[lbo-talk] 300,000 demonstrators, stretching for 10 blocks, in NYC

Chuck Grimes cgrimes at rawbw.com
Mon May 1 07:37:44 PDT 2006


In other words both the immigrant rights leadership and the anti-war movement don't get together because there is not a larger political context or political institutions to unite them. They both simply fall into the default political position of supporting their preferred section of the Democratic party and thus they limit their larger criticism. Jerry Monaco

-------------

What I am seeing, and I haven't been to either marches this year, is a faint echo of the 60s era when the civil rights movement and the old anti-war movement were still separate, and neither really saw the connection with the other, or the larger context.

In the present case, the war in Iraq isn't particularly well linked up to the economic goals of neoliberalism, but the context of the immigrant rights movement is intimately linked to those goals. I wasn't thinking so much about the anti-war movement, but the earlier anti-globalization groups---as a source of solidarity.

Anyway, the immigrant rights groups will definitely be sold out in the Democratic party precisely because it is also a party of corporate power and most definitely will do nothing to offend its money base.

In the anti-war movement case, I think they are at a complete loss because the majority of elected Democrats support the war, voted for the war, and think their political careers would be ruined if they did anything to stop the war. They are making a calculated assessment that they can survive the electorate base criticism against the war---and they are probably right.

``I don't even know what such unhelpful, racial phrases mean! "dead meat", great white masses? ..''

Well, just ignore it. It is a residue of personal disgust with my own `identity' group of stupids out in the suburbs hiding from the world and trying to pretend the american dream is real. They bought the `war on terror' crap because they wanted to. They bought the anti-immigrant crapolla of several governors and they put Arnold in office,..etc, etc.

What pisses me off about them, it they still hold the balance of power in most elections here---but the real threat is they are slowly losing because of changing demographics.

CG



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list