[lbo-talk] Proyect on Nathan Newman and Reconstruction

Jon Johanning zenner41 at mac.com
Fri Nov 19 11:45:05 PST 2004


On Nov 19, 2004, at 11:33 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:


> It's not even very good at following that model. if you're constantly
> drawing lines, you're shrinking your base, not expanding it. Politics
> should be about finding allies and converts, not smoking out heretics.

Ah, but the idea, presumably, is to smoke out potential or actual traitors, fifth columns, etc. -- bastards who will stab you in the back in "the final struggle" (_The Internationale_). Due to the magic of the dialectic (or something), the fewer the comrades you have, the surer your victory.

(Of course, I'm half trying to make sense of this view and half sticking my tongue in my cheek.)

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________ Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds. (Henry Adams, "The Education of Henry Adams")



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