Showing posts with label postmarxist critique. Show all posts
Showing posts with label postmarxist critique. Show all posts

25 March 2013

one lazy fuckin book review

i admit a certain guilty pleasure
in crimethinc
their periodical rolling thunder
is uh how should i say
less confusing
than normally obtuse
anarchist ranting

see here & here

seriously
what the fuck

anyway
i enjoyed rts bit
about the 08 rnc
looked for myself
in the pictures

no dice
no matter

so what if they tend to paint
an overly rosy picture
of their effectiveness
& numbers

i mean its propaganda
in the best way
marxists cant wont talk
like this
wont ever
win peoples hearts
only their brains
& thus only the cunning
the servile
join their ranks
stay there

& yeah
evasion is kind of crappy
like what if on
the road
was written by
a wordy middle school anarchist

& yeah
off the map feels
ultimately
kind of pointless
sunshiney & pretty
not too much in the way of guidance

work
is certainly no
capital
- warning large pdf -
but
it contains generally
most of the important
extrapolations
deals with people
little more evenhandedly
than broadbrushing folks
as bougie scum

fig21a who shall authorize the authority of the author?
shall the dictator dictate the dictionary?
do the settlers settle settlements?
my favorite part
of rt
is of course
the glossary
which both
illuminates
& ridicules
every side
so im excited
about their new book

contradictionary
a war in every word
they say

in
deed

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

18 March 2013

wobbling in camelot

we never stop fragmenting

its part of our virtue
this juggling of new ideas
new applications
& part of our vice
infighting

i have a lot of respect
for the wobblies
but like some point out in the heated comments
it seems like a bad plan

fig20a the cost of free organic food in our communities is should not include integrity & sanity

why spring another leftist
organization into
what seems like a structure
aimed at worker
inclusion

its a bit beyond me
granted im at several
removes from the situation

food justice is a big deal
not just in the twin cities
where i think we make
more progress
in getting food
to folks
in need

but i suspect
money
is at the heart of this
somewhere

membership
wants more control
over finances

sisters camelot
sound like an upstanding
organization
on the whole

i understand a lot of the rhetoric
is the same shit bosses
use against unions
right
that rubs me the wrong way

but from what little
i know
of collectives & volunteer work
sister camelot
shouldnt be paying
canvassers at all

leave money fucking out of it
whenever possible

if your heart isnt in it
dont do it
on the left we have to prove
we can walk the walk
fig20b wage creates labor perpetuates wage
when we call for
the abolition of the wage system

it means doing away with labor
which in the end
will do away
with unions

collectives i think
at their heart
mean to bypass
the union movement

this illustrates a failure of that concept
its foolish to base a collective
off the idea of wage labor
at all

now im not one
to renounce the wobblies
god bless em

but the phrase

The campaign at Sisters’ Camelot represents a new step for Food and Retail Workers United, an organizing committee of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union
also rubs me the wrong way
like theyre doing this for
prominence
as the next sentence in the quote applauds
yknow
attention

well theyve got it

actually i think this
whole debacle illustrates
a growth of the left
that the iww has the strength
to take on this campaign
however mis-allocated it may & may not
be

when we experience failures
its because were growing
hopefully
unlike those orthodox marxists
who bang their heads
against the very obvious wall
of american culture cynicism etc
blaming a lack of consciousness
when in fact
their own heads are quite muddled
you know
from the headbanging

this is a learning opportunity
& as an outside observer
this is what id advocate

1 the reinstatement of the fired worker
2 removal of any distinction between manager & worker positions
3 relaunching sisters of camelot as a volunteer organization

this could very well be
out of touch
for the actual situation on the ground
like i said
outside observer
the situation could change in a heartbeat

however
if we dont learn to make compromises
along our own shared values
well spend all our time fighting
ourselves instead of the forces
which oppress us

cmon
its not like a volunteer food service org
hasnt worked in the past
without wage labor
the wobblies can move on
to fighting something that matters

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

16 March 2013

in defense of adventure

"Adventure is just bad planning." - Roald Amundsen

"Adventurism: the heretical notion that you should actually have fun when doing something." - Rolling Thunder, vol 10

it is said
there should be no
adventure

no surprises
push for
consistency

no unknowns
value stability

see it
hear it
from mouths
i like having a routine

of course it looks
common
it looks
normal

to want
a nice & settled life
pasturized
occupied
as both in busy & oppressed

because
anyone who wants adventure
has been killed
jailed
outlawed
exiled

fig18a the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls/ and tenement halls

our society
wants to sell
sensation of adventure
to stimulate
the innate human need
without letting it
get out of hand

catharsis

enabling you to stir
orgasm relax &
work again

art
which may have once served
a purpose altogether different
is now media
& masturbation
of the adventure instinct

we did not get here
by staying
at home

explore.

