Re: HEROIC PARTY VS. DECADENT GAYS. Distinguo

[dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx (Doug Henwood)]

At 11:41 AM 4/12/96, Chris M. Sciabarra wrote:

>        It is my conviction however, that a dialectical approach to
>social theory need NOT entail such reactionary consequences.  I think
>that a properly dialectical approach can and MUST make possible a
>critique of totality that does not spillover into totalitarianism.

Or as Adorno said, the whole is the false.

It seems to me that lots of "Marxists" profess allegiance to Marxian
thought, but do so in a highly mechanistic manner, applying quotes from him
and his heirs mechanically to conditions far removed in time and space from
their original context. There's nothing dialectical about this mode of
thought at all; it's about as dialectical as a sledgehammer. All the
liveliness and dynamism of Marx's thought is lost. What makes reading Marx
so exhilarating for me is following the twists & turns of his thought; it
never stands still; it's constantly in motion. It's hard to imagine
something that mobile turning into totalitarianism.

Doug

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