9D0A9B040E99D20A900E0B@comcast.net>

Tom, I noticed this too. Historically, anaylsts for both Peak Oil supporters 
(who always tend to downplay even proven reserves) and Oil company 
supporters (who overestimate them for credit purposes) always nixed any 
hyrdo-carbons from abandon resources off the legar. This was because
 they were, well, abandoned and not considered 'reserves' in any serious 
sense anymore. And this made sense, at $40/bbl oil. Now it's $130/bbl. 
Everyone has to redo what they say about "reserves" and what that means. 
It means that even if in reality oil usage goes up as eveyone expects, at this 
price, so do reserves. So they are digging into abandoned coal mines for 
natural gas. The US has twice the number of these abandoned coal mines 
as Europe. All full of methane (and other nasty stuff). Now, if NG prices 
follow coal prices which are following oil, then we'll see NG reserves 
suddenly spike upward. NG reserves are actually rising relative to consumption 
due to new discoveries.

The whole CO2 seqeustion/Clean Coal thing is marketing. No one has done 
a full scale CO2 sequestion project. It's all talk and no action. No one talks 
more about it than the geoprahically spread apart twins of coal: the US Bituminous 
Coal Association and the Australian gov't which hasn't faced up to reality that 
if every coal plant there was nuclear, they wouldn't have to panic over CO2 
since they effectively wouldn't be producing any and they could take a slightly 
more leiseruly, and less rhetorical, approach to curving what would obviously 
be 50% less CO2. Panic, that's all.

David

From jacdon at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 21:21:11 2008
From: jacdon at earthlink.net (JacDon)
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:21:11 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Newsletter Articles Available
Message-ID: <C47219E7.600D%jacdon@earthlink.net>

The June 8 issue of the Activist Newsletter contains the following articles.
They are available at http://activistnewsletter.blogspot.com
????????????????
1. Editorial: A TIP OF THE HAT TO OBAMA AND CLINTON ? Americans should be
proud of the Democratic Party's selection of an African American candidate
for president, and its near selection of a woman for the same post.  The
rest of the story is pretty bleak.
 
2. THE MAIN CAUSES OF THE OIL PRICE HIKES ? There are several factors in the
doubling of oil prices in the last 10 months. One factor stands out as
primary, and contrary to the Bush Administration, it not supply and demand
this time around.
 
3. ADDRESSING AMERICA'S CHINA SYNDROME ? There seems to a revival of China
bashing among some U.S. politicians around the issues of  Tibet and Darfur.
We look into it.
 
4. THE REALITIES OF CHINA-U.S. TRADE ? A number of politicians, unionists
and others charge that China's trade policies are responsible for the loss
of jobs in America and for our country's huge trade deficit.  What are the
facts?
 
5. THE PERSISTENT FEMALE-MALE WAGE GAP ? The 23.5% gap in women's pay for
equal work done by men effects professional and retired women as well as
women workers who are semi-skilled or unskilled, according to AFL-CIO
statistics.
 
6. CHECK IT OUT ? From "Barack the Red" to "Hamas on the Holocaust," here
are this issue's descriptions and sources for obtaining our latest
collection of interesting articles and brief news videos we think will
interest our readers. There's even a charming audio-video moment on how to
pronounce the name of Russia's new president, and a good little satire on
the wealthy.
 
7. Editorial: THE ABDUCTED TEXAS CHILDREN ? We applaud the decision of Texas
courts to return 460 state-abducted  children to their parents at the
Yearning for Zion Ranch.
 




From walterlx at earthlink.net  Sun Jun  8 23:22:43 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 22:22:43 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
Subject: [Marxism] =?utf-8?q?NYT=3A_Ch=C3=A1vez_Urges_Colombian_Rebels_to_?=
 =?utf-8?q?End_Their_Struggle?=
Message-ID: <17438349.1212988963707.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

THE NEW YORK TIMES
June 9, 2008
Ch?vez Urges Colombian Rebels to End Their Struggle
By SIMON ROMERO

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/world/americas/09venez.html 

President Hugo Ch?vez of Venezuela called on Sunday for Colombia?s largest
guerrilla group to end its four-decade struggle to overthrow Colombia?s
government, a surprising policy shift just months after he called for the
rebels to be recognized as a legitimate insurgent force.

Mr. Ch?vez?'s comments came a day after Colombian authorities announced the
capture in eastern Colombia of two Venezuelans, including one man identified
as a Venezuelan national guard officer, carrying 40,000 AK-47 assault rifle
cartridges, which the Colombians said were intended for use by the guerrilla
group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Venezuela?'s government has been battling accusations from Colombian
officials in recent weeks that it has tried to provide arms and financing to
the FARC. Venezuela might face economic sanctions if the claims are true,
since the European Union and United States classify the FARC as a terrorist
group.

?You in the FARC should know something,? Mr. Ch?vez said in the broadcast of
his Sunday television program, during which he also called on the rebels to
release dozens of hostages, including three American military contractors.
?You have become an excuse for the empire to threaten all of us,? he said,
using his term for the United States.

It was not clear whether the FARC would heed Mr. Ch?vez'?s call or even
respond to it. While Mr. Ch?vez is admired within the ranks of FARC as an
iconic leftist leader, the FARC is better prepared than any rebel group in
recent Latin American history to soldier on, financing its struggle with
cocaine trafficking and abductions for ransom.

Still, the FARC does seem to be at a turning point. Several senior
commanders in the group have been killed in the past year and Colombian
intelligence operatives have recently infiltrated the group?s top echelons.
Mr. Ch?vez may have been acknowledging the possible disintegration of the
group when he said in his televised remarks on Sunday, ?The guerrilla war is
history.?

?At this moment in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of
place,? he continued.

But the possibility of political isolation may also have influenced his
shift. On Saturday, Venezuela initially rejected Colombia?s claim that one
of the Venezuelans captured with the munitions cache was a military officer,
but Venezuelan officials softened their tone on Sunday, saying they were
investigating.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au  Sun Jun  8 23:23:46 2008
From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:23:46 +1000
Subject: [Marxism] What's new at Links: Obama; Cuba on food crisis; Venezuela;
 Nigeria; Malaysia; Argentina
Message-ID: <484CBE62.9020102@greenleft.org.au>

Subscribe free to /Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ - 
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed 
(http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to
consider an article, please send it to links at dsp.org.au

Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in /Links./


    Why Barack Obama's nomination for the US presidency is historic
    <http://links.org.au/node/464>

By *Malik Miah***

``America, this is our moment'', stated Barack Obama on June 3 after 
winning enough delegates to become the presumed presidential nominee for 
the Democratic Party. Obama becomes the first African American in the 
history of the country to be nominated by one of the ruling parties. It 
happened on the evening of June 3 as the final two primaries occurred in 
Montana and South Dakota, where he and his main opponent New York 
Senator Hillary Clinton won one state each.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/464>


    Cuba's vice-president: `We can confront the food crisis'
    <http://links.org.au/node/460>

/Address by *Jos? Ram?n Machado Ventura*, vice-president of Cuba's 
Councils of State and Ministers, to the high-level conference on World 
Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy./

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/460>


    Venezuela: 2.5 million take part in PSUV pre-selection; Candidates
    announced <http://links.org.au/node/455>

June 2, 2008 -- *Fred Fuentes* iand Kiraz Janicke in Caracas report on 
important struggles being played out within Venezuela's governing PSUV 
(United Socialist Party of Venezuela).

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/455>


    Nigerian socialist: A tribute to Fidel Castro
    <http://links.org.au/node/463>

*Kola Ibrahim* of the Democratic Socialist Movement of Nigeria looks at 
the legacy of Fidel Castro, the internationalisation of struggle and 
calls for ``working-class activists from Kenya to Venezuela to Georgia 
to Pakistan and the rest of the world'' to build a genuine working 
people's political platform.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/463>


    Via Campesina farmers to heads of state: Time to change food
    policies! <http://links.org.au/node/462>

*Via Campesina *

Rome, June 3, 2008 -- Now that the FAO expects that hunger will affect 
an extra 100 million people by the end of the year, heads of states and 
leaders from around the world are gathering in Rome for the FAO 
"High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate 
Change and Bioenergy".
The international peasant's movement Via Campesina welcomes this sudden 
high level interest in food and agriculture production, but reminds 
governments and international institutions that the current climate and 
food crisis are not the result of any sudden natural disaster. They are 
the fruit of decades of policies of trade ``liberalisation'' and of the 
vertical integration of production, processing and distribution by 
corporate agriculture.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/462>


    Malaysia: PSM -- a decade of struggle <http://links.org.au/node/461>

Port Dickson, Malaysia, June 1, 2008 -- The Socialist Party of Malaysia 
(PSM -- Parti Sosialis Malaysia) successfully concluded its 10th 
congress at a time when the ruling Barisan Nasional Party faces its 
biggest threat to its survival in Malaysian politics and while 
capitalism faces its biggest challenge -- the world food crisis. It is 
an exciting time and it is time for change.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/461>


    Argentina: The clash over rent <http://links.org.au/node/453>

Following the March 11 decision by the Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 
government to introduce a sliding tax increase -- varying from 35% to 
45% -- on soya exports, Argentina has been rocked by a wave of protests 
by agricultural producers. For 21 days, the "countryside" -- including 
the four organisations that unite large, middle and small agricultural 
producers -- organised a rural lockout, blocking the circulation of 
agricultural produce to the cities.

    * Read more <http://links.org.au/node/453>

* * *
/Links/ seeks to promote the international exchange of information, 
experience of struggle, theoretical analysis and views of political 
strategy and tactics within the international left. It is a forum for 
open and constructive dialogue between active socialists coming from 
different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the 
international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social 
policies. It aims to promote the renewal of the socialist movement in 
the wake of the collapse of the bureaucratic model of "actually existing 
socialism" in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
*
ATTENTION: Sign up for regular ``what's new'' announcement emails at 
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

From dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com  Mon Jun  9 02:47:09 2008
From: dgn.gcmn at googlemail.com (Dogan Gocmen)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:47:09 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Rethinking capitalism
In-Reply-To: <20080608221949.1A9F0E720@mailbackend.panix.com>
References: <20080608221949.1A9F0E720@mailbackend.panix.com>
Message-ID: <484CEE0D.8060709@googlemail.com>

Louis Proyect quotes from

Harry Maurer & Cristina Linblad

"Rethinking Capitalism
"Adam Smith is probably dead. Maybe it's time to revisit Karl Marx." 
Those words were uttered not by some hidebound communist but by one 
of Turkey's most prominent capitalists, Ishak Alaton. The chairman of 
Alarko Holding, an $800 million conglomerate, is profiled in the May 
4 issue of BusinessWeek Turkey."

Dogan: Adam Smith is not dead. To revisit Karl Marx requires that we know what Marx seeks to answer in his critique of polical economy. This is in turn requires that we go back to Marx's sources. Otherwise Marx would be cut off from his sources. Similarly in philosophy: to understand what Marx replies to and what he does and why how he does we to understand European philosophy since Bacon and Descartes. 

"Alaton believes companies worldwide 
must do more to bridge the growing chasm between the haves and 
have-nots?and good works are not enough. To maximize their profits, 
businesses need to maximize the well-being of their own workers and 
consumers as a whole. Call it Alaton's spin on Das Kapital."

Dogan: This is an old argument. Already Robert Owen used it to convince capitalist that they should care of their workers. But soon Owen realised that this is a contradition in terms: to expect from capitalist that they would care about their 'slaves'. (Put differently: to see how they care about their workers just remember of German fascism.) Therefore, he went on to develop a social theory that would overcome all social class contradictions. Moral theories of social conflicts and combats are anachronic. They are fights for life and dead. This is the massage of Das Kapital: Critique of political Economy.




From johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz  Mon Jun  9 03:26:00 2008
From: johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz (John)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:26:00 +1200
Subject: [Marxism] Salute to Israel Parade vs. Puerto Rican Day
	Parade:	Some observations
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806081949i2f72d8a2j406d17e7001d0425@mail.gmail.com>
References: <505329.80270.qm@web63106.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
	<908b689f0806081949i2f72d8a2j406d17e7001d0425@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1213003565.5695.27.camel@john-desktop>


On Sun, 2008-06-08 at 22:49 -0400, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
wrote:

> This was probably because in the past the Puerto Rican parade in NYC
> has been marred by unruliness and disturbances:
> 
> "The events that happened early in the evening of June 11 after the
> [Puerto Rican Day] parade ended on Fifth Avenue have caused
> consternation among the board members, Mr. Perez said. In frenzied
> attacks that attracted nationwide attention, hordes of young men, many
> of whom had attended the parade, groped about 60 women in the
> southeast corner of the park near 59th Street.
> 
> "The police have charged 30 men in the attacks and are searching for 17 others."
> 
>     NYT, Aug 4, 2000

Congratulations Toothless, for digging up some dirt from an event EIGHT
YEARS AGO, and then picking out the one negative aspect of an event
described in the same article in these terms:

"The National Puerto Rican Day Parade, a New York institution since
1958, is embraced by hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who enjoy
the annual chance to express pride in their cultural contributions."

In other words, out of 50 years of celebrations, you chose to highlight
the only negative story you could find in order to justify the cops
actions. Funnily enough, this isn't the first time.
Cheers,
John



From pt_costello at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  9 04:55:07 2008
From: pt_costello at yahoo.com (Pat Costello)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 03:55:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Salute to Israel Parade vs. Puerto Rican Day Parade: Some
	observations
Message-ID: <866386.29874.qm@web63101.mail.re1.yahoo.com>

Ruthless Critic wrote: 

"This was probably because in the past the Puerto Rican parade in NYC
has been marred by unruliness and disturbances"

Pat: 

Or perhaps it was because of racism against the Puerto Ricans on one hand
and the official support for Zionism on the other (which is actually just
more racism.)

Do you think Zionists are not capable of unruliness and disturbances? I
have heard stories of people being physically attacked by Zionists but
such reports seldom make it into the media. I dare say I would have feared
for my safety if the Kahane supporters could have read my mind as I passed
them. 



http://nyc.indymedia.org/or/2008/06/97717.html

"We came to advocate for human rights and support the humanity of millions
of Palestinians who have been made anonymous by military occupation.
Across the street from us they held signs saying "Death to Islam,' "Arabs
Out of Israel," and "Blow Up Arab Camels." This is not surprising, since
the Israeli state that was being 'saluted' was founded 60 years ago upon
the expulsion, and denial of the rights and even the existence of the
Palestinian people. 

Marchers in the parade itself threw obscene gestures and angrily shouted
at Palestinian children present in the demonstration to "burn in hell,"
while the demonstrators stood silently. Members of an anti-Zionist group
of Orthodox Jews were heckled and jeered as they left the protest and had
food thrown at them. 

We were, frankly, appalled at the ugliness we saw on Sunday, so we feel
the need to make a public statement. Our call to action has always been
based on respect for human rights regardless of religion or race, and our
coalition is made up of Arabs, Israelis, Americans and people of Jewish,
Muslim, Christian, and other origins. 

On top of the hatred we witnessed from supporters of Israel, we were also
forced to confront a small group of individuals holding a separate
demonstration within the same physical space as our protest. The group's
signage and chants were racist and vitriolic in nature, and completely
antithetical to Adalah-NY's message of equal justice and universal human
rights. The police refused to place this group in a separate area, despite
our repeated requests. 

At least one supporter of the right-wing Jewish youth group Betar was
detained by police after harassing protesters, as was another man who spit
on a supporter of Palestinian rights.











      


From acpollack2 at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 05:21:11 2008
From: acpollack2 at gmail.com (Andrew Pollack)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 07:21:11 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] =?windows-1252?q?The_Return_of_=22Monsieur_Verdoux=94?=
Message-ID: <2fa1449b0806090421g69bc83b8tc1f21f1909ad6603@mail.gmail.com>

Yesterday's Times has a review of the revival of Charlie Chaplin's great
social satire and witchhunt victim, "Monsieur Verdoux." Below the link to
that review is Jim Cannon's review of the film and commentary on its
reception when it first came out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/movies/08hobe.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=verdoux&st=
nyt&oref=slogin<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/movies/08hobe.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=verdoux&st=nyt&oref=slogin>

THE MILITANT May 10, 1947

*The Lynching of "Monsieur Verdoux"*

About a year ago I made a firm resolution to boycott all movies unless the
picture has a horse for the hero. And I have stuck to it much better than to
some other firm resolutions I have made. My heart was in this one. Hollywood
double-crossed me once too often. I am no student or critic of cinematic
art, but I know what I don't like?and that is the unappetizing and
indigestible compound of tripe and syrup which the movie moguls and bankers
dish up to the defenseless, amusement-hungry people in the name of art. And
I like it still less to come out of a theater, after a three-hour bout with a
double-feature, with that let-down, sticky feeling of having been played for
a sucker once more.

Dominated by this mood, I was fully prepared to remain indifferent even to
the announcement of a new movie by Chaplin, until I* *noticed the hatchet
job most of the critics of the big press were doing on the picture. With
almost one voice they denounced Chaplin for introducing social criticism?and
deadly serious social criticism as that ?into a medium which has become
almost universally dedicated to the prettification and falsification of
life, and maintained that he wasn't even funny any more. The vicious
over-zealousness with which Chaplin and his new film were being attacked,
with the obvious design to "kill" the picture before the mass of the people
had yet had an opportunity to see it and judge for themselves, aroused
suspicions that there might be some ulterior purpose behind the
lynching campaign;
that the movie critics might be giving a false report of the picture, as
most Hollywood pictures give a false report of life.

Word-of-mouth testimony from some friends who had crossed the critics'
picket line to examine the picture for themselves gave support to my
suspicions, with the result that after more than six months' total
abstinence, this reformed movie addict fell off the wagon and went to
see *Monsieur
Verdoux*.* *And I thanked my lucky stars for one of the most enjoyable and
satisfactory Saturday afternoons I have had in many a day. The critics are
definitely misleading the public in their reviews of this picture.

In *Monsieur Verdoux *the supreme master of the screen discards the familiar
role of the little tramp with the baggy pants and flopping shoes to play the
part of a suavely mannered, impeccably dressed sophisticate. Monsieur
Verdoux had been a bank clerk for 25 years or so, and was ruthlessly
dismissed from his position when the depression came. He had to make a
living somehow, so he went into business for himself?the business of
marrying women for their money and then disposing of them. He does it all to
support his family to which he is deeply and tenderly attached.

It is this theme of the picture, this merciless satire on business in
general, and the business of war in particular, that has roused up so much
antagonism from those who do not want the truth to be told to the people.
Deprecation of war and its mass killing is deemed to be out of season by the
powers that be. The bland insistence of Monsieur Verdoux that he is only
doing on a small scale what others do on a big scale and are acclaimed as
heroes for, has set the subservient critics after him like bloodhounds on
the trail.

And the justification he gives for his crimes?that he has a dependent
family?that is too much like the plea offered in self-defense by all social
criminals in our decadent society to be accepted as a joke. It is the truth
that hurts. I personally know a man who betrayed his socialist principles
and entered the service of the war-propaganda machine, and then excused his
action on the ground that he had a wife and child to support.

I don't doubt that he shrugged his shoulders, perhaps a bit regretfully,
when the bomb fell on Hiroshima and destroyed a whole city-full of families
who also had a right to live and to be supported. That is what Monsieur
Verdoux did when the police inspector read him the list of a dozen or so
women whom he had done away with in the line of business. "After all, one
must make a living." Killing is a recognized business in the world as it is
organized today.


