File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1997/marxism-thaxis.9708, message 233


Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 12:24:36 +0100
From: James Heartfield <James-AT-heartfield.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: M-TH: Ned Ludd


In message <Pine.SUN.3.95L.970824173614.927A-100000-AT-vanakam.cc.columbia.
edu>, Louis N Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu> writes
>I suggest that it would be more useful to compare your methodology with my
>own on a specific area to see the forces of capitalism at work. I suggest
>one of the 3 paradigmatic countries: Mexico, Congo and Philippines. It
>would be most interesting to see how your Panglossian world outlook holds
>up against the concrete living reality of these countries and what
>capitalism has done to them, not for them.


You are of course mistaken in thinking that I hold a Panglossian world
view. It is you who hold a Panglumian one - from which perspective, no
doubt any attempt to tell the truth appears to be unjustifiably
optimistic. I note that whenever I try to introduce any fact into the
argument you have some doctrinal reason for ignoring them: Statistics
covering the forty year period 1950-90 are too recent; Lenin did not
know about imperialism; Eric Hobsbawm is a European historian and
therefore could not possibly know about the third world etc etc.

I can't comment on all the theorists you name (though I did write a
short review of a Wallerstein book some years ago which was pretty
praising as I remember). But since you challenge on specifics:

Living Marxism has writen extensively on the role of imperialism in
Africa, exposing the false humanitarian premises of the intervention in
Somalia (At the time I was arrested and charged for taking part in an
occupation of the US embassy in protest). More recently we have written
extensively on the United Nations role in supporting the RPF invasion of
Rwanda and the masacre of Hutu refugees. Our reporter's expose of the
role of the UN in the camps in Zaire was one of the few to puncture the
imperialist consensus. It can be found at http://www.informinc.co.uk/LM/
LM85/LM85_Rwanda.html

Our coverage of the Zapatista uprising and the role of NAFTA in
impoverishing the Zapatista supporters can be found at 
http://www.informinc.co.uk/LM/LM66/LM66_Mexico.html  

Furthermore Living Marxism's exposure of the way that the British Press
have promoted imperialist intervention in the former Yugoslavia, by
concocting war propaganda has led to a gagging order under this
country's onerous libel laws. The magazine is being sued by Independent
Television News (Britain's equivalent of NBC), imposing legal costs and
potential damages upon us that are already approaching one million
pounds. As you can see we are in breach of that gagging order at
http://www.informinc.co.uk/

Louis might be surprised to see that Living Marxism has written so
extensively on the actual role of imperialism in destroying people's
lives, given the prior discussion about material improvement. But that
is because he does not understand that Marx's theory of capitalist
domination is not one of unremitting impoverishment, but of the
increasing social domination of capital.

The real barrier to human liberation is not technological advance. On
the contrary, that is the precondition of human liberation. The real
barrier in the social relations of capitalist domination in its
imperialist phase: Something which Living Marxism has done more to
expose than most.

Anyway - my apologies to the list for that burst of advertising, but I
was challenged ...
-- 
James Heartfield


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