Re: Nick Cohen on Thomas Frank/ for CB . . . no wavering

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

 

>"Bourgeoisification" is a term that Marx and Engels used, not Lenin. Lenin's thesis was an extension of M and E's observations about British workers. In M and E's period the superprofits were especially from Irish, and U.S. slave labor (and Indian ?) <

 

Comment

 

Lenin is clear.

 

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/oct/x01.htm

 

"On the one hand, there is the tendency of the bourgeoisie and the opportunists to convert a handful of very rich and privileged nations into "eternal" parasites on the body of the rest of mankind, to "rest on the laurels" of the exploitation of Negroes, Indians, etc., keeping them in subjection with the aid of the excellent weapons of extermination provided by modern militarism. On the other hand, there is the tendency of the masses, who are more oppressed than before and who bear the whole brunt of imperialist wars, to cast off this yoke and to overthrow the bourgeoisie. It is in the struggle between these two tendencies that the history of the labour movement will now inevitably develop. For the first tendency is not accidental; it is "substantiated" economically. In all countries the bourgeoisie has already begotten, fostered and secured for itself "bourgeois labour parties" of social-chauvinists. The difference between a definitely formed party, like Bissolati's in Italy, for example, which is fully social-imperialist, and, say, the semi-formed near-party of the Potresovs, Gvozdyovs, Bulkins, Chkheidzes, Skobelevs and Co., is an immaterial difference. The important thing is that, economically, the desertion of a stratum of the labour aristocracy to the bourgeoisie has matured and become an accomplished fact; and this economic fact, this shift in class relations, will find political form, in one shape or another, without any particular "difficulty".

 

On the economic basis referred to above, the political institutions of modern capitalism -- press, parliament associations, congresses etc. - have created political privileges and sops for the respectful, meek, reformist and patriotic office employees and workers, corresponding to the economic privileges and sops. Lucrative an soft jobs in the government or on the war industries committees, in parliament and on diverse committees, on the editorial staffs of "respectable", legally published newspapers or on the management councils of no less respectable and "bourgeois law-abiding" trade unions -- this is the bait by which the imperialist bourgeoisie attracts and rewards the representatives and supporters of the "bourgeois labour parties".

 

The mechanics of political democracy works in the same direction. Nothing in our times can be done without elections; nothing can be done without the masses. And in this era of printing and parliamentarism it is impossible to gain the following of the masses without a widely ramified, systematically managed, well-equipped system of flattery, lies, fraud, juggling with fashionable and popular catchwords, and promising all manner of reforms and blessings to the workers right and left -- as long as they renounce the revolutionary struggle for the overthrow of bourgeoisie. "

 

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/oct/x01.htm

 

Comrade CB . . . Lenin writes and my experience confirm  . . . "The important thing is that, economically, the desertion of a stratum of the labour aristocracy to the bourgeoisie has matured and become an accomplished fact; . . .

 

and he speaks of a stratum of the labor aristocracy as opposed to the entire labor aristocracy.

 

That the peoples of the American Union . . . in the main . . . including the welfare recipient . . . owe their standard of living to the exploitation and brutal oppression of the world's people . . . beginning with slavery right here at home . . . as opposed to an abstract concept of "national wages peculiar to America" is not debatable.

 

The Second World Imperial War opened up unimaginable wealth for our bourgeoisie and we have shared in the spoils of Empire. We are not of that sector of the labor aristocracy that went over to imperialism. We have to write from our station in life and the last period.

 

We cannot surrender to rank white chauvinism. See . . . brother . . . the ball is in our court for real . . . and we must not falter. The workers will not respect us . . . especially the white workers. They will call us "Uncle Tom mutherfuckers" and "soft" . . . and never vote for us. They want us to wage the same level of battle in this period as in the last period on behalf of all the proletariat.  

 

Dollar hegemony and the petro-dollar is proof of the inequality backed by military force. So what if fighting to win health care is based on deficit spending and fiat currency. We are going to fight what is in front of us and adopt a revolutionary position on the existing social order.

 

We already know we are privileged and shout this from the roof top. What we do that is different is adopt a revolutionary position.

 

Fuck . . . the La la!

 

A huge section of American society understands their imperial relations in the world and this section cuts across color, nationality and class. The demand to prove bribery originates within the bourgeoisie itself. We are its living manifestation and can never forget this for a second . . . never.

 

Why a section of Kansas votes and moves against itself as a working class is bound up with our history of rank white chauvinism and a lack of class concepts.

 

Academia has an important role to play but they cannot teach Kansas. You and I are uniquely qualified to re-raise the bloody banner of Kansas . . . and this is a historically specific political configuration.

 

Effecting our political separation with the black bourgeoisie . . . a 100 year battle in which we did not falter . . .  has given us our new task. We have always been the most downtrodden sector of the proletariat and/or represented its interest . . . under impossible conditions.

 

We cannot enter into debate on the question of bribery and superprofits. This is the point of delineation . . . polarity.

 

WE simply go to work where ever we are at.  Believe it or not this current stage is going to be easier on one level because the material standard of living of the Anglo American people and the working class as a whole . . . can no longer rise based on the exploitation of the colonies and subject-non sovereign peoples.  

 

This is what we tell the vanguard of the proletariat. We tell this the damn truth of our history and keep stepping.

 

This "Workers of the World Unite " thing is for real. The oppressed people is proletariat.

 

New ball game and we get out turn at bat.

 

Do not debate the question of bribery became it is obvious . . . real . . . and undeniable.

 

We take the hard line . . . on behalf of the new American proletariat.  We imprint the slowly rising social movement with our language and sentiment . . . because we realize ourselves through this new sector of the proletariat. We abandon our previous history as organizational forms  . . . and leap forward because we have learnt the hard lesson of scores of generations of communists. The touigh part is we have to create the new forms and we do not know what we are doing.

 

This is some Lenin shit . . . and leaping into the unknown. We get to understand some of those Chinese saying about "he who is willing to suffer the death of a thousand cuts . . . dare unseat the Emperor."

 

Workers of the Word Unite . . . for real.

 

Melvin P.