> Yes, "Workers of the World Unite" would really be a very wise slogan to
> adopt. That would just do loads for this budding social movement! Maybe we
> could also revive something about making friends with Uncle Joe.
>
Why you want to hand over the slogan "Workers of the World, Unite!" to Stalin, who was more a nationalist than an internationalist, is a mystery.
> Oh, wait, I forgot -- the USSR was a total disaster that disgraced and sullied every
> utterance with which it associated itself.
>
Most Americans, including a number of American leftists, appear to think so. I doubt that the majority of your beloved European leftists -- especially of the sort involved in the Social Forum -- exactly embrace your view of the USSR. If you go to a Social Forum, European or otherwise, you'll be hanging out with a large number of social democrats who belong to formerly Stalinist political parties (like Italian Communists), along with a big contingent of NGO liberals and a smattering of revolutionary socialists and anarchists.
> Meanwhile, what's so vague about "Another World is Possible"?
>
Vague in many respects. Another world than what it is, as a matter of fact, is obviously possible, but the slogan doesn't say what new world it asks us to envision. Is it a world of kinder, gentler capitalism? Is it a world beyond capitalism? Who is to bring about a new world? How?
> Finally, I'm personally sick of the idea that general calls for allies are
> somehow vague.
>
The slogan "Another World Is Possible" doesn't call on anyone to do anything in particular, much less calling for allies (to make a multi-class united front, you had better know which class you belong to).
> I agree that it is vital to respect, include, and intellectually privilege the working
> class
>
It's not a matter of respect or intellectual privileging. It's a matter of who has both an objective interest in abolishing capitalism and the power to actually do so. Even just within the working class, some sectors of the working class are more strategically situated in the production and distribution system than others, and workers in strategically crucial sectors (be they sectors that demand predominantly mental or physical labor) can hope to have more impact than others by slowing down, going on strike, refusing to cooperate with bosses, etc.
> Besides, everybody is a worker, after all, by definition.
>
We are all workers, including capitalists? I'm sure that capitalists are happy to hear you say that.
Yoshie