From owner-marxism-international  Thu Apr 17 09:30:47 1997
Message-Id: <199704171300.JAA295070@mime4.prodigy.com>
From: LKED54B@prodigy.com (MS DEB P KELSH)
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 09:00:06, -0500
Subject: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST:  FRAME TEN

Red Theory Collective (SUNY-Albany)
      in solidarity with
Revolutionary Marxist Collective (SUNY-Buffalo)
*******************************************************

PANIC LEFTIST:  FRAME TEN

Christi-Ann. . . believes that the rigorous debate in the 
revolutionary left simply strengthens the capitalists who see 
divisions etc. as "weakness."  Discussions and rigorous critiques, 
however, are part of serious engagement with issues:  they are not 
signs of sectarianism but commitment to social change. Critique (not 
anecdotes and abuse and substitution of scatological epithets for 
political and theoretical analysis) is the condition of possibility 
of vanguard politics.  (Stalinism is, above all, the silencing of 
critique that thus provides the conditions of its internal implosion: 
 the de-politicization/de-mobilization of the vanguard.)  By 
relentless critique the vanguard left marks the space of its 
practices and places them in the public space for democratic 
interrogation and inquiries.

However, if Christi-Ann is correct and the contesting debate among 
the revolutionary left "weakens" it, imagine what damage the trade-
union compromising with the capitalists does to revolutionary 
practices. If capitalism, according to Christi-Ann, takes heart from 
seeing divisions among the revolutionary left, then capitalism must 
be doubly heartened by the dissents and debates among the workers (e.
g., conflicts on contracts, strikes. . . .)

We think it is counter-revolutionary to suppress open critique simply 
to provide the "illusion" of unity:  LEFT IS NOT ABOUT CONSENSUS.  
CONSENSUS IS A BOURGEOIS WAY OF MANUFACTURING A "CENTER."

LEFT UNITY IS ACHIEVED BY ITS "RUTHLESS CRITIQUE OF EVERYTHING 
EXISTING."  Critique is part of class struggle.  The language of 
critique must be complex enough, layered enough to be able to analyze 
the highly sophisticated, nuanced and elaborate constructs of ruling 
class practices and ideas. To demand that critique be "translated" 
into a commonsensical language is to systematically reduce its 
analytical ability:  to turn it into a "moral" sermon (Uncle Lou), 
abuse and scatological shouting (Hugh Rodwell), or simply ranting 
(Malecki).  Critique must remain theoretically thick and deploy a 
language resourceful enough to engage the most advanced discourses 
and practices of the bourgeoisie.  It is only on the net-left that 
left is reduced to such a simplistic level as the annotations of 
events:  with such a linear understanding of the world, the left not 
only is not able to offer a counter-practice, it is the laughing 
stock of all thoughtful people.  No one--outside net-left--will take 
Uncle Lou's comments as anything but vacuous stories, entertaining 
but irrelevant. . .

                 CRITIQUE. . . for a RED-NET. . . for INTERNATIONAL 
COMMUNISM!


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