From david at miradoiro.com  Mon Jun  9 05:36:33 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?iso-8859-1?Q?David_Pic=F3n_=C1lvarez?=)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:36:33 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Immigration policy.
Message-ID: <000701c8ca25$1331a340$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

I recently read this article on what they call "the paradox of immigration". 
Quoting:

"The paradox is that countries attempting to screen immigrants by skill 
level, so that they only get the more skilled ones, end up with an immigrant 
mix
that is less skill-intensive than countries with open immigration.  This 
apparently is a consensus message from the Munich Economic Summit: countries 
like Ireland, the UK, and Spain, which have had major episodes of open 
immigration from EU accession countries and/or general amnesties for non-EU
immigrants have higher proportions of highly qualified immigrants -

For example, 45% of Ireland's foreign-born residents and 34% of Britain's 
have a university degree, compared with only 19% in Germany and 11% in 
Italy,
Mr. [Hans-Werner] Sinn said."

URL: 
http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/minorities-and-integration/the-paradox-of-selective-immigration-policy/

To be honest, I'm not clear what conclusions to take from this: should open 
immigration be advocated on the grounds that since capital flows are free so 
should labour flows? Should it not be advocated since it causes, in effect, 
a greater "brain drain" from the host countries? On the other hand, 
remitances seem to be very important for some of these economies...

--David.



From Dbachmozart at aol.com  Mon Jun  9 06:08:59 2008
From: Dbachmozart at aol.com (Dbachmozart at aol.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:08:59 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Reasoned Debate and the Fear of Reprisal at Harvard -
Message-ID: <d30.3147e00e.357e775b@aol.com>


Reasoned Debate and the Fear of Reprisal at Harvard - 
_http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Muzzlewatch/~3/307639437/_ 
(http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Muzzlewatch/~3/307639437/)   

Academic freedom, relatively unfettered by corporate business interests,  is 
one of the last bastions of free speech and inquiry in the US. That is  
precisely why people like Alan Dershowitz and Daniel Pipes, extensively  discussed 
here, intrepidly do their utmost, despite assertions to the contrary,  to 
stifle such activity. No matter one's point of view, the ability to have  
multi-vocal academic discussion is a core activity of a functioning democracy.  In this 
spirit J. LORAND MATORY discusses in detail his own worrying experience  as a 
long time Harvard faculty member. His effort to have the Harvard faculty  
commit itself to fostering a civil dialogue in which people with a broad range  
of perspectives feel safe and are encouraged to express their reasoned and  
evidence-based ideas was tabled by the Faculty of Arts and Science precisely  
because it could allow such reasoned debate about I/P. He goes in to detail on  
censorship occurring to him and others, such as Norman Finklestein, in and  
around the Harvard Campus.



**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with 
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.      
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)

From pance at rogers.com  Mon Jun  9 06:17:12 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:17:12 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] YouTube video: Richard Lewontin
Message-ID: <mailman.22.1213013793.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

YouTube playlist:

Lectures by Richard Lewontin

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=57477EE21242C43E

Richard Lewontin is a major figure in the fields of population genetics and
molecular evolution, and a vigorous critic of several features of
neo-Darwinism, such as sociobiology and adaptationism. He also rejects any
scientific validity to the notion of race, and is a left-wing social critic.






From pance at rogers.com  Mon Jun  9 06:19:42 2008
From: pance at rogers.com (Pance Stojkovski)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:19:42 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Video: Peter Hallward, author of Damming the Flood
Message-ID: <mailman.23.1213013940.2556.marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu>

Peter Hallward, author of Damming the Flood, spoke last week at an event
organized by the Toronto Haiti Action Committee.

 

The video of Peter's presentation is available on Google Video:

 

Part 1 (30 mins): 

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8408444967900455767

 

Part 2 (31 mins):

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-1313201180930788230

 

More news about Peter's tour:

http://canadahaitiaction.ca <http://canadahaitiaction.ca/> 

 

Pance.

 


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 07:20:06 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:20:06 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] =?windows-1252?q?Why_It=92s_Worse_Than_You_Think?=
Message-ID: <484D2E06.5030403@panix.com>

http://www.newsweek.com/id/140553

Why It?s Worse Than You Think

For months, economic Pollyannas have looked beyond the dismal headlines 
and promised a quick recovery in the second half. They're dead wrong.
Daniel Gross

The forgettable first half of 2008 is stumbling to a close. On Friday, 
the Labor Department reported that American employers axed 49,000 jobs 
in May, the fifth straight month of job losses?an event that signals a 
recession sure as the glittery ball dropping on Times Square augurs a 
New Year. The report, which inspired a 394-point decline in the Dow 
Jones Industrial Average Friday, was the latest in a run of bad news. 
Auto sales, the largest retailing sector in the U.S., were off 10.7 
percent in May from the year before. And housing? Ugh. Nationwide, 
according to the Case-Shiller Index, home prices in the first quarter 
fell 14 percent.

Yet hope springs eternal that the second half will be better than the 
first. Economists polled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 
May believe the economy will grow at an annual rate of 1.7 percent and 
1.8 percent in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Lawrence 
Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, tells 
NEWSWEEK that "home sales and prices in most of the country will improve 
during the second half of 2008." (Yun is the Little Orphan Annie of 
forecasters. He's always sure the sun will come out tomorrow.) Last 
month, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, "We expect to see a faster 
pace of economic growth before the end of the year."

The cause for optimism: the U.S. has called in the economic cavalry, 
which has responded in textbook fashion. The Federal Reserve has 
aggressively cut interest rates, bringing the Federal Funds rate down 
from 5.25 percent last September to 2 percent. Earlier this spring, 
Congress and President Bush, in a rare moment of bipartisan accord, 
passed a stimulus package, which will shove nearly $100 billion into the 
pockets of American consumers by mid-July.

But this downturn is likely to last longer than the eight-month-long 
recession of 2001. While the U.S. financial system processes popped 
stock bubbles quickly, it has always taken longer to hack through the 
overhang of bad debt. The head winds that drove the economy into this 
dead calm? a housing and credit crisis, and rising energy and food 
prices?have strengthened rather than let up in recent months. To 
aggravate matters, the twin crises that dominate the financial news?a 
credit crunch and the global commodity boom?are blunting the stimulus 
efforts. As a result, the consumer-driven economy may not bounce back as 
rapidly as it did in the fraught months after 9/11.

As it seeks to regain its footing in the second half, the U.S. economy 
faces two significant obstacles, neither of which was evident in 2001. 
The first is entirely homegrown: the self-inflicted wounds of the 
promiscuous extension and abuse of credit in the housing and financial 
sectors. The second is a global phenomenon that has comparatively little 
to do with American behavior: rampant inflation in commodities such as 
oil, food, and steel. These trends have conspired to inflict genuine 
economic pain and deflate consumer confidence. The Conference Board's 
Consumer Confidence Index in May slumped to a 16-year low.

While the treatment of the current malaise has been essentially 
identical to the reaction to the 2001 slump?aggressive Federal Reserve 
rate cuts and tax rebates?the symptoms are quite different. In 2001, an 
implosion in the technology sector and a slump in business investment 
pushed the economy over the edge. Even though some 3 million jobs were 
shed between 2001 and 2003, consumers soldiered on through the downturn. 
"We had a massive reduction in both long- and short-term interest rates, 
which set off the housing and consumption boom," says Ian Morris, chief 
U.S. economist at HSBC. (Remember zero-percent car loans?) This time, 
it's the opposite. While businesses?especially those that export?are 
holding up, the economy is being dragged down by the cement shoes of a 
freaked-out consumer and a punk housing market.

The difficulties today start?as they began last year?with housing and 
housing-related credit. Last Thursday, the Mortgage Bankers Association 
quarterly report showed that the percentage of mortgage borrowers behind 
on their payments?6.35 percent?was the highest since the MBA began 
tracking the number in 1979. It's not just subprime. In the first 
quarter of 2008, 36 percent of all foreclosures initiated were on prime 
adjustable-rate mortgages in California. Mark Zandi, chief economist of 
Moody's Economy.com, says the decline in home prices has slashed $2.5 
trillion from household wealth, or about $25,000 per homeowner. The fall 
has also removed an important source of support for consumer spending, 
as Americans who grew accustomed to borrowing against rising home equity 
to finance car purchases or vacations now find themselves bereft. Banks 
are extricating themselves from the home-equity-line-of-credit business 
in the same way college students get themselves out of relationships 
gone bad: abruptly. Judi Froning, a second-grade teacher in San Diego, 
was surprised last week when she received a letter from Chase informing 
her that it was terminating her untapped HELOC. "In the light of 
declining home values, they said they are stopping, effective May 31, 
any draw on my line of credit," she says.

Despite repeated claims that the damage has been contained, the banks 
that recklessly financed the housing boom?and then traded mortgage debt 
even more recklessly?are still cleaning up the mess. But it turns out 
(surprise!) the same sort of clouded judgment led banks to excesses in 
commercial lending, and in loans to private-equity firms. The battered 
financial system, which has raised tens of billions of dollars on 
onerous terms from new investors to shore up balance sheets, is still 
likely to suffer more pain from the popped credit bubble, said Bruce 
Wasserstein, the CEO of the investment bank Lazard, speaking at a New 
York breakfast. "The harm will radiate for another year." The latest 
victim: Wachovia CEO G. Thompson Kennedy, cashiered after the North 
Carolina-based bank suffered a string of losses. Next up: write-offs for 
bad credit-card and commercial realestate debt. After a serene period 
between 2004 and '07 in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. went 
without a single bank failure, four have gone under so far this year. 
FDIC chairperson Sheila Bair warned of the "possibility that future 
failures could include institutions of greater size than we have seen in 
the recent past." In preparation, the agency has brought staffers out of 
retirement.

The financial system is supposed to be a tube, transmitting lower 
interest rates. Banks borrow from the Fed, and pass through lower costs 
to customers and to the markets at large. But today banks are acting 
more like dried sponges, absorbing the liquidity the Fed is providing to 
shore up their balance sheets and make up for losses, rather than 
releasing the cash into the economy. The Federal Reserve reports that in 
April, 55 percent of commercial banks said they are tightening lending 
standards on commercial loans, up from 30 percent in January. Judy 
Eisenbrand, a Moorpark, Calif., real-estate agent, notes that buyers 
also can't get loans as easily today, even in strong markets. "The 
standards are so much stricter than they were during the boom days," she 
says.

The upshot: the Fed's adrenaline isn't really circulating through the 
commercial bloodstream. According to mortgage-data firm HSH, rates on 
conforming 30-year mortgages (under $417,000) have only fallen 
marginally since the Fed began cutting rates, from 6.4 percent on Sept. 
21 to 6.17 on May 30, while jumbo loan rates haven't budged at all. 
Worse, this may be as good as it gets. Last Tuesday, Federal Reserve 
chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that the Fed may be done cutting rates. 
Why? "Inflation has remained high," Bernanke said, "largely reflecting 
continuing sharp increases in the prices of globally traded commodities."

Economists say it generally takes nine to 12 months for Federal Reserve 
interest-rate cuts to work their way into the system. By contrast, 
sending checks to consumers tends to produce quick results. Some 
retailers have reported a surge of business spurred by the tax rebates. 
But consumers are shopping for necessities, not discretionary items. 
Sales at Wal-Mart and Costco were up in May, while sales at Kohl's and 
Nordstrom were down. David Rosenberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch, 
argues that higher food and gas prices are eating the rebate. Follow the 
math. The rebate checks will total about $120 billion. Studies suggest 
that about 40 percent of that total, or about $48 billion, will be spent 
in short order; the rest will be saved or spent later. Rosenberg reckons 
that higher energy costs?crude-oil prices are up 40 percent so far in 
2008?are draining about $30 billion out of household cash flow per 
quarter, and that food inflation, running at a 9 percent annualized 
rate, drains another $20 billion per quarter. "So instead of the 
stimulus being filtered into real economic activity, it's being diverted 
into the checkout counter at Albertson's and the gas station," he says.

Last November, retired school principal Barbara McGeary, 75, of Camp 
Hill, Pa., switched from a Toyota Rav 4 SUV to a Prius. But the savings 
she realizes are eaten by a higher food bill. "When I go to the grocery 
store, I see prices have doubled on some of the things I'm purchasing," 
she says. Last year she paid $3.99 for a container of about two dozen 
brownies. Now that they're retailing for $8.49, she bakes her own. 
McGeary and her husband are also eating at home more than ever. 
"Restaurants, of course, have had to increase their prices," she says.

While the housing and credit crisis is homegrown, the higher prices for 
high-octane gasoline and corn chips are effectively imports. 
Historically, or at least since the end of World War II, if the U.S. 
sneezed, the world caught a cold. When we used more gas, oil prices 
rose, and when we used less gas, oil prices fell. As GM vice chairman 
Bob Lutz points out, "Usually petroleum prices were the first to react 
to a severe U.S. slowdown." In the past it would have been unthinkable 
for oil to spike if Americans were cutting back.

Many factors, from a weak dollar to rising speculation, are behind the 
higher commodity prices. But at root, $4-per-gallon gasoline and 
$20-per-pound steaks are largely a function of the changing economic 
geography, and the diminished stature of the U.S. Last January, the talk 
of the World Economic Forum in Davos (aside from the locale of the 
Google party) was the prospect of "decoupling"?the notion that India and 
China could maintain their breakneck economic growth rates even if the 
U.S. pooped out. Five months later, the global economy seems to have 
decoupled faster than Jessica Simpson and John Mayer. The world is 
growing without us. "My impression is that China and India both have 
sufficient domestic demand-led growth to continue to have vibrant growth 
even if the U.S. has a sustained period of difficulty," former Treasury 
secretary Robert Rubin tells NEWSWEEK. Producers of commodities are 
enjoying the fruits of higher prices. Sorry, Tom Friedman, the world is 
no longer flat. "It is upside down," says Mohamed El-Erian, co-CEO of 
bond mutual-fund giant PIMCO. "The growing robustness of the emerging 
economies enables them to step up to the global plate at a time when the 
U.S. has to take a breather in order to put its financial house in 
order." This rampant global economic growth?more people eating better, 
more people driving, more people using electricity?is translating into 
higher prices at the Stop & Shop.

The situation we're in is nowhere near stagflation?the consumer price 
index is rising at a 3 percent annual rate, compared with 13 percent in 
1979. But it's still a shock to the system. Fuel surcharges have become 
de rigueur from exterminators to personal trainers. On May 28, Dow 
Chemical announced it would increase prices 20 percent to compensate for 
higher energy prices. The realization that the U.S. no longer controls 
its economic destiny is contributing to the widespread feeling of unease 
and crisis of confidence. Economically speaking, the 1990s belonged to 
the U.S. and New York and Silicon Valley. But as this decade motors 
toward its close, it seems powered by China, and Russia, and Dubai and 
Mumbai. It's as though we're home watching reruns while everybody else 
is out partying. Worse, some of those benefiting the most from the new 
tilt on the Risk board are hostile to the U.S., like Hugo Ch?vez of 
Venezuela. In a recent study, Mary Egan, a partner at the Boston 
Consulting Group, found that 71 percent of those polled agreed with the 
following statement: "Because the world has changed so much, the U.S. 
economy will not be as strong as it was?or at least not for the next 
several years."

Such surveys measure sentiment, and any analyst worth his weight in 
PowerPoint presentations will tell you that sentiment doesn't always 
translate into cash activity in the marketplace. But there's one 
marketplace where sentiment?and especially consumer confidence?matters 
greatly: politics. The last time consumer confidence was this low was in 
October 1992?the month before incumbent George H.W. Bush won 37 percent 
of the popular vote, the worst performance of any incumbent in history. 
"The economy is always the biggest issue in a general presidential 
election," says Tom Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, 
because it's a referendum on the party in power. A recent CBS News poll 
showed more people identified the economy as their leading concern (34 
percent) than identified oil prices (16 percent) and Iraq (15 percent) 
combined.

Yale economist Ray Fair has developed a formula in which particular 
economic factors can foreshadow election outcomes. Crude summary: when 
there's lots of good news on growth and inflation in a presidential 
term, it favors the incumbent party. With growth low and inflation high, 
John McCain comes out with 44 percent in November. (Before Obama-ites go 
making reservations for the Inaugural, consider that the formula 
misfired in 1992.)

All things being equal, the limping economy should favor Obama. While 
McCain has taken pains to distance himself from the Bush administration, 
he has heartily embraced the most significant component of Bush's 
economic legacy: the tax cuts. But in presidential elections, all things 
are never equal. Obama and McCain have staked out different economic 
turf. For Obama, it's middle-class tax cuts, and creating new jobs in 
environmental and tech fields; for McCain it is repealing the 
Alternative Minimum Tax, expanding free trade (a winner in an age of 
rising exports) and a summer gas holiday. But if the economy worsens 
significantly, if oil spikes to $150 per barrel and unemployment becomes 
more widespread, the campaign will likely take on a different tenor. The 
typical dialogues about taxes and spending, health care and pensions 
will assume a greater prominence. But a crisis atmosphere would require 
both candidates to come up with big-picture narratives about America's 
role in the world economy, and how the nation can re- assume financial 
leadership?something neither has yet done comprehensively.

It's not all doom and gloom. Businesses that thrive on a weak dollar are 
holding up nicely. "In fact many sectors are benefiting from strong 
growth overseas, including high-tech, capital goods, chemical and other 
raw materials, aircraft," says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at 
Global Insight. Bob Toney, president of Ft. Lau- derdale, Fla.-based 
National Liquidators, which auctions repossessed boats and yachts, has 
doubled his staff to 78 employees to pick up around 120 boats a month. 
"Two years ago, we had 200 cases in our inventory and now we have 610," 
he says.

But it's the mainstream indicators?not countercyclical businesses?that 
will point to a recovery. For signs that tomorrow really is a day away, 
look to the thing that got us into this mess: housing. "Housing doesn't 
have to return to the bubble era. It's just that the rate of decline has 
to stop," says Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at the Economic 
Cycle Research Institute. Reductions in the level of housing inventories 
for sale will be a hopeful sign. Other tea leaves are the weekly reports 
on jobless claims, retail chain stores, and mortgage application 
activity. "This will give you an early read on potential trend shifts in 
consumption," says Ian Morris, chief U.S. economist at HSBC.

Just as sharp spikes in the price of oil and commodities have dented 
confidence, precipitous falls in the commodity markets could bolster 
consumer confidence. But that doesn't seem likely any time soon: on 
Friday, the price of a barrel of oil rose $10.75 to a record $138.54.


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 07:27:57 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:27:57 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] The Big Squeeze
Message-ID: <484D2FDD.4040205@panix.com>

Truthdig

Nicholas von Hoffman on ?The Big Squeeze?
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20080606_nicholas_von_hoffman_on_the_big_squeeze/
Posted on Jun 6, 2008

By Nicholas von Hoffman

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker
By Steven Greenhouse
Knopf, 384 pages

You may be surprised to learn that the pleasant person from FedEx Ground 
delivering your package owns the truck which he or she has parked in 
front of your house. FedEx Ground drivers, you will find out in Steven 
Greenhouse?s ?The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker,? are 
not FedEx employees.

