Re: Alex Cockburn vs. Michael Moore

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom Kruse:

>With some VERY important exceptions, of course.  For example the Labor
>Committee on Central America, some of TecNica's labor delegations, community
>based material aid through the Quijote Center, etc.  In the examples cited
>there was, sometimes, more than "single issue" politics going on;
>"connections" were being made; people were being listened to/worked with.
>The point was made earlier: through those kinds of "connections" people take
>good positions all around.  More committed to progressive movements in the
>US --> more enraged by US wars in Central America; and vice versa.

Yeah, TecNica did have this orientation and I was responsible for it. I
initiated the skilled trades task force that recruited welders, mechanics,
machinists, etc. even though I was a computer programmer myself. The reason
that TecNica took this approach is that all the people in leadership
positions (I was east coast coordinatior) had a background in Marxist
politics. The groups that lacked such an orientation tended to focus more
on morality at the expense of class politics. This was no crime in itself.
When Catholic priests attacked US policy in Central America, this had a
powerful limiting effect on US war aims.

The real problem--and on this I disagree with Moore--is that organized
labor had not gone through the evolution that it has gone through recently
and was largely unapproachable. Some union leaders were in favor of contra
funding or support to Duarte, while others functioned as Democrats, which
is to say that they were ineffectual.

One of the things to look forward to in the event of an upturn in the
colonial struggle is the transforming labor movement and the Internet
itself. I would have no qualms this time about going directly to the UAW
and telling it to put its body on the line. I would also expect the
Internet to be a powerful rallying tool. When TecNica was first getting
started, we had nothing but Peacenet to make connections with.

Louis Proyect