tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87254197106049251492024-03-13T09:35:07.391-04:00The Organic Intellectual - Combating Cultural Hegemony<b>"All men are intellectuals: but not all men have in society the function of intellectuals." <p>
- Antonio Gramsci<p></p></p></b>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-34081233363686462612013-06-15T23:50:00.004-04:002013-06-15T23:53:03.228-04:00Announcing The Hampton Institute!<span style="font-size: large;">I'm updating here at OI to announced that I am part of an exciting, new project called <b>The Hampton Institute</b>. Future writing I do will be sent there, so everyone check it out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/">http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/</a></span><br />
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FB: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheHamptonInstitute">https://www.facebook.com/TheHamptonInstitute</a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/HamptonThink">https://twitter.com/HamptonThink</a></div>
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About the Hampton Institute:<br />
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In the late 1920's, while imprisoned under Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy, Antonio Gramsci compiled 32 notebooks containing roughly 3,000 pages of work, touching on everything from Italian politics and history to social, economic, and political theory and analysis. During this time, Gramsci coined the term "organic intellectual" to describe conscious members of the working class whom he felt must be developed in contradistinction to the traditional intellectual "clergy," composed of "men of letters, philosophers and professors" who were intimately tied to the dominant culture, and therefore compromised and limited in their own capacity. "All men (and women, we might add) are intellectuals," wrote Gramsci, "but not all men have in society the function of intellectuals." As a Marxist, it was no secret that Gramsci's ideas were centered on the need for revolutionary opposition to the oppressive social relations perpetuated by the capitalist structure - whether represented in the private sphere through property and labor exploitation, or the public sphere through state-backed repression. And while traditional intellectuals certainly played, and continue to play, an important role in this struggle, Gramsci saw the development of the organic intellectual as a crucial component in the ongoing battle for consciousness which exists within the daily lives of the mass of people. "There is no human activity from which every form of intellectual participation can be excluded," explained Gramsci. "Everyone carries on some form of intellectual activity, participates in a particular conception of the world, has a conscious line of moral conduct, and therefore contributes to sustain a conception of the world or to modify it, that is, to bring into being new modes of thought." The organic intellectual possesses the unique ability to touch those who exist within their own social grouping: the working class.</div>
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In the late 1920's, while imprisoned under Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy, Antonio Gramsci compiled 32 notebooks containing roughly 3,000 pages of work, touching on everything from Italian politics and history to social, economic, and political theory and analysis. During this time, Gramsci coined the term "organic intellectual" to describe conscious members of the working class whom he felt must be developed in contradistinction to the traditional intellectual "clergy," composed of "men of letters, philosophers and professors" who were intimately tied to the dominant culture, and therefore compromised and limited in their own capacity. "All men (and women, we might add) are intellectuals," wrote Gramsci, "but not all men have in society the function of intellectuals." As a Marxist, it was no secret that Gramsci's ideas were centered on the need for revolutionary opposition to the oppressive social relations perpetuated by the capitalist structure - whether represented in the private sphere through property and labor exploitation, or the public sphere through state-backed repression. And while traditional intellectuals certainly played, and continue to play, an important role in this struggle, Gramsci saw the development of the organic intellectual as a crucial component in the ongoing battle for consciousness which exists within the daily lives of the mass of people. "There is no human activity from which every form of intellectual participation can be excluded," explained Gramsci. "Everyone carries on some form of intellectual activity, participates in a particular conception of the world, has a conscious line of moral conduct, and therefore contributes to sustain a conception of the world or to modify it, that is, to bring into being new modes of thought." The organic intellectual possesses the unique ability to touch those who exist within their own social grouping: the working class.</div>
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<a href="http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/images/hamptonlogoabout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignleft" height="200" src="http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/images/hamptonlogoabout.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #3b3b3b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 2px;" width="200" /></a>As a youth organizer for the NAACP and eventual leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), Fred Hampton was the embodiment of Gramsci's "organic intellectual." Born to working class parents, Hampton became a pre-law major in college and deployed his knowledge to combat police brutality and unfair law enforcement practices that targeted impoverished black youth in the greater Chicago area. Hampton's realization of the inherent connection between institutional racism and class politics led him to negotiate a "class-conscious, multi-racial alliance" between politicized organizations (the BPP and Students for a Democratic Society) and Chicago's major street gangs (Young Patriots, Young Lords, Blackstone Rangers, Brown Berets and Red Guard Party). As BPP's local leader, Hampton organized rallies, assisted with maintaining a local medical clinic, taught weekly political education classes, and operated a Free Breakfast Program for underprivileged children. As both an organic intellectual and de facto educator, Hampton's brilliant oratory skills were not used to place himself above the oppressed, but rather to immerse himself within the oppressed community of which he was a member. His words, and the linguistic style in which his analysis was advanced, were a shining example of the simultaneous process of education and dialogue that must take place with the oppressed. Ultimately, Hampton was the praxis to Gramsci's theory. By combining an effective class analysis with a stage-based social application that included "real world" solutions, he was the quintessential revolutionary. "That's what the Breakfast for Children Program is," explained Hampton. "A lot of people think it's simply charity, but what does it do? It takes people from a stage to a stage to another stage. Any program that's revolutionary is an advancing program. Revolution is change." In addition to praxis, he and the BPP fortified and transcended the struggle against racial oppression by effectively tying it to the international class struggle, much like Dr. King was doing with a critical assessment of war and poverty. "We're not gonna fight fire with fire, we're gonna fight fire with water," cried Hampton. "We're not gonna fight racism with racism, we're gonna fight racism with (working class) solidarity!" His untimely and tragic murder at the hands of Chicago police would ultimately stifle the revolutionary momentum of the time. However, as Hampton once proclaimed, "You can kill the revolutionary, but you can never kill the revolution!"As a youth organizer for the NAACP and eventual leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), Fred Hampton was the embodiment of Gramsci's "organic intellectual." Born to working class parents, Hampton became a pre-law major in college and deployed his knowledge to combat police brutality and unfair law enforcement practices that targeted impoverished black youth in the greater Chicago area. Hampton's realization of the inherent connection between institutional racism and class politics led him to negotiate a "class-conscious, multi-racial alliance" between politicized organizations (the BPP and Students for a Democratic Society) and Chicago's major street gangs (Young Patriots, Young Lords, Blackstone Rangers, Brown Berets and Red Guard Party). As BPP's local leader, Hampton organized rallies, assisted with maintaining a local medical clinic, taught weekly political education classes, and operated a Free Breakfast Program for underprivileged children. As both an organic intellectual and de facto educator, Hampton's brilliant oratory skills were not used to place himself above the oppressed, but rather to immerse himself within the oppressed community of which he was a member. His words, and the linguistic style in which his analysis was advanced, were a shining example of the simultaneous process of education and dialogue that must take place with the oppressed. Ultimately, Hampton was the praxis to Gramsci's theory. By combining an effective class analysis with a stage-based social application that included "real world" solutions, he was the quintessential revolutionary. "That's what the Breakfast for Children Program is," explained Hampton. "A lot of people think it's simply charity, but what does it do? It takes people from a stage to a stage to another stage. Any program that's revolutionary is an advancing program. Revolution is change." In addition to praxis, he and the BPP fortified and transcended the struggle against racial oppression by effectively tying it to the international class struggle, much like Dr. King was doing with a critical assessment of war and poverty. "We're not gonna fight fire with fire, we're gonna fight fire with water," cried Hampton. "We're not gonna fight racism with racism, we're gonna fight racism with (working class) solidarity!" His untimely and tragic murder at the hands of Chicago police would ultimately stifle the revolutionary momentum of the time. However, as Hampton once proclaimed, "You can kill the revolutionary, but you can never kill the revolution!"</div>
