Re: [Marxism] Harlem Conference on Obama (FYI -- past)

["gary.maclennan@xxxxxxxxx" <gary.maclennan@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

I don't know if Joaquin is approaching hysteria or not, but I will say he is
one damn fine rhetorician.  His posts are a must read.  Though I do wonder
about the question of what would he say about a Colin Powell or Condeleeza
Rice or Clarence Thomas campaign should one emerge.  And if that is an
unrealistic question what about the fact of the very existence  of those
three worthies. Their advancement did nothing for the oppressed.

Now before Joaquin rushes into type, let me say that he has me convinced
(well almost) that Obama being President would be of a very different order.

However it is always necessary in these cases to say that such is the
marginality of the Left that we have to be very careful about our
estimations of what sort of impact we can have.  I clipped this from Fred's
post, because I think everyone of the organised Left would do well to
mediate on it very seriously.

Fred: But one thing my Solidarity comrade may underestimate is the
importance of
the vanguard having a clear sense of where the masses are at, what is
happening to them, whether they are going forward or backward.  It has
become customary in the vanguard to pay little attention to this particular
question. Whether the masses are moving away from them or toward them, or
whether they have to find ways to move toward the masses without ceasing to
tell them the truth, is an art that has been lost.  Since customarily today
the vanguard and the masses live on different planets or at least planes of
existence.

My Comment:  the experience at the week-end of watching some 300 people at a
conference anxious to participate in a process organised by the Australian
Labor Party, did leave me feeling that "yes - I am on a very different
planet." The participants at the conference so truly wanted to believe that
there Rudd was some kind of Santa Claus. It was very sad and quite painful
actually.

But we on the Left can do little about that for it is very true that we have
lost the art of communicating with the masses.  For  too long the Left
worried about the dangers of populism - the dilution of the one true line.
Looking back on my experience in the International Socialists, I would say
now that it was of course laughable that some of the greatest social
isolates and misfits would get up and denounce anyone who had acquaintances
even outside the organization.

But I am not in any kind of despairing mood right now. Somewhere Marx talked
about the 'signs of decomposition everywhere' had made the 'times
delightful'.  And looking around the globe there are many such signs.  But I
am inclined to believe that the crucial arena is in Cairo. Allez les
Ouvriers!

regards

Gary
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