They are what are called independent contractors, although it demands no 
little effort to discern what about their position is independent. If 
they do not do what they are told, their contracts are abrogated 
forthwith. They are required to buy their own truck with 60 monthly 
installments of $781.12, which comes to $46,867.20. Plus there is a 
final kicker payment of $8,000, all of which adds up to a grand total of 
almost $55,000. On top of this, as an independent business person, the 
driver must bear the costs of insurance, maintenance, fuel, repairs and 
the fee for the FedEx uniform rental.

FedEx Ground drivers who want to take vacations must hire their own 
replacements to cover the routes while they are gone. If a FedEx Ground 
independent contractor can afford it, he should take a vacation because 
the hours are long, the work is hard and the compensation is less than 
princely. A driver will take home between $25,000 and $35,000 a year.

One of the strengths of Greenhouse?s book is that it puts the meat of 
specificity on the bones of labor statistics. ?The Big Squeeze? is 
salted with interviews and biographies of people in dozens of 
occupations. It is instructive to read the statistics concerning highly 
trained people losing their jobs to people in low-wage countries, but 
the numbers take on painful significance when you are introduced to an 
electrical engineer named Myra Bronstein, working for Watchmark, a 
Bellevue, Wash., firm which develops software used by cell phone companies.

One day Bronstein and 17 of her colleagues got an e-mail asking them to 
report to Watchmark?s boardroom the following morning. As Myra and the 
other quality assurance engineers gathered in the boardroom, the 
director of human resources began giving out large manila envelopes. 
Once everyone was there, Myra recalled, ?The head of HR said, 
?Unfortunately, we?re having layoffs, and you?re in the room because 
you?re being impacted by the layoffs.? ? The 18 engineers were 
dumbstruck, but the head of human resources pressed on. ? ?Your 
replacements,? ? she continued, ? ?are flying in from India, and you?re 
expected to train them if you are going to receive severance.? ?

Drawing back the camera on employment conditions, Greenhouse writes that 
?Forrester Research estimates that 3.4 million white-collar jobs?some 
260,000 a year?will be sent overseas between 2003 and 2050. Forrester 
forecasts that this exodus will include 1.6 million office-support jobs, 
542,000 computer jobs, 259,000 management jobs, 191,000 architecture 
jobs, 79,000 legal jobs, and 30,000 art and design jobs.?

The author explains that these numbers are a small fraction of total 
employment in their respective fields, but the percentage of jobs held 
by college-trained white-collar workers in fields such as insurance, 
pharmacology, banking and information technology which can be shipped 
abroad in some instances ranges above 40 percent.

A few years ago many an American entertained the conceit that the 
natural world division of labor, ? la Adam Smith and David Ricardo, 
would have the little brown and yellow people doing the heavy lifting 
jobs in ill-ventilated factories reeking of lead vapors, while large, 
highly intelligent, highly white citizens of the United States would 
enjoy a life of brain work and ease. It has not worked out that way, as 
Greenhouse shows his readers. Whether or not one?s job is actually sent 
abroad, the mere fact that it can be works not only to place a limit on 
what you can expect to be paid but depresses wages and salaries.

Gone overseas, besides jobs, is the capability of generating jobs. 
Technology, the industrial knowledge base and the necessary 
organizational skills to use these efficiently are also being exported. 
This puts additional downward pressure on compensation here at home and 
makes its contribution to Greenhouse?s doleful overall narrative of what 
has been happening to perhaps four-fifths of our working population for 
the last 30 years or so.

The writer?s central thesis is, ?One of the least examined but most 
important trends taking place in the United States today is the broad 
decline in the status and treatment of American workers?white-collar and 
blue-collar workers, middle-class and low-end workers?that began nearly 
three decades ago, gradually gathered momentum, and hit with full force 
soon after the turn of this century. A profound shift has left a broad 
swath of the American workforce on a lower plain than in decades past, 
with health coverage, pension benefits, job security, workloads, stress 
levels, and often wages growing worse for millions of workers.?

Greenhouse?s main argument is so at variance with what we are told every 
day about the superiority of American everything, it makes you blink. We 
judge ourselves by what our politicians and our television sets say, 
which is that we are the best, most blessed and richest of people and 
getting more so. A rising tide floats all boats, President John Kennedy 
said, and the American tide keeps on rising, but Greenhouse shows that 
tens of millions of boats are either staying put or sinking.

A day seldom passes but a member of Congress takes the floor to remind 
us in mawkish tremolo that the hundreds of thousands of people trying to 
get into the U.S. are proof positive of the power of the American dream. 
If Greenhouse is right, and there is no reason to believe he is not, 
that American dream is just that?a dream.

?Northwest Airlines,? Greenhouse writes, apropos of some people?s 
dreams, ?gave laid-off workers a booklet entitled ?101 Ways to Save 
Money.? But the booklet added insult to financial injury. ?Borrow a 
dress for a big night out? and ?Shop at auctions or pawn shops for 
jewelry? were among the tips it offered. And then it suggested, ?Don?t 
be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash.? ? Dumpster 
diving into the American dream. You can?t make stuff like that up, and 
this book is full of such revealing anecdotes.

It is also chockablock with stories of daily humiliations and insults 
administered to employees by their superiors and/or the policies of the 
companies they work for. Men being shouted at and demeaned as though by 
a bullying parent, women being subjected to lewd advances or told to 
choose between rushing to a sick or stranded child or keeping their 
jobs. Old-timers will tell you in the vernacular that in the bad old 
days when the U.S. was a factory and forge society, the foreman kept a 
red-hot poker stuck up your ass from when you clocked in to when you 
clocked out. It seems from Greenhouse?s book that for millions of 
workers, America in the info, human relations, fuzzy-wuzzy age of grief 
counselors, anxiety pills, empathy and sensitivity offers workplace 
treatment which is the same as it was in the era of the satanic mills. 
The dignity of labor? Forget it.

We have become a nation of mules. It?s work, work, work all the time. ? 
... The average American worker clocked 1,804 hours of work in 
2006?three full-time weeks more per year than the average British 
worker, six weeks more than the average French worker, and nine weeks 
more than the average German worker,? writes Greenhouse. And, mind you, 
the day is long gone that the standard of living in those countries 
lagged behind ours.

On an hourly basis, American workers are not, as once they were, more 
productive than those in comparable nations. They are less so. It could 
be because sleep deprivation and overwork have put them into a 
half-zombie zone.

If you go back to the Sunday supplements of the Eisenhower era, you can 
read discussions of what Americans were going to do with the huge 
amounts of free leisure time that ?automation? was about to bestow on 
them. The automation came with the computers and digitalization of 
everything, including the hair in your nostrils, and, pari passu with 
it, the imposition of ever longer hours of work. In a society which 
reduces them to individualized atoms and then smashes the atoms, 
employees of every sort and status except the highest have no place to 
look for protection.

?In many countries there is, in essence, a legal break that limits 
overwork. In the twenty-seven countries of the European Union, employers 
are required to give workers at least four weeks? vacation each year. In 
Norway and Sweden, workers are guaranteed five weeks? vacation, while 
workers in France and Spain generally receive six weeks. The United 
States is the only advanced industrial nation that does not legislate a 
minimum number of vacation days each year. American workers averaged 
just twelve days of vacation annually, and 36 percent of Americans say 
they do not take all the vacation days due them,? Greenhouse tells his 
readers.

No discussion of working days and hours should stop without examining 
what such unstinting labor outside the home does to family life. One of 
the strengths of Greenhouse?s book is that it does, within the limits of 
time and topic, tackle the consequences of the information he presents.

During the last 30 years of stagnation and decline for working 
Americans, the political party associated with business has been 
unrelenting in going after its Democratic rivals as the anti-family, 
pro-abortion, smut and homosexual party. This has netted that political 
party much mileage and many an election win, but all the queers and all 
the flits and all the gays in history lumped together cannot have had 
the deleterious effects on modern family life that low compensation and 
long hours have had.

The numbers cited by Greenhouse explain why: ? ... 59 percent of mothers 
with children under six do paid work and so do 55 percent with children 
under one, about half of them full time. One reason for today?s 
increased time bind ... is that in the modern middle-class American 
household, both parents taken together work 540 more hours per year?13.5 
more weeks per year?than parents did a generation ago. In two out of 
three American families with small children in which both parents work, 
the couples work more than 80 total hours per week.?

Beyond compensating staff too little to enable parents to have the time 
to care for their children properly, employers are rigidly indifferent 
to the unforeseen crises and nasty surprises which inevitably attend the 
economically forced separation of children from their parents. To drive 
the point home, Greenhouse says: ?Many employers do surprisingly little 
to help workers juggle work and family. Some retailers post their 
worker?s weekly schedules only a few days in advance, making it hard to 
plan child care. Many businesses require employees to work overtime at a 
moment?s notice, leaving many workers in a bind when their baby sitter 
is scheduled to leave. Nearly half of American workers are not entitled 
to paid sick days ... many workers risk getting fired when they stay 
home to care for the sick children.?

How the forced absence of parents plays into the continuing downward 
slide of academic accomplishments by millions of schoolchildren is 
beyond the scope of this book but not beyond our thinking. Two-, three- 
and four-job families are not in good shape to supervise homework, meet 
with teachers or uphold their end of the PTA. Children left to their own 
devices in this country fall prey to the advertising which whisks them 
off to game, movie, music, sneaker, celebrity, cell phone etc. land, 
where fun and entertainment obliterate three-quarters of their lives and 
instill in them sets of preferences and beliefs which keep many of them 
in ox-brained thralldom the rest of their existences.

One would have assumed such questions would have been a burning 
political issue these past 30 years, but far from it. Discussions of 
them have been boxed out and labeled as a woman?s issue or, worse, a 
feminist issue. At the same time, business executives and trade 
associations complain with increasing vehemence about the untaught, 
ignorant and under-motivated young people coming out of our high schools 
and colleges, yet their part in the numbing of youth goes undiscussed 
for fear anyone who might bring it up will be accused of waging class 
warfare.

No book on this subject can skip Wal-Mart, the largest employer in the 
United States with 1.3 million-plus workers, whose average pay last year 
was $1,500 under the poverty line for a family of four. Greenhouse 
devotes a chapter in his book to the company, pointing out that its 
effects and influence are enormous. Business schools hold it up as the 
ideal way to run a business, and competitors are forced to adopt its 
practices because of its size alone.

Anyone who has walked into a Wal-Mart is aware of the size of the 
individual stores, but the stores themselves do not begin to hint at the 
dimensions of this organization. ?Its sales represent an astonishing 2.6 
percent of the nation?s gross domestic product,? Greenhouse writes. ?It 
is three times as large as the world?s second-largest retailer, 
Carrefour of France. Its sales are greater than the combined sales of 
Target, Sears, Kmart, JCPenney, Kohl?s, Safeway, Albertson?s, and 
Kroger. Some retail consultants predict that it will become the world?s 
first $1 trillion company in a dozen years. Each week 130 million 
shoppers visit its 4,000 US stores, and each year 82 percent of American 
households shop at Wal-Mart. It is the nation?s largest grocer, and will 
have 35 percent of the nation?s food market and 25 percent of the 
pharmacy market by the end of this decade, according to Retail Forward, 
a consulting firm. Wal-Mart already sells one-third of the nation?s 
disposable diapers, toothpaste, shampoo, laundry detergent, paper towels 
and nonprescription drugs, and some say it could soon capture a 50 
percent share for those products.?

It may also be the world?s biggest crook. It forces its workers to labor 
off the clock for no compensation. It locks them up overnight to make 
them restock shelves, etc., for free. It hires illegals via 
subcontractors. It discriminates against women. It violates the child 
labor laws. It cheats and uses short cuts in more ways than there is 
space to enumerate. So massive is the indignation at what this behemoth 
does that a small but vigorous anti-Wal-Mart industry has sprung up to 
try to throw a halter on the beast, with but indifferent success.

In a time of shrinking purchasing power, Wal-Mart?s low prices have been 
a godsend for millions, but at the rate things are moving, millions 
won?t have enough to buy even at Wal-Mart. Greenhouse makes a point of 
demonstrating how Wal-Mart?s arrival in a community depresses 
everybody?s wages throughout the area. So the question is: Do people 
save more or lose more because of Wal-Mart?s arrival?

A case can be made that Wal-Mart?s executives long since should have 
been arrested and taken out of their Bentonville, Ark., headquarters in 
handcuffs, but they have escaped having to answer for what their company 
does, much as other business people do who break the nation?s weak labor 
laws, whether that be by cheating employees of their pay or forcing them 
to labor under unhealthy conditions or chiseling on workmen?s 
compensation, etc. Workers who steal get caught and prosecuted; the men 
and women they work for do not.

Greenhouse discusses a number of ways of lessening the big squeeze?s 
pressure on people in the face of free trade and massive immigration. To 
name a few, he has hopes for raising the earned income tax credit and 
would change the law to make corporations like Wal-Mart criminally 
liable for their contractors? labor law violations. He tackles the 
question of the courts blessing settlements of suits against companies 
that pay in secret without admitting how they have screwed their 
workers. He would have the government send some executives to prison for 
crimes against their employees, just as they are jailed for crimes 
against their stockholders. All good suggestions with some hope of 
congressional enactment if the Democrats get in and the lobbyists do not 
get to them first.

Among Greenhouse?s many suggestions is the revival of union power and 
membership. The deck is so stacked against the lone, unorganized, 
unprotected employee that the squeeze is only going to get tighter. 
Collective action for Americans indoctrinated for decades with the 
conviction that lack of money is a character flaw is a hard sell. A 
rebirth of trade unionism also depends upon major changes in federal 
government policies. For that to happen, Greenhouse recognizes, the 
National Labor Relations Board would have to be pried away from business 
control and laws governing union organizing and tactics restored to 
something like what they were in the New Deal period.

If enough people read ?The Big Squeeze,? that may come to pass. Well 
researched and written to be easily read, this book should get people 
out from in front of their flat-screen HD television sets to try to do 
something about what has been happening to us and our country.

Nicholas von Hoffman, a former columnist for The Washington Post and a 
former commentator for CBS? ?60 Minutes,? is a regular columnist for The 
New York Observer. He is the author of numerous books, including ?Hoax: 
Why Americans Are Suckered by White House Lies? and ?Capitalist Fools: 
Tales of American Business From Carnegie to Forbes to the Milken Gang.?


From daynegoodwin at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 08:18:36 2008
From: daynegoodwin at gmail.com (Dayne Goodwin)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:18:36 -0600
Subject: [Marxism] organizing protests for Democrat,
	Republican conventions
In-Reply-To: <e812273d0805190816s695cc28cn95a89e6977cf6547@mail.gmail.com>
References: <e812273d0805190816s695cc28cn95a89e6977cf6547@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <e812273d0806090718x2aac985fp823a71ecf4ca335d@mail.gmail.com>

see also:  http://dncdisruption08.org/

On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 9:16 AM, Dayne Goodwin <daynegoodwin at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Democrats national convention, August 25-28
> in Denver Colorado -
> <http://www.recreate68.org/>
>
> Republican national convention, Sept. 1-4
> Minneapolis, Minnesota
> <http://wcco.com/local/republican.convention.protest.2.650198.html>
>
>

From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 08:40:15 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:40:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Forwarded message on Stalin movie
Message-ID: <484D40CF.8090105@panix.com>

Indian Telugu language film ?Stalin?

The title of this commercial entertainer ?Stalin? has nothing much of 
social relevance, except one brilliant scene and a few rare flashes here 
and there.

The lead character, Stalin is the son of a communist revolutionary, who 
leaves his career in military for social work. He tries to take up some 
social causes, but gets dis-heartened after a string of failures and 
poor response from those he wanted to help out. Even his friends advise 
him to go look for a job.

Dejected, he sits under a tree pondering. He happens to witness a 
running race for physically challenged children in a near-by school. 
Once the race starts, the boys surge ahead on their struts, but one boy 
falls down. The winner, who is just about to cross the finish line, on 
hearing the moans of the fallen boy stops in his tracks and turns back. 
Not only he, but all the contestants come back to pick up their fallen 
comrade and reach the finish line together, evoking enthusiastic 
applause from the other physically challenged children of the school.

This recharges the hero and he says this is the only way the deprived 
can achieve success ? not by competition but by co-operation. I salute 
the film makers for creating such a beautiful and heart rendering scene.

M Vijaya Kumar


From Johannes.Schneider at gmx.net  Mon Jun  9 08:43:04 2008
From: Johannes.Schneider at gmx.net (Johannes Schneider)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:43:04 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Immigration policy.
In-Reply-To: <000701c8ca25$1331a340$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <000701c8ca25$1331a340$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <20080609144304.262120@gmx.net>


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:36:33 +0200
> Von: "David Pic?n ?lvarez" <david at miradoiro.com>
> An: Johannes.Schneider at gmx.net
> Betreff: [Marxism] Immigration policy.

> I recently read this article on what they call "the paradox of
> immigration". 
> Quoting:
> 
> "The paradox is that countries attempting to screen immigrants by skill 
> level, so that they only get the more skilled ones, end up with an
> immigrant 
> mix
> that is less skill-intensive than countries with open immigration.  This 
> apparently is a consensus message from the Munich Economic Summit:
> countries 
> like Ireland, the UK, and Spain, which have had major episodes of open 
> immigration from EU accession countries and/or general amnesties for
> non-EU
> immigrants have higher proportions of highly qualified immigrants -
> 
> For example, 45% of Ireland's foreign-born residents and 34% of Britain's 
> have a university degree, compared with only 19% in Germany and 11% in 
> Italy,
> Mr. [Hans-Werner] Sinn said."
> 

In Germany Hans-Werner Sinn is regraded as one of the most pro-capitalist economics.
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Werner_Sinn 

"Sinn criticizes the escalation of German wages from 1970 to 2000 and the growth of a welfare state based on wage replacement incomes, which, in his opinion, is largely responsible for mass unemployment among low-skilled workers. He points out the many adjustments that are necessary to strengthen Germany?s role in a globalised economy. They include reducing the power of the trade unions and improving the incentive structures of the welfare state. (...)
Sinn feels that the German welfare state has structural flaws and argues for a restructuring. Unemployment benefits, for example, weaken the willingness to take on a job at the same or lower pay. It is understandable, he argues, that no one will go to work if he gets more from the state for not working. Unemployment compensation functions as a minimum wage that destroys the jobs of those people whose productivity is lower than this minimum wage.(...)
Sinn also favors a loosening of Germany?s dismissal protection laws. He proposes letting employees decide whether to take a job with higher pay and lower dismissal protection or lower pay and higher protection.(...)
To make German workers ?more competitive?, Sinn has argued for an increase in weekly working hours in Germany from 38 to 42 hours without pay increases. In addition to a direct lowering of wage costs, this would make all workers more productive and would increase supply and demand."


-- 
GMX startet ShortView.de. Hier findest Du Leute mit Deinen Interessen!
Jetzt dabei sein: http://www.shortview.de/?mc=sv_ext_mf at gmx


From david at miradoiro.com  Mon Jun  9 09:00:57 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?utf-8?Q?David_Pic=C3=B3n_=C3=81lvarez?=)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 17:00:57 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] Immigration policy.
References: <000701c8ca25$1331a340$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<20080609144304.262120@gmx.net>
Message-ID: <001e01c8ca41$a0f561a0$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

Wow, those policy recommendations are outright extreme. I can't imagine the 
Spanish right-wing making such recommendations aloud. Still, that doesn't 
mean that his observation about immigration policies is wrong.

--David.



