[Marxism] Criticism from afar

[S. Artesian]

Nope, you don't get off the hook that easily.  You're a Marxist, you belong 
to an ostensibly socialist party.  People ask you, "What do you think is 
going on Iran/Russia/Poland/Bolivia/Iran/Pakistan/Cuba/China/Venezuela?" 
And you say to everyone everytime  "US Hands Off"?  THEY, many of the 
questioners already know that.  They want to know more.

And I bet that's not the only thing you say.  Not by a longshot.

You have to be able to link those events to some pattern, change, 
development, problem in the organization, functioning of capital, 
otherwise-- otherwise events pass you by, as will people.

It's not about giving advice.  It's about success or failure, living and 
dying, or, in baseball terms,  winning and losing.  I know I'm prejudiced, 
having spent so many years dealing with some of those issues in my 
professional life, but you know what?  I think success is better than 
failure, living beats the shit out of the alternative, and winning the class 
struggle is all that counts. It's about NOT manifesting a repetition 
compulsion in the service of failure.

By the way, Fidel was full of shit about Chile, actually lecturing the 
Chilean military general staff that "socialism wasn't the enemy."  Guess 
what?  The general staff new better.

We're on a Marxist list here, we're supposed to know something about the 
Marxist analysis of societies.  You want to abrogate that responsibility? 
Like I said,  people will pass you by.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eli Stephens" <elishastephens at hotmail.com>
To: <sartesian at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 3:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Criticism from afar



S. Artesian wants to know: "Gee, that's great Eli, and in 1973 when Pinochet 
takes power in Chile, and Allende, in the midst of the coup, urges workers 
to stay at home, to not come into the streets, to not combat the coup, to 
trust the authorities to protect democracy, what do you think your ONLY task 
is?"

It's as I said. There were no doubt revolutionaries in Chile arguing the 
"correct" course of action (not to mention the occasional Fidel Castro); I 
really doubt that Allende or anyone else in Chile was anxiously awaiting MY 
advice, or even the advice of the American Communist Party (or the SWP or 
WW). No, I prefer to focus MY energies on my target.