Earlier this month on another list a long-time communist ended a post on Occupations with the following remarks. They seem to me relevant here:
**** If the U.S. socialist left is ever going to get anywhere it will be through a formation that includes everyone form the communist "ultralefts" to cyberpunk anarchists like many in "anonymous" to Fidelistas to people moved by ethical or moral concerns, like Tim F. down here (an AFSC staffer that's been mentioned on this list) or ecosocialist Christians like what Stan Goff has become.
And, since I hope someday we're all going to be party comrades, we might as well get used to it by relating to others on the anticapitalist left that way now.******
I have differences with the writer on othr parts of his post, but this seems right to me. And I think I shall add an observation for advocates of Dean to ponder.
There are, around the U.S. from Maine to San Diego, thousands, perhaps 10s of thousands, of experienced and thoughtful left activists, all in addition well connected with all sorts of political activists in their localities - and those thousands of experienced activists, deeply embedded in their local communities, are almost _all_ (not all, but damn close to it) committed to chasing off any effort to build a base for any sort of democratic-centralist ("disciplined") party. One might as well try to recreate the Greenback Party as to build Dean's fantasy. She is off in a corner whispering to a few buddies. That's where she will remain. And hose activists open to a d-c party are already for the most part linked to or members of ISO, Freedom Road, or RCP.
Carrol
P.S. I have decided, even when they are from friends (as I regard ravi to be) I am going to delete on sight any post which consists of a one-line even faintly cryptic . I do not choose to try to construe what the fucking hell ravi wa sup to with his "You forgot the emoticon." If you are responding negatively to some post, you had better express yourself in "plain American that cats and dogs can understand" (Marianne Moore). In praise you may exercise your cleverness, not in attack.
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On 10/26/2011 9:48 AM, lbo83235 wrote:
On Oct 26, 2011, at 4:03 PM, // ravi wrote:
You forgot the emoticon.
Emoticons decrease snark value. Why give your comrades the impression that you also want to be their friend?
I stewed over it, and in retrospect I wish I'd written a different message.
Disclosure: She's a friend of someone I've done some organising work with. I don't have anything invested in her, and from what I know she can be very stubborn and confrontational, but her commitments are reasonable and she's courageous. The intervention at the meeting seemed misjudged, but far from the "shouting" it was described as being. In general, I'd rather deal with someone who's openly obnoxious than someone who spreads anonymous "feedback" (and I say that in full contrition at having done so myself). The former is a pain in the ass; the latter is toxic. I suppose a degree of protectiveness and even suspicion are to be expected, and will probably increase as tensions ratchet up, but whispering campaigns do a lot more real damage than hard-headedness; they prefigure the gulag.
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