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

09 March 2013

religionesque

so now i hope youre wondering
what marx moses have
alike

well no metaphor/analogy
is going to be perfect

my simple argument is perhaps
a reiteration of stuff
already said on the topic which
I am too lazy
& unattached
to investigate

marxism & anarchism
are political religions
im using the term
mystocracy
either by invention
or unintentional theft
i feel no guilt

fig16a i hope you get as much a kick out of this picture as i do

like moses
marx established
a tradition

of transmission
enlightenment by
received texts

sectarian really pegs it
each congregation
within international
structures
party platforms
commandments

explains why
is explained by the fact
that academics
find appeal &
perpetuate it
keep the light
burning
so to speak

fig16b distinct albeit ironic mystical undertones


they are fond of saying
they dont have a crystal ball
& then freely play
weatherman
for sport

inexactitudes
divinations
excuses
lucky guesses
all play a role
in recruitment

not to mention half the fun
of being a marxist

fig16c marxism makes martyrs

less fun
time energy free time
social time
sacrifice
must be given
to the deus politicki
wherein gods of eld
wanted the blood
& jesus wanted your tithes
marxisms utopia
competes with capitalism
for your unpaid labor power

work a job & go to school
& whatever else you want to do
youre only a good comrade
if you make politically appropriate
amounts of sacrifice
our resources are thin already
organization is always thirsty
leads to the burnout

leadoffs & branch meetings
are indeed ritualistic
dues collection discussion
nothing upsetting the norm
there are lots of historic
examples to draw on
its especially important
everyone be well versed
in the same texts ad pukeum

contrast anarchism
more utopia by revelation
still narrative
infinitely more accessible
doesnt dwell on history
political figures formulas

lived experience
more than a little
propaganda
adventurism no less

fig16d young counterculture in capitalism necessarily suffers from oneupmanship & punker-than-thou snobbery


sort of suffers
from a peter pan syndrome

no small wonder
it attracts teenagers

still im moved to think
of zen buddhism
while master is chopping off a hand
the anarchist laughs & is enlightened

weird spiritual crossings
seeking utopia
today now urgently
at the very least
on this earth

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

05 March 2013

we must link activist stress with emotional & transformative justice

ongoing postmarxist critique

older now but
this article
the immediate need for emotional justice
speaks again
experiences in sectarian
socialism

not only my own emotional
luggage
that of
burnouts wanderoffs
jadeds tired outs
overstressed
folks
all around

stress confrontation
buildup & letdown

fig13a lets not forget the sectarian student recruitment fetish while we are here

so few ways to vent
so few ways for feelings
to be taken seriously
always talking about
sacrifice
like for blood
im going to have to write
more on that later
but


fig13b with narrative logic like that no wonder enrollment is at historic lows


speaking to abuse
in the activist community
in which i seem
to have taken interest

lacking emotional justice

folks from homes
broken

by capitalism
the state

turn to what theyve learned
violence abuse
coercion manipulation

mirroring
in these communities
those very dynamics
poison dynamics

which the world we
want to change
consistently
regenerates

if we cant fix it
in ourselves
our loved ones
comrades
trusted

how can we empower
friends
acquaintances
strangers

& even our enemies

yet
i know sectarians
wont listen
at best theyre slow to change
its all about building
glorious proletarian revolution
without ever addressing
personal problems
problems must in essence first
be polticized
too often at the cost
of dehumanizing
the problemed
sacred logic ending
with dismissal

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

02 March 2013

link minded folks

organizing as if social relations matter

its always vindicative
when i find someone thinking
along lines
i also walk

Organizing, good organizing, is to my mind the slow, steady, one-on-one building of relations and interconnections that are at odds with how people are treated under capitalism.
go on
im listening

Instead of instrumentalizing people for what they can give us or do for us, we look to each other as having worth unto ourselves, and for how we can cement relations of sociability, collaboration, and solidarity

Expedient activism falls apart under its own flimsy weight; there’s little there to sustain it, especially when the going inevitably gets rough or disappointing. Here, patient and what appears to be joyful organizing might just have a fighting chance of leaving something in its wake

that speaks to my experiences
socialist sectarianism

beliefs in changing
behavior & culture
creative relationships
transcend isolation

it takes work
says cindy milstein
something i am learning also
from the revolution starts
at home

reaching out
finding people
putting effort
not into sign
waving ranting
spectaclework

socalled actions
recognizing instead
building the world we want
begins with living the life
we believe in

