KELSH —•— M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN

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See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Jason A Schulman)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by UticaRose@)

See also: M-TH: PANIC LEFTIST ... and the working class ?   (post by UticaRose@)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Hugh Rodwell: 23:59:49)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Hugh Rodwell: 23:59:59)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Hugh Rodwell: 00:00:35)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Jason A Schulman)

See also: Re: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST: FRAME TEN   (post by Robert Malecki)

From owner-marxism-international  Thu Apr 17 09:30:47 1997
From owner-marxism-thaxis
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 09:00:06, -0500
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 15:19:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: LKED54B@prodigy.com (MS DEB P KELSH)
From: “Amrohini J. Sahay” <ajsahay@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: M-I: PANIC LEFTIST:  FRAME TEN
Subject: M-TH: 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 the 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!

  Ms. Deb P. Kelsh

 

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