[lbo-talk] strategy schmategy discussion

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Sun Nov 13 08:49:56 PST 2011


Shag is on a roll this morning.

Note that in the observation from me she quotes I say "we." And when I use that word I mean it. Some time or other in the last 10 years I used "we" in reference to something that had been done during the '60s (probably something that I had not been directly involved in). Someone responded to that post with the suggestion that I was being pretty arrogant. Since then I think once or twice used "we" in reference to an action which occurred before I even dreamt of becoming part of it all: In other words I now use "we" in referring to actions that at the time I probably would have disapproved of! That's what makes a Movement when "we" can be so used. And after all, no one accuses u.s. patriots of being arrogant when they warble out "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." :-)

Shag puts her finger on the most important weapon used by the capitalist media against a serious left threat is to trivialize it. (Making the anti-war movement a generational squabble was a major way of suppressing knowledge of the horror of what was happening in Vietnam.) And when I wrote the lines shag quotes part of what was in my mind that when WE spent so much time on this list reacting to hysteria about the Black Bloc we were in effect contributing to the trivialization of the OWS phenomenon. Those who deep in their guts have a negative feeling about something like OWS that doesn't correspond to any of their preconceived ideas of a left movement have glommed on with glee to a really small and trivial element in OWS and seemingly heaved a deep sigh of relief that now they could let their rather unconscious feelings of resentment flow without seeming to be reluctant allies of OWS.

Carrol

-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of shag carpet bomb Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 7:09 AM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] strategy schmategy discussion

carrol cox:

Just a note. Why are we bothering to spend so much time "defending" the Black Bloc on this list when actually no one on the list has made a single rational criticism of the Black Bloc. Proyect just vomits up old SWP slanders against SDS & the Panthers & others shudder at how it will turn people off, etc.

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damn it! my every word is sterling and you didn't read all the way to the end! ;)

What I was going to address next was ravi's concern that people keep using war as a metaphor for what's going on. It was most evident in the claims that the problem with an action was that it didn't attack the enemy. Another came up in the claim that the difference between a revolution and a riot was that in a riot you steal TVs, in a revolution, you take over TV stations. Both of these statements make little sense with regard to, say, how the American Revolution was fought in the 1760s.

To say that we're involved in a war were our tactics must result in some sort of attack on capitalism is a little premature since we haven't even amassed an army yet. I mean, if we must rely on the metaphor of war, then we're at the stage where the enemy is being defined, people are taking sides, some ar figuring out if they want to fight (participate in direct action, for ex)

Like Ravi, I've been interested in references to war especially because people seem to expect that you'd run a war without worrying about mobilizing for war first. The absurd declaration that an action doesn't bring down capitalism or that a demo doesn't threaten capitalism or even power reveals that the speaker thinks that all actions in a war are directed at the enemy.

Apparently, no thought need be given mobilizing support for a war? No thought need be given to building solidarity among those involved in it, in direct action? To recruiting people to actually fight in that war? To identifying the enemy and why that enemy needs to be vanquished?

All of this is about an audience - and there are multiple audiences. Max Weber recognized that about nation-states which, he said, operated on the world stage always thinking in terms of what they communicated to the enemy, to their "allies," and to their own populace. When the u.s. kicks the ass of some third world country, that's about sending a message to more than just the third world country.

At this point, and even if there *IS* a revolution or war going on, the things you do are not always directly aimed at the enemy. Why should you only ever do things to attack an enemy? If a general ran an army like that ... well,she wouldn't have an army in the first place, let alone people willing to fight, let alone people who are solidaristic enough to fight that war together without fucking each other over.

This is about propaganda - in word and deed. Self immolation: propaganda of the deed. Climbing on top of 18 wheelers to wave a flag as the sun sets: propaganda of the deed. A guy on his knees, praying as he's arrested: propaganda of the deed. Occupying the opera: propaganda of the deed.

In this, we have several audiences: the people who are already on board; the people who are still on the fence; the enemy; the people who simply won't give even one turd about any of it. (In re: the latter, an example are the blocks of voters campaign strategists try to ensure stay home by usign negative attacks ads. In some situations, you will do better if you can get lots of people to abstain from voting.)

Criticisms aimed at actions because they aren't about taking over the means or production or aren't about attacking an enemy are red herrings.

As are criticisms about actions being solely aimed at the already converted. It's absolutely crucial to build solidarity and sometimes that's the only audience that matters. a USO concert or 24/7 airing of a "documentary" about the evil Taliban on CNN are not aimed at the enemy to harm them, but they are aimed at other audiences in order to eventually harm the enemy.

There are also times when you have to test your enemy, to see what they will let you get away with. We wouldn't be here yakking about this had people not decided to push up against the enemy - a little here, a little there -- and let's see what happens.

shag

-- \ http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)

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