RE: [OPE] estimating the severity and duration of a capitalist economic crisis

[GERALD LEVY <gerald_a_levy@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Jurriaan:
 
Well, I don't disagree with your assessment of much of
what passes for Marxism, but I think that- like some
other intellectual and political traditions (such as
anarchism) there is the good, the bad, and the
ugly.  Highlighting the bad and the ugly is most
beneficial if we can learn from those experiences
and come up with better (more accurate, non-
simplistic, non-dogmatic) explanations of the crisis.
What I find most worrying about "the bad and the
ugly" explanations of the crisis advanced by some
Marxians is the lack of self-criticism and introspection.
Being 'wrong' is one thing; not learning from being
'wrong' is a another. 
 
Part of the failing is simply a reflection, I think,
of how many Marxian intellectuals are divorced from the
working class and its struggles: it's a lot easier to be
cavalier about an economic crisis if you are not an
active participant in working-class struggles. In other
words, the isolation of intellectuals from social struggles
can lead to distortions in perspective and theory, imo.
 
In solidarity, Jerry

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