[lbo-talk] The Left has more than enough mystique and values, but lacks discipline and accountability

[Carrol Cox]

The goal of the left, when one emerges again, is freedom or democracy in the
original Greek sense. That goal clearly calls for an overcoming of
capitalism and the creation of an "opening" within which the struggle for
socialism can begin. (Every time I encounter someone who wants a "plan" for
what socialism will be I become more deeply convinced of the wisdom of
Marx's youthful rejection of recipes for the cookshops of the future.) The
concrete "final" goal of the left, then, is achievement of a constituent
assembly, in which the various inchoate visions of a cooperative society can
begin to take a collective shape. In the meantime, we try to work out some
sense of how currently available forms of struggle under current conditions
can be made to relate to that final goal (of a constituent assembly or,
perhaps, of many such, since I don't think one can assume the continued
existence of all 50 states as a given). "Accountability," of course is
meaningful as a leftist term only as referring to the relations that develop
within a given local activist group. As I once said (though John Thornton
disliked use of the phrase, for fairly good reasons), but anyhow, as I once
said, within among current leftists there are too damn many Indians and not
enough Chiefs. The chiefs of course must be sellf-nominated, and their
accountability is to themselves, to their sense of responsibility to
maintaining the dynamism and sense of worth of the members of the groups
they serve.

Obviously I'm ad libbing here. The subject line is clearly composed by
someone who is adamantly opposed to everything "the left" has ever hoped to
be or to win. But if we want to talk about accountability, it has to be to
the molecular units of the left, the local action groups.

Carrol

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
On Behalf Of 123hop at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 7:04 PM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] The Left has more than enough mystique and values,
but lacks discipline and accountability

The problem is that "efficiency" is just as empty a word as "success." 

The Nazis were very efficient at exterminating the Jews, the commies, the
gypsies, the homosexuals, and the feeble minded.

Capitalism is the most efficient system at exploiting labor.

So the question is "Efficiency at doing what?"

What "public policies"? Eugenics? 

What are "desired results"? Standardized tests scores that supposedly
measure teaching effectiveness?

Productivity has quintupled in the U.S. in the last generation; do you
notice that we're living better?

A genius/moron friend of mine argued a few weeks ago that the greed of hedge
fund managers is the same as the greed of unionized workers.

Beware of abstractions; they can lead to some very dark alleys.

Joanna

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fernando Cassia" <fcassia at gmail.com>


> 1) What do YOU mean by efficiency?

Whatever you want to make of it. But strictly speaking: promises vs.
results. Accountability and correction of public policies and social
services to get the results promised.

Health and/or education ministers being fired for not achieving the desired
results... public administrations getting reshufled to improve results. That
sort of thing.

FC
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