Re: [Marxism] New Deal?

["acpollack2@xxxxxxxx" <acpollack2@xxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for posting the link to my New Deal article, Louis. 
Very good timing, because mrzine recently published a piece which I think goes 
well with it: 
Another World Is Indeed Possible, by Martin Hart-Landsberg
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/hartlandsberg071105.html
You can't tell from the title, but it's a great examination of the
role of FDR's Office of Price Administration -- and especially
of the grassroots enforcement committees -- in enforcing price
controls during World War II. (I think it was originally
published in MR itself because I remember when reading it going
back to look at the history of the "housewives' committees" who
besieged butchers and organized boycotts; see Art Preis, Labor's
Giant Step and Annelise Orleck, Common Sense & a Little Fire.)

Now as the OPA was a creature of the "War Deal" this might seem at
first like a rebuttal to my critique of Roosevelt. Not so.
First, because as I said in my article, the gains of the New Deal--
and, I would add, of the War Deal (i.e. spending on
jobs and services, and restrictions on business) which were
fought for and in this case even partially controlledby workers,
are to be treasured. It's a question of recognizing how thse
gains came about -- and how and why we've lost so many of them. For 
instance, an examination of the postwar strike wave, both its strengths and 
limits, helps us understand the dismantling of price controls and especially of 
the enforcement committees.
Finally I would note that Martin's article is particularly timely
as the new network of occupied factories in Latin America is
encouraging us to revive our own history in the US of all forms
of workers' control and self-management.
-- Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.laborstandard.org/New_Postings/New_New_Deal.htm
Myth of Benevolent Roosevelt Democrats:
The Real Deal on the ?New Deal?
by Andrew Pollack




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