[lbo-talk] Obama

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Mon Aug 1 16:07:23 PDT 2011


ravi wrote: Carrol doesn't understand what all this moaning is about and finds Obama a transparent and reliable tool of capital as his calling, and therefore among "our" (see definition above) prime enemies.

I have never once used the term "tool" of anyone, nor have I ever implied any of the contexts in which this metaphor would be appropriate.

I said Obama was a _principled_ politician: he _believes_ that the policies he supports are are policies that serve the national interest, and that _therefore_ they serve the interest of the "people." There are some 10s o millions of reasonably intelligent people who agree with him. This kind of position has a long and 'thick' history: it is a variation of the fundamental view that the ultimate evil is disorder, and within a capitalist society that takes the form of the belief that capital must be preserved, and it is ultimately for the good of the workers themselves if their apparent interests are sacrificed in to the needs of capital. A threat to capitalist accumulation is therefore a threat to the good of all

Obama is not a tool of anyone. It's a rather stupid metaphor, heavily moralistic. And that kind of mralism is endemic on this list, which I one of the reasons I seriously dislike most of the "criticisms" of capitalism or of the DP that appear on this list. They are mere personal caterwauling, and as such objectively pro-capitalist and anti-leftist. Or perhaps they are merely entertainment; I approve of entertainment, so if these criticisms are for the fun of it and are not even intended as political comment, that is fine. If they are intended as political comment, that is at base an attack on serious political activity.

Humanity cannot afford much mrore capitalism. That makes those who defend it, no matter how sincere and honest their convictions, anti-human. But it does not make them tools. Ravi ticked me off ascribing such a term to me. Manypeople do, really, believe that humanity's hope lies in capitalism. They are wrong; not villains. Obama's policies are vicious; I doubt that he sees them that way, or that he supports them for dishonest motives.

Carrol

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