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Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-45959851024186852822012-08-09T07:59:00.002-04:002012-08-10T14:00:18.513-04:00The Debate on UT's Campus over Israeli Apartheid Week<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last semester the University of Toledo Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held the first ever Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) on UT's campus. It was a huge success, bringing together a wide array of diverse student activists and organizations. For the first time in many, many years Palestine was at the forefront of the political struggle at UT. Almost immediately, SJP was condemned for organizing the IAW event by Zionist organizations and leaders on campus. Below is the debate held in the pages of the Independent Collegian, the most widely circulated media outlet on UT's campus. The first article is the "Cheap" political attack on SJP and the use of the word apartheid, the second is our rebuttal:<br /><br /> <b><a href="http://www.independentcollegian.com/letter-to-the-editor-1.2705786#.UCOcWbQQuUI"><span style="font-size: large;">Letter to the Editor</span></a><br /> Israel Apartheid Week<br />Wednesday, February 22, 2012 </b><br /> <br />Next week the University of Toledo and campuses nationwide will take part in the nationally recognized "Israel Apartheid Week," sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Using the very term "apartheid" by SJP in its characterization of Israel is patently false and deeply offensive to all who feel a connection to the state of Israel. This spreading of misinformation by SJP chapters both locally and nationally is creating a bias against Israel in the media and jeopardizing a timely resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<br /><br />Using the term "apartheid" is a very deliberate attempt to associate the current Israeli Government with the racist South African regime of the 20th century. This offensive claim is highly objectionable to anyone who knows the truth about Israel's record on human rights, and is a stark contrast to that of South Africa.<br /><br />Under apartheid, Black South Africans could not vote and had no rights in a country in which they were the overwhelming majority of the population.<br /><br />This analogy is not credible, as SJP chapters have chosen to manipulate rather than inform on this issue. Therefore, we request that SJP immediately stop referring to Israel as an apartheid society, and acknowledges that the Arab minority in Israel enjoys full citizenship with voting rights and even representation in the government. SJP should acknowledge that there are 14 Arab members in the Israeli Knesset, an Arab member of the Israeli governing Cabinet, an Arab member of the Israeli Supreme Court, and Israeli Arabs involved in Israeli businesses, universities and the cultural life of Israel.<br /><br />A true hope for justice, peace and reconciliation in the Middle East compel us to demand an immediate cessation to the deliberate mischaracterizations of Israel. SJP's compliance with this request will be viewed as a responsible and appropriate first step toward raising the level of discourse.<br /><br /><i>— Casey Cheap<br />Christians United for Israel (CUFI-Toledo)<br />Chairman</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>— Matt Rubin<br />UT Student Government<br />President<br />— Patrick Richardson<br />UT College Republicans<br />Chairman<br />— Brent Teal<br />UT College Democrats<br />President<br />— Maxwell Gold<br />Former UT Hillel President<br />2008-2011</i><br /><br /><br />Our response:<br /> <b><a href="http://www.independentcollegian.com/letter-to-the-editor-1.2707605#.UCOXerQQuUI"><span style="font-size: large;">Letter to the Editor</span></a><br /> In response to "Israel Apartheid Week"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday, February 26, 2012 </b><br /><br />Last week five UT students condemned in the pages of the IC the group UT Students for Justice in Palestine over its application of the term apartheid to Israel. The United Nations defines the crime of apartheid as "inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them."<br /><br />In 2010 Archbishop Desmond Tutu, historically a valiant fighter against apartheid in South Africa, proclaimed in a Huffington Post article that with "great joy" he embraced the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel because the system of apartheid there was so reminiscent to that of South Africa. His words are far more percussive than our own:<br /><br />"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school or college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government."<br /><br />In the same year, a group of over sixty church leaders and theologians from South Africa released a statement condemning Israeli apartheid: <br /><br />"From our own experience of apartheid, we can clearly and without equivocation say that your situation is in essence the same as apartheid and in its practical manifestation even worse than South African apartheid."<br /><br />One year prior to that, the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa published an extensive report which concluded that "Israel has introduced a system of apartheid in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories], in violation of a peremptory norm of international law." Likewise, South African dockworkers took up the cause of anti-apartheid struggle by refusing to unload ships carrying Israeli cargo in response to Israel's three-week assault on Gaza, a massacre which stole the lives of 1,300 Palestinians, a third of which were children, and injured 5,300 more.<br /><br />In 2011, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel published a report documenting that "more than 30 main laws discriminate, directly or indirectly, against Palestinian citizens of Israel" and "Inequalities between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel span all fields of public life and have persisted over time."<br /><br />Thus, it is with feigned ignorance that UTSJP be condemned for employing the term apartheid despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to the existence of an apartheid system in Israel. Such condemnation attempts to mask reality with tactless glittering generalities and is representative of an agenda that has nothing to do with civil discourse or peace. The peace so often spoken of in "higher levels of discourse" is one without justice, the peace of the oppressor, and it should be challenged by not only all UT students but all people who identify with the pursuit of social justice. We do not reject dialogue, but our dialogue must revolve around how best to end apartheid, not how to give it a human face, and certainly not to avoid the paradigmatic unease some words may illicit in the defenders of a position, which proven with the evidence above, is antithetical to not only human rights but to peace and justice as well. We can safely assume that the various South Africans quoted above know far better what constitutes apartheid than those who deny its existence, and nothing is more offensive then the attempt to disguise the current system of apartheid in Israel.<br /><br />The undersigned,<br /><br />UT Students for Justice in Palestine<br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Disclaimer: The views of these student leaders are their own and may or may not reflect the views of their respective student organizations collectively.)</span></i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Demetrios Kasamias<br />President, Orthodox Christian Fellowship</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Kenneth Sharp<br />President, Libertarian Party of UT</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Victoria Delly<br />President, Black Student Union</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Christopher Scott<br />President, Student African American Brotherhood</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ghassan Chokr<br />President, Arab Student Union</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Omar Subei<br />President, Muslim Students Association</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jihad Dakkak <br />President, Middle Eastern Law Students Association</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</i> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ali ElMokdad</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>President, Lourdes Arab American Student Association</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-85152582762343203272011-05-25T13:12:00.009-04:002011-06-06T00:36:11.831-04:00Black support for Israeli Apartheid?<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pab2LfDEVRo/Td04d1Z5tnI/AAAAAAAAAOg/e4FeBXJ9Ta4/s1600/wrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pab2LfDEVRo/Td04d1Z5tnI/AAAAAAAAAOg/e4FeBXJ9Ta4/s200/wrong.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Last month the Vanguard Leadership Group (VLG), a group of self-proclaimed “African-American leaders,” paid for the full-page ad titled<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.kabobfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/vlg-advertisement.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">“Words Matter”</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>targeting Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for their use of the term “apartheid” in labeling Israel. The SJP is “a diverse group of students, faculty, staff and community members…organized on democratic principles to promote justice, human rights, liberation and self-determination for the Palestinian people” which utilizes educational events, film screenings, discussion forums, and demonstrations to raise awareness and further the gowing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement from Israel.