Burford's post re Yoshie

Max Sawicky sawicky at epinet.org
Tue Apr 6 08:51:34 PDT 1999


Oh bosh Charles.


> Fascism is open terroist rule of the most chauvinist,
> racist sector of imperialism (imperialism today being
> monopoly capitalism). The main imperialist power in
> the world today is the U.S. Serbia is not an

These two sentences are contradictory. First one says 'most racist' and second one says 'main.' In 1930's, US/UK was 'main' but not 'most racist.' Today US is 'main' and 'racist,' whereas Serbia is merely racist/fascist in re: assorted non-Serbians.


> imperialist nation. Yoshie is opposing imperialist
> war. Those arguing against Yoshie and in favor of
> U.S. imperialist war are much closer to fascism than
> Yoshie. But I guess things get confused and turned
> upside down easily when the bombs start falling.

Indeed she is, but is she looking clearly, or at all, at what she and her compatriots are blocking with? Even so, there are no fascists on these lists, social or otherwise, Burford notwithstanding. Nobody in the U.S. is any 'closer' to fascism than any Serbian who isn't attacking Muslims in Kosovo. Serbian assault on Kosovo is imperialist war too, albeit from a pint-sized, not very accomplished imperium.


> Totalitarianism is , as Michael Hoover says, bourgeois
> anti-communist , anti-Soviet rhetoric (Hannah Arendt)
> from the Cold War . Speaking of totalitarianism , Big
> brother controls your mind by having you watching him
> in totalitarian U.S. 1999. The mind control works so
> good, he has Anglo-American chauvinist/jingoists
> "leftists" calling the socialists "social fascists".

Careful. Only one leftist (Burford) called Y a social fascist, and even so he was talking about her ideas, not herself.

Totalitarianism is real and it sucks. What purposes it served as doctrine on behalf of US imperialism is pertinent in one sense, but also a resort to moral blindness with respect to the practices of really-existing communists in power. Saying US imperialism is to blame for all the crimes of Leninism/Stalinism/Maoism is a dodge. It is implicated, but the perpetrators share responsibility.

All U.S. residents can readily sample the experience of totalitarianism: just join a tightly-run cadre organization or cult and try to function as a loyal opposition. It helps to be a masochist. There is no comparison to being a fellow-traveler, no disrespect intended to the latter.


> The attack on Yoshie is true "left" conservatism.

This is the mirror-image of red-baiting, but in view of the nature of other users (e.g., Judy Butler, etc.) of this term, I take it as a blessing.

Cheers,

Max



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