Charles Brown wrote:
>
> Michael Hoover:
>
> not sure how much any of this really matters,
>
> ^^^^
> CB: Might not matter too much. I tend to use Engels and Marx's vigorous
> support of war to end slavery to demonstrate that Marxism is fundamentally
> anti-racist.
Charles, I think this may be the biggest disagreement I have with you, but it is a fairly important one.
Defending marxism or proving that marxism is true is not a very important task of Marxists. That is not how we win people to Marxism. I would even go so far as to argue that arguing for Marxism is a way of driving people away from Marxism.
Marxism is a tool, not a religion, and "believing in it" can be more of an academic pastime than anything that should be of interest to marxists. It is perfectly possible to be entirely convinced of the absolute truth of marxism and of the personal infallibility of marx & engels but do nothing with it other than sit in a corner and think how much smarter one is than all those dolts out there. On the other hand, there can be and over the last couple centuries have been millions of committed revolutionaries who have only marginally if at all thought of themselves as "marxists."
First we either involve people in struggle over specific issues or join those already in struggle. And if we are using marxism properly as a tool we will, because of the understanding of the world we gain from marxism, be able to contribute largely to those struggles, and we will be able to open the eyes of others to the larger context. Through this practice we will lead others to see the necessity of transforming the social order we live in, and even to see that that social order must be overturned. And there is no need whatever to label any of this "marxist." When we do label it marxist, it will be because we have moved others to want also to become revolutionaries, and to see (mostly through our practice and our analysis of specific questions and situations) that marxism is the most powerful tool for understanding and changing the world.
Attempts to "prove" that marxism is "good" in the abstract simply lead away from concrete struggle and the actual USE of marxism.
Carrol