<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1458" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Arguing with Yoshie, Nathan writes:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>'I'm always curious when I hear that anyone who works inside the Dems lacks
theory or a strategy'</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am curious, too. What is the strategy of working
within the Democratic Party - move it leftwards to achieve reforms through the
state; force a split between the more advanced workers and the reactionary
leadership; expose the inability of reformist policies by putting them in
power?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>'Working inside the Dems' implies working to some
distinctive purpose than the mainstream view of the Democratic Party - but that
also implies some dissimulation. Are you saying one thing to people on the
doorstep while you canvass, but another thing to the activists
within?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My experience of those 'working within the UK
Labour Party does indeed suggest that entryism is a barrier to theoretical
clarity - for the simple reason that it involves saying one thing to one group
of people, and something else to publicly. That's not a healthy situation in
which to develop theory, because you are not exposing your ideas to the
democratic evaluation of your peers. (On the history of Civil Rights, forgive my
ignorance, the Civil Rights movement I remember was at war with the Labour
Government here.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Doug writes:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>'<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Harvey's
highly qualified support for Kerry comes from an evaluation of the Bush
admin's record and the political configurations and possibilities of the
present day.'</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, yes, but its so tortuous an argument
that you have to say that the conclusions are entirely at odds with the
analysis. In The New Imperialism, Harvey makes a powerful case (though
not one I entirely agree with) that US capitalism is addicted to oil, decadent,
and driven to exploit the developing world. That would seem to preclude reform,
seeing the problem not as policy, but in the very nature of the
US. Then, arbitrarily he adds on the proposition (unsupported in the prior
analysis) that a 'New Deal' style policy could reverse the inevitable collapse,
through a massive increase in consumption (raising a whole warehouse full of
problems - not least that there has indeed been something of an increase in US
purchasing power over the last 25 years, already, or that it would seem to imply
a greater consumption of material goods taken from the third world, at least in
his account, etc etc). This then becomes a case for a wholly transformed
democratic party being supoprted at the ballot. Since no such Democratic Party
appears, Harvey plumps for a wholly militaristic Democratic candidate, who, as
far as anyone can see is dedicated to perpetuating precisely the policy of
political control over the Third World that Harvey sees as in the grain of the
US's exploitation of 3rd World resources! What a mess. What dishonesty. Why is
he allowed to get away with putting this contradictory pudding of arguments
without anyone taking the time to see if any of it holds together? Why? Because
there is no tradition of honest criticism on the left.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Doug also write:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> Your
support for Nader seems to come from the desire for a pure gesture, since
I've yet to hear a <BR>convincing argument that voting for a lone wolf candidate
who has <BR>repeatedly distanced himself from efforts to organize an independent
<BR>Green Party is part of any long-term strategy more worked out than
<BR>"breaking with the Dems."'</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Which sounds good, but I don't see why supporting
the Dems is anything more of a pure gesture, if you do not agree with them.
Maybe you do agree with them. In which case, a fulsome support seems
appropriate. But if, as I sense, there is a difference of opinion, why would you
hide it at the one time that the whole country is most interested in political
alternatives.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>