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What has become painfully clear is that the VLG ought to be ashamed of themselves. The stench of their propaganda is evident, as this “vanguard” of elite charlatans complain about the “offensiveness” of a word that those who have actually suffered under apartheid<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> use themselves to describe Israel. Perhaps the whines and moans of the VLG would be a bit more convincing if their utter ignorance was not revealed by the fact that Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Willie Madisha, and many other heroes in the anti-apartheid struggle openly label Israel an apartheid state, rebuking the vacuous claims of the VLG. </span></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Archbishop Demond Tutu<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/desmond-tutu/divesting-from-injustice_b_534994.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">proclaimed</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><blockquote style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school or college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government.</span></i></blockquote><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Willie Mashonda, former president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.divestmentproject.org/foreign/COSATU.shtml"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">articulated the comparison openly</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As someone who lived in apartheid South Africa and who has visited Palestine, I say with confidence that Israel is an apartheid state. In fact, I believe that some of the atrocities committed against the South Africans by the erstwhile apartheid regime in South Africa pale in comparison to those committed against the Palestinians.</span></i></blockquote><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Over sixty church leaders and theologians in South Africa <a href="http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/39-africa/873-church-leaders-condemn-israel-and-christian-zionism">released a similar statement </a>with no ambiguity and in no uncertain words:</span><br />
<blockquote style="color: #444444;"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>From our own experience of apartheid, we can clearly and without equivocation say that your situation is in essence the same as apartheid and in its practical manifestation even worse than South African apartheid.</em></div></blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although Nelson Mandela fell short of calling Israel an apartheid state, the purported <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://www.progressiveaustin.org/mandelap.htm">letter to Thomas Friedman</a></span> is n<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ot, contrary to popular belief (a mistake I previously made), written by him, he did </span><a href="http://www.worldforum.org/home/woi_nmandela.htm" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">maintain harsh criticism for Israel</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span></span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>[W]hat we know is that Israel has weapons of mass destruction. Nobody talks about that. Why should there be one standard for one country, especially because it is black, and another one for another country, Israel, that is white.</i></blockquote><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">And in 1997, Mandela marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, (the official ANC website has, for whatever reason, removed this sourced speech) affirming his support for their struggle:</span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, it was asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.</i></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist organizations <a href="http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=421">condemned Mandela</a> for his relatively moderate, two-state solution approach: </span></span><br />
<blockquote><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>We deplore Mandela’s outrageous and immoral attempt to portray the terrorist dictator Saddam Hussein as an innocent victim of American aggression, and to put Israel on the same level as Saddam. Israel is a beleaguered, peaceful, and responsible democracy surrounded by terrorists and tyrants who have launched four wars against it and murder its citizens daily. Israel, like America, has every legal and moral right to protect itself with whatever weapons at its disposal.</i></div></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the normal Orwellian language employed by the Zionist state, it turns out people wanting to return to their homes are, undoubtedly, "terrorists and tyrants."</span></span><br />
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It is not only major figures in</span> the anti-apartheid struggle, but also South African dockworkers, who had taken up the cause of anti-apartheid struggle by participating in the boycott, sanctions, and divestment movement. In 2009, members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) refused to unload a ship carrying Israeli cargo<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in response to Israel's three-week assault on Gaza, which saw the slaughter of over 1,300 Palestinians, a third of which were children, and injured 5,300 more. Workers followed suit in Sweden and Malaysia. A year later, after the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla, US activists successfully convinced International Longshore and Warehouse Local 10, not bereft of black members, in Oakland, California to refuse unloading Israeli cargo, marking the first time Israel was boycotted at a U.S. port. I think it is clear that the opinions of working people, especially working people who actually suffered under apartheid, are far more convincing than the vacuous assertions of the VLG, who lace their website with various references to AIPAC and Israel.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Perhaps, also, the VLG is ignorant of the historic connections between Israel and South Africa. For decades Israel propped up the white minority government under the apartheid regime, selling it weapons even while the rest of the world condemned it as a pariah state. The Jewish Defense League, a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda, openly condemned Nelson Mandela and the ANC as a terrorist organization. Even by 1982, when apartheid comparisons were being made, Raphael Eitan, chief of staff of the Israeli Army during its brutal 1982 invasion of Lebanon, rejected the comparison, inverting the role of victim and victimizer, oppressed and oppressor:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don’t understand this comparison between us and South Africa. What is similar here and there is that both they and us must prevent others from taking us over. Anyone who says that the blacks are oppressed in South Africa is a liar. The blacks there want to gain control of the white minority just like the Arabs here want to gain control over us. And we, too, like the white minority in South Africa, must act to prevent them from taking us over. I was in a gold mine there and I saw what excellent conditions the black workers have. So there is [sic] separate elevators for whites and blacks, so what? That’s the way they like it.</span></span></i></blockquote><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Perhaps the “African-American leaders” who hail from such haughty academic perches simply overlooked the historical facts? Doubtful. What is more likely is that they are spewing their propaganda to serve a political purpose.</span></span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As far as the evidence to support the apartheid assertion, I will rely upon what the evidence that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/04/truth-matters-a-response-to-the-vanguard-leadership-group.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">one commentator</span></a> has already posited:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One might point the VLG student leaders to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;"><a href="http://www.adalah.org/upfiles/2011/Adalah_The_Inequality_Report_March_2011.pdf" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-style: none;">The Inequality Report</a></span>,</span> a freshly-minted report by <a href="http://www.old-adalah.org/eng/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-style: none;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #3d85c6; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel</span></a>, which found that “Inequalities between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel span all fields of public life and have persisted over time. Direct and indirect discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel is ingrained in the legal system and in governmental practice,” and that “More than 30 main laws discriminate, directly or indirectly, against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the current government coalition has proposed a flood of new racist and discriminatory bills which are at various stages in the legislative process.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One might also point the 16 VLG members to the State Department’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories, which in 2004, in a rare instance of candor,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41723.htm" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-style: none;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">reported that Israel had done</span></span></a> “little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens. The State Department’s <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/nea/154463.htm" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-style: none;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #3d85c6; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">most recent report</span></a>, published April 8, 2011, confirmed that 7-year-old finding, that “Principal human rights problems [in Israel] were institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against Arab citizens.” (It should go without saying that<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-y24SzbCY" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-style: none;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #3d85c6; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">racism in Israel is not limited to the anti-Arab variety</span></a>.)