Milton, "post-leftism", etc.

Dddddd0814 at aol.com Dddddd0814 at aol.com
Thu Aug 22 19:39:34 PDT 2002


Brian: Polls since even before last Fall revealed that Americans distrust corporations, their boss, and believe they have workplace rights they don't. This seems to indicate some commonly held belief about things that are harmful to society (unfettered greed, authoritarian work environments, etc.)

David: ....or, that there's low expectations, cynicism, and apathy around the possibility of reforming the business community.


> Suffice it to say, I don't think we will rectify the situation by way of
good
> will, or "natural" human instinct, whatever that is. Otherwise it would
> simply be no problem, and, since "most people" supposedly have the
"instinct"
> to do the "right" thing, the revolution would already have been won by
> now......

Brian: Imagine some Americans saying in 1775 that if the American Revolution were correct and desirable -if people really wanted it - then it would had already been waged by then. This could always be used to defer any revolution or movement for social change.

David: The American Revolution was in favor of the class of colonial landholders, not "people" in general.

What you are saying would be true, if revolutions occurred simply because propagandists like Chuck thought they were "correct and desirable" for "most people." But, individualism and autonomy are the romantic ideology of capitalists in the "free market." Revolutions do not occur when people would "like" them to happen per se, but when the contradictions of a particular economic milieu are rammed against each other, forcing antagonisms to the surface. People can't "defer" revolutions by arguing against them! That's like saying that people can argue for the stock market to go up or down, and who ever has the most "correct" and "desirable" outlook can get what they want!

Brian: As Noam Chomsky says in his Introduction to Daniel Guerin's _Anarchism_ : "[S]peculation should proceed to action." If this never happens, even the most noble of ideas will not become reality.

David: Is this the like speculation against currency or on investments?

One can speculate all they want. But, without an actual material basis, coupled with proper organization, revolution just doesn't happen.



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