[PEN-L:1896] Re: French movement situation

[JDevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James Devine)]

bill's comments (and his quoting of Bob Rowthorn) reminds me of a
useful analogy by Rosa Luxemburg on unionism: she argued that
unionism's task is like the labors of Sisyphus. Every time a
victory is achieved (and the rock gets up to the top of the
hill), the institutional power of capital works to make the damn
rock roll down the hill again. Ultimately, the solution is to
flatten the hill (abolish capitalism). So unionists need to get
as far away as possible from narrow unionism, to organize
politically, internationally, etc. about a broad program.

It's possible that the current mess in France will drive French
people in this direction. It's not inevitable.

OK. This starts my program of a maximum of one message a day to
pen-l. That means that I'm on the second step of the old 12 step
program. Do you think Bill Gates will consent to being my higher
power? :-)

in pen-l solidarity,

Jim Devine   jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ.
7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
"It takes a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed.