Re: Any takers?

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

Title: RE: [PEN-L] Any takers?

Ian asks:
Wrestling with your inner Democrat again? :-)

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external Democrat. Forced to live in a distorted quadrant of the real world, I have to teach folks who are (at best) Democrats, while many of my colleagues are Democrats, so I have to be able to talk their language. I also think that conflicts within the ruling class are important for understanding what's happening -- and what may happen in the future -- so that "thinking like a Democrat" can help. (However, they are not especially useful for understanding how to improve the world. There, "thinking like a Democrat" isn't very useful and can be downright destructive.)

"Thinking like a Democrat" involves a focus on horizontal issues of intra-capitalist rivalry and "public good vs. private special interest" -- and excluding vertical (class) issues from the analysis, unless it fits with tactics and strategy of intra-ruling-class competition.

Jim