[Marxism] Letter to a Marxmail subscriber

["Charles Brown" <charlesb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect 

> CB: Trouble with this is that its question begging: You haven't
> demonstrated that your thinking on 9/11 is better than that of Fidel
> Castro and Chavez. Given the historical record on most issues, I'll
> take Castro and Chavez's thinking first.  Absolute anti-conspiracism
is not
> superior thinking. It is refusal to think. 

I haven't demonstrated it to you, you mean.

^^^^
CB: And you mean Castro and Chavez spoke nonsense about 9/11 TO YOU.

^^^^

 But then again, I have not 
been able to demonstrate to you that the Democrats are a party of 
imperialism, racism and big business.

^^^
CB:  You can't demonstrate its a party of racism in the US , because
it's not. The Democratic Party got the whole Civil Rights Movement
program passed, not to mention The Great Society. What we have here is
your not using your cerebrum in looking at the facts of history on the
Democratic Party of the US. Not only that, in 1972, it was demonstrated
that the DP can be won to being an instrument of anti-imperialism. In
the 1930's it was demonstrated that the DP can be won to being an
anti-big business party.  History of the last 75 years makes a total
wreck of the notion that the DP is the place that social movements go to
die. That notion of the DP as a graveyard of social movements is the
conclusion of some very non-functional cerebrums with astonishing
unthinking acceptance on this group of lists. 

^^^^^

> "Think for yourself" is a Kantian , liberal mantra. The criticism
"so
> and so doesn't think for himself" is a liberal taunt , not an
> indication of better thinking.


Actually, when it comes to Marxism, there is no substitute for thinking

for yourself as well. I got my dose of group-think from 1967 to 1979
and 
don't want to go back there again. Why replace an altar to Jack Barnes

with one for Fidel Castro? I'd rather make my own mistakes. It is more

fun, anyhow.

^^^^
CB: Even Marx had Engels, and vica versa. Marx didn't "think for
himself".   "Groupthink" is inherent to Marxthink.  What we have in
Marxism is think "for-us", not for yourself. 

The best approach is to think _critically_, not so much for yourself,
individually.  That's why Castro's thinking is a good guide. He thinks
critically and for-us, the human race.

Accepting the big business press version of 9/11 is very uncritical
"thinking". 





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