Robert -- your posts are very difficult to read. They come to my screen in 9 pt Arial font. If you use plain text, instead of HTML or Rich text, it would help things immensely. It will also help the list: HTML/Rich Text uses more bandwidth and, thus, costs more money. HTML is also a good way to leave your system open to malware.
here are some resources that will help you change your settings:
ASCII ribbon campaign ( )
- against HTML email X
/ \
At 10:42 AM 8/20/2004, robert mast wrote:
>(Part 1 of two parts)
>
>Dennis Raymond's opened this thread on 8/12/04. Subsequently, a related
>thread called "Productivity" was opened.
>
>While I was contemplating the question What IS the left?, a friend of the
>Marxist-Leninist persuasion phoned and I asked how he would define the
>'left.' He said something like, "Well, there's the baby-killing,
>war-criminal right and then there's the 'left' which has more empathy for
>the material needs of their fellow citizens." I asked, "Is the 'left'
>imperialist?" He responded yes. I asked, "Is Michael Moore 'left' and is
>he imperialist?" With that, my friend decided he needed to think more
>about the question.
>
>Two recent Detroit-area events were arranged by activists whose hard-left
>credentials go way back. First, hundreds of flyers were distributed to
>patrons of "The Corporation" at two local cinemas, to promote a public
>discussion at a local church. Three off-the-street people
>attended. Second, 100 invitations to a rare general membership meeting of
>a local political-labor body were sent via U.S. mail. Exclusive of the
>organizers, five members attended (average age = about 60). The good
>news: these meetings were held. The bad news: attendance was lousy.
>
>Other meetings in the Detroit area were being held at the same time. I'm
>aware of the details of some, but most receive little attention. While
>harder-left groups hold regular study groups and strategy-seeking
>sessions, the vast majority of gatherings could be called quasi-left or
>'progressive' or 'liberal.' Depending on the class and race base, these
>meetings involve the somewhat separate issues of brute survival, some form
>of civil/human rights, some form of charity, the environment, and some
>aspect of foreign policy. Some call these efforts single issue subtexts
>of a broader peace and justice movement. Most deal with reform, not
>revolution, though success in any individual issue (e.g. total peace,
>living wage jobs for all, removal of racism) would require revolutionary
>change in political economy. Many experienced, aging lefties are helping
>lead these community activist efforts, but they've laundered their left
>language and perhaps some of their left ideology as an adjustment to
>current 'sensibilities' and state monitoring. Most leadership comes from
>local citizens with local interests; some from those with broader horizons.
>
>Are these really 'left' activities? Depends on the criteria used to
>define the left and where it falls on a left-right political continuum. I
>believe its CNN's "Crossfire" that pits 'left' against 'right'
>spokespersons, where the continuum's mid point is as close to the right
>pole as could be imagined. This distortion, also practiced by upwardly
>mobile academics and other opinion molders, effectively wipes out the
>structural-material base of analysis. This leaves vague cultural or
>identity factors for everyone to argue about, with no serious attention to
>economic ownership and control. In my earlier days teaching political or
>economic sociology, the left pole of my continuum represented 'pure'
>socialism with the right pole being 'pure' capitalism. Somewhat to the
>left of the mid point I placed New Deal, social democratic models. How
>times have temporarily changed! (to be continued)
>
>Bob Mast
>___________________________________
>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
"We're in a fucking stagmire."
--Little Carmine, 'The Sopranos'