The Devil and Mr. Hicks

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Tue May 28 04:38:26 PDT 2002


Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
> Let's learn from great intellectuals and organizers of one of the
> oldest social movements -- Christianity:
>
> ***** A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell
> by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air
> devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung
> up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell
> among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And
> other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an
> hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that
> hath ears to hear, let him hear.
>
> (Luke 8:5-8) *****

Tahir Wood:
> Ah the "proletarian Jesuits" that CLR James et al told us about ... here they are again.

Christianity is one of my models for revolution as well, since it was able to succeed by promoting itself in the interstices of the existing social structure without military organization or the general use of violence. Much of the plan was expressed poetically:

With what can we compare the kingdom of God,

or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed,

which, when sown upon the ground,

is the smallest of all seeds on earth;

yet when it is sown it grows up

and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,

and puts forth large branches,

so that the birds of the air can make

nests in its shade.

Mark 4:30-32

If this be Jesuitry, make the most of it.

Gordon:
> > If only Joe knew that your question was purely rhetorical,
> > he could have saved himself the trouble of eliciting Standard
> > Summary Dismissal #2. Think of the electrons you've wasted.

Dennis Perrin:
> Sweet of you to think of wasted electrons (an electron is a terrible thing
> to waste), but my original question was quite specific, and Joe answered by
> offering could-be/might-be scenarios via Indymedia.

So what? That's exactly what you asked for, isn't it?


> In the second link I caught this Q & A:
>
> "Why discuss what an anarchist society would be like at all?"
>
> "Partly, in order to indicate why people should become anarchists."
>
> So now anarchism is a single, definable entity that can be sold? Sounds like
> Christianity or Marxism to me. The Brave New Tomorrow seems a lot like the
> Corrupt Old Today.

Your conclusion does not follow from the quotation. You would have to show that the set _anarchists_ consisted of believers in a narrowly-defined ideology tending toward centralized organization, and you don't begin to do that. Maybe you should write to Slavoj and see if you can get the address of one of those secret masters.

When playing this game, the Skeptic first demands to know what the Plan is. If no specific Plan is presented, S. says that the Radical is aimless, vague, doesn't think things through. If the R. does have a Plan, S. says that R. harbors a hidden agenda and totalitarian ambitions. In this case not enough work was done to box your opponents in to a specific Plan, which is usually provoked by extended needling with type 1 moves.

-- Gordon



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