"Those of us who don't live near any centers of struggle have no choice but to become armchair Marxists. If there were real, worthwhile activism 'round these parts, I'd be the first at the barricades. But it's just not so."
This, and his "workerist" slurs as justification for inaction reflect a seriously flawed political outlook. Yet this same fellow was slagging me a while ago for engaging in mass anti-fascist activity that conflicted with Saint Noam's view of free speech. In that instance, remoteness from struggle was presented as more virtuous than engagement.
Alex, you certainly need some real-world political experience. I have spent time among comrades in every part of the continental U.S., and in many other countries both metropolitan and Third World, without ever hearing that there was no worthwhile political struggle at hand. In 1973, when I traveled to 24 states outside the South to raise support for striking Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana pulpwood haulers, I was everywhere hosted by people engaged in local struggles of their own -- on farms, in factories, in lumber camps, on campuses, in poor communities, on picket lines. Ten years later, I made a similar tour in support of the FMLN, exhibiting Salvadoran children's drawings of the war, with equivalent hospitality. If people in rural Iowa can organize effectively for socialism, what place is so isolated from struggle that it can justify Alex's abstention? Do you live at the North Pole?
If the only legitimate struggles are those of sanctified, certified (male? white?) class-conscious workers, excepting the odd Central America solidarity movement, what does that leave for independent mass action by oppressed people of color, women, youth, the elderly, and so forth? Are they consigned to the dustbin for lack of factories to take over?
Frankly, Alex's defense of armchair Marxism is the strongest indictment of it I could imagine. If one is blind to the expoitation and oppression in his own community, how can he dare to scold anyone else for engaging in the struggles he shuns?
Rather than studying Karl Marx's writings, if this is its pathetic consequence, I would recommend reading biographies and memoirs of radical activists to learn how to engage in political activity. Petition to Free Mumia. Sponsor showings of radical films. Host guest speakers. Organize a conference. Hold a rally. Join a picket line. Fold and stuff envelopes. Write a leaflet. Before you know it, there will be more work needed than available time. I'm still reluctant to believe this exchange isn't just a bad dream.
Ken Lawrence