>>> jkschw at hotmail.com 06/13/01 11:51AM >>>
Well, during much of Marx's life, workers were organizing the First
International;
(((((((
CB: Which flopped
(((((
his political career started with a revolution (1848)
((((((
CB: Which failed
(((((((
and more or less ended with another (1875).
((((((
CB: Which one is this ? I thought the Paris Commune ( which he said would be a folly of dispair, but supported) was earlier.
((((((
He went throughta period of retrenchment and resignation in the 1850s.
(((((
CB: Don't think he made this public. My point being that he knew that pessimism would tend to be self-fullfilling.
((((
And besides, Marx hadn't been through what we have.
(((((
CB: We have been through more successful revs than he went through
(((((
Even if it would not have been irrational for Marx to expect revolution immanently, that does not reflect one way or another on what it is rational for us to expect today. --jks
((((((((
CB: My point is that for Marxists to be optimistic today makes no less sense than for the original Marxists to be optimistic. In fact, we have the historical experience of more successful Marxist revolutions - in Russia, China, Cuba, Viet Nam, Korea, Yugoslavia - than Marx did. The fact that there have been reversals is reason for upset, but the initial actualization of revolution gives reason to think we can reverse the reversals.
The importance of optimism is that successful revolution is not automatic based on objective factors, but requires conscious striving. People with optimistic subjectivity are more likely to sustain the effort necessary to succeed. Optimism is a necessary ( but not sufficient) condition of successful revolutionary struggle. I think this is consistent with the Gramscian aphorism on this. What is it ?
>From: "Charles Brown" <CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us>
>
> >>> jkschw at hotmail.com 06/12/01 11:04AM >>>
>As for
>Foucauldian pessimism, any Marxist who is optimistic in this day and age is
>blind or fanatical. --jks
>
>(((((((((
>
>CB: Wouldn't an optimistic Marxist in Marx's day and age have to be the
>same way , a blind seer and a fan of revolution ?
>
_________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com