----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Meanwhile, I noticed that Justin Raimondo linked to this piece on WWP
> the other day by Ken Lawrence, an lbo-talk alum. Interesting
> analysis. Lou Paulsen, any comments?
There are a few inaccuracies here and there but I've seen lots worse. Our founding date was 1959, not 1957, so the election in question must have been 1960, not 1958. It's incorrect to say that "WW regarded Tito's revolution as a model." And I don't understand this line:
> The passing of the founders seems to have opened the door to change
> just a crack. Two weeks ago WW ran an editorial directly criticizing
> the CP for its opposition to the impeachment of Clinton, urging
> workers to retain their independence and distance from the bourgeois
> morass.
Lawrence seems to have thought that this represented a "change" in line or strategy, but I don't see it.
Furthermore the portrayal of us as valuing action over theory is at best a half-truth. While there are some people who would say that we have no theory, probably an equal number of people would say that we are obsessed with rigorously applying Marxist theory and that it prevents us from dealing with the world in a "common-sense, reasonable way". (Which, I would retort, is justification enough for the theory.)
As I say, though, I've seen much less accurate accounts.
LP