[lbo-talk] Development of Political Underdevelopment

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

On 3/25/07, James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Yoshie directed us to this fascinating article on Nepal, but in this
> passage, I couldn't help thinking that "Birat" was a misspelling for
> "Borat":
>
> "The Maoist movement had driven out the usurious moneylenders, but it was
> only in 2002 that a people's cooperative bank was formed "to help build the
> base of a socialist economy," according to bank manager comrade Birat, whom
> we met by chance one afternoon at a roadside teashop."
> http://monthlyreview.org:80/mrzine/md160307.html

On 3/25/07, James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Rosa Luxemburg said that the problem with reformism wasn't that it was a
> different road to the same path, but that it was a different road to a
> different path. That's what I think about religious sentiments. Engagement
> might lead you towards salvation and the kingdom of heaven, if that is what
> you want, but it is unlikely to lead the religious to revolution, or to make
> God's Kingdom on Earth.

Looking at revolutionaries in Nepal and Venezuela, and looking at
religious organizations, I conclude both are essentially engaged in
reforms, including reforms of credit.  It's possible that in the
future they will come to a crossroads, but which path people will take
won't be determined by whether they are religious or irreligious.
-- 
Yoshie