[Marxism] Marxmail is ten years old

[Jeff Rubard]

Joaquin Bustelo wrote:
> I think in addition to what Louis has said, I think something else should be
> noted, which is that Marxmail has served as one point of convergence and
> discussion for what I think is an emerging ... not current, that is too
> strong a word, but drift on the revolutionary Marxist left. 
> 
> One of its main contributions is a rejection of (at least) a narrow,
> pseudo-Leninist, "party building" perspective that holds the Russian
> Revolution (or rather, a certain interpretation of its lessons, almost
> unanimously upheld for half a century, and I daresay majority-supported even
> today) as the key to revolutionary activity. 
> 

I agree with the assessment, and would like to chime in that this drift 
is a useful one even for people who are not looking to be "deprogrammed" 
from Leninist groupuscules (i.e., have historical affiliations to the 
"vagueries" of anti-Leninist radical leftism). Although only the 
seriously troubled want to swallow the outcomes of "Leninist" statecraft 
whole, the perspective by which Lenin can be viewed as someone 
intelligently addressing problems any socialism worthy of the name would 
have to face (as opposed to the inventor of a cookie-cutter technique 
for making bad revolutions and offing offensive people, or Lacan's wacky 
twin) is an essential one for overcoming the very practical roadblocks 
for leftism installed after 1989. At the very least, the Bolivarians 
would be nearly impossible to understand (except as foes of autonomist 
funning) without such a correction in the appropriation of Marxist history.

So, although the US left has been in a state of desuetude and it's easy 
to let that dominate one's thoughts on what is to be done, I think a lot 
of people here and abroad are glad Marxmail is actual and existing.

Jeff Rubard