</span></span></i></blockquote><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Furthermore, a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Media_Release-378.phtml">2009 report by the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>concluded "On the basis of the evidence presented, this study concludes that Israel has introduced a system of apartheid in the OPT, in violation of a peremptory norm of international law."</span></span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All of these studies are worth extensive reads, and show more clearly than ever that Israel is, by all accounts, and apartheid state. Perhaps, as some activists have pointed out, the fundamental difference rests in the fact that the dominance of the white minority in South Africa rested upon the exploitation of the Black majority’s labor, whereas this dynamic is slightly different in Israel, which opts instead for separation and segregation to further its colonial settler goals. Yet, the pillars of apartheid are evident.</span></span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Perhaps even more shamefully, the VLG is not only ignoring the words and disfiguring the legacy of anti-apartheid activists who resist all oppression, but it is undoubtedly a shame to the historic legacy of black struggle and black liberation in the US against oppression.</span></span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As Malcolm X <a href="http://www.malcolm-x.org/docs/gen_zion.htm">pointed out all the way back in 1964</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Did the Zionists have the legal or moral right to invade Arab Palestine, uproot its Arab citizens from their homes and seize all Arab property for themselves just based on the "religious" claim that their forefathers lived there thousands of years ago? Only a thousand years ago the Moors lived in Spain. Would this give the Moors of today the legal and moral right to invade the Iberian Peninsula, drive out its Spanish citizens, and then set up a new Moroccan nation ... where Spain used to be, as the European zionists have done to our Arab brothers and sisters in Palestine?</span></span></i></blockquote><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Huey Newton, of the Black Panther Party, articulated the organization’s <a href="http://psreview.org/content/view/7/68/#26">vociferous support for Palestinian liberation</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We realize that some people who happen to be Jewish and who support Israel will use the Black Panther Party’s position that is against imperialism and against the agents of the imperialist as an attack of anti-Semitism. We think that is a backbiting racist underhanded tactic and we will treat it as such. We have respect for all people, and we have respect for the right of any people to exist. So we want the Palestinian people and the Jewish people to live in harmony together. We support the Palestinian’s just struggle for liberation one hundred percent. We will go on doing this, and we would like for all of the progressive people of the world to join our ranks in order to make a world in which all people can live.</span></span></i></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">This was a position which the copycat Black Panther Party in Israel, originally created to challenge the anti-black racism in the country, also supported. Even Martin Luther King Jr., whose face the VLG shamefully plasters all over their website, was<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-apologists-and-martin-luther-king-jr-hoax/4955"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">no ardent supporter of Zionism</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as the VLG would have you imagine.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The evidence is clear. How shameful, how repugnant, how utterly disgraceful, then, that the "top African-American leaders," self-proclaimed, have consciously placed themselves on the wrong side of history, on the side of oppression, of colonization, and injustice. How shameful indeed that they have attempted, from the comforts of their ivory tower, to pit the oppressed against the oppressed, to construct a façade of black support for Israeli apartheid against the Palestinians. But no matter, for those struggling for justice in Palestine stand on the shoulders of black intellectuals and giants that the VLG, the self-proclaimed "African-American leaders," could only wish to stand on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-80596400415709719302011-05-04T14:56:00.001-04:002011-05-04T15:43:59.423-04:00Exchanges with a "Socialist" Zionist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27jYIBqTHRs/TcGgmDE5hsI/AAAAAAAAAOc/XhCprbXiRbE/s1600/antizion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27jYIBqTHRs/TcGgmDE5hsI/AAAAAAAAAOc/XhCprbXiRbE/s320/antizion.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the wake of the <a href="http://www.rafahtoday.org/news/todaymain.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">historic reconciliation</a> between Hamas and Fatah, as well as <a href="http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/egypt/egypt-to-throw-open-rafah-border-crossing-with-gaza-fm.html">the opening of the Rafah border</a> from Egypt to Palestine, and the <a href="http://bdsmovement.net/">continually growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions</a> movement from Israel, it is clear that the struggle for Palestinian liberation in on the upswing. In turn, it is important to analyze the rhetoric from the so-called "liberal" Zionist wing in Israel that often portrays itself as the "good" or "clean" version of Zionism, opposed to brutal right-wing manifest in Benjamin Netanyahu. Inherent in their conception of "liberalism" or, in the rare case, "socialism," is that Zionism is somehow compatible with the aspirations of the Palestinian people, that somehow colonial settler states can be progressive or "socialist." The purportedly "socialist" wing of the Zionist movement is, undoubtedly, a small minority. Thus, it is a rare opportunity that one gets to engage in debate with a representative of this contradictory trend that attempts to reconcile both socialist internationalism while internalizing Zionist ideology. The end-result, in my opinion, is of the utmost disgust, one that undoubtedly drugs the socialist name through the mud of Zionist propaganda. Here I re-post an online debate between myself and one of these "socialist" Zionists, removing the name of my opponent. What was clear beyond all doubt to me after this encounter was that there is no and cannot be any "socialist" Zionist, as implicit in Zionism is an imposition of rule on an oppressed population by a group of colonialists who aim to push the Palestinian Arab population off their land. Zionism, just like imperialism, ought to be rejected in all of its forms, no matter the disguise it wears. Notice the sly implications that anti-Zionism is anti-Jewish (a false notion which supporters of Israel constantly conflate), notice the libelous accusations of anti-semitism, notice the lack of response to particular arguments, the constant strawmanning and falsifications. These are the intellectual hurdles one must jump to protect and sanction Zionist propaganda. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In short, read the debate, and decide for yourself. The purpose</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I hope this post serves is to help prepare activists for the sorts of arguments they will run into from the so-called "progressive" Zionists. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing in these posts have been edited, and the only things added in rare instances were those in brackets to help clarify what the discussion was referring to. I have, however, left out the other people who engaged in the debate, mostly because I did not ask their permission to post and do not want to drag them into an unwanted public arena without their consent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: I like your profile pic [Vittorio Arrigoni], but am hopeful you support the right to both Palestinians and Jews to self-determination in national homelands and sympathize that the Arab League plays a larger role in the conflict than Israelis and Palestinians themselves. I sympathize with Palestinians and more Israelis should recognize the refugee experience deriving from all Holocaust survivors, but too often I feel too many take one side and do not support justice for both. That being said, Israel needs immediate government reform so more liberal Israelis can push forth negotiations with the PA/Hamas/Fatah and discontinue the wall and occupation. In the same vein, you must understand how important it is to me that the Jewish people also deserve the right to justice and are perhaps one of the historical opitomes of persecution and ethnic injustice. Anywho, peace and may all those who rightfully deserve justice receive it</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: ****, I support the right of JEWS. I do not, have not, and will never support, under any circumstances, the political ideology of Zionism. I am one-sided in this, something I will not deny, in the same way that I would have been one-sided in the struggle against South African apartheid. It is of my opinion, and I believe the historical record proves this more clearly than anything, that a two-state solution with a weak, fractured, diminished, and enervated Palestinian state is not the solution. This is exactly the outcome of any two-state solution, as a Palestinian state will, if it were to be created, be forced forever under the auspices and the shadow of Israeli military might (which, we might add, exists today in large part to serve US geopolitical and economic interests in the region). Couching Zionism in the cloak of "Jewish self-determination" can not hide the very nature of the Zionist state, that of a colonial settler state that utilizes techniques of apartheid and violence to achieve it's existence. I support the right of any people to self-determination, but I do not support the right of Zionists to ethnically cleanse Palestine to create a "Jewish state," and think that a single-state, under the historic name of Palestine, where what we now consider "Israelis" and Arabs (be they Christian or Muslim or, dare I say, Jewish!) live with the same legal, political, and economic rights. I am unequivically opposed to the purported "right" of anyone who claims Jewish heritage, especially those living in the US and Europe, to migrate to Palestine and settle on Palestinian land. But, as you say, "may all those who rightfully deserve justice receive it." I hope, as you claim yourself as someone who sympathizes with the Palestinians, that you support the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment movement in support of Palestinian liberation!