At any rate, i think part of what N does is remind us -- how shall I put this? -- how there is this desire for punishment and retribution that is, indeed, a really bad thing to base a marxist social movement on
from a detached distance, i've been observing various blog shitstorms of late. it becomes obvious that some of the venom is, indeed, a desire for retribution -- precisely because people lack any way of thinking or talking about structural oppression.
what i mean be that is this way -- and I've participated in this -- people who step over the line in progressive spaces (racism, sexism, whatever) are piled on endlessly, the whole thing escalates beyond belief, with charges of "you're a sexist" "me? a man with a history of fighting sexism? how dare you!?"
and it just escalates from there. this happens pretty regularly, where lefties/pwogs reveal their inability to grasp that their enemy really isn't specific person or type of person (yuppie or academic, f'rinstance), but a set of social relations and processes that cannot be undone by giving individuals severe educations.
All the progressive/lefty/whatever talk about supposedly understanding how oppression works reveals itself as a sham.
Because that resentiment is present, I think, is good reason for us to be wary of not addressing it and seeking ways to create political practices that mitigate it here and now -- tothe best of our ability.
and no, there's not much of an argument I have for why I think it's bad. *shrug* I just do.
At 05:24 AM 6/11/2007, you wrote:
> >
> > From: "Mr. WD" <mister.wd at gmail.com>
> > Date: 2007/06/09 Sat AM 03:19:11 GMT
> > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Bush and Foucault
>
>
>Sorry -- just caught up with this thread. It parallels a thread on
>Nietzsche (which unfortunately now carries the subject line "Re :
>PARAGRAPHS PLEASE").
>
>I agree with Charles Brown:
>
>Ressentiment seems to be directly concerned with class struggle, but from
>the standpoint and in favor of the ruling classes over the ruled classes,
>a sort of direct anatagonism with Marxism. That's why I say N. seems like
>an anti-Marx, not a complement to Marx.
>
>I also agree with W.D.:
>
>That said_ the CW movement is very much a political movement rooted in
>morality and a "left" interpretation of the gospels: their political
>action is motivated by strong moral convictions rather than a desire to
>empower the working class. Basically, the CWs take very seriously the
>Catholic doctrine that poverty is a sacred condition -- you should serve
>the poor and live amongst them, embrace 'voluntary poverty,' etc.
>
>I would extend the criticism to liberation theology: "the option for the
>poor" is not almsgiving, but it is also not international socialism
>either. But that comes from a particular tradition, not from morality in
>general (another tradition sees success in business as a sign of
>election). I cannot agree that:
>
>Okay, how can this [ Nietzschean?] view at all be reconciled with an
>egalitarian, anti-capitalist political project? I think the answer lies
>in that the left seems to be divided between those who view politics as a
>_moral_ struggle versus those who view politics as a _power_
>struggle: The moral folks see their own moral superiority as their
>primary advantage, and they're driven by essentially moral considerations:
>they're the ones who want "justice" for workers, minorities, women,
>etc.. Compare this stance with that of the power folks, for whom
>"justice" is irrelevant -- they'll make their own justice damnit: they
>don't need a moral imperative or any other ethereal justification to seize
>the means of production -- they'll do it because they _want_ to. Fuck
>"justice"! For the power folks, politics needn't be personal, your
>adversaries don't have to be rotten people -- its okay to respect your
>adversaries -- you just have to beat them.
>
>This reminds me of Allen Wood's "immoralist" Marx, interpreting Marx's
>urging of "despotic inroads" on the rights of property as conceding
>morality and justice to the bourgeoisie and just mounting a thuggish
>attack. I see no dichotomy between seeking justice (for all humanity) and
>seizing power.
>
>J.D.
>
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