What is on the political agenda in many nations (from Latin America to the Middle East), and what should get on the political agenda in many others, today is not socialism but democracy and republicanism. If socialism grows anywhere, perhaps in Venezuela, it will do so organically out of people's practice of democracy and republicanism, which will differ from one country to another. There is no other way.
On 10/24/07, Angelus Novus <fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I think there is a rational core to much of what
> Yoshie writes which is getting muddled by the fact
> that people would rather condemn her for her publicly
> stated sympathy for Islam (and, since such
> disclaimers seem to be necessary, I am very far from
> her on this question).
I have stated my sympathy for other religions also, such as Judaism and Christianity, and I would state it for Buddhism (cf. Burma) among others as well.
Why is sympathy for Islam worse in their eyes than sympathy for other religions?
In the age of neoliberal capitalism which gives a majority of recently urbanized proletarians, who are mostly in the informal sector, in the South (and migrant workers and the structurally unemployed in the North) little to no access to traditional powers of industrial unions and social services of the welfare state, religious institutions, under certain circumstances, have a potential to become bases for dual power at least and revolt and revolution at best. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/>