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: Derek, I respect so much that you responded thoughtfully and without rhetoric and hate. I understand how someone in your position may not acknowledge Zionism in its many different forms, some of which should be ridiculed and perpetuate the conflict, however I believe you're a little misinformed or in denial while you trivialize the Jewish plight. If you'll recall, no nations in the world accepted Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, besides the Dominican republic and few European nations that surrendered their Jews to the NAZI regime; America is no exception, if you're skeptical, look up the M.S. St. Louis a ship in which FDR personally refused via Secretary of State. Thousands sent back and many later perished at Auschwitz. And how about the Mizrachi Jewish exodus from Arab States before the declaration of Israeli statehood. These "Arabic Jews" or so they saw themselves had NOTHING to do with Zionism and identified with Arab nationhood? As tensions grew in the British Mandate (which Palestinians did not exist before Arab nationalism, they were Arabs of the Ottoman Empire and before that Syria, Jordan, and Egypt)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, these Jewish communities present in Arab states even before the rise of Christianity or Islam were now being persecuted by their leaders and neighbors. Most to which end let to community massacres, probably equivicable to Israel's innocent casualty wrongdoing. Many communities, in the thousands in each Arab nation were either exiled or restricted to emigrate and persecuted. For this reason Israel rescued many of these communities by plane or bus from dangerous nations such as Ethiopia (Operation Moses, Flying Carpet, etc), Yemen and Oman, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, etc. I believe you are unfortunately too idealistic on this issue and only see black and white</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the same time, you won't even comment about the Arab League and how they're nations are revolutionizing toward democracy (like Israel where you obviously do not understand that Arabs, be them Muslim, Christian, or Druze hold equal rights and hold a better opportunity for life and free speech in Israel where they'd never be allowed in Arab nations</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or the fact that nations like Libya and Jordan have historically persecuted their Palestinian brothers and sisters, refugee populations and even exiled them back to Palestine</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think you perpetuate hate and anti-Semitism and won't acknowledge the plight of the oldest persecuted group in history. It saddens me that so many liberals do not remain objective on this issue and makes me believe anti-Semitism will remain until my culture no longer exists. Perhaps you don't know what it feels like to grow up realizing you're entire ancestry was murdered by NAZI regime and surrendered and abandoned by their neighbors; in Western Europe most Jews found Zionism ridiculous and identified with their nations until anti-Semitism exploded. Real liberals choose justice. Free Palestine, free Israel from being forced to deal with a military conflict they don't want for their own and other childrens' nations!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We will never forgive Syria for making us kill their sons." -Golda Meir</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if you support self determination for the Jews than where do you propose their homeland be? I honestly believe Native "Americans" deserve their own state which wouldn't even do justice because it would trivialize all native tribal cultures into one state. What do you propose is a solution than? Another holocaust?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And no I don't support that movement, I only advocate for objective Jewish-Muslim alliance oganizations that promote peace and justice for both like you claim to subscribe to</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more thing, almost all European Jews genetically originate in the Middle East and the Levant/ Afghanistan/Persia. This is empirically proven. I'm white in appearance but my father and sister are dark skinned, dark brown to black hair, and brown eyes and our ancestors derive from exiled Jews living in European lands. To support one and not the other, especially when history proves a much longer and deeper plight is contradictory</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And my last name **** comes from the name Levite which was a tribe in ancient Israel, just like Cohen and Kohain, and Rubin. Just some more proof for you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[After flooding my Facebook wall with propaganda] I apologize for flooding your page, and have removed the links except arabs for israel. I just think your position is too one sided an you have not addressed the Arab League whatsoever. I used to be just like you and was embittered by the modern Israeli state, but then I took Jewish history courses in college and realized how important the nation is to my people's existence. You have forgotten about the Holocaust and the 2000 years of persecuted diasporatic life. Either you are anti-Semitic by denying the existence of my culture's right to self determination. Watch Schindler's List brother and then lets talk</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How about you practice what you preach and protest against Arab States that hold endless amounts of oil money, give their citizens NOTHING, and murder them if they speak out. Or how about that every major war in Israel has been initiated by the Arab League and not the Palestinian people.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. I have always supported the right for Palestinians to self-determination. There are many Israelis on the left who feel the same way. I spoke out against Islamomaphobia when that asshole Senator Dodd held his ridiculous trial. I would like to see you or anyone from the Arab Muslim world to stand up against anti-Semitism or to acknowledge the right of Holocaust survivors to self-determination. It makes you hypocritical</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and why aren't you protesting for statehood for the Native Americans?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in America, practice what you preach and demand nationhood now for Native Americans! and you've never been to Israel or Palestine, I have and know how deeply this "apartheid" is in Israel and the fact that Arabic is a national language in Israel, and Arabs serve in the Knessest and can openly criticize their government without fear of murder or imprisonment like in most Arab states. Once again, be objective and actually retort my arguments!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Referring to me and one or two other anti-Zionists who responded or "liked" anti-Zionist comments] you all need to stop being TRENDY LIBERALS and be objective and provide agency for the Palestinian people in need and with right to a homeland without settlements or occupation, and protection for Israel who consists of Holocaust survivors and their families or exiled Jews from the Arabic world from powerful Arab states</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: Now you've done it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm no "trendy liberal," but I'd rather be that than an apologist for Zionist crimes, as you have so obviously shown yourself to be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I am going to correct the slanderous garbage you regurgitate, claiming anyone critical of Israeli policy is an anti-semite or denies Jewish oppression. You, just like the right-wing, are NO different in this regard (nor in your blatant falsehoods concerning Palestinian Arab freedom). Furthermore, not ONCE have I EVER trivialized Jewish plight, which you have mistakenly accused me of. The holocaust, and not only of Jews, but also of Communists, socialists, trade-unionists, gypsies, and homosexuals was, by far, the greatest crime against humanity in the twentieth century. Nor, for that matter, have I EVER denied complicity of European and U.S. governments, or their corporate counterparts, in the crimes of the Nazis. I have never ONCE denied the blunt fact that Western capitalism, manifest in corporations like IBM making deals with the Nazi regime or Henry Ford sympathizing with anti-Jewish racism, facilitated and perpetuated the slaughter of so many innocent Jewish people. Nor have I ONCE denied the blatant crime of Western governments that refused Jewish refugees, all of the purportedly great “anti-fascists” who, by their denial of the Jews, betrayed the roots of their complicity in Nazi crimes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You start your historical inquiry, no doubt, as a time which is best suits your story. You introduce the debate within the context of the Holocaust, yet ignore the fact that the origins of the Zionist state have little to do with the holocaust. The Balfour declaration in 1917, over THIRTY YEARS before the creation of Israel, had already outlined British policy as creating a “national home for the Jewish people” in historic Palestine. Balfour would go on to say:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, and future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let us do away with this myth that the holocaust was the impetus for the creation of Israel. Already, prior to 1948, Britain was already maneuvering to create a loyal client state in the region. Thus, thirty years after the original declaration 700,000 Arabs, whose homes and lives and desires Balfour callously dismissed, were forcefully and violently removed, bathing the “War of Independence” in Arab blood, baptizing Israel in ethnic