Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 13:39:07 -0800 (PST)
From: shawn214-AT-pseud.pseud
Subject: Re: M-INTRO: "Spirit of Marxism" 


Rock on Neolib!  I agree with everything you said. 
Although I am an atheist (really more a philosophical
materialist who finds the question of god irrelevant)
i recognize that the influence of Christ on the goals
of socialism is undeniable (and many early socialists
were ardent christians, Proudhon, saint-simone, etc). 
The article that you posted is indeed bizarre, where
did you get it from?  And why did you pick neolib for
an email title? I associate that with the ideology of
an important sector of the reactionary period in which
we live.
have a nice holiday
shawn214
--- Neolib-AT-pseud.pseud wrote:
> 
> So this is what we have been doing all semester? I
> found the article below online and found in quite
> interesting. It is amazing to me how anything that
> challenges the “status quo” is automatically assumed
> to be “evil.”
> 
> First off, I certainly don’t consider myself an
> anti-intellectual, but rather one who promotes
> progressive thought. In fact, an anti-intellectual
> in my mind is someone who would propose something as
> preposterous as “the bible in the classroom.” Not
> because I disagree (hate is his word) with the
> values that are conveyed in the bible, (I am a
> Christian, that is silly) but because it violates
> the principles of freedom and democracy NOT enforces
> them.
> 
> To say that Marxism is driven by hatred is
> counterfactual. To imply that Marxist’s want to
> destroy and “hate the family” is borderline absurd.
> One thing that I do agree with, and that is the
> statement that many Marxist’s want to remove
> students from the values held by their forefathers.
> YES, this is the goal of many….
> 
> To awaken humankind to the misplaced values and
> actions of our forefathers is an honorable goal. I
> see no role for capitalist exploitation,
> institutional/race based slavery, gender inequality,
> child labor, environmental destruction,
> patriarchy/hedgeonomy, elitism, pre-emptive WAR,
> etc….You be the judge? Are these embraced values
> that should be continued? And if so, should it be in
> a classroom (indoctrination) environment?
> 
>  Breaking down these “un-godly” values is positive
> work, and to me is the true “Spirit of Marxism at
> Work.” Not the drivel contained below….
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> The Spirit of Marxism at Work 
> There's more involved in this curriculum controversy
> than the natural conclusions of relativism, however.
> At the core of this argument is a desire on the part
> of some educators to tear down everything that the
> West stands for. 
> 
> Although Marxists talk a great deal about the
> positive goals of their world mission - to rebuild
> or reconstruct society - we have yet to see anything
> positive happen after a Marxist revolution. The very
> nature of Marxism is destructive: it produces
> poverty, genocide, and economic collapse ... and
> then institutes a slave state on top of the rubble. 
> 
> The motivating force at work in Marx, Lenin, and
> Engels was hatred and the desire to destroy: hatred
> of the family, hatred of private property, hatred of
> wealth, hatred of individual reward. These men had
> no plan or program for rebuilding what they wanted
> to tear down. Their revolution was not redemptive,
> simply vindictive. This is because hatred cannot
> produce anything positive. Evil cannot beget good. 
> 
> The anti-intellectuals in our academic community who
> are challenging the curriculum requirements at
> Stanford and other universities are being motivated
> by this same Marxist doctrine. They cannot allow the
> Bible, the plays of Shakespeare, the essays of
> Hamilton, or the poems of Longfellow to be read in
> the classroom because they hate the values that
> these writings convey. They hate biblical morality
> (the strongest single influence in Western culture),
> the concepts of freedom and democracy, and all the
> other contributions of Western history that have
> built free and prosperous nations. 
> 
> The whole goal of the new Marxist, anti-Western
> curriculum is to remove today's student from the
> values of our forefathers. They want to uproot an
> entire generation of young people from their
> entrenchment in the "narrow-minded" Western ideas of
> morality, property, and individual freedom under
> God. Then, when the operation is complete, they can
> interject their new, revolutionary ideas.
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> What sh*t!…..   Why is it revolutionary to question
> and critique a system which is fundamentally
> (intuitively even) flawed? Do not results speak for
> themselves? Why perpetuate fallacies…?
> 
> Conservative or neo-nazis (classical) reply? Let
> your rigid orthodoxy shine….
> 
> Merry Christmas,
> rr
> 
> 
> 
> 
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