From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 09:13:53 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:13:53 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] WikiLeaks: The Horn of Terror,
 Secret Deals and Frame Ups from Nairobi to New York
Message-ID: <484D48B1.6030709@panix.com>

Mon Jun  9 14:49:51 GST 2008
Wikileaks Press Release

Extraordinary rendition on the "Horn of Terror", secret agreements, a 
plot to frame Ralia Odinga, Barack Obama, and more.

During the 2007 Presidential election campaigns in Kenya, an 
international furore developed around the existence of a "secret" 
Memorandum of Understanding signed by Raila Odinga (now Prime Minister 
of Kenya) and the National Muslim Leaders' Forum. A forged version of 
this Memorandum of Understanding was in email circulation as of November 
2007 and was released (as such) by Wikileaks.Org on November 14th 2007.

The MoU went on to cause considerable mischief in the December 2007 
Kenyan election and continues, fantastically, to be used to smear US 
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama (for example, see "The 
Kenyan Connection" in the New York Sun 
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/kenya-connection/69273/).

At the time WikiLeaks pointed out that "Most of the pledges couldn't be 
met by any presidential candidate as they are inherently 
unconstitutional and would mightily annoy the non-Muslim majority in 
Kenya... The idea behind the smear is to turn a fairly large and 
committed evangelical Christian block against poor Raila, who is often 
accused of ambivalent religious allegiance". However this did not stop 
Kenyan and US proponents of the document deliberately avoiding the 
WikiLeaks analysis by linking directly to the memorandum as opposed to 
the WikiLeaks description page.

WikiLeaks has now received from the Kenyan Human Rights Forum what is 
likely the authentic MoU between Raila Odinga and the NAMLEF. It is 
dated August 29th 2007 and is signed by Raila Odinga and Sheikh Abdulahi 
Abdi the Chairman of NAMLEF. Witnesses to their signatures are Mohamed 
Farouk Adam, Said Athman Mtwana (now a senior civil servant) and Najib 
Balala (now the Minister for Tourism).

The authenticity of this document is also strenghtned by the current 
political climate and a follow up letter from the KMHRF. The letter, 
addressed to Prime Minister Raila Odinga and dated June 5th 2008, 
reminds the Prime Minister of his commitment to NAMLEF regarding over 
100 Kenyans who in January and February 2007 were illegally renditioned, 
including to Guantanamo Bay where one Kenyan (Abdulmalik Mohamed - by 
the admission of US authorities) is still being held.

The KMHRF is now calling Mr. Odinga on his pledges including the pledge 
in clause E (b) (4) which refers to "specific action" including "the 
setting up of a commission to inquire on deliberate schemes and actions 
of the government, its agencies or officers, to target or interfere with 
welfare and social well-being of Muslims in Kenya as citizens including 
renditioning of Kenyans to Somalia, Ethiopia and Guantanamo Bay."

Apparently it was intended that such schemes and actions will be put to 
an end and public officers responsible for the same named and held to 
account.

According to the KMHRF, the publication of the authentic MoU and the 
letter to Prime Minister Raila Odinga is meant to highlight the dilemmas 
faced by the Government of Kenya's in its continued support for the War 
on Terror, and the need to satisfy political demands by supporters of 
members of the Grand Coalition Government that was formed on February 
28th 2008, after the Kenyan elections of December 2007.

In July 2007, the KMHRF published a report on extraordinary renditions 
in East Africa that indicates that over 100 Kenyans have been extracted 
from the country during US operations in collaboration with Kenyan 
authorities. The report contains original copies of passenger manifests 
from Kenyan charter airlines as evidence of renditions in January and 
February 2007.

The report and letter are included in the WikiLeaks archive along with 
the confidential memorandum between the National Muslim Leaders Forum 
and the Priminister.

See:

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/S:1


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 09:19:56 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:19:56 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Exchange with Jack Weatherford
Message-ID: <484D4A1C.7040708@panix.com>

Me:
Jack, I wonder if you have ever thought or written about the Ottoman 
Empire. My wife is Turkish and as a result I have been taking language 
classes at Columbia where I work and studying their culture. I noted 
that in your analysis of Genghis Khan's 10-man restructuring of the 
Mongolian army, the word "ordu" was used. This is the Turkish word for 
army. Also, in describing the "brother-in-law" adoption of non-Mongols 
into the army, the word "khari" or black was used. Again, kari means 
black in Turkish. I wonder if there is a dotted line between Khan's 
method of ruling with a light footprint and the Ottoman's. Or am I just 
speculating?

Jack Weatherford:
You are absolutely correct.  The Turks originated in Mongolia, and the 
Mongols used them as their model of civilization.  The Mongols fairly 
much rejected Chinese, Christian and Muslim models but steadfastly 
followed the Turks.

The people and the languages are so intertwined, and the Mongols 
borrowed many words from the Turks for new things and for the vocabulary 
of nomadic life.

In the time of Genghis Khan, both the Naiman and the Kereyid were Turkic 
peoples.  All of his sons married Turkic women, and four of his 
daughters married Turkic khans.

In turn, the Mongols had a great influence on the Ottomans who followed.

Turkey is a wonderful country.  I truly love it, and I have so much 
respect for them.  When I look at the soaring domes of Sinan the 
Architect, I feel that I am in a nomad's tent turned into marble.  It is 
a wonderful blend of cultures.



From daynegoodwin at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 09:28:10 2008
From: daynegoodwin at gmail.com (Dayne Goodwin)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 09:28:10 -0600
Subject: [Marxism] organizing protests for Democrat,
	Republican conventions
In-Reply-To: <e812273d0806090718x2aac985fp823a71ecf4ca335d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <e812273d0805190816s695cc28cn95a89e6977cf6547@mail.gmail.com>
	<e812273d0806090718x2aac985fp823a71ecf4ca335d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <e812273d0806090828w42868b3du8576b1252311d123@mail.gmail.com>

and:  <http://www.denverpost.com/ci_9495375?source=bb>

"Activists who plan to protest at the Democratic National Convention this
summer are splitting with the umbrella organization, Re-create 68, because
of concerns over its rhetoric and tactics.

The new coalition, called Alliance for Real Democracy, is a network of local
and national groups, including Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, the
American Friends Service Committee, the Green Party of Colorado, the Rocky
Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Colorado
Street Medics, and Students for Peace and Justice.

. . ."


On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 8:18 AM, Dayne Goodwin <daynegoodwin at gmail.com>
wrote:

> see also:  http://dncdisruption08.org/
>
>
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 9:16 AM, Dayne Goodwin <daynegoodwin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Democrats national convention, August 25-28
>> in Denver Colorado -
>> <http://www.recreate68.org/>
>>
>> Republican national convention, Sept. 1-4
>> Minneapolis, Minnesota
>> <http://wcco.com/local/republican.convention.protest.2.650198.html>
>>
>>
>

From youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk  Mon Jun  9 09:36:40 2008
From: youcanemailbenhere at yahoo.co.uk (Ben Ben)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:36:40 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [Marxism] Airey Neave
Message-ID: <972815.14281.qm@web26302.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

Can any comrade provide a URL for information on Airey Neave's assassination in 1979? There's plenty of information on Wikipedia, and all kinds of theories seem to abound, but I'd appreciate a more informed piece...


      __________________________________________________________
Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html


From spalmer999 at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  9 09:19:55 2008
From: spalmer999 at yahoo.com (Steve Palmer)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:19:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
In-Reply-To: <733b65360806081922k3f282fb0k4487c46c14a0b260@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <910842.25173.qm@web81908.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

For more on this, see Helen Yaffe's forthcoming book on Che Guevara, based on
Cuban archival sources and discussions with his closest companeros:

http://boletininformativo.blogia.com/2007/101229-che-economista-en-el-corazon-de-joven-londinense.php

Steve

--- Ian Angus <ecosocialism at gmail.com> wrote:

> New on Socialist Voice, just in time for Che's 80th birthday:
> 
> Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
> by John Riddell
> http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=298
> 
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/spalmer999%40yahoo.com
> 


"I study a lot. That is one of the responsibilities of every revolutionary." Hugo Chavez.


      


From joeandcaroline at msn.com  Mon Jun  9 09:45:14 2008
From: joeandcaroline at msn.com (Joseph Callahan)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:45:14 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Police gearing up for RNC protest
Message-ID: <BAY107-DAV685393AD09B16429EA298DFB00@phx.gbl>

Below is a link to a story about antiwar activist Mick Kelly being arrested
on June 3, while leafleting for the Sept. 1 antiwar March on the RNC,  outside the Xcel Center victory rally by Obama, and then the city of St. Paul "apologizing" the next day.  He was accused of "peddling without a license," which he was not doing,
while there were many people who were peddling T-shirts, brats etc. 

Activists in Minnesota have seen increased police surveillance of antiwar actions
in the lead up to September's demonstration.  This includes more videotaping, 
mounted police, bicycle police, helicopters etc.  Also police "liason" officers 
have approached activists asking about activist groups that do not have affiliates
in the Twin Cities.

Joe Callahan 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mick Kelly<mailto:mickelly.fightback at gmail.com> 
To: march-on-the-rnc at googlegroups.com<mailto:march-on-the-rnc at googlegroups.com> 
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 9:46 PM
Subject: March on the RNC fallout from arrest at xcel


story about fallout from arrest on Tuesday

Mick

http://www.startribune.com/<http://www.startribune.com/>
-----------------------
Note new email: 
mickelly.fightback at gmail.com<mailto:mickelly.fightback at gmail.com>

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "March on the RNC" group. 
To post to this group, send email to march-on-the-rnc at googlegroups.com<mailto:march-on-the-rnc at googlegroups.com> 
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to march-on-the-rnc-unsubscribe at googlegroups.com 
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/march-on-the-rnc?hl=en 
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---


From wsredden at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 09:44:01 2008
From: wsredden at gmail.com (Shawn Redden)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:44:01 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Salute to Israel Parade vs. Puerto Rican Day Parade:
	Some observations
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806081949i2f72d8a2j406d17e7001d0425@mail.gmail.com>
References: <505329.80270.qm@web63106.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
	<908b689f0806081949i2f72d8a2j406d17e7001d0425@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a50797a90806090844p3cfae269w3e65055e8bf7d0f8@mail.gmail.com>

As is ordinarily the case, those engaged most totally in the disturbance are
the forces of order.  To further corroborate Comrade Costello's point, one
ought to remember last year's insanity in which New York's Finest rounded up
about 200 people on "unlawful assembly" charges due to rumors that the Latin
Kings might be there.

<
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/nyregion/12parade.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
>

Given the NYPD's policy of rounding up Black and Brown people on a whim, it
must have been like shooting fish in a barrel!

You've got to love it when one of the most reprehensible and vile criminal
organizations on the planet locks people up on anonymous allegations of
potentially committing thought crime.  Then again, I'm sure they would have
taken similar measures if there were rumors of Ariel Sharon's half-dead but
still wholly genocidal self making a surprise appearance.

Solidarity,
Shawn


On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 10:49 PM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists <
ok.president+marxml at gmail.com <ok.president%2Bmarxml at gmail.com>> wrote:

> On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 5:28 PM, Pat Costello <pt_costello at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On the other hand, the Puerto Rican Day was interrupted often by
> cross-town traffic. Barricades and police were everywhere, much more so than
> at the Israel Day parade.
> > Police on horseback were conspicuous.  Spectators were absolutely
> prohibited from
> > crossing the barricades. No Puerto Rican flags adorned public property.
> One had the
> > sense that the security was there to protect the city from the parade.
> The crowd was very
> > working class and obviously latino.
> >
> > It was impossible to enter the Park except at 72nd street and then one
> had to pass
> > through a long corridor of barricades. Many important areas of the park
> such as
> > Bethesda Fountain were barricaded with police and park employees standing
> guard.
> > This was not the case last week when the park was mostly open for the
> Zionists.
> >
> > In the park I ran into an old friend who is Puerto Rican. He was so angry
> about the
> > situation that he started yelling at the park employees behind the
> barricades, "Don't
> > let any Puerto Ricans in! They are savages!"
>
> This was probably because in the past the Puerto Rican parade in NYC
> has been marred by unruliness and disturbances:
>
> "The events that happened early in the evening of June 11 after the
> [Puerto Rican Day] parade ended on Fifth Avenue have caused
> consternation among the board members, Mr. Perez said. In frenzied
> attacks that attracted nationwide attention, hordes of young men, many
> of whom had attended the parade, groped about 60 women in the
> southeast corner of the park near 59th Street.
>
> "The police have charged 30 men in the attacks and are searching for 17
> others."
>
>    NYT, Aug 4, 2000
>    <
> http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2DC143CF937A3575BC0A9669C8B63
> >
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/wsredden%40gmail.com
>

From Midhurst14 at aol.com  Mon Jun  9 09:55:04 2008
From: Midhurst14 at aol.com (Midhurst14 at aol.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:55:04 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Exchange with Jack Weatherford
Message-ID: <d4b.2f265abe.357eac58@aol.com>

 
     
This appeared in the Financial Time of January  2 2008 and has a current 
relevance 
George Anthony  
Niall  Ferguson
Future  historians will look back on the current decade as a turning point 
comparable  with that of the Seventies. No, not the 1970s. This is not going to 
be another  piece pointing out the coinci&shy;dence  of an unpopular 
Republican pres&shy;ident,  soaring oil prices, a sagging dol&shy;lar  and an 
unwinnable faraway war. I am talking about the  1870s. 
At  first sight, the resemblances across 130 years may not seem obvious. The 
1870s  were a time when conserva&shy;tive  leaders such as Benjamin Disraeli, 
British prime minister, were powerful and  popular. It was a time of falling 
commodity prices, after the financial crash of  1873 and the opening up of the 
American plains to agriculture. And it was an era  of currency stability, as 
one country after another followed the  Brit&shy;ish  lead by pegging to gold. 
Yet, on closer inspection, we are indeed living through a  global shift in 
the balance of power very similar to that which occurred in the  1870s. This is 
the story of how an over-extended empire sought to cope with an  external debt 
crisis by selling off revenue streams to foreign investors. The  empire that 
suffered these setbacks in the 1870s was the Ottoman empire. Today  it is the 
US. 
In  the aftermath of the Crimean war, both the sultan in Constantinople and 
his  Egyptian vassal, the khedive, had begun to accumulate huge domestic and 
foreign  debts. Between 1855 and 1875, the Ottoman debt increased by a factor of 
28. As a  percentage of expendi&shy;ture,  interest payments and 
amortisa&shy;tion  rose from 15 per cent in 1860 to 50 per cent in 1875. The Egyptian case 
was  similar: between 1862 and 1876, the total public debt rose from E?3.3m 
to E?76m.  The 1876 budget showed debt charges accounting for more than half of 
all  expenditure. 
The  loans had been made for both military and economic reasons: to 
sup&shy;port  the Ottoman military position during and after the Crimean war and to 
finance  railway and canal con&shy;struction,  including the building of the Suez 
canal, which had opened in 1869. But a  dangerously high proportion of the 
proceeds had been squandered on conspicuous  consumption, symbol&shy;ised  by 
Sultan Abdul Mejid's luxurious Dolmabahqe palace and the spectacular world  
premiere of Aida at the Cairo Opera House in 1871. In the wake of the financial  
crisis that struck the European and American stock markets in 1873, a Middle  
Eastern debt crisis was inevitable. In October 1875 the Ottoman government  
declared bankruptcy. 
The  crisis had two distinct financial consequences: the sale of the 
khedive's shares  in the Suez canal to the British government (for ?4m, famously 
ad&shy;vanced  to Disraeli by the Rothschilds) and the hypothecation of certain  
Otto&shy;man  tax revenues for debt service under the auspices of an 
international  Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt, on which European bondholders 
were  represented. The critical point is that the debt crisis necessitated the 
sale or  transfer of Middle Eastern reve&shy;nue  streams to Europeans. 
The  US debt crisis has taken a differ&shy;ent  form, to be sure. External 
liabilities have been run up by a combination of  government and household 
dis&shy;saving.  It is not the public sector that is defaulting but subprime 
mortgage  borrowers. 
As  in the 1870s, though, the upshot of this debt crisis is the sale of 
assets and  revenue streams to foreign creditors. This time, however, creditors are 
 buy&shy;ing  bank shares not canal shares. And the resulting shift of power 
is from west to  east. 
Since  September, Middle Eastern and east Asian sovereign wealth funds have 
made a  succession of investments in four US banks: Bear Stearns, Citigroup, 
Morgan  Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Most commentators have been inclined to 
welcome this  global bail-out: better to bring in foreign capital than to shrink 
balance  sheets by reducing lend&shy;ing.  Yet we need to recognise that these 
"capital injections" represent a transfer of  the revenues from the US 
financial services industry into the hands of foreign  governments. This is happening 
at a time when the gap between eastern and  western incomes is narrowing at an 
unprecedented pace. In other words, as in the  1870s the balance of financial 
power is shifting. Then, the move was from the  ancient oriental empires (not 
only the Ottoman but also the Persian and Chinese)  to western Europe. Today 
the shift is from the US - and other western  finan&shy;cial  centres - to the 
autocracies of the Middle East and east  Asia. 
In Disraeli's day, the debt crisis turned out to have  political as well as 
financial implications, presaging a reduction not just in  income but also in 
sovereignty. 
In  the case of Egypt, what began with asset sales continued with the  
cre&shy;ation  of a foreign commission to man&shy;age  the public debt, the 
installation of an "international" government and finally,  in 1882, to British 
military intervention and the country's trans&shy;formation  into a de facto colony. 
In the case of Turkey, the debt crisis was  fol&shy;lowed  by the sultan's 
abdication and Russian military intervention, which dealt a  lethal blow to the 
Ottoman posi&shy;tion  in the Balkans. 
It remains to be seen how quickly today's financial shift  will be followed 
by a comparable geopolitical shift in favour of the new export  and energy ', 
empires of the east. Suffice to say ', that the historical analogy  does not i 
bode well for America's quasi-imperial I network of bases and allies  across 
the Middle East and Asia. Debtor ' empires sooner or later have to do '  more 
than just sell shares to satisfy their  creditors. 
The writer is a professor at Harvard University and  Harvard Business School 
and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution,  Stanford



   

From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 09:55:28 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:55:28 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
Message-ID: <24626189.1213026928239.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

A little more on Helen Jaffe in English ecan be read here:

PRENSA LATINA
Che the economist lives in the heart of a Londoner
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1592.html

and

JUVENTUD REBELDE
Helen Yaffe: Che stands for what's best about a revolutionary:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1604.html

And a question for John Riddell and the Socialist Voice team:

If you have any considerations about what these discussions have
to do with current discussions going in Cuba at present, it would
be of interest to many readers right now. The world has evolved in
ways quite different from the ones Che thought that it would take
during his lifetime. The fall of the Soviet Union, the victory of
the Vietnamese liberation struggle, and China and Vietnam's very
extensive development of the private sector in their economies 
have had remarkable accomplishments. However, they are also very
contradictory in many ways. John's detailed discussion is one we
can all appreciate. Yet he doesn't make any comments on whatever 
conclusions he draws about the numerous changes which we are now
observing in Cuba now. I'm sure readers of these messages would
be interested in his thinking about these contemporary matters.