cleansing. Call them “Palestinian” or not (your semantic arguments do little to sway anyone, I presume), but those Jews murdered in the holocaust were not murdered by Palestinian guards, they were not sent into Palestinian gas chambers, they were put to death by European Christians, by European fascists, and by so-called European and U.S. “liberals” who refused them refugee status and open borders. Why is it that the Arabs of Palestine, the 700,000 Arabs, many of whom are still alive, many of whom still have the original keys to their homes that they fled from Zionist violence, many of whom have sons and daughters and grandchildren who are denied the right of return to a place where only a few decades ago their ancestors lived. You cannot wipe the crimes implicit in the creation of the Israeli state clean. You are shameful to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Winston Churchill, an avid Zionist (as not all Zionists are Jews!) famously stated: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how the Zionists, be they Herzl or Churchill, Balfour or Ben-Gurion, felt about the Arabs in Palestine. They were dogs, dogs who had no right to the manger, no matter how long they had been there. Just as Churchill would callously dismiss the suffering and oppression and exploitation of the Indigenous Americans and Africans, he too, along with the founders of Zionism you openly quote on your profile, dismissed the Arabs as sub-human. Israeli “independence,” or what Palestinians call al-Nakba (the catastrophe), was draped not only in Arab blood, but in Zionist racism.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Provide for us, ****, proof of your claim that there were “community massacres” equivalent to the “Israeli’s innocent casualty wrongdoing.” Prove for us where and when there were 700,000 Arab Jews forcefully removed from their home in the same way that 700,000 non-Jewish Arabs were removed from their homes by the Zionist armies, by the terrorist Stern gang, by the so-called “liberators” of the “Jewish homeland.” Provide for us where prior to the Balfour declaration, prior to the whipping up of anti-Semitic hate in the face of the artificial creation of a “Jewish state” and the potential removal of Arabs from their homes, where there was a mass Jewish exodus, where there existed massive Jewish oppression in the Arab world. For hundreds of years Jews escaped European persecution, persecution by Christians, to live in Muslim lands, where they were at least granted some semblance of protection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for your preposterous claims of genetic rights to Palestine, you must be having a laugh! You cannot, with a straight face, tell me that because SOME European Jews “genetically originate in the Middle East” that you have a right to Palestine. If that were the case, ALL white European colonialism was justified, as most scientific evidence suggests Africa as the birthplace of our species. Trace our genetics back far enough and perhaps I and other white settlers can remove all the inhabitants of Eritrea on the grounds that humans originally migrated out of the Horn of Africa. Can you imagine if every person claimed the right unequivocally to go back where their ancestors lived 1,500 years ago and displace the people who currently live there? The absurdity of the proposition discredits itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">****, I have no need to comment on the Arab League, for the Israelis do it well enough themselves! I have no need, no love, and no respect for the corrupt, brutal, nepotistic Arab dictators who are falling under the weight of democratic uprisings. Yet, it is government YOU are defending which does! I have no sympathy for those facilitators of Palestinian oppression, for those dictators who would capitulate and defend Israel, a colonial settler state, against the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. But do not believe my words, look at how the Zionist press, the purportedly “liberal” and most prominent Zionist rag Haaret, treats the subject: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The West’s position reflects the adoption of Jimmy Carter’s worldview: kowtowing to benighted, strong tyrants while abandoning moderate, weak ones… Carter’s betrayal of the Shah [during the Iranian Revolution of 1978-9] brought us the ayatollahs, and will soon bring us ayatollahs with nuclear arms. The consequences of the West’s betrayal of Mubarak will be no less severe. It’s not only a betrayal of a leader who was loyal to the West, served stability and encouraged moderation. It’s a betrayal of every ally of the West in the Middle East and the developing world. The message is sharp and clear: The West’s word is no word at all; an alliance with the West is not an alliance. The West has lost it. The West has stopped being a leading and stabilising force around the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was it not Israeli and the U.S. governments which have propped up these dictators and despots? Was it not, for the sake of “stability” and “peace with Israel” that relations were “normalized” through force for the Egyptians? Was it not against the will of the mass majority of the Arab, and in particular the Egyptian, population that their governments have capitulated and given into Western imperialism? 54% of Egyptians favor an annulment of the euphemistically phrased “peace treaty” with Israel. Over 80% of Arabs in that region feel Israel is the greatest threat to security in the region, followed closely by the U.S. at 77%. Do not post propaganda of one individual Arab, an Israeli Arab at that, defending Israel and pretending that you can project it onto the vast majority of the Arab population, whose opinions differ significantly. It was only yesterday that a Palestinian student of mine described to me in detail the humiliation and dehumanization that he faces when visiting Palestine. He explained to me he was ashamed that he did not even feel safe in his own country because of the Israeli occupation, because of the constant presence of occupiers, because of how Israel dictates the land, the resources, the very lives of Palestinians. So, please, save your vitriolic rhetoric, dressed in a liberatory and equitable garb. Do not spew nonsense about how I “don't know what it feels like to grow up realizing you're entire ancestry was murdered” by the Nazis to justify the dislocation and suffocation the Palestinian people. I dare say Arabs, who live with oppression on a daily basis in Palestine, understand it far better than you do living in Ohio.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as for your barbarous quotes, “we will never forgive Syria for making us murder their sons.” Get off it! Let me tell you something, the people of Syria will NEVER FORGIVE YOU, if I can follow your lead in equating you with the Zionist movement (which you yourself do), for murdering their sons. What right does a Zionist, one who actively promotes the Zionist cause have to present such utterly false and mocking sympathy? Open apologetics for Zionist crimes, for crimes against humanity, are perhaps more than anything else the most disgusting aspect of your entire argument. I suggest in the future you refrain from regurgitating Zionist filth that openly exude the barbarity of Israeli crimes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As far as your patronizing and paternalistic comments towards me, you are right, I do not utilize my past to justify the removal of people from their lands. I would never exploit my past to protect and defend a government which would initiate the slaughter of innocent Palestinian boys and girls in Operation Cast Lead, like you. I would never manipulate the oppression of my people to justify the existence of a colonial settler state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It disturbs me that you spew that Zionist propaganda and simultaneously label yourself a socialist. I know of no real socialist that would willingly defend a state which can engage in ethnic cleansing, economic strangulation, and state terrorism to expand and encroach upon other peoples’ land. I suggest you either denounce Zionism as a political ideology, which drapes itself in the blood of innocent Arabs, or you renounce internationalist socialism, as these two things are incompatible and it does us socialists a real disservice to have you parading around under our banner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Random Responder: simma down fellas [kept for comedic value!]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At least I support both and acknowledge Israeli crimes. Let me ask you Derek, how about the Italian peace activist recently murdered in Gaza? He was murdered by an Islamist faction of al quaeda which you will never admit because it exposes the fact this war is perpetuated by nations and political movements that do not actually care about the Palestinian people, like they claim. Zionism began before the Holocaust because of the increasing antiSemitism in Western and Eastern Europe. You do have no idea and Jews have been representing socialism since the emmergence of capitalism. How about Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria give chunks of their ENORMOUS states to their Arab brothers and sisters? Why? Because they use them as political tools at the peoples' expense to push their political and economic agendas against Israel. Please Derek, tell me why we'd want to resettle a land with no oil and no infrastructure or agricultural system in the desert over life in countries that wouldn't accept us anyway. I love that you're white, claim to be a socialist which, israels economy is more similar to than US and European socialistic economies. You still haven't told me what the Jewish refugees should've done after WW2 or where to go or acknowledged that Jews have yearned for Zion throughout all of diasporatic history. You are regurgitating hateful, distored, and biased information. Once again, I support Palestine and Israel even though neither nations existed before nationalism. I challenge you to take a Jewish history course so you can see both sides of the conflict and realize it's not black and white</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Anti-Zionist comment here.