Re: Re: Kautskyist Politics (was Foster responds)

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is getting silly.  We are not engaged in epic battles here.  We are a
handful of leftists, far from the seats of power, trying to get a handle
on a difficult world.  If we cannot engage in a reasonable discussion with
each other, how the hell are we going to be able to communicate with
others who are now under the spell of corporate propaganda.

Part of the problem may be that each of us has our own world-view.  We
want to communicate it to others, but it is difficult with e-mail -- even
with face-to-face communication it takes time.  So we get impatient with
those who disagree.

Maybe we have to shut this thread down.  It seems to have come to throwing
labels at each other, rather than communicating.

On Fri, Jun 29, 2001 at 12:43:36PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote:
> Yoshie:
> >I'm sympathetic to your sensibility here, but you can't fight against
> >"Kautskyist politics" by declaiming that "Aztec Mexico was a better
> >place to live for its average inhabitant than Mexico City today."
>
> Why not--if this is the issue, in one form or another, that has been at the
> heart of the debates on these leftwing mailing lists for 5 years at least.
>
> >Instead, what it takes is to build back socialism as a political
> >movement in which masses of people participate, here & elsewhere,
> >with allegiance to the principle of anti-imperialism.  It is TINA
> >that makes many -- including those on the Left -- call for UN and/or
> >even NATO interventions when conflicts flare up.
>
> Actually, if Michael Keany was not on PEN-L, I probably would have never
> resubbed. In fact, I am thinking of getting out of here anyhow because I am
> tired of having to put up with baiting from Leo Casey, Chris Burford,
> Michael Pugliese and Jim Devine. Furthermore, despite agreeing with you on
> the East Timor question, I feel like I have much more in common with him.
>
>
> Louis Proyect
> Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
>

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx