[lbo-talk] Challenge for leftists of all stripes

Michael Dawson MDawson at pdx.edu
Mon Nov 29 12:50:52 PST 2004



> I think this line of complaint is more petit bourgeois than
> proletarian. It seems founded on an often undisclosed nostalgia for
> the 19th century world of proprietorships or small partnerships. And
> what a wonderful time that was!
>
> Doug

Yes, and it also promotes the old Fabian notion that you can somehow finagle the existing system and turn it into socialism, without ever talking truthfully about power and choice and what you're proposing to do as an alternative. If this rechartering idea ever really got off the ground -- and it won't, since it's mainly a way for trust-fund rebels to avoid using the five-letter word and leaving their think tanks -- it would be sharply assaulted by the massively dominant class on whom the trick is supposed to be played.

Tighten corporate charters, sure. But that seems feasible only after we're pretty well down the road toward a different socio-economic order.

IMHO, the thing to do is to create public-interest/public ownership corporations and set about trying to outdo BBs at their own game, in key areas like transportation, housing, and strategically selected small commodity production and distribution.

Of course, even that requires a huge mass movement. But at least it wouldn't be shy about its point and the nature of its enemies.



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