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: Ever hear of the Jewish question? Probably not, if you did you wouldn't HATE Zionism and Zionists. Native Americans do deserve states rather than "autonomous" reservations where capitalism perpetuates alcoholism, extreme poverty, and no rightful justice? How bout' you focus on this or the Arab states and how they do not give citizenship to minorities and murder those who they claim to be their own. Let a 2state solution arise and stop hating Israel. Hate the right wing Israeli government if you'd actually like to come off as holding a logical position</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> You seem to make a hell of a lot of claims about me that you have no evidence to back up. There is no evidence to suggest that Arrigoni was killed by anyone BUT an Islamist faction of al queda sympathizers. Yet, what is fundamentally clear is that NO ONE, not the Palestinian people, not Hamas (who were democratically elected), not anyone in the ISM or any other Palestinian solidarity organization identifies with the murderers, a paltry, infinitely small group that holds no weight with the Palestinian people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jews HAVE been representing socialism, and they should continue to do so! Some of the most important leftists and intellectuals that I admire and have learned from, be they socialist or other radical traditions, have been of Jewish origin. Yet, what is fundamentally clear is that they reject ZIONISM, especially those who have lived long enough to see what it has created. I never denied that Jews have been fundamental to the socialist movement. Indeed, that Jews have been part of my tradition is a badge of honor, something to be proud of. You make claims attempting to refute things that I have never said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listen, ****, I do not have an answer to what should have happened post-World War II. I would have been fighting here inside the U.S. for Jews to come here had I been alive. Either way, I sure as hell know it should NOT have involved displacing 700,000 Palestinian Arabs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And don't give me that bullshit about "Jews have yearned for Zion throughout all of diasporatic history." The VAST MAJORITY of the world's Jews rejected Zionism, rejected the idea of resettling in historic Palestine, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, this is no "conflict," a word that intrinsically implies there are no actors, that it is just some neutral event that has spontaneously erupted. This is a conscious war of aggression, "genocide in slow motion," against a largely defenseless and starved population. This is the result of a colonial settler state. And I'll tell you why they choose Palestine, because it provided a religious pretext for colonial settlement. Because it was meant to be not a colony that exploits the labor and land of the people to send back to the imperialist base. It was instead meant as a settler state, one which would have to ethnically cleanse the population, to force them out for a new group of people to settle in. All the while to be utilized strategically by the real imperial masters, originally the British and post WW2 the Americans, to pursue their imperial ambitions in that region that IS oil rich, that DOES have a plethora of natural resources.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't be a fool, you surely must see that picture more clearly than you claim to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: **** [Anti-Zionist commenter], I appreciate your loving demeanor, but I do believe you're truly misinformed. I do not agree with all forms of Zionism, I simply believe that the Jewish people need a national homeland and deserve justice for over 2000 years of persecution. I am very aware of how Jews flourished historically in Arabic society, however, the Arabic world has changed and unfortunately is controlled by selfcentered leaders. You and Derek must understand I love and defend our Arabic Muslim cousins. I am very against occupation and settlement but truly believe there was no alternative for the Jewish people. I think perhaps if you both lived 50 years ago, you'd be avid Zionists because of your current logic. I'm an anthropology major and studied Southeast Asia in the changing global world and how it affects tribal nations and cultures exposed forcefully to western globalization. I think this has gone too far, I love you guys, but also love my people who have been oppressed far more than any minority in history. Like I said, I say we focus on our similarities as liberal socialists</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: Do you support the right of return for Palestinians? ALL Palestinians?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: Of course duder, but I also support the right of all Jews to return, especially in circumstances, like originally intended to provide an actual refuge and returned nation for the Jewish people because nobody wanted us. The Zionist Congress even proposed Uganda as an ulternative, but that would not make historical or logical sense. The goal was refuge for oppressed Jews, not colonization and murder and oppression of others. The world does not function ideally my friends and this is why not everything is black and white in this conflict. We must support both and bring attention to the wrongs and rights on both sides</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: "The goal was refuge for oppressed Jews, not colonization and murder and oppression of others."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as long as it is a refuge for Jews, colonization and murder and oppression are fine, I take it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: Of course not Derek, I've already acknowleged that</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: Then why do you defend the origins of the Zionist state, which are marred in the blood and oppression and murder and displacement of Arab Palestinians? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Because it's not that simple Derek. I don't dispute the fact that bloodshed was committed on both sides but there have always been peaceful, pro-Arab rights/self-determ Zionists since the origins of Zionism. What rights to self determination, regardless of Israel have you or the</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Arab League supported for the Jewish people, the most misplaced and oppressed people of all time? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.mideastweb.org/zionism.htm</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if you do not feel like going through this I understand, I would see evidence you gave me as biased as well I'm sure, but I'd still look at it. Read it and look at other parts of the website. I feel there are soo many things you are missing out on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek: And I respond in kind:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.counterpunch.org/herskovitz04262011.html</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I agree with many aspects of Herskovitz article, I do, however, point out that he must have had no ties to anti-Semitism in Europe predating and during the Holocaust. Franz Boas, the founder of cultural relativity in cultural anthropology, his family came to the US far before a period of violent anti-Semitism began in Europe. He also deeply felt for the Jews, but did not support Zionism</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many Jews in Western Europe did not support Zionism because they truly believed for once in history they could assimilate with the majority, but of course, once again the Jews were used as a political tool as always the case throughout European history. That's what we get for being misplaced and restricted Israelites in European white society. It's easy for American Jews who's families immigrated before the anti-Semitic influx between 1890's-after WWII.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also agree there is MUCH racism in Israel even against Ethiopian Jews as you mentioned before, but nowhere near equivalent to that in Arab states. I agree these things are all wrong, but they should not be our focus as liberals, our focus as liberals should be securing freedom for Palestine, maintaining the right of Israel to exist, and support democratic uprisings in the Arab world</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[After responding to a commenter who asked why his name was drug into the debate]</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I meant to say **** and **** since you both were supporting Derek's arguments without speaking for yourselves, but I apologize if you found that offensive</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">haha you're right that was pretty lame. I was just in the heat of the moment. Good luck in your research and remain objective. If I truly believed ALL aspects of Zionism and Israel were unethical and wrong I would have a different opinion. I used to feel the same way about Zionism and Palestinian encroachment (understatement), but took courses on Jewish history and Zionism in school and was informed by the truth and now my view supports both Palestine and Israel and I'm sorry, my friends, that you cannot accept this</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A classical two-state framework may serve only to feed revanchist nationalist sentiments, leading to renewed ethno-national conflict rather than to a stable peace. We must foster a countervailing force, one which stresses the values of regional cooperation and civic equality. Attachments to the sacred space and time of history and place, rootedness in ancestral family homes and tribal symbolism—whether by refugees insisting they can only return to their long-lost villages in Israel, or by settlers who demand to live everywhere their collective national memory was forged and to extend Israeli sovereign rule to every such area—must be tempered and transformed by new commitments to a shared political identity nourished by the ideal of equal citizenship. Rather than an intifada for winning Palestinian sovereignty over a holy mosque called Al-Aksa, placing both politics and law in the service of religion, we need a joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle for casting off the shibboleths and illusions of absolute national sovereignty itself. This is the hidden secret of human rights and international justice struggling to break free amidst the pious inflammatory nationalisms roiling the waters and sands of Palestine, Israel and the Middle East today." - Gidon Remba</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek, at least read the abstract for this paper. Once again not black and white, and the world does not evolve ideally</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This is the kernel of the problem, as we see it: the Jews comprise a distinctive element among the nations under which they dwell, and as such can neither assimilate nor be readily digested by any nation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Hence the solution lies in finding a means of so readjusting this exclusive element to the family of nations, that the basis of the Jewish question will be permanently removed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This does not mean, of course, that we must think of waiting for the age of universal harmony.