File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/marxism-international.9711, message 310


Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 17:53:00 -0500
From: james m blaut <70671.2032-AT-CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Re: M-I: The Vortex of the World Market, or Capitalism Sucks


Carrol and Doug and list:

Remember that old song...

"Arise ye prisoners of starvation,
Arise ye wretched of the earth,
For justice thunders condemnation,
A better world's in birth."

I'm a Marxist because I think this world view and this strategy is the best
one that anyone has thus far come up with for relieving human misery.
Moreover, I think that fighting against misery is the only reason why
Marxists are willing to make sacrifices, unto their lives.

I've always thought that social democrats were the ones who believed that
capitalism would evolve upward, naturaslly, toward socialism, that Marxists
believe that this cann't happen and a revolution of some sort is necessary.

However they dress uyp Marxist theory in the glittering raiments of
political economy, I dpon't think they'll ever convince most street
Marxists that socialism will come when capitalism reaches its pinnacle of
perfection. It will co0me when people are hurting enough to attack the
system.

I'm not anti-theory. I do a different kind of theory in my own work. But
when Marxists use Marxist theory to pacify and dishearten folks with
arguments, always elegant ones, that capitalism really doesn't cause
misery, I get pissed.

Marx thought, or at least hoped, that revolution would come in his lieftime
or soon after. It is absurd to cite him as authority for the belief tghat
capitalism will rise, slowly and  majecticsally, toward socialism.

En la lucha verdadera

Jim B.   


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