Re: [Marxism] An opportunity missed by both RR man and Bolivia

["rrubinelli" <rrubinelli@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Not a big loss, me and my "talents" I mean.  Really-- what's the bottom
line?  No one is indispensable; no one is irreplaceable. Railroads are
NOT revolutions.  The lack of development of Bolivian railroads, the
austerity imposed upon capital development throughout Bolivian history,
but most recently  in the 70s and 80s  is the reflected identity of the
"overproduction" of railroads in the US that led to the massive
bankruptcies and reductions and consolidations of the 70s and 80s-- the
Penn Central, Erie, CNJ, Lehigh Valley, Rock Island, Milwaukee Road,
Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard System, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific,
Louisville and Nashville.... etc.  Whatever you or I think of Morales,
MAS is certainly not going to confront that problem, that real core to
the problems of development-- development as a social,  not simply
mechanical, technical, category.

Whatever contribution a Chinese or Cuban engineer may make, without the
overthrow of capital, those contributions will become a stage for
greater deprivations.

I guess I should qualify this by stating personally, I'd have no problem
working in Bolivia in a professional capacity-- done it in Cuba, done it
in France, would have done it in Angola except I have a chronic fear of
land mines,  so why not Bolivia?   But like I said, railroads aren't
revolutions.

We have lots of experience where those with technical expertise
contribute unstintingly of that expertise to radical, progressive
governments in the midst of revolutionary ferment.  I believe LP and
Michael Friedman have done exactly that in Nicaragua.  And the
revolution?  It went the way it went based on social forces, internal
and international (with the US govt obviously funding and organizing
both the internal and international.  Just as we must expect them to do
in Bolivia), not the technical aid received.  To be sure the US imposes
economic strangulation; develops economic undevelopment in order to
debilitate the population, to maintian the ruling class-- just that much
more reason to complete the social revolution internal to the country
under such attack.

rr


 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Nestor Gorojovsky" <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 4:05 PM
Subject: [Marxism] An opportunity missed by both RR man and Bolivia



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