Joel Wendland wrote:
> It is interesting that the academic Patrick Bond's analysis gets
> spread through the US left press quite a bit. In my view it tends to
> discredit him. I think he is a bit too much interested in a political
> line of a smaller, marginalized -- as Nzimande might say
> "ultra-left" -- political party than the actual conditions under
> which the majority of South Africans struggle in SA and up against
> gloabl capitlaism. I doubt very much that if the political forces to
> which Bond aligns himself were in power that they would do anything
> different or, if they did, that they would survive. Perhaps that is
> the point?
>
> I'd be more interested in seeing MR actually reproduce the argument
> Nzimande makes in a sympathetic manner.
We at MR have great respect for Comrades Nzimande and Cronin, and have published Jeremy Cronin's persuasive critique of an important John Saul piece in MR (Saul's piece had the same basic set of concerns as Patrick Bond's).
Cronin's critique is well worth taking a look at. <http://www.monthlyreview.org/1202cronin.htm>
Speaking for myself, i do not see Patrick Bond and John Saul as in some sort of ultimate and fundamental disagreement with Blade Nzimande and Jeremy Cronin. They all wish to see South Africa move away from the privatization and neo-liberal policies that have disgraced the ANC government.
The very real, and at times emotional, differences among them on practical political and organizational questions have, to my mind, no obvious self-evident answer. Both sides of the debate are persuasive. The judge will not be editors but - in practice - South African activists. What we can do is help make both their agreement and disagreements as clear (and comradely) as possible.
BTW i was glad to see the Nzimande piece in Political Affairs, and am glad to see you here...
john mage