Re: Letter of resignation from the Australian ISO (Gary)

["Tom O'Lincoln" <suarsos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gary I liked your post, and it makes my little outburst about Monty Python
look even sillier...

Just one thing on perspectives:

>>I will if I can get the time to open a dialogue with Phil on the 30s in
slow motion analysis.  I have not much on that but I am in sympathy with
aspects of the perspective.

I think there is indeed some truth in it. The world economy is relatively
stagnant and some parts of it are in economic crisis, there is "endless
war", there are major fascist movements winning sizeable votes -- we could
add to the list -- but the whole thing is unfolding much slower than the
30s. So Tony Cliff, with his eye for simple and dramatic slogans, picked up
a line in the Financial Times about "the thirties and slow motion" and ran
with it. That's OK up to a point.

Trouble is, it got over-hyped and over-generalised and led to catastrophic
and voluntarist perspectives. For example given the Australian economy has
grown steadily for a decade, I suggest we look silly comparing our
situation to the thirties.

best
Tom