From: "commie00" <commie00-AT-yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: AUT: Perplexing perplexion
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 01:11:12 -0500


hi thiago

i think maybe what you and scott are missing what some people are saying is
this:

materially speaking, in history, parlements and leninists have, taking each
as a whole, acted in counter-revolutionary ways. now, this "as a whole" is
important because it leaves room for understanding how certain actions by
leninists and members of parlements have not been counter-revolutionary
given the complexity of any given situation.

that is: given historical examples, we can safely say that parlements in
general act on behalf of the ruling class (since they are a part of the
government, which marx understood to be the "general council" of the ruling
class).

given historical examples, we can also say that leninists have acted as
petit-bourgeois revolutionaries initiating capital accumulation toward
capitalism wherever they have taken power, always in place of a strong
bourgeoisie (i think one of the reasons we are seeing fewer and fewer
leninists, and almost no leninists making any kind of headway toward their
goals in any meaningful way is possibly because they have played their their
part, and are now redundant). leninists also have the honor, time and again,
of participating in the squashing of working class self-activity, including
insurrections.

now, i think it is safe to say that we should not trust parlements or
leninists, due to our accumulated material experiences of them. that is:
given what has happened in the past, and is happening still, it is safe to
assume that we can not count of parlements or leninists to help further the
communist movement in any direct way, and that, in fact, we can prolly count
of them to stand in its way if they can. does this mean we should reject
every leninist who comes along out of hand? of course not, since history
also shows us (and dialectics tells us) that leninists are capable of
change. does this mean we should reject parlementary reforms out of hand? of
course not, since reforms gained from class struggle can have the effect of
expanding the floor of our cage, enabling further prole self-valorization,
etc.

hrm... i realize that the lang i've used here might seem condescending... i
don't intend it this way, but given the volitile nature of the list lately i
feel like its important to be a clear as possible.



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