Believe me, growing up in Japan is stranger, so much so that not only Japanese liberals but also many Japanese leftists, consequently, develop Orientalist criticisms of Japan, which is another reason why the Left doesn't grow (beyond what looks to be its current upper limit, about 5% of the pop) there. :-|
Anyhow, take Stan's first point, for instance: "1) If there is a US military base in your country, begin a concerted campaign to get rid of it. These bases are exercises of imperial power against your own sovereignty. They are creating base-economies of crime, corruption, and prostitution. They are environmental disasters. Wage a sharp political struggle to make them untenable." In most cases, US military bases overseas are concentrated in the most underdeveloped areas of US clients, in the case of Japan, Okinawa. Surely leftists overseas can begin with struggles against US military bases and advance criticisms of capitalist development and intra-national inequality that it entails through such struggles (and, if objective and subjective conditions allow it, develop them into struggles against their ruling class).
> In the thick underbrush of my ramble perhaps I did not make it clear enough
> that I do recognize the purpose of Stan's manifesto and largely sympathize
> with its means and ends, but...
>
> What practical efficacy does "An Appeal to People Outside the United States"
> really have if it's published at a US website frequented mainly by US
> liberals and right-wing trolls?
Stan asks that his appeal be translated into other languages. For all we know, it might. I have seen MR and MRZine articles translated into other languages.
> grandstanding
Grandstanding is fun, and fun is good, according to the ethos of LBO-talk. :->
Seriously, human beings have an ancient desire for the heroic mode of rhetoric. The epic is the oldest genre of poetry.
> Maybe I'm just disappointed because it's
> further evidence that Stan no longer reaches the high standard of analysis
> (the substance of which has influenced me considerably) on the reliable
> basis he used to. The quotient of brilliance still outweighs that of
> disappoinment, though, so I'll stick with him.
I don't know about you, but I have seen one great improvement (from my POV) since Stan left FRSO: he is no longer bound by the party's position on the Democratic Party (cf. <http://www.petitiononline.com/Abstain/petition.html>)!
> Anyway, what the hell, I'm just a marginal kibbizter with 1/10000 the clout
> of Stan Goff. That statement is not meant to be self-pitying, just the plain
> truth.
FWIW, I like you as much as I like Stan. It seems to me, though, the biggest obstacle to the growth of any Left in the USA is that most American leftists don't like one another, as the subject line of this thread shows. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>