[Marxism] re: Chavez embraces socialism (but not the old kind)

["M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Anyone who signs himself off with the hubristic salutations of
"Bolshevik-Leninist greetings" has already placed himself under great
suspicion in my book.

And how well confirmed this suspicion is here! Our resident dogmatist
declares the man who declared himself socialist isn't *really* socialist
after all. Why? Because he has not carried out the exact program of the
Cuban revolution. The irony here of course is that the dogmatists back
then said that the Cuban revolution itself wasn't socialist because it
did not carry out the exact program of Russia! Some people never learn.

The reality is no one can hand out a sticker or rubber stamp for what
constitutes a genuine attempt at socialist transformation. Chavez is
operating in the climate of triumphant, arrogant capitalist hegemony,
not in the conditions of a Cold War, backed up by a major superpower.
His authenticity and commitment is manifestly expressed in practically
every political move he has made, and in every struggle has survived,
since first taking office - the constitution, the medical and education
programs, the harnessing of the oil industry, the purging of the right
from the military, and yes the expropriation of some land.

The stupid obsession that everything must be nationalized all at once
has no intelligent basis in history. First of all, nationalization in
and of itself does not mean jack shit. Nationalization is not socialism.
Cuba nationalized all its assets long ago and today is still relying on
its sugar monocrop as its main export - 50 years after Batista, this is
not exactly a resounding economic achievement. Then again after
complaining Chavez has not nationalized enough, Yosef readily admits
that nationalization is not indicative of anything himself. So then what
the hell is his actual point? At any rate, Chavez is skillfully using
the present contradictions in capitalism - US preoccupation in Iraq and
rising oil prices - to strengthen and consolidate the position of his
revolutionary program. This much is obvious to all but the purblind.

Negative comparisons in reference to Allende border on the bitterly
humorous, since in case our resident "Bolshevik-Leninist" failed to
notice, Allende was murdered when the CIA intervened, and Chavez is
still standing. And he is standing in large part because the great mass
of poorer Venezuelans immediately took to the streets in defense of him
and obviously therefore in defense of what he represents, as did leftist
sections of the military. But none of this meets the high standards set
by dogmatists, which apparently includes far more important requisites
like whether or not you seize your grandmother's house.

I think Prof. Lebowitz - "academic Lebowitz", even, has a much better
grasp on reality and the *process* of revolution than rubberstamp
ideologues like Yosef.

Petit-bourgeois philistine dilletante greetings,
M. Junaid Alam

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