As now-deferred prospective student after student got up to read their varied, often-eloquent remarks, or have them read by a current Cooper Union student or an alumni, for upward of an hour, it became clearer and clearer how much work went into finding, educating, involving, and gaining the support and participation of these frequently far-afieldpotential students.

not
mind you
a population
who would seem
accessible useful
in an
expedient way

beautiful
also

That no tuition, even within a hierarchical and select structure, still manages to engender a tangible freedom to imagine social goodness, and the freedom (of thought and financial constraints) to organize in more imaginative as well as qualitative ways
in the face
of the anarchists
& far leftists
not though the sectarian socialists
in this case

but in the face
of those who want to bring it
all down now now now
with a brick

yes yes yes
sympathies
we want it to be so easy
revolution happens suddenlike
but there must be
work lessons compromise
failures effort love
changing culture
changing material
changing structure

i look forward to reading more
from this beautiful blog

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

15 February 2013

a ceo is not a classical capitalist & your boss is not THE boss

We can run everything we need without the breath of a CEO on the back of our necks.

problematic
the far left rhetoric
marxists & anarchists
make them sound
sometimes like they havent worked
a day in their lives

no wonder they mostly
attract students

unless you work in the c suite
i highly doubt a ceo
is ever going to breathe
down your neck

i dont think the far left
even knows what the c suite is
wall street
is only a symbol to us

an abstraction

we would do well
to learn more about
the systems we want to
replace
there are some scary concepts
out in the biz world
we would be wise
to study that which we oppose

finally to reach out
to others than those
who will grow up
to be a professor

fig10a blah blah blah
yours for the revolution
forbidden books

06 February 2013

how to recruit


i spent a number of years in a marxist organization

i have a number of proleftist critiques & contributions

you can read other posts along these topics under the postmarxist critique label

fig5a black panther brandishing their weapons

when young black males
approached the black panthers
asking to be armed

leadership would hand them books

but why were they approached to begin with?

one thing i always failed to understand
about insular marxist groups today
was focus on recruitment
& political education

to the exclusion of doing good

what the panthers understood
was that in order to make a name
they had to be recognized

so they would serve food
to schoolchildren
they would follow the cops
to make sure
the population was not being abused

they found needs
in the population they wanted
to recruit
filled them
not with the primary goal
of recruitment
but of service

radical service

breaking with the logic
of capitalism
in action not just propaganda
what anarchists call propaganda
of the deed
which is usually taken to mean violence
what should actually mean
integrity

instead

fig5b excuse me maam would you like some expensive union printed wrapping paper?


the insular marxist group
tries to distinguish itself with its published material
and sell it to people who couldnt
care less

ostensibly
recruiting the socalled politically
radicalized layers
of society

a lot of time is spent writing these papers
reading politcal material
organizing demonstrations
where hopefully these radicalized
layers will magically show up
looking for any answers

getting the same old answers

aside from flashpoints
such as occupy
one rarely sees new faces
at specifically political events

theyre doorknocking the converts

you dont prove the value of your politics
with polemics

you prove it in the
everyday
struggle

fig5c excuse me maam can i interest you in some communist goods and services?


do good
where there is evil

be radical
where there is convention

be collaborative
where there is competition

undermine the system where you are
fight
as the anarchists say
where you stand

the capitalists
who by the way
have the monopoly on goods and services
call this advertising
their power stems from the provisions
created by their economic system
& is perpetuated
in the consumer mind by advertising

you dont undermine the economic system
without building alternative sources
of goods and services
which by their collaborative manufacture
& provision
are superior in quality quantity
distribution community & satisfaction

the need for advertising
will erode along with the capitalist model
as it is supplanted by an increase
in communal manufacture

one service in the name of the downtrodden
is worth all the socialist papers
in the world

yours for the revolution
forbidden books

04 February 2013

postmarxist critique re transformative justice

i spent a number of years in a marxist organization

i have a number of proleftist critiques & contributions

fig4a howtodifferently


the first is most specific & important
a spectacle whichin i participated
first in a showtrial
then in very poor reaction
a good friend introduced me
to the concept of transformative justice
which i think
essential not just to aiding
victims of sexual assault
on the left
& elsewhere

but to confronting this beast
called capitalism
a system of dehumanization

& move to recognize
humanness
in oppressor oppressed
alike

handle things
in a delicate nurturing energetic way

that maps a new route
to confrontation
with the mechanizing monster
which would make
rote of our flesh

a squalor of hypnotism and violation

and look instead
for the way
that there might be hope
for us all

yours for the revolution
forbidden books