[lbo-talk] left is to blame for tea party

shag carpet bomb shag at cleandraws.com
Tue May 18 06:15:33 PDT 2010


actually, it's the idea that, even if there's a we, that we can unify THEM. it's the entire idea that there's this herd of people out there who "we" can herd about, pushing them this way and that. i asked julio this question recently. leftist imagine that we can change the world. that there's this world out there that we will shape and mold so that people will rise up and revolt against the existing order. what leftist rarely discuss is why only the world "out there" changes and not left theory and practice itself. it's as if we stand on archimedes point waving wands and sprinkling fairy dust about, the unmoved mover.

kinda fucked up.
>


>
>> To the question from To the question from To the question from
>>
>> To the question from the interviewer, about why, if there's a common
>> sentiment on right and left about a shared target, then why aren't
>> they
>> unifying?
>>
>> "Because we have not succeeded in unifying people. It's our fault."
>>
>
> Here we [sic] have the core.
>
> 1. There is no "we" that has either succeeded or failed. All
> propositions about that imaginary "we" which has or han't done this or
> that are false. (Yes, "we" can be used to refer to an amorphous
> collection, meaning not a collective entity but something like "we on
> the left" or "all of us with such and such an opinon." But it can not
> be
> used to name the object of a criticism. The object of criticism must
> exist in some more or less unified form that can accept or reject or
> modify the criticism and act accordingly.)
>
> 2. The fact that X did not succeed is not necessarily a criticism of
> X!
> That depends on the _possibility_, under given circumstances, of
> succeeding. I maintain that NOTHING the (really non-dexistent) "left"
> of
> the past 40 years might have don would have made a significant
> difference in the world. "We" (lvarious unconnected people) have tried
> almost everything and nothing happens. It is therefore EMPTY to speak
> of
> the left not succeeding. No one succeeded in building a
> faster-than-light space ship either. Big deal.
>
> Carrol
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> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>

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