[lbo-talk] rethinking marxism

Yoshie Furuhashi critical.montages at gmail.com
Thu Sep 28 12:47:43 PDT 2006


On 9/28/06, Eric <rayrena at realtime.net> wrote:
>
> >Since the rise of modern nationalism, local customs, languages, and so
> >forth have often become "problems" for nation states, for nationalists
> >have often demanded homogeneity in such matters
>
> Agreed. Unfortunately, many putative antinationalisms and
> anticapitalisms have similar expectations, though rather than trying
> to erase languages and customs, ie, culture, they are more concerned
> with erasing or subsuming political difference. "We are all
> Hezbollah," for example, allegedly a statement of solidarity with
> Lebanon, is nothing if not an attempt to subsume nonsectarian support
> for Lebanese people under the banner of pro-Hezbollah
> anti-imperialism. And how many times have women, blacks, queers, been
> told they must wait until after the revolution to get theirs, all in
> the name of unity?

With all due respect to Lenin, "We are all Hezbollah" is a silly slogan. It's clear that Hezbollah is superior to Western leftists. Given our complete inability to have any positive impact on the rest of the world (or even ourselves and our fellow countrymen and women nowadays in the US, the UK, and Japan), we ought to be a little more modest, even in offering symbolic solidarity.

As for women, blacks, queers, etc. abroad, they have made their own choices, variously, without waiting to be told to do this or that by others: some left their countries, seeking individual advancement in other countries; some have struggled to make their countries better, within the framework of their respective nationalism, with various degrees of success; and some have allied with the power elite of the empire, enlisting, or seeking to enlist, the might of the empire for their cause.

It seems to me that the last is the least advisable option: e.g., women in Iraq are clearly worse off now than under the Ba'ath Party government. The second option is one that makes most sense for most people, since most don't have the means to leave home anyway (emigrants tend to come from richer and better educated classes and strata), though emigration is sometimes the only choice, depending on political circumstances. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>



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