[Marxism] Irrelevance to Marxism of defending Marxism, was ...Joseph Weyde....]

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

The discussion between Mark and Charles on this list closely parallels a
discussion between Charles and Michael Hoover on LBO. I think that my
intervention there is relevant also to this list.

Carrol

Charles Brown wrote:
>
>  Michael Hoover:
>
> not sure how much any of this really matters,
>
> ^^^^
> CB: Might not matter too much. I tend to use Engels and Marx's vigorous
> support of war to end slavery to demonstrate that Marxism is fundamentally
> anti-racist.

Charles, I think this may be the biggest disagreement I have with you,
but it is a fairly important one.

Defending marxism or proving that marxism is true is not a very
important task of Marxists. That is not how we win people to Marxism. I
would even go so far as to argue that arguing for Marxism is a way of
driving people away from Marxism.

Marxism is a tool, not a religion, and "believing in it" can be more of
an academic pastime than anything that should be of interest to
marxists. It is perfectly possible to be entirely convinced of the
absolute truth of marxism and of the personal infallibility of marx &
engels but do nothing with it other than sit in a corner and think how
much smarter one is than all those dolts out there. On the other hand,
there can be and over the last couple centuries have been millions of
committed revolutionaries who have only marginally if at all thought of
themselves as "marxists."

First we either involve people in struggle over specific issues or join
those already in struggle. And if we are using marxism properly as a
tool we will, because of the understanding of the world we gain from
marxism, be able to contribute largely to those struggles, and we will
be able to open the eyes of others to the larger context. Through this
practice we will lead others to see the necessity of transforming the
social order we live in, and even to see that that social order must be
overturned. And there is no need whatever to label any of this
"marxist." When we do label it marxist, it will be because we have moved
others to want also to become revolutionaries, and to see (mostly
through our practice and our analysis of specific questions and
situations) that marxism is the most powerful tool for understanding and
changing the world.

Attempts to "prove" that marxism is "good" in the abstract simply lead
away from concrete struggle and the actual USE of marxism.

Carrol

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