Thanks,


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California

====================================================
STEVE PALMER wrote:
For more on this, see Helen Yaffe's forthcoming book on Che Guevara, based on
Cuban archival sources and discussions with his closest companeros:

http://boletininformativo.blogia.com/2007/101229-che-economista-en-el-corazon-de-joven-londinense.php

New on Socialist Voice, just in time for Che's 80th birthday:

Che Guevara's Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
by John Riddell
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=298

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From Midhurst14 at aol.com  Mon Jun  9 09:59:46 2008
From: Midhurst14 at aol.com (Midhurst14 at aol.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:59:46 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] Airey Neave
Message-ID: <d59.23670826.357ead72@aol.com>

Ask the Morning Star or Marx Memorial Library for newspaper reports of  the 
time
He was bumped off by the IRA, a big supporter of Thatcher as I recall
George Anthony



   

From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 10:05:00 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:05:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] New German-Turkish film EDGE OF HEAVEN
Message-ID: <6259800.1213027500633.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Speaking of Turkey, has anyone else seen the new German-Turkish
thriller, EDGE OF HEAVEN? I saw it yesterday and it was one of
those movies which I found I enjoyed greatly as it showed me a
bit about a world of which I have no knowledge, but the oddly
convoluted structure of the narrative, some of which was in 
reverse-time, left me somewhat confused at the ending.

REVIEW OF THE MOVIE:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/movies/la-et-heaven30-2008may30,0,4070213.story

PROFILE OF THE DIRECTOR:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-edge25-2008may25,0,5443053.story


Walter Lippmann

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 10:11:04 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:11:04 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] New German-Turkish film EDGE OF HEAVEN
In-Reply-To: <6259800.1213027500633.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
References: <6259800.1213027500633.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <484D5618.4080809@panix.com>

Walter Lippmann wrote:
> Speaking of Turkey, has anyone else seen the new German-Turkish
> thriller, EDGE OF HEAVEN? I saw it yesterday and it was one of
> those movies which I found I enjoyed greatly as it showed me a
> bit about a world of which I have no knowledge, but the oddly
> convoluted structure of the narrative, some of which was in 
> reverse-time, left me somewhat confused at the ending.
> 

Opening at the Film Forum Theater in New York on May 21, Fatih Akin?s 
?The Edge of Heaven? is unfortunately cut from the same cloth as Paul 
Haggis?s ?Crash? and Alejandro Gonz?lez I??rritu?s ?Babel?. These sorts 
of films, with their combination of far-fetched coincidence and liberal 
pieties, seem to be irresistible to film festival award panels. ?The 
Edge of Heaven? won four German Oscars, including one for Best Film. I 
imagine that New York film critics will fall all over themselves 
praising it, but that?s nothing new. ?Crash? and ?Babel?, another two 
pretentious Message movies, were also hoisted on their shoulders. My 
intention, as always, is to dig beneath the hype.

Fatih Akin is a 33 year old Turk who was born and raised in Hamburg, 
Germany. Since his last film ?Crossing the Bridge? was an excellent 
introduction to the Turkish music scene, it can at least be said that 
?The Edge of Heaven? is distinguished by the inclusion of some terrific 
background music attributable to the director?s obvious expertise. The 
acting and cinematography are also first-rate, including some wonderful 
scenes of Istanbul streets and the starkly beautiful Black Sea region of 
Northern Turkey. It is too bad that the screenplay is utter nonsense.

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/the-edge-of-heaven/


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  9 10:44:50 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 09:44:50 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Nasrallah speech
Message-ID: <BAY127-W9441E34AA61AAFC691762D7B00@phx.gbl>


After you get past the religious crap at the beginning, worthwhile reading:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=58320&sectionid=3510302

Wind of change blows over Lebanon
Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:30:32

The following is the speech of the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Seyyed Hassan 
Nasrallah, on the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the Resistance and 
Liberation Day, May 26, 2008, in southern Beirut, Lebanon.

First of all, great greetings to every pure spirit of the resistance and 
homeland martyrs, especially to the leader of resistance martyrs Seyyed Abbas 
al-Mousawi, the sheikh of the resistance martyrs Raghib Hareb and our dear 
brother whom we miss today leader Al-Hajj Imad Moughniyah.

I would like to welcome you to the 8th anniversary of the Resistance and 
Liberation Day. Your presence here today justifies your reality and identity and 
testifies once again that you are the most honorable, precious and the purest of 
people.

As God Almighty has said in his Glorious Book:

In the name of Allah, the most Merciful and Gracious,
Pharaoh had tyrannized on Earth, divided people into groups. He oppressed one 
group on behalf of the others, slaughtering its children, and ravishing its 
women. Indeed, he was among those corruptors.

The Pharaohs of our time are the USA and its right hand, Israel. Allah has promised:

We want to bestow upon those who were oppressed on Earth and make them 
precedents and successors; and we will consolidate their position on Earth to 
show what Pharaoh, Haman, along with their soldiers have been worried from.

God Almighty speaks the truth!

Brothers and sisters, today marks the day of resistance and the liberation of 
our homeland and nation coincides with the anniversary of the calamity and the 
loss of Palestine as well as the establishment of the extorter's existence.

It also coincides with the 30th anniversary of Israel's 1978 occupation of 
southern Lebanon and the establishment of the occupied territory, which was 
later expanded. This coincidence must provoke us to think twice, evaluate the 
situation and draw lessons and conclusions that will benefit Lebanon as well as 
the Muslim and Arab worlds.

Although this occasion has its own intellect, emotion, literature, rights and 
ethics, today I will not confine myself to introductions, as there is much to 
talk about.

Starting from Lebanon and its resistance? the latter has demonstrated two 
strategies, one of liberation and driving away occupiers, and the other of 
defending the homeland and people against any attack, invasion or threat.

This is the stratagem and vision of resistance: liberation and defense. These 
are also the clear and joint messages of the resistance in Iraq, Palestine and 
Lebanon.

As a result of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon and the occupation of a 
part of our land in 1978, the Security Council issued the Resolution 425. We 
submitted ourselves to the will of the international community and waited for 
its implementation. At the time, it was suggested that Lebanon was too weak to 
face Israel and it would therefore need a strategy of Arab unity.

The UNSC decision, however, was not implemented and an Arab strategy was never 
found. The international community and the Arab world took no action, and the 
will to confront was lost. It was at this time that the Imam and leader Seyyed 
Moussa al-Sadr proposed that the people of southern Lebanon put their trust in 
God Almighty and resist by any means possible.

What resulted from the false proposals of inaction? Israel weakened Lebanon and 
thought we were too weak to respond. This resulted in the great invasion of 1982 
aiming to ultimately make Lebanon part of Israel.

As has been proven throughout history that a divided country can easily be 
conquered, such was the case of Lebanon at the time of the Israeli invasion in 
1982 and so was the case of Palestine. The same applies to Iraq and shall apply 
to other countries as well. In the face of occupation, people are divided into 
various groups and categories:

Some remain neutral toward the occupation while some rule the country and have 
an extent of authority do not feel the impact of the occupation as the most 
important thing for them is to eat, drink and enjoy life. Another group are 
spies and mercenaries, cheap tools such as Antoine Lahid's army who despite 
being Lebanese committed shameful acts. Another group consists of the internally 
defeated elite who cooperate with the occupiers for their own benefits and 
theoretically believe they can minimize national casualties.

Also, is a group that tacitly defies the occupation but is not willing to endure 
hardships and pay for freedom with their blood. Finally, there is the group that 
believes it has an ethical, national, religious and humanitarian responsibility 
to liberate their fatherland from occupation. They are ready to pay the price 
whatever it may be. This is the group of resistance. This is the group that 
takes the necessary action.

This division is not exclusive to Lebanon; it is a natural, historical and 
social trend stemming from the loss of national unity.

To those claiming that there is no national agreement regarding resistance in 
Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq I would say that there is also no national agreement 
on neutrality, treachery, cooperation or carelessness. Every group decides on 
its own. This is also true in Lebanon.

As always, I advise nations under occupation not to wait for a national or 
public agreement on resistance, but to pick up weapons and fight for the 
liberation of their land, nation and prisoners of war and regain their dignity 
and glory. This cannot be achieved other than by weapons, giving blood and 
making great sacrifices.

The resistance and the Lebanese people are intertwined with one another. Whether 
Muslim or not and regardless of sect and political parties, we have given 
countless martyrs. Self-reliance, jihad, various operations and our male and 
female youths have brought the resistance so far. Both the Arab and Muslim 
worlds were duty-bound to offer help. Many, however, have refrained to take 
action. It was Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran who actively supported us.

We first achieved victory from 1982 to 1985 and another historical victory was 
won on May 25, 2000: a magnificent victory for Lebanon, Arabs and the nation and 
an utter defeat for Israel that shattered its dream of expanding its territory 
from the Nile to the Euphrates.

Israel has been cut off from southern Lebanon and western Bikaa and the Zionists 
have suffered a shameful defeat without gains, guarantees or concessions. While 
the liberating strategy adopted by the resistance succeeded, the negotiation 
strategy beginning from Madrid was not even able to free an inch of our land.

The strategy of inaction has done nothing but strengthen our enemy and weaken 
our country. Subsequently, it was the librating strategy adopted by the 
resistance, which similarly brought success in 2000.

After the 1984 calamity, Palestinians hopelessly waited for Arab support and 
international intervention.

In Iraq, America has occupied the country under the banner of establishing a 
democracy. The truth is that the American occupation was aimed at monopolizing 
the country's resources. Their true objectives becoming more clear every day. 
How? After the invasion, similar to other occupied nations I mentioned before, 
Iraqis were divided into two relatively large groups.

One seeks a political process and the other prefers resistance, specifically an 
armed one. Based on our religious, ideological, intellectual, political 
experience as well as reality, we the Hezbollah are zealous toward resistance. 
Those supporting the political process have wasted a great deal of time and are 
today faced with an extremely difficult test, which is to determine the stance 
they will take now that America is attempting to impose a security deal on 
Iraqis, the finalization of which only requires the signatures of the Iraqi 
government and parliament.

Despite being aware of the friendships and coalitions, America is persuading an 
elected government and parliament legitimize its occupation and monopoly over 
Iraq and exert control over its security, politics, oil and other resources. At 
this particular point, the realities pertaining to US objectives have been 
exposed, and the supporters of the political process whether Sunni, Shiite, 
natives or nationalists are faced with a difficult test.

You claim that you have chosen the political process as deterrence against the 
occupiers and to eliminate casualties. The question is, will you forever hand 
Iraq over to the Americans, or will you make a decision befitting your religion, 
Islam, Arabs, nationalism, your ethics and morals?

Today, in the name of all who have gathered here today as well all free souls in 
the Arab and Muslim worlds, I call on Iraqis and their political and religious 
leaders to make a noble and historical decision that would prevent the ultimate 
fall of Iraq into the hands of the occupiers.

All resistance groups in Iraq, as those in Lebanon and Palestine, have defeated 
the occupiers on various occasions. Iraq must now adopt the liberating strategy 
of the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance groups. This is the only way to 
return the wounded but affluent and strong Iraq to its people.

The Lebanese resistance has also adopted a defense strategy, which became known 
to the world in July 2006 when a few thousand men with the support of their 
nation confronted the greatest army (of course, in Israel's own opinion!) for 
several weeks.

We are not talking about a strategy written in books or taught at university but 
a well-implemented strategy that defeated an invader as the Zionists have 
conceded. The July war turned the tables, changed the balance and weakened war 
probabilities.

Indeed my brothers and sisters, it is your patience, nobility, encouragement and 
resistance along with the blood of our martyrs that fizzled out the Israeli war 
and attack on Lebanon and changed the odds of the war in the region.

The probability that America can wage war on Iran has been weakened. The same 
seems to apply to Syria as well. The lessons learned in Lebanon have truly been 
absorbed.

I would tell those who believe another war is likely in Lebanon that we are 
honorable people. We fought in the July war and should there be another war, we 
shall return to the battlefield!

Let us take a look at the defense strategy adopted by Gazans. In the Gaza Strip, 
Israel faces an asymmetric war. Certainly, it is neither Israeli ethics nor Arab 
public opinion nor any other Arab or international stance for that matter that 
has prevented Israel from invading the Strip.

Israel has received the green light from the Pharaoh of our time, George Bush. 
Israel is lost and has no escape. If its confrontation against the starving and 
besieged Strip is in vain. Despite the absence of international support and the 
lack of military, economic and financial balance between the two sides, the 
defense strategy has proven its effectiveness in Lebanon and Palestine.

The outgoing Pharaoh of our time, George Bush (God willing), visited Palestine 
and turned a blind eye to the country's calamity and criticized all resistance 
movements in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine and the nations that support them.

He promised Zionists that Israel would celebrate its 120th anniversary. Bush has 
mistaken. He shall be frustrated when he sees Israel's extinction. He has also 
promised the defeat of Hezbollah and all resistance movements. To Bush and 
Condoleezza Rice who dream of defeating Hezbollah, I say as long as Hezbollah is 
righteous and depends on God and has the support of such honorable people, it is 
you who will be defeated.

On the 8th anniversary of the Resistance and Liberation Day, I call on all Arab 
nations and governments, including the Lebanese, to devise a defense strategy 
based on the current regional balance of power. We have always had a national 
defense strategy, but today we need one for liberation.

We still must liberate Kafer Shoubah hills and Sheba farms. We need a defense 
strategy to repel any attack and one of liberation to free our prisoners of war. 
I need to say, however, that you can rest assured because it is our promise to 
you to liberate the prisoners of war. This is God's will but will be executed by 
our hands. I promise you that we will soon bring Samir and his brothers home.

On May 25, 2000, I told a gathering in Bent Jbeil that we offer our victory to 
Lebanon and Palestine. I told them that we had fulfilled our duty and that God's 
acceptance is all we hope for. We did not want gratitude or rewards. We did not 
seek power and authority. We liberated the land and left the security, 
judiciary, social and economic responsibilities to the Lebanese authorities. 
Have we not already said that we are not after security or managerial authority? 
Have our actions contradicted our word? Never!

We have not judged any spies. We handed them over to the judiciary. We have no 
military presence in the liberated land. We called on the government to assume 
this role instead.

All we requested was more attention to be paid to the development of southern 
villages where confrontations occurred and in deprived villages, such as Baalbek 
Al-Hermil and Akkar.

What have you done in the past 8 years? You who have been demanding more 
authority! Has anyone prevented you from fulfilling your duty in the deprived 
villages and the freed land?! The Lebanese know but I want Arabs harken and 
understand that the presence of authorities only exist when taxes are collected 
and police officers arrive. Citizens do not receive the services and care they 
require.

To those who claim that the French and Vietnamese resistance groups handed over 
their weapons to the authorities, I say that there are some resistance groups 
which have taken or demanded authority after victory.

We, however, won in 2000 and did not ask for authority. We did not ask for the 
Lebanese political hierarchy or the Taef Convention to be modified. We did not 
ask for political or administrative power. We did not seek to monopolize power. 
We only asked that the people be cared for, their social and economical problems 
be solved and their dignity to be restored.

Today, I renew this request. We do want authority or a monopoly of control. We 
do not seek to rule nor impose our ideology on Lebanon. We believe a country 
with such religious diversity cannot be governed without the participation and 
unity of all its groups. That is what we insist on.

Many media outlets have attempted to distort the truth. They mistakenly think 
that Hezbollah is ashamed of its relations with the Wilayat Al-Faqih (Just 
Jurisprudent). Never! I declare here and now as I have done on numerous 
occasions before that I am proud of being among the supporters of the Just 
Jurisprudent, who is fair, knowledgeable, courageous, truthful and sincere. He 
has told us that Lebanon is a country of diversity and that it is our duty to 
save it.

We were accused of preparing a coup to change the power and bring Syria back to 
Lebanon, just like what happened during the July war when America was preparing 
the grounds for the birth of a new Middle East. Now we are accused of fighting 
for the interests of Iran in its nuclear case.

By our conduct after the retreat of the un-authoritative government's decisions 
and during the Doha talks, we have proven such accusations baseless. Unlike some 
figures in the opposition who suggested an increase in their demands, Hezbollah 
did not upraise its requests. We went to Doha to rescue Lebanon from sectarian 
strife and a confrontation between resistance groups and the army, and from the 
Pharaoh and Haman of our time.

While we have been the target of unjust accusations, propaganda and attacks, we 
have not demanded any political gains. I do not see any need to discuss this 
matter anymore now, as this experience should be enough for those accusing us of 
aspiring for authority and a monopoly, to end their debate.

My brothers and sisters, I call on you today, as I did in Bint Jbeil and 
Al-Dahiya, for a true and national cooperation based on which no one cancels, 
drops, or wins over others, an opportunity for all Lebanese to establish a 
government ruled by their representatives who are honestly elected. I call for 
providing the Lebanese with a chance to work together without having an ear to 
outside whisperers.

A few days ago, the Saudi Ministerial Council demanded amendments to some 
constitutional laws to guarantee the Arab identity of Lebanon. I have not 
discussed this with my brothers in the party, but I would like to declare that I 
myself, one of the supporters of the Just Jurisprudent demand such modifications 
that will preserve Lebanon's Arab identity and prevent foreign interference in 
our country. I would like them to touch the issue of American and Western 
meddling in Lebanon. All of our friends know well that we are not dictated to, 
and that we are the decision makers in the field, in the Doha talks and in the 
opposition.

My brothers and sisters, the events of the past have left me with two options. I 
can either explain what happened before and after the decisions were made or I 
can postpone this discussion until a later time.

I have revealed some information during the conference held on Thursday May 8, 
2008. However, today I prefer not to disturb you on the Resistance and 
Liberation Day, the day of agreement and the election of your new President. I 
will postpone this discussion and shall not expose the ambiguities of certain 
affairs and the unjust accusations leveled against the resistance.

Both sides have sustained critical wounds. We can choose either to keep the old 
wounds open or to treat them and let them heal. With the interests of Lebanon in 
mind, I suggest we all learn lessons and avoid claims of having won. I prefer 
discussing this matter when the time is ripe for logic. Let us open a new 
chapter in the history of Lebanon as of May 25, 2008.

My brothers and sisters, in light of the latest developments I would like to 
mention the following points:

First of all, I would like to thank on your behalf of all who have helped in 
achieving the recent agreement. I would like to thank our Arab brothers, the 
ministerial committee, the Arab League and its Secretary General, the Qatari 
leadership and nation, the brotherly countries of Syria and the Islamic Republic 
in Iran and, of course, the Lebanese themselves.

Secondly, I would like to reinstate on Hezbollah's behalf that we have accepted 
an article that says no party will use weapons to gain political momentum. 
However, the weapons of the resistance are aimed at the enemy, and will be used 
to liberate the land, free the prisoners of war and to help defend Lebanon and 
not to achieve any political gains.

The state's weapons, including that of the army and domestic forces, are to 
defend our homeland, to protect our citizens and their rights and to maintain 
security across the country. It is not permissible to use the resistance weapons 
for political gains and the same applies to the state's weapons. They are not 
permissible to be used to face political opponents or for projects that may 
weaken Lebanon against the enemy or to confront the resistance.

The weapons of the resistance and the state are to be used for the objectives 
they are set out for.

Thirdly, the election law we agreed on is better than the one in 2000 as it 
respects adequate representation of all Lebanese factions. It should be 
considered a compromise between all those who want to resolve the crises in 
Lebanon in hopes that the Lebanese will later on discuss a modern election law.

The election law is an introductory step toward establishing a government and 
restoring the authority of the state and its institutions.

Making accusations is not the way. Whoever is against offering Lebanon a fair 
and modern representative law should live on a farm. This is a compromise in 
hopes that Lebanon may achieve a better agreement.

