A(nother) Raving Leftist

[Brett Knowlton]

>Partly quoted, partly paraphrased from memory: Writing recipes for the cook
>shops of the future is not our thing. Rather we must engage in an unyielding
>critique of all that is. [In so far as that critique *is* unyielding and
>threatens to be heard, it will lead to heavy and violent repression. And
hence
>another famous observation from the same old man]: The arm of criticism
must be
>completed by  the criticism of arms.
>
>Carrol
>
>Marxists have no crystal ball, Mao observed, and those who  insist that the
>present must not be challenged except in the name of a "plan" that persuades,
>they are simply supporting the present and all its horrors.

I don't agree.  Granted, I don't want to limit future possibilities by
restricting choices about what realized socialism might look like.  But how
can it hurt to try to envision robust socialist institutions which could
replace existing institutions?

At some point cookshop recipes have to be written.  I believe its better to
have thought about how you want the soup to taste, and maybe experimented a
bit with different ingredients before you open for business.  There's
nothing saying your initial ideas can't be completely rejected, or that
binds you to a particular course once you've started the process.

Brett