From: Russell Pearson <R.Pearson-AT-art.derby.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 10:54:33 +0100
Subject: Re: M-TH: infernal combustion Marxists


Justin remarks:

>Yoshie is one of those Japanese women of whom you are so solicitious.


 and Yoshie herself writes:
> I am a Japanese woman, and judging by your inability to figure out my
>gender from my first name, I >can only conclude that your knowledge of
>Japan (including your knowledge of Japanese women)
>is rather slim.

Yes.

>Women do not get molested because they use the subway; they are molested
>because of *sexist* male behavior. Aside from general battles against
>sexism, my favorite tactic against those offending male hands was to stick
>a safety pin or other sharp object in them. (I used to dress punkish so I
>had lots of safety pins!) I believe in virtues of self-defense in such a
>situation. Besides, one needs to teach them a lesson: women are not passive
>objects at the mercy of male hands.

Sorry.
I did wonder about your gender,  please accept my apologies for any offence.
Yes, indeed it is sexist male behaviour, and as to your actions on the
subway- good for you, they deserve all they get!


>Fighting against uncontrolled suburbanization is not elitist here. I think
>it is a key to revitalize urban working-class communities, in which poor
>people of color are concentrated in the United States. (The situation is
>probably different in the UK or continental Europe.)

In Britain poor people are either concentrated in inner city areas or in
large suburban housing estates that keep them out of the way of richer
types. Housing policy is ostensibly very politically correct, but in
practice is racist to the core. The wealthy tend to live in more select
suburbs, or increasingly likely, in the countryside where very small
cottages can comand three times the amount of similar buildings in a less
salubrious setting.


>The key to wage battles of this nature is to fully integrate environmental
>concerns with class-based demands, such as providing extra funding for
>public transport. In fact, with or without environmental issues, properly
>funding public transport is good for both working-class riders and
>transport workers. And all of these struggles--I thought it would be
>obvious given the nature of the list--must be integrated within struggles
>for socialism.

I tend to agree with James on the left and the state- this I believe is a
failure of imagination since all it asks for is state money to fund state
transport. I'd like to see transport truly revolutionised, though god knows
what forms that might take. It's just that the idea of socialism somehow
meaning more buses sticks in my gullet. As to benefitting transport
workers, at the risk of being flippant I guess your knowledge of bus
drivers is rather slim too. I've never met one who enjoyed driving a bus-
it's a means to an end, is socially isolating and physically debilitating.
For taxi drivers it's even worse- a limbo land between unemployment and
work one described it to me as.


Russ





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