On 2010-11-03, at 8:11 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Nov 3, 2010, at 8:05 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>> Several decades ago, Sweezy in discussing some projected reform, argued that
>> if the working class had the power to force _that_ on the capitalists, it
>> had the power to overthrow the state. Hence, dreaming of or working for the
>> reform in question was pointlesds. I rather think nationalizing the banks
>> falls into that category.
>
> How would firing squads in front of open graves stack up?
How do demands to empty the prisons, to erase the borders, and to close all foreign US miltary bases, by a retired professor of English literature in Indiana who is trying to assemble "cadre" on the internet for a revolution in the name of Rosa Luxemburg, stack up?
Not very well, in my opinion. "If the working class had the power to force that on the capitalists, it (would also have) the power to overthrow the state. Hence, dreaming of or working for the reform(s) in question is pointless."
More pointless, for sure, than the demand for publicly-owned commercial banking, for which there is at least ample historical precedent, including in the US.
For Carrol, though: Saepe mendosus, nunquam dubius.