Hi folks, -- 1 --
First, I would like to thank John Reimann and Mark Baugher for catching and correcting my error re: the number of MarxMail subscribers. I am not sure how I managed to make that error. I will correct this when I next update the PDF. -- 2 -- John commented on the role of the trade union bureaucrats in promoting the influence of the Democratic Party within the working class. John, of course, is quite correct that the TUB's have played (and still play) a despicable role. It is also true that people need to know this. As far as how that information should be (or could be) incorporated into my essay--that is a bit more complex, since the aim of my essay was to say what needed to be said--while also meeting my readers halfway by being as concise as possible. The simplist solution to the above would be for me to include John's remarks in a "comments from readers" section of the website at: http://communism.org/node/4050 If John (or anyone) thinks this would be helpful--please let me know. I will not pretend to have all the answers. I believe that sometimes, on email listservs, people post mainly to blow off steam. That is fine with me. But my essay is written for a purpose more important than blowing off steam. Every activist needs to understand that our movement is polarized between the path of subservience to the Democrats and the path of independent class politics. This polarization has a powerful ideological component. People need to understand this--because the arguments of the Democratic Party (and its vast ecosystem of clients) correspond to the kind of "common sense" with which we are bombarded daily--that preaches waiting for salvation from the powerful. Activists need to understand the stakes in the choices they are making. Time has run out. Our movement has fucked around for decades. We are about to find out. -- 3 -- I have written, over the years, about the treachery of the labor traitors, including here on MarxMail. There was an extensive, lengthy and vigorous discussion of the 1999 WTO protests here in Seattle. Eventually, Proyect closed down the discussion after setting a deadline for comments on the topic. I made a lengthy post which, among other things, described the role of the TUB's in physically channeling the massive protests away from the independent mass actions downtown and towards a festival of Democratic Party politics near the Space Needle. My post was lengthy and barely made the deadline. My post also criticized Proyect's approval for the maneuvers of these "corn fed" bureaucrats in their treachery. That was my last post to MarxMail while Proyect was alive because, in response, he blocked me. Ben Seattle Fate leads the willing. The unwilling are dragged. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#35285): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/35285 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/111218245/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
