[Marxism] Ken Livingstone: the interview

[S. Artesian]

Noah,

Maybe Richard has some things wrong, and then again maybe not.  But I did 
read the interview and Livingstone comes off as nothing other than what he 
is-- a British social democratic who can't see anything without seeing it in 
the perspective of the evolution of the British empire.

He states, using history to prove the ahistorical, that the problems 
affecting Caracas, Mumbai, Lagos are the same problems impacting London in 
the mid-19th century, as if these problems are demographic, sociological, 
and not class-driven; as if migration to London during the era of expanding 
capitalism is the same as migration to Mumbai when a capitalist upsurge is 
confined to a few industries, and the prospects for capitalism as a whole 
could hardly be more grim; as if the problems affecting Caracas and Lagos 
have nothing to do with the existence of that capitalism which "resolved" 
those problems in the mid-19th century.   As a British social democratic, 2 
things ex-red Ken can never see are: imperialism and class struggle.

He repeats this exercise in nostalgic myopia by stating that what Chavez is 
trying to do is really a combination of what the 1906 and 1945 British 
governments were trying to do, thereby ignoring the actual class struggle 
going on in Venezuela and reducing  the conquest of power to simply an 
exercise in social welfare.

But it gets better, or worse, when he talks about China.  The majority of 
the Chinese economy is not truly in the hands of the party.  I think the 
latest numbers on employment and GDP contribution show the private sector 
outdoing the state sector.  Moreover, contrary to the baloney Mr. 
Livingstone would like to disperse, what China has done is PRECISELY NOT to 
create "dynamic, nationalized industries."  On the contrary, the CCP has 
welcomed foreign private investment as the "seed" for transforming the 
dominant sectors of the economy into private capitalism, complete with a 
private capitalist class.

Although I guess you could argue that the econony might be return to the 
hands of the party again, if the party decided to call in the army and just 
seize everything, but I doubt that the CCP is going to seize the assets of 
Nokia, LG, Sony, Toyota, etc.

Livingstone, like those who raise their pom-poms high in salute to "market 
socialism," doesn't know what he's talking about.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "noah tucker" <csoc21 at btinternet.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 4:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Ken Livingstone: the interview