[lbo-talk] they need us - where are we?

[WD]

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> <http://www.breakingviews.com/2009/04/02/G20%20protests.aspx>
>
> Incoherent dreams
> BY EDWARD HADAS
> Sadly, all they are getting are the senseless
> slogans of a hippie festival.
>
> The manifesto of the G20 Meltdown group, which managed to collect a scraggly
> band of a few thousand malcontents on Wednesday, borrowed a piece of
> contemporary rhetorical vacuity from President Barack Obama. But their “Yes
> we can” answered questions that were depressingly naïve – “can we guarantee
> everyone a job, a home, a future?” and “can we make capitalism history?” The
> audacity of hope was not matched by a discussion of means.

Anyone read this G20 Meltdown group "manifesto"?  Here it is:

Manifesto
-Can we oust the bankers from power?
-Can we get rid of the corrupt politicians in their pay?
-Can we guarantee everyone a job, a home, a future?
-Can we establish government by the people, for the people, of the people?
-Can we abolish all borders and be patriots for our planet?
-Can we all live sustainably and stop climate chaos? Can we make
capitalism history?
YES WE CAN!
( http://www.g-20meltdown.org/node/2 )

The problem is not just that the G20 Meltdown protesters couldn't
articulate what is to be done, but they didn't even offer a critique
of capitalism that explains why it causes war, climate change and
economic collapse.  This is why all the BBC reports I heard on the
protests said they were protests against "capitalism, war, and climate
change" -- as if these are three discrete problems.

I have a hard time believing the great minds of LBO-talk couldn't
produce a 50ish page pamphlet that articulates, in plain language, the
various ways in which capitalism produces not just profound human
misery but also poses an existential threat to humanity.  As for WITBD
-- why not demand a few basic programs (e.g. U.S. out of Iraq and
Afghanistan, carbon tax, universal income, free education, third world
debt relief), and then sketch a vague blueprint of what a
post-capitalist society would look like?

Julio proposed doing something like this awhile back and even started
a Wiki to see if something could get started, but as far as I know
that project never got off the ground.  It might be worth a second
look.

-WD