Re: [Marxism] An open letter to our Cubaholic [was: Cuba policy as a U.S. domestic political issue]

["Joaquin Bustelo" <jbustelo@xxxxxxxxx>]

Fred Feldman writes: "What is a Cubaholic? I don't know exactly.  At any
rate, it sounds like something I need to add to the list of my addictions --
and with a lot more pride than some others."

I'm not going to take up the rest of Fred's points. But I think this one is
worth taking up.

"Supporting" foreign revolutions played a most negative role in the
degeneration of the SWP from 1978 on. Mindless cheerleading for the "three
giants of the Caribbean" --Cuba, Grenada and Nicaragua-- was the opium of
the cadre, distracting them from what SHOULD have held their attention,
which was the way the SWP was losing hundreds of people and becoming
completely isolated by staying outside such progressive social and protest
movements as existed. 

This was complimented by goofy theoretical/historical debates with little
real current content or meaning. Were some of Trotsky's formulations around
Permanent Revolution and China off? Sure, but none as extreme as things
Fidel and Che were wont to say in the 60's: "there are no more changes to be
made: either socialist revolution or caricature of revolution."

Because of the latter-day Trotskyists' fetish around reifications like
"revolutionary continuity," "correct theory," and "correct program," these
debates consumed an enormous amount of time and focus and produced very
little in the way of theoretical or political education, but mostly what
they did was divert attention away from pressing and immediate problems.

You can see a more current example of the same sort of thing in the crazy
goings-on in the RCP about institutionalizing the Avakian cult.

Joaquin


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu