All our action is predicated on predictions about how the future will be. How is this a materialist conception of history, if the present does not serve as the basis for all our action?
Pragmatism or not, the only way to find out if theory is right or wrong is to engage in the world based on information and knowledge from the present. Where does knowledge come from? We, as human beings, receive our knowledge from nature and society-that is the world around us. If we understand ourselves, one could see how fascinated Marx was in regards to Darwin when it came to the human species, in that we have arms to build, hands to handle and hold things, brains to think. The function of the brain is understand the world around us through cognition and figure out the world by being an active element within it. What we have today-and especially in America is how much little information we have about the world-and whatever information that does come through via media the majority of people regard as information they can rely on. Hence-the system is actually working 24/7 to counter what the brain must do in order to make correct decisions about the world- its anti-cognition. One of the main struggles being launched today is the right to conscience-the ability to be able to think and rely on our own thinking on what needs to be done in the world. One may find that one's engagement with the world and the knowledge it receives from engaging in that world actually counters that of the information constantly being fed through media. And this is why Marxism is much more than just a social theory-it encourages that one must act in finding out.
One should take it upon themselves to find out for themselves-
----- Original Message -----
From: andie nachgeborenen
To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2003 11:36 PM
Subject: Re: Relevance of Marxism
> The point is to not degrade or shut out any possibility for any revolution or social movement to take place, Communist or not. It is the wrong way to build any social movement...reality will determine what is needed and what will be. [This is the reason why I shun your comment: "This is not going to change." unless you have foreknowledge of the future, this comment can not be taken seriously in any sort of analysis]
It's a terrible mistake to say, how do you knwo what the future will be? All our action is predicated on predictions about how the future will be. We pragmatists (I don't include you in thsi) think that a beliefg is a prediction made about the future that will support an action. Because we might be wrong, all our beliefs are fallible. I might be wrong about Marxism. But it's not an answer to my worry to say, how do you knwo? Ity's not certain. You might be wrong! Of course I might be wrong. Nonetheless, I've explained why I think I am not, I've set out the basis of my prediction. I don't shut out the possibility that there will be radical social change, even something that might be described as a social revolution. Because I think that historical materialism is true, I think there is good basis to say this. But because I am acquainted with the history of Marxism and the broad generalizations that can be made about defeated social movements, I doubt that this change will be Marxist, that is, that it will call itself Marxist, that it will use that vocabulary, those organizational forms, and so forth. At this point, I think the burden is on the believers to show that Marxism is more than a good theory.
jks
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