Fourth, the election of Major General Michael Suleiman has revived the hope of a 
new Lebanon. His oath speech that we heard yesterday was brimming with the 
spirit of the accord and the promise of a new era. This is what Lebanon needs: 
accord, partnership, cooperation and distancing itself from monopoly.

Fifth, a national government is not a victory for the opposition over the 
authority. It is a victory for Lebanon, the nation, coexistence, and the state 
mission for this country, which cannot be achieved, continue and last unless 
there is accord, cooperation and solidarity.

I declared that the purpose of the strike in Riyagh Al-Soleh and Martyrs Square 
is to have a national government. I knew that it would take time. At the time, I 
announced that 'as I usually promise a victory, I promise another one again', 
but I did not mean it would be a victory of one group over another for I believe 
that Lebanon's victory can only be achieved with a national government.

When we achieved this in the Doha talks, I declared the victory not to be one of 
a certain group over another but a victory for Lebanon itself, as was the 
victory on May 25, 2000 and the victory in 2006.

We are going to have a new cabinet, and as I have promised, other members of the 
opposition group will participate even on behalf of Hezbollah. This is Lebanon, 
the land of affluence and prosperity. We are going to have the opposition well 
presented in this cabinet in the hope that we will have a serious and 
responsible cabinet that will resolve the problems of the Lebanese.

Sixth, I will honestly call on the movement and the beloved of the martyred 
premier Rafik al-Hariri in the hope of benefiting from his great experiences, 
thoughts and strategies concerning Lebanon. His great mind enabled him to 
harmonize between reconstructing Lebanon, state matters and the resistance. 
Lebanon had two options: with its lands occupied, its sovereignty seized and its 
dignity trampled upon by Israel it could have become either like Hong Kong or 
similar to the glory of the East, Hanoi.

With the mentality of the premier and because of the martyred Rafik al-Hariri, 
the resistance is sure that Hong Kong and Hanoi are not the models to be 
followed, but rather we must set our own model.

We can prove that we are a country of construction, economy, cooperation, and 
production along with a resistance that does not seek to undermine the 
government's authority but seeks to share the state's responsibility in 
liberating and defending the land.

That was the coexistence style between the resistance and the premier and Martyr 
Rafik al-Hariri. Those who have been loyal to the inheritance of Rafik 
al-Hariri, have to follow this model.

We are not calling for a dual, triple or quartet coalition, we are not calling 
for monopolizing power on behalf of any sect, position, authority, or 
institution, but rather for the mass cooperation of all political groups with 
the government.

I ask God to have a nice and calm summer. Let us work together. Two scenarios 
exist: the American hot summer and the nice and calm Lebanese summer. Let us 
fulfill our dreams instead of that of our enemy. I promise you along with all 
our beloved in the Arab and Muslim worlds that we will do our best to overcome 
all hostilities, sensitivities, and to heal all our wounds. Let us work hand in 
hand to construct and protect Lebanon.

I would like to thank those who have helped us along the way. I would like to 
thank the Sunni leadership in Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim worlds. I would 
like to thank the religious, political and intellectual leaders whose courageous 
stances defused the American plot aimed at propagating any conflict in the world 
as a sectarian strife.

I would like to thank the national Druze leadership, the sons of Marouf, the 
resistant men, sheikhs, leaders, politicians, journalists and parties for their 
stance which clearly showed the events happening were not a Druze-Shia strife.

I would like to thank the Christian leadership for revealing the reality of the 
political conflict and showing it was far from a sectarian one. May God have 
mercy on the souls of all our martyrs.

It has been said that Hezbollah is not disclosing the number of its martyrs in 
the recent events. There have been 14 Hezbollah martyrs, two martyrs of Lebanese 
(Saraya) Brigades for Fighting Occupation, a number of martyrs from the Amal 
Movement, a few from the Syrian National and Social Party, and still a few 
others from the Lebanese Democratic Party.

To resolve any remaining ambiguities, the martyrs are Sunni and Shia Muslims, 
Christians and Druze. We are proud of all of them. We are sorry for the victims 
which have fallen on the other side but it was a battle with fire. We will 
discuss this matter at a later time. What softens the issue is that the recent 
bloodshed has pushed Lebanon to the end of a dark and long tunnel. Without this 
blood, Lebanon would have been dragged to a point where no government could have 
been established. We owe everything to these martyrs who have saved Lebanon and 
opened a new chapter in its history.

We are grateful, have respect and extend our hand of cooperation to build a 
Lebanon that is strong, valuable, fair and well-protected... a Lebanon that is 
as strong as its mountains, and as everlasting as its cedars.


_________________________________________________________________
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From spalmer999 at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  9 10:44:18 2008
From: spalmer999 at yahoo.com (Steve Palmer)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 09:44:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Airey Neave
In-Reply-To: <d59.23670826.357ead72@aol.com>
Message-ID: <502426.62026.qm@web81903.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Waste of time - the CPGB (publisher of the reactionary Boring Star and
controllers of the MML, a typical CP front organization) condemned the
execution and always portrayed the liberation movement as right-wing, fascistic
and playing into the hands of the British ruling class - until it abandoned the
gun - presumably unlike its snivelling, grovelling, pro-imperialist self which
was always condemning the troops out movement as ultra-left and voting down
calls for British withdrawal at labour movement meetings. INLA carried out the
operation, not the IRA.

The MML's collection on Ireland was absolutely pitiful. You're better off
visiting Camden or Kilburn public libraries.

Steve 

--- Midhurst14 at aol.com wrote:

> Ask the Morning Star or Marx Memorial Library for newspaper reports of  the 
> time
> He was bumped off by the IRA, a big supporter of Thatcher as I recall
> George Anthony
> 
> 
> 
>    
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/spalmer999%40yahoo.com
> 


"I study a lot. That is one of the responsibilities of every revolutionary." Hugo Chavez.


      


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 11:50:01 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:50:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Hungarians long for communism
Message-ID: <20024664.1213033801376.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

We had a thread started by David Pic?n ?lvarez about this not
long ago. IDOM posted this confirmation article on its website
today. It's always important to keep in mind that capitalism
was abolished in Hungary as a result of the invasion and the
occupation of the country by the USSR after World War II, not
an indigenous socialist revolution. Beyond that, it had the
further discouraging circumstance - to put it diplomatically - 
of being occupied by a Soviet Army again in 1956 after they
had an indigenous popular uprising. For Hungarians today to
look back nostalgically is really quite a condemnation of the
world wrought in that country since capitalism was restored.

It's not surprising that our friends in Cuba should be quite
conscious of these experiences as they begin to implement a
range of discussions and changes in their own country.


Walter Lippmann
==============================================================

Hungarians feel life was better under communism 	
By In Defence of Marxism 
Monday, 09 June 2008

http://www.marxist.com/hungarians-feel-life-was-better-under-communism.htm

Most Hungarians believe that life was better in the J?nos
K?d?r era before "Communism" collapsed in 1989-90,
according to a survey by market researchers Gfk Piackutat?.

In all, 62% of the 1,000 people interviewed said they were
happiest in the period preceding the change of regime, up
from 53% in 2001. Those favouring the K?d?r era were
generally the elderly rather than the young, and those with
lesser schooling. The number saying that the pre-1990 era
was the worst fell from 20% in 2001 to 13% today.

Only 14% of respondents said the period since 1990 has been
their happiest, while 60% said it has been the least happy,
compared to 17% and 48% seven years ago.

Another 11% chose the period before the Second World War as
the best, down from 14% in 2001.

Some 80% of those 50 years of age or older consider the
time before the change of regime happier. Nearly 75% of
those aged 40-49, and 55% of those who were students and
young adults during the late 1980s concur, whereas only 24%
of those aged 15-29 agree.

Sociologist P?l Tam?s of the Academy of Sciences sociology
institute told N?pszabads?g that the poll does not reflect
political nostalgia. "In general this region was less happy
in the 1990s than Western Europe. It has been shown that an
East German who has a job is less happy than a jobless West
German. The struggle and the basic feeling of 'I have been
promised much and I received little' characterizes this
region," he said.

David Pic?n ?lvarez: Hungarians long for communism 
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2008w22/msg00113.htm

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From phantasmagorias at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  9 11:54:31 2008
From: phantasmagorias at yahoo.com (Debordagoria)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:54:31 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the animal
	liberation movement
Message-ID: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

I'm trying to get my animal rights friends to post this to their forums, and I would like some feedback from the comrades here as well.  
Michael D.
.....................
The animal rights/liberation movement has come under such intense fire from the State because it has emerged as a threat to operations and profits of postindustrial capital (heavily rooted in research and therefore animal experimentation) and as a significant form of resistance. The transnational elite want the fire crushed before its example of resistance becomes a conflagration.   

Conversely, the animal liberation movement is most effective not only as a single-issue focus to emancipate animals from human exploitation, but to join a larger resistance movement opposed to exploitation and hierarchies of any and all kinds. Clearly, SHAC and the ALF alone are not going to bring down transnational capitalism, pressuring HLS and raiding fur farms and laboratories will not themselves ignite revolutionary change, and are more rear-guard, defensive actions. The project to emancipate animals, in other words, is integrally related to the struggle to emancipate humans and the battle for a viable natural world. To the extent that the animal liberation movement grasps the big picture that links animal and human oppression struggles as one, and seeks to uncover the roots of hierarchy including that of humans over nature, they can be viewed as a profound new liberation movement that has a crucial place in the planetary struggles against
 injustice, oppression, exploitation, war, violence, capitalist neo-liberalism, and the destruction of the natural world and biodiversity.  

Yet, given the profound relation between the human domination of animals and the crisis ? social, ethical, and environmental ? in the human world and its relation to the natural world, the animal liberation movement is in a unique position to articulate the importance of new relations between human and human, human and animal, and human and nature. 
Dr. Steven Best 
http://www.drstevebest.org/Essays/DispatchesFromAPolice.htm





      


From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  9 12:04:54 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:04:54 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Iran counterattacks
Message-ID: <BAY127-W503BC9B4C7DC484080ECE5D7B00@phx.gbl>


Europe pays the price for its kowtowing to the American warmongers...

Iran pulls assets out of Europe banks
Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:27:09

Iran has withdrawn a huge sum of its foreign exchange reserves from European 
banks and has deposited some of it into Asian banks.

"Based on a decision made by a government working group, Iran has switched to 
'genuine' assets like gold and shares... We have decreased our foreign currency 
holdings in international banks," said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for 
Economic Affairs, Mohsen Talaei.

"A portion of Iran's foreign exchange reserves, however, was moved to Asian 
banks," he added in his interview with Borna news agency published on Monday.

According to the official, Iran keeps only the minimum currency it needs for its 
accounts to remain open in Europe but manages its accounts in Asia in a way that 
will allow trade transactions to continue.

Iran has abandoned the dollar in oil trading in favor of the yen, citing the 
weakness of US currency for its decision.

Iran has been selling nearly 700,000 barrels of crude oil to Japan on a daily 
basis in yen since mid-2007, Talaei concluded.

The US has imposed sanctions against Iranian banks and continues to persuade 
countries to halt their business relations with Tehran.

While some are of the opinion that sanctions have crippled Iran's economy, the 
refusal of financial institutions in Russia, China and Middle Eastern countries 
have proven such efforts futile.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=59347&sectionid=351020101


_________________________________________________________________
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From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 12:13:40 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:13:40 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Iran counterattacks
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W503BC9B4C7DC484080ECE5D7B00@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W503BC9B4C7DC484080ECE5D7B00@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <484D72D4.7020103@panix.com>

Eli Stephens wrote:
> Europe pays the price for its kowtowing to the American warmongers...
> 
> Iran pulls assets out of Europe banks
> Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:27:09
> 
> Iran has withdrawn a huge sum of its foreign exchange reserves from European 
> banks and has deposited some of it into Asian banks.
> 
> "Based on a decision made by a government working group, Iran has switched to 
> 'genuine' assets like gold and shares... We have decreased our foreign currency 
> holdings in international banks," said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for 
> Economic Affairs, Mohsen Talaei.

Speaking of which, this is an interesting exchange under Yoshie's latest 
post to Lenin's Tomb, which suffers far less from the usual apologetics.

Yoshie:
It is using the waning but still existing dollar hegemony to deny Iran, 
as well as other targets like Cuba and Venezuela, an ability to conduct 
dollar transactions, cut it off from the international financial system, 
and isolate it economically from the rest of the world.

Padraig:
Except that it has failed. Despite American bluster and belligerence, 
Iran is anything but economically isolated from the rest of the world: 
its economic fate is now intricately tied up with that of China, its 
biggest trading partner.

China's largest oil supplier is ... Iran (while around 98 percent of 
Japan's imports from Iran are ... oil).

China has an agreement to buy 250 million tons of liquefied natural gas 
from Iran over 25 years. Iran is also exporting 150,000 barrels of crude 
oil per day to China for 25 years at market prices. (Meanwhile, Israel 
and the U.S. accuse China of selling nuclear and missile technology to 
Iran.)

And more: China's oil major, the Sinopec Group, is developing with Iran, 
in a deal worth $100 billion, the huge Yadavaran natural gas field, 
while a consortium of Japanese companies and the Iranian government are 
presently developing Iran's Azadegan oil field, one of the world's 
largest, in a project worth billions. China is also building Tehran's 
metro systems, and the Chery Automobile Company, China's eight largest, 
opened its first overseas production plant in Iran.


From brownh at hartford-hwp.com  Mon Jun  9 13:08:01 2008
From: brownh at hartford-hwp.com (Haines Brown)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:08:01 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
	animal	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com> (message from
	Debordagoria on Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:54:31 -0700 (PDT))
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <E1K5min-00050e-CV@teufel.hartford-hwp.com>

I'm not at all clear why a Marxist would find this position
congenial. The analysis, which calls itself "socialist" for some
reason, is hostile to relations of dominance. Apparently by blocking
the dominance of people over animals, it is a blow in the battle
against the dominant impulse in human nature.

This strikes me as woolly-minded. For one thing, it conflates
determination, dominance and exploitation.

a) Economic exploitation in Marxist terms has little to do with
dominance. It has to do with the fact that while labor is justly paid
for its value in the labor market, it is only a factor of production,
while surplus value emerges from the combination of these factors and
is greater than their sum. This would be entirely equitable except for
the fact that we are social beings, not just lonely individuals. 

b) Mankind dominates its natural environment because that is a
condition of biological subsistence and of human development. While
such domination may be a necessary condition for pointless or
counter-productive environmental or biological destruction, it is not
the same. The Native American apology to the buffalo before bringing
it down did not prevent him from doing it.

c) Any act determines the object of the action, as is implied by the
notion of action. There is no reason why one should be concerned about
determinations per se, which is simply causation, but only about those
specific cases in which a determination plays a negative role. So you
don't attack determination itself, but those specific instances in
which there is demonstrable short- or long-term harm to the quality of
human life.

Haines Brown 

 


From lnp3 at panix.com  Mon Jun  9 13:11:38 2008
From: lnp3 at panix.com (Louis Proyect)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:11:38 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
 animal	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <484D806A.8030506@panix.com>

Debordagoria wrote:
> I'm trying to get my animal rights friends to post this to their forums, and I would like some feedback from the comrades here as well.  
> Michael D.

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/your-mommy-kills-animals/

Your Mommy Kills Animals

Last night I watched a terrific documentary titled ?Your Mommy Kills 
Animals? that is scheduled for theatrical release on July 20 and will be 
available on DVD in November. Although I consider myself well-versed in 
the ideas and activity of the radical movement, director Curtis Johnson 
uncovers a reality that was hitherto a blur in my mind, namely the 
animal rights movement. Structured as a debate between opposing sides on 
the issue, it succeeds both in terms of dispensing information?as any 
documentary should?as well as telling a highly dramatic story about some 
unique characters, namely the activists who John Lewis, the FBI?s deputy 
assistant director for counterterrorism, described as the nation?s top 
domestic terrorism threat in 2005.

There?s quite a rogue?s gallery in opposition to animal rights. We see 
Christopher Hitchens holding forth on how the activists become 
self-righteous absolutists in their desire to crush their enemies. 
Hearing these words coming out of his mouth was sufficient to get me to 
bag up all my leather shoes and bring them down to the thrift shop and 
to swear off chicken and fish (I have already given up red meat because 
of my blood pressure.) We also see Ron Arnold, the author of 
?Eco-Terrorism?, making the case against animal rights. Although I am 
very familiar with Arnold from past debates with his British allies, the 
ex-Marxists organized around the website Spiked Online, I have never 
heard him before. Arnold is an odd character. He couches his 
anti-environmentalist and anti-animal rights arguments in populist 
rhetoric, but has been exposed as a tool of big timber and mining interests.

But the chief opponent of animal rights heard from is one David 
Martosko, a truly sleazy character of the sort that has taken money from 
tobacco companies in the past to argue that smoking is harmless. 
Martosko works for the Center for Consumer Freedom, one of a number of 
pro-industry groups set up by Rick Berman, a long-time lobbyist for the 
food, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries. The group was created 
in 1995 as the Guest Choice Network with $600,000 from the Philip Morris 
tobacco company. Ever since the tobacco companies have been forced to 
retreat in the face of law suits and exposures, the focus has shifted to 
new battlegrounds. Apparently, American big business has no patience for 
unruly protestors who question their right to torture animals in the 
pursuit of profit.

On the other side of the barricades are people like Kevin Kjonaas, who 
was among the seven arrested for terrorism in connection with their 
involvement in Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), a group that has 
targeted employees, clients and associates of Huntingdon Life Sciences, 
a British research company that tests chemicals and drugs on thousands 
of animals each year. Their appearance and their words are sharply at 
odds with the allegations. Kjonaas is a wispy 29-year-old 
Catholic-school graduate who speaks in a high-pitched voice and might 
remind you of the comic Emo Phillips who was popular in the 1980s. As 
president of the U.S. affiliate of SHAC USA, Kjonaas posted the home 
addresses and telephone numbers of Huntingdon executives on the group?s 
website and organized protests in front of their homes. I can certainly 
understand why somebody who owns a $5 million townhouse in Manhattan 
would not want to have such people mounting a noisy demonstration on his 
sidewalk at 2am, but this hardly amounts to terrorism.

As I watched Kjonaas and other animal rights activists risking arrest 
and pressing their campaign on a no-holds barred basis, I was struck by 
the contrast to the mainstream antiwar movement in the United States, 
which has never reached the same level of militancy and that continues 
to view elected politicians as reachable. For example, when Medea 
Benjamin led a Code Pink delegation to Hillary Clinton?s office, she 
stated ?We know that you?re a wonderful woman and that deep down, we 
really think you agree with us.? If Benjamin and her cohorts had 1/100th 
of the spunk and the anger of the animal rights protestors, maybe the 
war would have ended some time ago.

Despite his obvious admiration for Kjonaas and his fellow activists, 
Curtis Johnson is not a mere apologist. He includes interviews with 
animal rights activists who believe that SHAC type militancy is 
counterproductive. They argue that forcing Huntington out of the USA and 
UK has resulted in it setting up shop in places like Pakistan, where 
there is much less oversight. By presenting both sides of the argument, 
he forces us to think about the deeper implications of this type of 
direct action. Johnson also presents the case against PETA and the 
Humane Society, two groups that are synonymous with animal rights to the 
average person, including me. Suffice it to say that animal rights 
radicals view the big, wealthy mainstream groups in more or less the 
same way that Earth First! views the Sierra Club or the World Resources 
Institute.

