From: cbcox-AT-rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Carrol Cox)
Subject: Re: M-I: Louis and Dogmatism
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 10:44:01 -0600 (CST)


As I have said in an earlier post, dogmatism is an important topic which
we need to explore, but not in direct response to the weird posts
submitted by Chris Warren. One difficulty in using his posts even as
examples of dogmatism is that a "dogmatic marxist" first has to be
marxist, which Chris is not, nor does he show any understanding of what it
means to be a marxist.

Dogmatism consists in the *inappropriate* or *irrelevant* use of
abstractly correct theory. "Religion is reactionary, and therefore we
should not protest the Czarist suppression of protestant sects such as the
Baptists." Or "The capitalist extracts surplus value from his workers and
therefore we should prefer the music of Mozart to that of Vivaldi." Or, to
come closer to home, "The proletariat can only arrive at socialism through
armed struggle, therefore we should not support the UPS strikers because
their leaders are not principled marxists." Or, "The revolutionary party
must make use of all possible tactics, including electoral politics, and
therefore we should support the Democratic Party in the next election."
The leap in the last case is perhaps most illuminating: from the true
general but abstract principle of utilizing the tactic of electoral
struggle the holder of this position would leap directly to the idiotic
*application* of that principle in the support of some or any existing
electoral party.

Principles are a guide to action, not a formula for action. The dogmatist
is one who accepts the principles by rote but cannot see that they offer
no prescription for action. Chris Warren has no real understanding of the
marxist conception of class, and that accounts for his apparently dogmatic
but actually simply false and stupid attempts to relate class, gender, and
the tasks of the revolutionary party.

For an actual study of dogmatism Hugh Rodwell makes a better instance.
Most of what Hugh has to say is always true, but simply of no relevance to
the world because his true principles are never grounded in any
understanding of the actual world he is operating in. Chris Warren cannot
state a marxist principle accurately without quoting some real marxist
verbatim. He does not understand marxism even enough to paraphrase
accurately.

Carrol




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