[PEN-L:29359] RE: Reform-ism

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

Title: RE: [PEN-L:29357] Reform-ism

what "stageist flourish" is that?

Marx says that the British case represents the future of the rest of Europe (at the time), but that's hardly stageist. All it says is that he sees capitalism as spreading from the UK to the rest of Europe, as indeed it did.

He also refers to "iron necessity toward inevitable results," but I read that as referring to the inevitable conflict & crises associated with the rise of capitalism, rather than to an inevitability of either capitalism or socialism.

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxx &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jurriaan Bendien [mailto:j.bendien@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 9:28 AM
> To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [PEN-L:29357] Reform-ism
>
>
> Michael, what do you mean when saying "Marx began Capital
> with a stageist
> flourish" - are you referring to the 1859 Preface ?  I think
> Stedman Jones
> must be correct in stressing the importance of campaigning
> for reforms, but
> he is surely wrong in saying that the "only alternative" is
> reformism. It
> doesn't follow. If Marx didn't work out the premises for a feasible
> socialism/communism, then presumably that's a challenge for
> us to do today.
> Peculiar how somebody who liked to bash Friedrich Engels
> winds up arguing
> for reformism.
>
> J.
>
>