The film focuses on current day struggles, but does provide a brief 
background on where the movement comes from. It seems to have gotten 
started in Great Britain as part of a general movement against 
capitalist abuses, including child labor, slavery and the poor laws. 
William Wilberforce, who many of you might be familiar with through my 
review of ?Amazing Grace?, was one of the first animal rights activists 
and founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Given the obvious moral inspiration of the movement, it might find 
itself marching to the tune of a different drummer than the Marxist 
movement that I have been identified with for the past 40 years. Marxism 
has a tendency to think in terms of objective historical forces and the 
need to focus on human needs, so the notion of struggling on behalf of 
laboratory animals being used for critical scientific research might not 
fit in that well with its agenda. That being said, there are a number of 
activists in the film that think along the same lines. It is not so much 
that they oppose animal testing, but the wanton cruelty that attends it.

If it was up to the pseudo-Marxists who morphed into Spiked Online to 
come up with arguments for exploiting animals as well as nature without 
regard to moral dimensions or environmental sustainability, there were 
always other Marxists who saw things in more holistic terms. My good 
friend Paul Buhle wrote about one of them in the March 1999 edition of 
Capitalism, Nature and Socialism:

Planetary liberation/animal rights

It may surprise or even annoy CNS readers to learn that perhaps the most 
popular and successful attack on U.S. corporate farming during the 1990s 
was launched by Animal Rights leader Henry Spira, notoriously against 
McDonald?s and Perdue. It should surprise them less that Spira, a 
Trotskyist of decades standing, had come to environmental causes toward 
the end of a long career of political activism.

This story demands some extended telling, and Peter Singer?s Ethics Into 
Action (1998),1 published within weeks of Spira?s death, gives us all 
the details we could want. Born to Belgian Jews in 1927, refugees first 
to Panama and then New York, Spira grew up the son of an increasingly 
successful and oppressive businessman. At 16, he could no longer take 
the quarreling and left home. (Decades later, both his father and 
younger sister committed suicide.) As a teen in the early 1940s, he 
first connected with Hashomir Hatzair, a socialist-zionist organization, 
then moved on to the Socialist Workers Party. He remained with the SWP 
for almost 20 years, never feeling disciplined enough to attend meetings 
but glad to be situated on the Left and sometimes with a newspaper eager 
to publish his journalism.

Spira later expressed surprise at his own evolution, but many preBoomer 
Marxists turning to ecology will find the curve of Spiro?s career 
suspiciously similar to their own. Passing through the Merchant Marine, 
then drummed out of the Army for ?subversive and disloyal activities? 
(the Workers Defense League helped him win an Honorable Discharge), 
Spira went to work on an assembly line at a GM plant in New Jersey, 
moved on to join the research staff at Bellevue Hospital, and then 
shipped out again. In between jobs, he got a B.A. at Brooklyn College 
and wrote occasionally for the SWP?s weekly Militant. (He also acquired 
an FBI file of considerable heft.) As a reporter, he found himself on 
the scene in Montgomery, as the famed Bus Boycott took shape. Over the 
next decade, he wrote, raised money for, and often took part in the 
southern civil rights struggles. He also went to Cuba and broadcast the 
news about the young revolution. Closer to home, he played a key role in 
the reform campaign to clean up the National Maritime Union.

By the middle 1960s, Spira?s blue-collar life was over, and we might say 
that the working class ceased to be his main concern. His excomrades (he 
also left the Socialist Workers Party about this time) might bemoan the 
abandonment of orthodox Marxism, and the slippery slope to follow. But 
Spira was actually moving toward new shores. He taught in New York City 
schools for seven years, literature and writing to mostly black and 
Hispanic youngsters. At the age of 45, he also started thinking in a 
different way about animals.

Reading Peter Singer (the Australian environmentalist and author of 
Animal Liberation, likewise the author of the biography) helped set 
Spira in motion, but unlike Singer he wasn?t mainly a theorist. He 
wanted to do something, and although he didn?t know it yet, Spira had a 
genius for publicity. As the New York Times recalled in its obit, Singer 
had two great victories: compelling the American Museum of Natural 
History to end its expensive and pointless (as well as cruel) mutilation 
of cats so as to theorize the sexual affects of castration; and 
compelling Revlon to abandon the ?Draize Test,? measuring potential 
irritation of cosmetic products by flooding rabbits? eyes with the stuff.

These may not seem anything like victories for the environment; the 
planet in general and the bird population in particular would be better 
off with a lot fewer cats about. Neither are rabbits endangered (and 
some of the habitats invaded by them are in pretty rough shape). But to 
look at the issues in that way obscures Spira?s basic mentality and his 
trajectory as well.

A moment?s reflection on the old anti-vivisectionist movement and its 
U.S. counterparts provides necessary background. Dedicated to oppose 
cruelty to animals, the Victorian (especially British) middle class 
movement contained another impulse analogous to that of the old labor 
movement: to place restraints upon the recklessness of capitalism and 
raise large philosophical questions about the assumptions of endlessly 
expansive consumerism as the goal (or rationalization) of society. 
British socialist Henry S. Salt coined the term ?Animals? Rights? with 
his 1892 book of the same name, and American radicals from Edward 
Bellamy and Jack London to Upton Sinclair and the Nearings (Scott and 
Helen) put their own stamp on the radical edge of the movement. Such 
radicals, and Auduboners at the turn of the century who successfully 
ended the ubiquitous annual American bird shooting contests, had no 
illusions about power. They hardly expected to win more than a limited 
victory here and there; but they were determined to be heard.

Spira?s own anti-systemic impulse (his Animal Rights International paid 
him $15,000 per year and he usually had only one part-time assistant) 
and sense of proportion turned him against the emerging giant of the 
movement, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. When PETA began 
acting like a bureaucracy and when other animal rights advocates turned 
counter-productively violent, he put his energies elsewhere. ?Chicken 
Heaven? was his next target, and there he found common cause with 
serious environmentalists.

The character of agribusiness poultry and livestock production is no 
mystery, but the old advertisers? impulses to portray ?contented cows? 
has been progressively mocked by the factory-like raising conditions, 
the use of massive chemical doses, above all, for environmentalists, the 
increasingly toxic effluents in surrounding soil and waterways. Just a 
decade ago, Spira organized a full-page New York Times ad defying TV 
huckster Frank Perdue to prove that his fryers lived in ?chicken heaven? 
and (in contrast to consumers? own lives) ?your kids never had it so 
good.? The appointment of Perdue to the Regents of University of 
Maryland?s College Park campus offered Spira more grist for his mill; 
but scandals about the contamination of chickens overtook Spira?s 
effort. (He did the best he could to raise consciousness further: the 
next ads featured a chicken in a giant condom above the headline, 
?There?s no such thing as a safe chicken.?)

Spira continued pretty much this way until his death, in September of 
1998. Probably no one else would have had the initiative to shame the 
Helen Keller International (!) into canceling its ?Shoot for Sight? 
event in 1995, intended on bringing down some thousand wild ducks and 
pheasants ?for a good cause.? Other activists went after Big Mac, but 
Spira went to the stockholders by becoming one himself. Greenpeace 
Londoners Helen Steel and Dave Morris personally launched the ?McLibel? 
campaign that gave the corporation a global bad name (even if it 
formally won a suit against the two). But these efforts also led to the 
International Coalition for Farm Animals, the Humane Society-type 
organization so far most devoted to tackling the conditions of 
production that make cruelty inevitable. The Center for a Liveable 
Future, ironically Spira?s last project, had (and has) the most 
potential for serious and socialistic education.

Singer, who runs for office on the Green ticket in his home district of 
Victoria, Australia, provides a most useful afterward based upon Spira?s 
own practical experience. Ten key strategic and tactical points include 
?Avoid bureaucracy,? and ?Don?t assume that only legislation or legal 
action can solve the problem.? As a socialist, he knew better. But Spira 
had learned, over a lifetime of political experience, how to set 
targets, how to rally a constituency without the help of any political 
apparatus to speak of, and how to cross over from pet-linked 
sentimentalism to the large issues. These are lessons we all need to 
absorb, and we can thank Spira for adapting Marxist traditions to the 
new era.


From markalause at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 13:15:46 2008
From: markalause at gmail.com (Mark Lause)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:15:46 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
	<b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b16d8daf0806091215v21b026deu779879d3faa945c6@mail.gmail.com>

Ah, i see.  If you believe that the ordinary voters have outspent the
bourgeoisie in this election cycle and foisted Obama upon the process,
then Obama's not a candidate of the bourgeoisie.

So who's here handing out bthe bumper stickers and buttons?

ML


From david at miradoiro.com  Mon Jun  9 13:36:34 2008
From: david at miradoiro.com (=?utf-8?Q?David_Pic=C3=B3n_=C3=81lvarez?=)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 21:36:34 +0200
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
	animal	liberation movement
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<484D806A.8030506@panix.com>
Message-ID: <001d01c8ca68$2283c650$0302a8c0@Nautilus>

I understand the animal rights movement has some unsavory enemies, but that 
shouldn't make us support it automatically, in my view. It seems to me that 
much of the animal rights movement is moralistic, of an essentially petty 
bourgeois character, like those people who abhor capitalism because of those 
horrible-looking factories and damnit, you can't get good servants anymore. 
I'd agree that unnecessary cruelty to animals should be curtailed, and that 
we should defend the biosphere from that which can render it unhospitable to 
human life (like global warming, say), but from there to postulating animals 
as actual subjects, with rights, etc... that's taking it too far imo.

--David.



From shmage at pipeline.com  Mon Jun  9 13:42:30 2008
From: shmage at pipeline.com (Shane Mage)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:42:30 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
	animal	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <484D806A.8030506@panix.com>
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<484D806A.8030506@panix.com>
Message-ID: <711291EA-AFED-4123-A528-C9BF15F0C72E@pipeline.com>


On Jun 9, 2008, at 3:11 PM, Louis Proyect wrote:
>
> Planetary liberation/animal rights
>
> It may surprise or even annoy CNS readers to learn that perhaps the  
> most
> popular and successful attack on U.S. corporate farming during the  
> 1990s
> was launched by Animal Rights leader Henry Spira, notoriously against
> McDonald?s and Perdue. It should surprise them less that Spira, a
> Trotskyist of decades standing, had come to environmental causes  
> toward
> the end of a long career of political activism.


Great post!  I'd like to add only that Spira's nom de plume was "Henry  
Gitano," signaling both solidarity with the world's most widely  
oppressed ethnic group and his own wonderfully peripatetic life story.  
(By the way, both he and his long-time lover Myra Tanner Weiss  
protested my expulsion from the SWP in 1964).

Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things...it consents and does not consent to  
be called Zeus."

Herakleitos of Ephesos





From shmage at pipeline.com  Mon Jun  9 13:46:11 2008
From: shmage at pipeline.com (Shane Mage)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:46:11 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <b16d8daf0806091215v21b026deu779879d3faa945c6@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
	<b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>
	<b16d8daf0806091215v21b026deu779879d3faa945c6@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <BB4D3D4B-2257-4EA1-9BB8-166E9A6B7891@pipeline.com>


On Jun 9, 2008, at 3:15 PM, Mark Lause wrote:

> Ah, i see.  If you believe that the ordinary voters have outspent the
> bourgeoisie in this election cycle and foisted Obama upon the process,
> then Obama's not a candidate of the bourgeoisie.


Whatever gave you the idea that very many "ordinary voters,"  at least  
those living in cities, are *not* members of the bourgeoisie?

Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things...it consents and does not consent to  
be called Zeus."

Herakleitos of Ephesos





From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 14:02:04 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:02:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] McKinney congratulates Obama
Message-ID: <3968782.1213041724297.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Statement by Cynthia McKinney, Power to the People
Candidate for U.S. President,

on the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's
Presidential Candidate in 2008

(statement issued June 9, 2008)

On Saturday, June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton announced that
her 2008 presidential bid is over, making Barack Obama the
first-ever Black presidential nominee of a major party in
the history of the United States.

Congratulations to Senator Obama for achieving such a feat!

When I was growing up in the U.S. South in the racially
turbulent 1960s, it would have been impossible for a Black
politician to become a viable Presidential contender.
Nothing a Black candidate could have done or said would
have prevented him (or her) from being excluded on the
basis of skin color alone. Many of us never thought we
would see in our lifetime a Black person with a real
possibility of becoming President of the United States.

The fact that this is now possible is a sign of some racial
progress in this country, more than 40 years after the
Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. But it is also a sign
of the deep discontent among the American people, and
particularly among African Americans, with the
corporate-dominated, business-as-usual politics that has
prevailed in Washington for too many years.

Coming from Barack Obama, the word "change" did not appear
as just another empty campaign slogan. It galvanized
millions of people --mostly young people--to register to
vote and to get active in the political system. The U.S.
political system needs the energy and vision of all is
citizens participating in the political process. Citizen
participation is always the answer.

Senator Obama called for healing the wounds inflicted on
working people and the poor in our country after eights
years of a corrupt and criminal Bush-Cheney Administration.
Just as in November 2006, people full of an expectation for
change, including those the system has purposefully left
out and left behind, flocked to the polls to vote for
Senator Obama. Across a broad swath of the people of this
country, and from those who are impacted by U.S. foreign
policy, there is a real expectation, a real desire, for
change.

While congratulating Senator Obama for a feat well done, 
I would also like to bring home the very real need for change
and a few of the issues that must be addressed for the
change needed in this country to be real. First of all, a
few of the more obvious facts:

United for a Fair Economy (UFE) produces studies each year
on the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. entitled, State of the Dream reports. UFE has found
that on some indices the racial disparities that exist
today are worse than at the time of the murder of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. For example, infant mortality,
where the overall U.S. world ranking falls below Cuba,
Israel, and Canada. They also have found that, without a
public policy intervention, it would take over 5,000 years
to close the home ownership gap between blacks and whites
in this country, especially exacerbated because of the
foreclosure crisis disproportionately facing Blacks and
Latinos today. They have found that it would take 581
years, without a public policy intervention, to close the
racial gap in income in this country. UFE has found
unacceptable racial disparities extant on economic,
justice, and security issues. After analyzing the impact of
the Democratic Party's "First 100 Hours" agenda upon taking
the Congressional majority, UFE concluded in its 2007
report that Blacks vote in the Blue (meaning, they support
Democrats in the voting booth), but live in the Red (they
do not get the public policy results that those votes
merit). And UFE noted that Hurricane Katrina was not even
mentioned at all in the Congressional Democratic majority's
2007 First 100 hours agenda.

United for a Fair Economy is not the only organization to
find such dismal statistics, reflecting life for far too
many in this country. In a study not too long ago, Dr.
David Satcher found that over 83,000 blacks died
unnecessarily, due to racial disparities in access to
health care and because of the disparate treatment blacks
receive after access. A Hull House study found that the
racial disparity in the quality of life of black Chicagoans
and white Chicagoans would take 200 years to be eliminated
without a public policy intervention. The National Urban
League in its annual "State of Black America" publication
basically concludes that the United States has not done
enough to close long-existing and unacceptable racial
disparities. The United Nations Rapporteur for Special
Forms of Racism, Mr. Doudou Diene of Senegal, just left
this country in an unprecedented fact-finding mission to
monitor human rights violations in the United States. Dr.
Jared Ball submitted to Diene on my behalf, my statement
after the Sean Bell police verdict. The United Nations has
already cited its concern for the treatment of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita survivors and the extrajudicial killings
taking place across our country, that especially target
Black and Latino males, and especially at the hands of law
enforcement authorities.

I hope it is clear that the desire for change is so deeply
felt because it is deeply needed. Politics, through public
policy, can address all these issues and more in the favor
of the people. We do not have to accept or tolerate such
glaring disparities in our society. We do not have to
accept or tolerate bloated Pentagon spending, unfair tax
cuts, attacks on our civil liberties, and on workers'
rights to unionize. We don't have to accept or tolerate our
children dropping out of high school, college education
unreachable because tuition is so high, or our country
steeped in debt.

The 21st Century statistics for our country reflect a
country that can still be characterized as Dr. King did so
many years ago: the greatest purveyor of violence on the
planet.

It doesn't have to be that way. And the people know it.

I have accepted as the platform of the Power to the People
Campaign, the 10-Point Draft Manifesto of the
Reconstruction Movement, a grouping of Black activists who
came together in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita to advocate for public policy initiatives that address
the plight of Blacks and other oppressed peoples in this
country.

Among its many specific public policy planks, the Draft
Manifesto calls for:

* election integrity, if our vote is to mean anything at
all, all political parties must defend the integrity of the
votes cast by the American people, something neither of the
major parties has done effectively in the past two
Presidential elections;

* funding a massive infrastructure improvement program that
is also a jobs program that greens our economy and puts
people to work, and especially in New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast, Hurricane survivors, treated as internally displaced
persons whose right to vote and right of return are
protected, play a meaningful role in the rebuilding of
their communities;

* recognizing affordable housing as a fundamental human
right, and putting a halt to the senseless destruction of
public housing in New Orleans;

* enacting Reparations for African Americans, so that the
enduring racial disparities which reflect the U.S.
government's failure to address the reality and the
vestiges of slavery and unjust laws enacted can be ended
and recognition of the plight of Black Farmers whose issues
are still not being adequately addressed by USDA and
court-appointed mediators despite a US government admission
of guilt for systematic discrimination;

* acknowledging COINTELPRO and other government spying and
destabilization programs from the 1960s to today and
disclosing the role of the US government in the harassment
and false imprisonment of political activists in this
country, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, the San Francisco 8,
Leonard Peltier, including restitution to victims of
government abuse and their families for the suffering they
have long endured;

* ending prisons for profit and the "war on drugs," which
fuels the criminalization of Black and Latino youth at home
and provides cover for U.S. military intervention in
foreign countries, particularly to our south, which is used
to put down all social protest movements in countries like
Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and elsewhere;

* creating a universal access, single-payer, health care
system and enacting a livable wage, equal pay for equal
work, repealing the Bush tax cuts, and making corporations
and the rich pay their fair share of taxes;

* establishing public funding for higher education--no
student should graduate from college or university tens or
hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt;

* ensuring workers' rights by 1) repealing Taft-Hartley to
stop the unjust firing of union organizers, ban scabbing,
and enable workers to exercise their voices at work and 2)
enacting laws for U.S. corporations that keep labor
standards high at home and raise them abroad, which would
require the repeal of NAFTA, CAFTA, the Caribbean FTA, and
the U.S.-Peru FTA;

* justice for immigrant workers, including real immigration
reform that provides amnesty for all undocumented
immigrants;

* creating a Department of Peace that would put forward
projects for peace all over the world, deploying our
diplomats to help resolve conflicts through peaceful means
and overseeing the orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from
the more than 100 countries around the world where they are
stationed, and an immediate end to all wars and occupations
by U.S. forces, beginning in Iraq and Afghanistan, and
slashing the budget for the Pentagon.

The Power to the People Campaign has visited 24 states and
I believe there is already broad support across our country
for these policy positions. The people deserve an open and
honest debate on these issues and more. I encourage the
Democratic Party and its new presumptive nominee, Senator
Obama, to embrace these important suggestions for policy
initiatives.


