[lbo-talk] Taking Power

dredmond at efn.org dredmond at efn.org
Fri Feb 20 14:14:57 PST 2004


Quoting Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>:


> <http://www.avocadoeducationproject.org/avocado.shtml> *****
> Although some claim that George Bush's policies represent only a
> small coterie of neo-conservative extremists, the reality is
> otherwise. Bush and his friends serve at the will of the corporate
> rulers. His standing with the American people can be crushed in a
> moment if the corporate rulers so choose -- just by the power of
> their media, which today is concentrated in the hands of a half dozen
> giant conglomerates.

Were it only so. The big media bourgeoisie are savvy multinationalists, who know exactly how tenuous the US current account position is. And the media biz is a tiny (albeit prominent) piece of the service and retail sector, the heart of the Fortune 500.


> There is nothing more threatening to the rule of the corporations
> than the consolidation of a party of hundreds of thousands of
> citizens, especially young people, that fearlessly tell the truth to
> the American people.

This is a vision of an essentially ethical politics, of telling someone, somewhere, the truth. That only works if hundreds of thousands of citizens are joining unions, working with micropolitical struggles, etc.


> Many individuals and organizations in the ABB camp cancelled their
> actions or otherwise retreated after September 11, leaving WWP and
> anarchists to take leadership in the first protests after the
> terrorist attacks. They have only themselves to blame, for they
> helped to make the reactionary assault possible.

The same old ethical politics: either you're totally 100% sympathetic or you're totally against us. There was also a little thing in 2001 called a recession, which made lots of people unemployed, scared and anxious about the future.


> More importantly, why stand aloof and say that the Green Party didn't
> do this or do that or do other things, rather than get involved and
> help build the party, which you say you are in favor of?

Activism isn't like a Model-T, which comes in one variety. Everyone should contribute what they can, and that transcends a particular party-structure or campaign.

-- DRR



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