Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 23:49:49 +0000 From: James Heartfield <James-AT-heartfield.demon.co.uk> Subject: Re: M-I: Re: Amsterdam Treaty In message <Pine.SOL.3.95.980205115820.29152A-100000-AT-gamera.syr.edu>, Siddharth Chatterjee <siddhart-AT-mailbox.syr.edu> writes >It is time to look beyond the narrow confines of European chauvinism - >including for those on the left. To remark on the revolutionary potential >of the EU is fantasy. Rich, well-fed people, especially those >indoctrinated in the ideology of white supremacy and anti-communism >from their very birth will not bring about revolutions as long as the >current state of affairs continues. But it is also true that without >the participation of the European, North American and Japanese >working class, the revolutionary transformation of the world will not >be possible, will not be complete. I share your cynicism about the EU. It is vey marked here that the middle classes [sorry Carrol, for the use of this unscientific category], who used to be very chauvinistic in the little Englander way, are today the most avidly pro-European. If you listen to the Euro-rhetoric there is an underlying direction to the argument: Pro-Europe means anti-Westminster. The European parliament looks attractive to those political groups for whom the party political process in Britain seems unnecessarily tied up with winning the popular vote. Euro-politics is all about wealthy cliques of people, who, by definition, can afford to jet around a lot. They gravitate towrds Europe in direct proportion to their desire to rid themselves of the baggage of the vulgar national electorates. It's internationalism of a kind, but of a kind that brings together a very narrow elite, and excludes the vast mass of ordinary people, for whom Brussels is a long way away. Fraternally -- James Heartfield --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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