[Marxism] Greens, Dems and Building Working Class Independence,

[dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

I'm responding to this subject header instead of the one questioning Doug's
participation here.

Despite the apparent "preachy" tone of Doug Macdonald's contribution, he has
raised, based on his own experiences as a Green Party official and
participating as a community/labor activists in the North Bay (north of San
Francisco), is worth considering.

Doug, in his own way, articulated my own distain for "Green" politics. His
critique, which is looking at the role of the Greens and *working class*
politics is something many of us on this list feel, even though  it's not
articulated directly on the list (since the tone of the list is decidely pro-
Nader/pro-Green) but mostly off-list. I believe this 'tone' tends to be imposed
from on-high. A real discussion on this should place an equal sign between
those that feel as Doug does and those that support an orientation  toward
Nader, et al. The issue is what pushes forward working class politics and the
building of a workers movement strong enough to change society. It's a *good*
discussion, preachy or not.

The Million Worker March is actually a *more complicated* issue than support
for Nader/Greens. Like Doug, who I got to know during the MWM period, was
frustrated at the internal workings of the local SF-based MWM. There is a
certain amount of centrifugal 'running in place' with the MWM and the book may
still be out on that movement. I don't know if Doug ever critiqued the politics
of the MWM, but for me it had less to do with the program, which is an
excellent one, one that really brings to life the kind of community-labor
organizing the CLA was doing in the North Bay, than with internal
organizational problems reflected coming out of the ILWU Local 10 specifically.
This made it difficult for newer activists, union or otherwise, to be involved
in the MWM. I hope this changes and there is always a chance it will.

David Walters


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