[Marxism] Re: Marxism and Conspiracy

[dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

As a few of you know, I count among my close friends and comrades Ralph
Schoenman and Mya Shone, hosts of WBAI's "Taking Aim". While I'm friends with
them, I don't buy their whole argument. And, I think "it's dangerous" to the
movement.

Generally speaking those that hold Ralph  and Mya's view don't do so in the sort
of "yeah, the gov't probably did it, not let's organize against the war?" but
rather they tend to place this conspiracy at the heart of their world view.
They correctly attack the "war of terror" but not just because of the hypocrisy
of the ruling class that uses this as a diversion, but as the central theme of
imperialism's strategy to mislead the movement. This is wrong and misleading,
IMHO.

The "9/11 Truth Commission" is a largish committee that spends their entire time
"organizing" around 9/11. They are also notorious for NOT supporting organizing
against the war in Iraq because anti-war groups won't take up their cause.
Ralph and Mya have made getting the anti-war movement to adopt their general
views on this part of their shtick for a number of years. I know activists who
refuse to support the anti-war movement unless  they adopt this point of view
because in their view not understanding 9/11 means they will be unable to
counter the propaganda emanating from the ruling class around the war on
terror.

One cannot organize around 'exposing the truth behind 9/11'. It is a total waste
of time, albeit I think people who hold this view should not be run out of the
movement since their views should be heard insofar as they may help cast doubt
on US foreign policy. They are also good at raising a lot of circumstantial
evidence about 9/11.

Generally speaking though, they deny the existence of any "jihadist" movement at
all, that this movement is wholly created by the US or, that it doesn't exist
and is fake altogether. They tend to see 'agents' setting up 'false flag'
operations everywhere.

During the Vietnam War we generally "knew" a lot things, about what the US was
doing, secretly, etc. But we didn't have the evidence. What we talked about,
what we organized around, was the war and the struggle of the Vietnamese people
for self-determination. No wing of the movement (and there were many wings) ever
adopted * as a strategy * accusations against LBJ or Nixon that we may of
thought true but didn't have smoking gun for. We didn't ask people suspend
their disbelief about the US gov't, only that what the US was doing was wrong
and getting millions killed. This was the * only * basis for this kind of
organizing.

But?when the Pentagon Papers were released, many thought "I knew it!". It
confirmed many aspects of the * secret * war against the Vietnamese people that
many felt but didn't want to state because there was no smoking gun. And that's
what you need, a smoking gun, to prove the kind of elaborate  conspiracy that
some believe the US gov't was involved in.

What do I believe. My "feeling" is that the NSA/CIA and Mossad, probably knew it
was in the works. There is a LOT of circumstantial evidence for this. They may
of even let it happen because of the desired political consequences. But until
someone  shows me the proof, someone comes forward, etc?then it's only so much
commentary and little of it is going to help organize against imperialism,
especially if those that hold that position * demand * the rest of us adopt
their point of view. (and part of that point of view is that those of us who do
NOT share it, are somehow promoting the gov't line on this question!).

I might add that most people?meaning a huge number of the US population, do NOT
buy the official Kennedy assassination story. "Most people", thing of it! Yet,
most people continue on with their own world view and it matters not an iota in
the struggle against capitalism and imperialism.

David Walters




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