Anyway, he (Llewlyn) obviously did not read "Empire" and just made the same general critiques that any libertarian capitalist would of socialism. I am glad that he has a picture of himself there...he has that same shit-eating grin as the Silicon Valley middle class that I have to put up with daily. Little does he know that Hardt and Negri also declare themselves against "big government"(true, not in the same way):
<<Some might object that the productive biopolitical universe still requires some form of command over it, and that realistically we should aim not at destroying big government but at putting our hands on its controls. We have to put an end to such illusions that have plagued the the socialist and communits traditions for so long....No, we are not anarchists but communists who have seen how much repression and destruction of humanity have been wrought by liberal and socialist big governments>>
Now, usually when communists talk about transition...they admit that they too dont like the state but it is a necessary evil during the early stage of communist society (socialism). And indeed, the socialist governments so far have been big and repressive. As a result, Hardt and Negri just do away with that transition phase and move right into communist society.
I like it. I really do. But as with many things in the "Empire", H&N leave out the nasty part about how to do it. I presume they are doing this in order to have an audience for the sequel. I hope so because I dont know how the hell we are going to beat back the counter-revolution without a standing army. I dont know how we are going to deal with all the various problems having to do with racism, national chauvinism, homophobia, etc which I am afraid aren't just going to disappear the lendemain of the grand soireee of revolution. How are you going to deal with stuff like that without a judicial system, etc?
If somebody knows the answer, please step forward because I cant wait for the H&N sequel to come out!
Thomas
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