From: Carrol CoxTo: marxism-international Subject: Re: M-I: For a culture of scientific discussion (Ben replies to Proyect) Date: Wednesday, April 08, 1998 4:05 PM [Note: this would be my third post were it not that the second was posted twice.] I have argued that Ben was wrong because conditions did not exist now for the type of debate he proposed. I think Lou (P) left himself unnecessarily open to Lou (G)'s rejoinder here because the conditions *no longer* exist for the *particular* cooperations he offers as an example. I participated actively in the 1988 Jackson campaign (I in fact ran, and lost, as a Jackson delegate in the Democratic primary of that year). I believe that was a wholly correct choice, and I am *still* "reaping the benefits" of it locally in the existence of local political relationships I would not otherwise have (and which helped, for example, in the building of an Anti-Gulf War coalition locally). I would not, again, allow my name to be associated with political activity linked to Jesse Jackson. It would be a *barrier* rather than an aid in "open[ing] doors to reformist forces ...that have social power." Jesse Jackson is no longer a (non-/anti-revolutionary) reformist; he has actively joined the forces of reaction, and to "dialogue" with him is to break not forge necessary relationships with masses of (potentially or actually) progressive though "reformist" people. Each time I re-read Ben's arguments, they become more distasteful to me, and only one of their destructive results is that of making such positions as Lou P falls into here, defending a particular *anti-progressive*, *anti-reformist* political agent, Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson, and those he is linked to, certainly have "social power," but so does the CIA. There was *once* reason to ally oneself with Jackson. There is *still* reason to ally oneself with *many* "reformers." There is almost every reason *not* to ally oneself with Jackson. I think the same arguments apply to Gloria Steinem. Her 1996 appearance at the Democratic National Convention and her recent op-ed piece in the New York Times were utterly shameless. They were not the acts of a "mere reformist," they were the acts of a dedicated enemy of any significant reform. That she is not a revolutionary is irrelevant. That she is a scab and a proud one is relevant. I make this propositions fairly bluntly here. I am beginning a detailed study of eight consecutive issues of the *Nation* (March 2 through April 20) for the purpose of developing a perspective on the battles of differentiation (crudely put, differentiation between progressive reformists and reactionaries and scabs masquerading as progressive reformists) that do (unlike those proposed by Ben) need to be fought *now*, under contemporary conditions of the left in the United States. I hope to post that study in installments on this list. My hope is that they will succeed in underlining my basic acceptance of Lou P's principles, my repudiation of the particular examples he offers in this post, and provisional criteria by means of which we can make the necessary differentiations. Carrol > > > Louis Proyect: > > >The reason it is useful to dialogue and keep open doors to > >reformist forces is that they have social power. Millions of people look to > >Jesse Jackson, Gloria Steinem and Bernie Sanders... > > > Jesse Jackson ran an extortion ring out of the Chicago headquarters of the > Democrat Party, wringing tens of millions of dollars out of > "conscience-stricken" American multinationals. He then parlayed this > ignoble scam into a white wife, six Mercedes, a Senate seat, and all-white > private schools for his children. Gloria Steinhem, in her *Ms* magazine, > published some of the most anti-Marxist articles of the 1980s. Bernie > Sanders voted for the crime bill, and criticized "Stalinist" Cuba for human > rights violations. I mean, what do these people want? > > Applause? > > > Louis Godena > > > > --- from list marxism-international@lists.village.virginia.edu --- > --- from list marxism-international@lists.village.virginia.edu ---