[lbo-talk] the other L word

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Mon Feb 23 09:51:01 PST 2004


uvj at vsnl.com wrote:


>Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> What kind of politics is this, that depends not on organization and
>> institution-building but on momentary coalitions of the variously
>> disaffected?
>
>Chomsky seems to be arguing that "The current incumbents may do
>severe, perhaps irreparable, damage if given another hold on power -
>a very slim hold, but one they will use to achieve very ugly and
>dangerous ends. In a very powerful state, small differences may
>translate into very substantial effects on the victims, at home and
>abroad. It is no favor to those who are suffering, and may face
>much worse ahead, to overlook these facts. Keeping the Bush circle
>out means holding one's nose and voting for some Democrat, but
>that's not the end of the story. The basic culture and institutions
>of a democratic society have to be constructed, in part
>reconstructed, and defeat of an extremely dangerous clique in the
>presidential race is only one very small component of that."
>(Chomsky Interview by M.Junaid Alam)

Bingo. Noam hit it right on the head, with every word. "It is no favor to those who are suffering...to overlook these facts."

Doug



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list