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 14:05:22 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:05:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
Message-ID: <26308747.1213041922692.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

(This is from the conservative English-language Venezualan
website of EL UNIVERSAL newspaper published in Caracas.)
============================================================

US state governor advocates approach to Venezuela

Bill Richardson, governor of US New Mexico state, lobbied
on Monday in Madrid for a dialogue between the next US
government and Cuba and Venezuela.

"In my view, we should start a dialogue with Venezuela and
Cuba," said Richardson during an informational breakfast in
Casa de Am?rica, AFP quoted.

The Secretary of Energy during the administration of
Democrat Bill Clinton said that the diplomacy to be built
by Washington after the government of President George W.
Bush in January 2009 should "approach Cuba in a realistic
way, sensibly dealing with economic and personal issues,
such as trade and family relations."

"The embargo has been unsuccessful, but I would like Cuba
also to move on, to be more democratic, act to release more
political prisoners. But if I can give any advice to the
new president is that the embargo has not been positive at
all. Therefore, such policy needs to change," said
Richardson.

"In Venezuela, we have disagreements with President (Hugo)
Ch?vez, but I would favor a direct dialogue with him, to
see if we can solve our differences," he added.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/06/09/en_pol_art_us-state-governor-ad_09A1657599.shtml


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From shmage at pipeline.com  Mon Jun  9 14:07:08 2008
From: shmage at pipeline.com (Shane Mage)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:07:08 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
	animal	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <711291EA-AFED-4123-A528-C9BF15F0C72E@pipeline.com>
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<484D806A.8030506@panix.com>
	<711291EA-AFED-4123-A528-C9BF15F0C72E@pipeline.com>
Message-ID: <1FC5777E-7E55-4BDD-9656-23AD185E5C9A@pipeline.com>


On Jun 9, 2008, at 3:42 PM, Shane Mage wrote:
> ...my expulsion from the SWP in 1964)...


erratum: 1963, not 1964



From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  9 14:24:19 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:24:19 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
Message-ID: <BAY127-W18363DA3412DC00743A82D7B00@phx.gbl>


""The embargo has been unsuccessful, but I would like Cuba
also to move on, to be more democratic, act to release more
political prisoners."

Gosh it would be nice if pseudo-progressive politicians like Richardson would 
advocate releasing political prisoners...IN THE UNITED STATES!!


_________________________________________________________________
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From jbustelo at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 14:27:53 2008
From: jbustelo at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Joaqu=C3=ADn_Bustelo?=)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:27:53 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Nader, McKinney, etc.
In-Reply-To: <908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a06719f50806042110ja44afa1n6b888ac50d670a08@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806061628y282c1380x2d297544f93d5991@mail.gmail.com>
	<b42c9ffb0806081042x32ed23cer6544332cb00bab51@mail.gmail.com>
	<908b689f0806081851q218dd986hb71bf202ecc92fb0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <b42c9ffb0806091327t59fe03d0se75889b03d8ce650@mail.gmail.com>

Ruthless replied to my post about campaign financing:

"If your point is valid, then the point made by Mark Lause (quoted
below) seems to be invalid. I don't have enough expertise to determine
which of the two of you are correct on this."

I assume Ruthless is referring to this part of Mark's post:
> The point I raise has to do with contributions from the other end,
> the usual sources, the top, the same people and companies giving to
> Clinton or to McCain.  That's how Obama raised his record-breaking
> $265,000,000.

The assertion about companies giving is, of course, literally false.
This is in violation of the law, a law going back to the Nixon era
(indeed, it was corporate contributions from *just before* that law
went into effect that was a significant component of Watergate. Nixon
had a big slush fund that was used to pay the "plumbers."

As for the rest of it, I sincerely doubt that Obama's claim --with
names and employers attached-- about his contributors are
fabrications. These include many of the usual suspects. It also
includes tons more people who rarely or never have contributed to
campaigns. Saying there's no difference in Obama's fund raising is not
factually true.

As for the facile claim that it's the big donors that are (allegedly)
moving Obama to the right, I don't think it is that simple. In terms
of positions, insofar as he has defined them, Obama is simply not too
different from Clinton or other run of the mill mildly liberal
democrats. What's differentiated him is his tone and stance of being
against "politics as usual" coupled with the fact that he is Black,
which gives that stance credibility. I do not expect Obama's stance to
change one millimeter between now and November. Nor do I believe the
fat cats and party bosses would be asking him to, but even if they
did, he wouldn't, I don't believe.

Nor do I believe it is simply all a sham. Obama is proposing a
different stance in foreign relations, a different tone. This is what
the debate and charges about talking to Chavez or whoever are about.

Joaquin



On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 9:51 PM, Ruthless Critic of All that Exists
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 1:42 PM, Joaqu?n Bustelo <jbustelo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> As for the publicly available data, analyzing the pattern of
>> contributions has to be done fairly and conscientiously. MANY
>> corporate PAC's in the current "election cycle" will show up as having
>> made more contributions to Democrats than Republicans, quite simply
>> because the primary race in the Republican camp was over quickly, and
>> involved only a fraction of the money that was spent in the Democrat
>> contest. A conclusion that Corporations have "swung to the Democrats"
>> on this basis would be unwarranted.
>
> If your point is valid, then the point made by Mark Lause (quoted
> below) seems to be invalid. I don't have enough expertise to determine
> which of the two of you are correct on this.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Mark Lause <markalause at gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 at 3:00 PM
>
> I won't waste time discussing the detailed financing of these
> campaigns--of which we are both essentially ignorant and likely to
> remain so.
>
> Campaigns are generally claiming
> this as a sign of a popular groundswell of support.  Howard Dean set
> the pattern for it. And, even if true, there's no equating money
> gotten from the Internet as coming from the nickels and dimes of
> schoolchildren.
>
> The point I raise has to do with contributions from the other end,
> the usual sources, the top, the same people and companies giving to
> Clinton or to McCain.  That's how Obama raised his record-breaking
> $265,000,000.   And that's where the dominant input comes from,
> doesn't it?  And it's why Obama has been inching right as his
> nomination nears.  And it's why it will likely be a full blown gallop
> as he races with McCain.
>
> ML
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/jbustelo%40gmail.com
>

From walterlx at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 14:44:12 2008
From: walterlx at earthlink.net (Walter Lippmann)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:44:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
Message-ID: <1416732.1213044252300.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Obama's Statement on Pride 2008! 
by Jamie CitronSaturday,
June 07, 2008 at 11:24 AM

http://pride.barackobama.com/page/content/lgbthome

Chicago, IL -- Senator Barack Obama today released the
following statement commemorating Pride month.

?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the
accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT
people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of
LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But
at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans.?

?It?s time to live up to our founding promise of equality
by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect.
Let?s enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate
crimes and protect workers against discrimination based
upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
Let?s repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the
most effective and professional military in the world is
open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve
our country. Let?s treat the relationships and the families
of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law.?

?We are ready to accomplish these goals because of the
courage and persistence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgendered people who have are working every day to
achieve equal rights. The gay couple who demand equal
treatment in our family laws as they raise their children;
the lesbian soldier who wants nothing more than to serve
her country openly and honestly; the transgendered workers
who asks for the simple dignity of being judged by the
quality of their work. Generations of LGBT Americans, at
once ordinary and extraordinary, have made possible this
moment in our history. With leadership and hard work, we
can fulfill the promise of equality for all.?

The Obama for America campaign is proud to be actively
participating in over 60 local and state wide Pride events
over the summer. To find the events nearest you please
visit www.pride.barackobama.com/pridemonth; join us around
the country as we show our Pride and support for Barack
Obama!
===========================================================
ELI STEPHENS writes
>Gosh it would be nice if pseudo-progressive politicians like Richardson would 
>advocate releasing political prisoners...IN THE UNITED STATES!!
>
>

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para?so bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================


From adambrichmond at yahoo.com  Mon Jun  9 14:58:54 2008
From: adambrichmond at yahoo.com (Adam Richmond)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:58:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the animal
	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <159596.97414.qm@web54603.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

Sorry, but I don't believe it is a goal of socialism to "human exploitation".
Nor do we hope for animals to have rights.  That doesn't mean that socialists should approve of needless animal torture and vivisection, but the animal liberation movement has generally earned the scorn of workers.  

Animals deserve human protection, but rights, no.  Animals cannot have "rights" in the same sense as humans can have civil rights. Such an argument is based on moralism, and a disgust with the status quo of the barbaric and polluted world we live in.


Debordagoria <phantasmagorias at yahoo.com> wrote: I'm trying to get my animal rights friends to post this to their forums, and I would like some feedback from the comrades here as well.  
Michael D.
.....................
The animal rights/liberation movement has come under such intense fire from the State because it has emerged as a threat to operations and profits of postindustrial capital (heavily rooted in research and therefore animal experimentation) and as a significant form of resistance. The transnational elite want the fire crushed before its example of resistance becomes a conflagration.   

Conversely, the animal liberation movement is most effective not only as a single-issue focus to emancipate animals from human exploitation, but to join a larger resistance movement opposed to exploitation and hierarchies of any and all kinds. Clearly, SHAC and the ALF alone are not going to bring down transnational capitalism, pressuring HLS and raiding fur farms and laboratories will not themselves ignite revolutionary change, and are more rear-guard, defensive actions. The project to emancipate animals, in other words, is integrally related to the struggle to emancipate humans and the battle for a viable natural world. To the extent that the animal liberation movement grasps the big picture that links animal and human oppression struggles as one, and seeks to uncover the roots of hierarchy including that of humans over nature, they can be viewed as a profound new liberation movement that has a crucial place in the planetary struggles against
 injustice, oppression, exploitation, war, violence, capitalist neo-liberalism, and the destruction of the natural world and biodiversity.  

Yet, given the profound relation between the human domination of animals and the crisis ??? social, ethical, and environmental ??? in the human world and its relation to the natural world, the animal liberation movement is in a unique position to articulate the importance of new relations between human and human, human and animal, and human and nature. 
Dr. Steven Best 
http://www.drstevebest.org/Essays/DispatchesFromAPolice.htm





      

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From durable at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 17:16:41 2008
From: durable at earthlink.net (Barry Brooks)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:16:41 -0500
Subject: [Marxism] Exchange with Jack Weatherford - URL
In-Reply-To: <d4b.2f265abe.357eac58@aol.com>
References: <d4b.2f265abe.357eac58@aol.com>
Message-ID: <484DB9D9.5040909@earthlink.net>

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6667a18a-b888-11dc-893b-0000779fd2ac.html


From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 18:49:34 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:49:34 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the animal
	liberation movement
In-Reply-To: <001d01c8ca68$2283c650$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<484D806A.8030506@panix.com> <001d01c8ca68$2283c650$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806091749w7041a4e4gcb0fdc6d825e91cb@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 3:36 PM, David Pic?n ?lvarez <david at miradoiro.com> wrote:

> but from there to postulating animals
> as actual subjects, with rights, etc... that's taking it too far imo.

I've never understood why hardly anyone speaks of plant rights. Both
plants and animals are exploited, but animals seem to have many more
people willing to speak on behalf of their rights.


From sartesian at earthlink.net  Mon Jun  9 18:57:46 2008
From: sartesian at earthlink.net (sartesian)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:57:46 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
	animalliberation movement
References: <364532.90218.qm@web30203.mail.mud.yahoo.com><484D806A.8030506@panix.com>
	<001d01c8ca68$2283c650$0302a8c0@Nautilus>
	<908b689f0806091749w7041a4e4gcb0fdc6d825e91cb@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <00c001c8ca94$ffac4670$12255645@IBM982ADB3CB03>

Well, it's really tough to understand what plants want
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ruthless Critic of All that Exists"
<ok.president+marxml at gmail.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] A socialist analysis of the value of the
animalliberation movement



I've never understood why hardly anyone speaks of plant rights. Both
plants and animals are exploited, but animals seem to have many more
people willing to speak on behalf of their rights.

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From marvgandall at videotron.ca  Mon Jun  9 20:22:38 2008
From: marvgandall at videotron.ca (Marvin Gandall)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:22:38 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
References: <BAY127-W18363DA3412DC00743A82D7B00@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <002a01c8caa0$dac87ed0$0202a8c0@MARV>


Eli Stephens writes:

> ""The embargo has been unsuccessful, but I would like Cuba
> also to move on, to be more democratic, act to release more
> political prisoners."
>
> Gosh it would be nice if pseudo-progressive politicians like Richardson
> would
> advocate releasing political prisoners...IN THE UNITED STATES!!
=====================================
I doubt if the Cubans and Venezuelans - or, for that matter, the Iranians - 
will be as scornful or dismissive of Richardson's comments. I expect they'll 
view them in a positive light, as a further hint of a possible turn in 
foreign policy under Obama away from regime regime towards more normal state 
to state relations, potentially involving security guarantees and the 
lifting of sanctions. They'd regard Eli's remarks as irrelevant in this 
larger context.

The reference to democratization and political prisoners is mandatory 
boilerplate, although obviously the US, as part of any accomodation, would 
push for some measure of political change which strengthens the forces 
favourable to it in these countries. But that's a secondary consideration.

Of more interest is the wide recognition in the US and among its allies that 
American foreign policy needs to be retooled in its strategic interest, and 
Richardson's comments feed into that sentiment. The US turned to a strategy 
of peaceful detente and containment in its relations with both the USSR and 
China when it deemed the use of force to overthrow these regimes was no 
longer a realistic option. The Obama camp represents that (bipartisan) wing 
of the US bourgeosie which regards the Bush policies as having been 
profoundly destablizing and counter-productive, demonstrating American 
weakness rather than power, contrary to the expectations of the first term 
Bush zealots who invaded Iraq. Unless the Bush administration allows Israel 
to somehow draw it into war with Iran, this "soft power" tendency very much 
looks to be in the ascendent.




From PoliticNow at aol.com  Mon Jun  9 20:44:01 2008
From: PoliticNow at aol.com (PoliticNow at aol.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 22:44:01 EDT
Subject: [Marxism] The Only Road Is Practice Michael A. Lebowitz
Message-ID: <c9e.2ec043c2.357f4471@aol.com>

 
The Only Road Is  Practice
Michael A. Lebowitz  
I am certain that, like many people these days, the first thing on your mind  
is the question of the referendum on reform of the Bolivarian Constitution?
what  the defeat means and where do we go from here. What I want to talk about 
today  is not on that topic specifically, but it is related.  
Some people have said lately that they don?t know what the word socialism  
means. That was certainly a question raised about the proposed reforms. There  
were people who were determined to generate confusion and fear, and they were  
asking, what is all this talk about socialism in the constitution? Are we  
talking about Stalinism? Are we talking about an authoritarian society?  
No one who knows President Ch?vez?s speeches, however, should be confused  
about the specific socialist path that he has been stressing: it is a humanist  
socialism, a democratic socialism, a socialism from the bottom up. Look, for  
example, at his closing speech at the January 2005 World Social Forum in Porto 
 Alegre, Brazil, when he surprised many people by saying, ?We have to 
re-invent  socialism.? At that time, Ch?vez emphasized that ?It can?t be the kind of 
 socialism that we saw in the Soviet Union, but it will emerge as we develop 
new  systems that are built on cooperation, not competition.? Capitalism has 
to be  transcended, he argued, if we are ever going to end the poverty of the 
majority  of the world. ?But we cannot resort to state capitalism, which would 
be the same  perversion of the Soviet Union. We must reclaim socialism as a 
thesis, a project  and a path, but a new type of socialism, a humanist one, 
which puts humans and  not machines or the state ahead of everything.?   
(see link for rest of article) 
_http://monthlyreview.org/080601lebowitz.php_ 
(http://monthlyreview.org/080601lebowitz.php) 



**************Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 
2008.      (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102)

From pieinsky at igc.org  Mon Jun  9 21:03:24 2008
From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore)
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:03:24 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Chavez and the FARC
Message-ID: <484DEEFC.90201@igc.org>

What do other people think about Chavez's request to the FARC for them 
to lay down their arms?  Doesn't seem too smart to me given what 
happened last time.
jay
www.jaysleftist.info



From elishastephens at hotmail.com  Mon Jun  9 21:54:33 2008
From: elishastephens at hotmail.com (Eli Stephens)
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:54:33 -0700
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
Message-ID: <BAY127-W6E25A3E0A14C564BF0CC2D7B30@phx.gbl>


Marv write:

"I doubt if the Cubans and Venezuelans - or, for that matter, the Iranians -
will be as scornful or dismissive of Richardson's comments."

I'm not in the least "scornful or dismissive" of Richardson's comments on the 
embargo. I'm happy that Richardson wants to condemn the embargo, even if he, 
like all "progressive" Democrats, condemns it because it hasn't been 
"successful," which to him and them means "successful at overturning the Cuban 
revolution." I am FOR an end to the embargo, and I am happy a politician 
advocates it no matter how despicable their rationale.

But I did very specifically mean to heap scorn on Richardson's comments about 
political prisoners, on "physician, heal thyself" grounds. American politicians 
talking about political prisoners or human rights violations (or alleged 
political prisoners and alleged human rights violations) in other countries, who 
don't ALSO talk about political prisoners and human rights violations in their 
OWN country, deserve nothing but scorn, since their double standard just exposes 
the fact that they don't care about political prisoners or human rights at all, 
but only talk about them in order to score points against "our" "enemies."

Five Cuban heroes, imprisoned in the United States for ten years now, in some 
cases not having seen their spouses in all that time, for the "crime" of trying 
to (and, in fact, succeeding at) prevent acts of terrorism. When will Richardson 
address THOSE political prisoners?


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From ok.president+marxml at gmail.com  Mon Jun  9 22:13:15 2008
From: ok.president+marxml at gmail.com (Ruthless Critic of All that Exists)
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:13:15 -0400
Subject: [Marxism] Richardson advocates dialoque with Cuba, Venezuala
In-Reply-To: <BAY127-W6E25A3E0A14C564BF0CC2D7B30@phx.gbl>
References: <BAY127-W6E25A3E0A14C564BF0CC2D7B30@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <908b689f0806092113m75719561o156ae8559405d015@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 11:54 PM, Eli Stephens
<elishastephens at hotmail.com> wrote:

> But I did very specifically mean to heap scorn on Richardson's comments about
> political prisoners, on "physician, heal thyself" grounds. American politicians
> talking about political prisoners or human rights violations (or alleged
> political prisoners and alleged human rights violations) in other countries, who
> don't ALSO talk about political prisoners and human rights violations in their
> OWN country, deserve nothing but scorn, since their double standard just exposes
> the fact that they don't care about political prisoners or human rights at all,
> but only talk about them in order to score points against "our" "enemies."
>
> Five Cuban heroes, imprisoned in the United States for ten years now, in some
> cases not having seen their spouses in all that time, for the "crime" of trying
> to (and, in fact, succeeding at) prevent acts of terrorism. When will Richardson
> address THOSE political prisoners?

A "political prisoner" is someone held in prison or otherwise
detained, perhaps under house arrest, for his/her involvement in
political activity.

The Cuban five were imprisoned after receiving a trial, when they were
determined to have broken a US law. Not for their political activity.

Likewise, the so-called political prisoners in Cuba were imprisoned,
after receiving a trial, for receiving money from a hostile country
(the USA), or breaking other Cuban laws. Not for their political
activity.

Neither the Cuban Five in the USA, nor the the so-called political
prisoners in Cuba, can be called "political prisoners".

I support the call for the release of the Cuban Five. Not because I
think they are "political prisoners"  (I don't think so) but because
the punishment clearly doesn't fit the "crime