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"No previous civilization has been able to achieve it, nor can we see even in the remote distance, that day of the Messiah, when national barriers will no longer exist and all mankind will live in brotherhood and concord. Until then, the nations must narrow their aspirations to achieve a tolerable modus vivendi." - Leon Pinsker</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strawson, and Anti-Zionist pretty much sums up and explains why I am a Zionist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anti-Zionism, however tends to argue one or some of the following ideas (a) Jews are not a nation (b) Jews are only identifiable by attachment to Judaism as religion (c) there is only tenuous evidence linking Jews to Torah historical accounts (d) the Jews come from Eastern Europe, not the Middle East (e) Jews are not a homogeneous group (f) Jews have collaborated with oppressors (Imperialism, the Nazis) (h) Zionism inevitably means oppressing the Palestinians. There are of course other views. These arguments all lead to an uncomfortable position that whereas all other self-declared nationalisms have validity, the Jews have no such claims - John Strawson</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My point is that, by calling me someone who supports a simplified linear meaning of what you misunderstand as only one type of Zionism, and associating me with people who murder Palestinians casts you as anti-Semitic (yes I know Palestinians are Semitic as well, just for liturgical purposes) because in doing so, you absolutely deny the right of Jews to nationalism, self-determination, and repatriation of their tribal land. Like Strawson mentioned, so every other ethnicity or nation in the world has the right to their own nation regardless of who has lived there at different points in history, but the Jews do not have a right to a nation in their homeland. I once again support Native American self-determination and am not sure why you're so hyperfocused on Israel, when there are plenty of worse nations and leaders and displaced peoples in the world to focus on. This is what makes your perpetual rejections of my arguments anti-Semitic</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"To imagine, as our Arabophiles do, that they will voluntarily consent to the realisation of Zionism, in return for the moral and material conveniences which the Jewish colonist brings with him, is a childish notion, which has at bottom a kind of contempt for the Arab people; it means that they despise the Arab race, which they regard as a corrupt mob that can be bought and sold, and are willing to give up their fatherland for a good railway system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the second place, this does not mean that there cannot be any agreement with the Palestine Arabs. What is impossible is a voluntary agreement. As long as the Arabs feel that there is the least hope of getting rid of us, they will refuse to give up this hope in return for either kind words or for bread and butter, because they are not a rabble, but a living people. And when a living people yields in matters of such a vital character it is only when there is no longer any hope of getting rid of us, because they can make no breach in the iron wall." -Ze'ev Jabotinsky 1923</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">read the Iron Wall</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Anti-Zionist Comment]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zionist: I can associate anti-Semitism with Israel because answer to me why my fellow liberals are so hyper-focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issues, when the world truly has many more, worse human rights problems. They may not be intrinsically anti-Semitic, but they are projecting anti-Semitic preference to Israel and it's human rights issues. I agree to end it</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Small exchange between Anti-Zionist and Zionist]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">****, your incessant defense of the founding crimes of the Israeli state, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the vicious murder and displacement of the 700,000 Arabs is NOT, AND WILL NEVER, be justified by your claim that Jews have been oppressed before, even if they are one of the most oppressed people in history. Your shallow misuse of the holocaust, your superficial conflation of Judaism and Zionism, your implicitly racist accusations of backwards Arabs, who suffer under the dictators YOUR GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS, even while you utter the hypocritical words of multiculturalism, is disgusting to me and anyone who sees the human tragedy in the brutal dismantling of the Palestinian homeland, a "homeland for the Jews" STOLEN by blood, by violence, and by colonization. Your consistent and irresponsible lies concerning Arab freedom in Israel and Palestine, your constant dismissal of their suffering, of the apartheid style conditions under which they live, and your omnipresent denial of the crimes INHERENT in the Israeli state, all of it is an utterly absurd rejection of socialist principles and ideals. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neither will anyone buy into your arguments that criticism of Israel is inherently anti-semitic. In fact, the ONLY anti-semite is YOU, the man who claims that Jews CAN NOT AND WILL NEVER be able to integrate themselves into other societies or cultures, and because of this they need their own state, a state soaked in the blood of the indigenous Arab population, a state which harbors an ideology of expansion and racism, not only towards the Palestinian Arabs but towards the Jewish people themselves! You, the ZIONIST, finds some inherent flaw in the Jews, some natural aspect of their character that inhibits them from functioning in other societies, that keeps them from living in other places, a feature which you claim is the basis and, by logical extension, the justification for Palestinian oppression.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are not a socialist, and you do not fight for socialist values. I tell you once again, I would suggest you remove the banner of socialism from your ideology, as your values do not align with it, and we do not want your peculiar brand of whitewashing Israeli crimes.</span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-59338166708739133092011-04-09T14:57:00.003-04:002011-04-12T19:50:35.161-04:00An Open Letter to Jeff "The Snowman" Monson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RQ182yvgxqA/TaCsBFzlojI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/X7rO9UqpEOg/s1600/jef3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RQ182yvgxqA/TaCsBFzlojI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/X7rO9UqpEOg/s320/jef3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Jeff,<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I've always had a prodigious amount of respect for you. As someone who has been engaged in Martial Arts for about half my life, I know how utterly militaristic and nationalistic the world of martial arts, especially MMA, can be. I was always so glad when I had the chance to see you fight, the chance to see someone representing political and economic ideals more similar to mine, and not just spewing nonsense, the sort of ideological hegemony that dominates much of the MMA world. You merged politics and sport in a way that was fascinating to me, and you gave me hope (as well as many others from the socialist/anarchist/leftist/radical tradition) that we did not have to reject things like MMA because it was often home to the most reactionary elements in our society.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">When someone would ask who my favorite fighter was, there was never a doubt in my mind. I would, without hesitation, tell them the Snowman, simply because I felt like you represented so well what Pablo Picasso articulated many decades ago:</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only his eyes if he is a painter, or his ears if he is a musician, or a lyre at every level of his heart if he is a poet, or, if he is merely a boxer, only his muscle? On the contrary, he is at the same time a political being, constantly alert to the heartrending, burning, or happy events in the world, molding himself in their likeness.</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Your activism, your articulate and well-thought out critiques of capitalist society, your confronting the police at the mainstream political conventions, your handing out of anti-war leaflets at fights, all of it was so inspiring.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">That is why I was so utterly disappointed and discouraged to hear that you openly broke with the <a href="http://www.bdsmovement.net/">Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment Movement</a> against <st1:country-region><st1:place>Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> to fight at the Israel FC event in November of last year. The BDS movement rightly targets <st1:country-region><st1:place>Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> for their dehumanizing and devastating occupation of <st1:city><st1:place>Palestine</st1:place></st1:city>, for their relentless strangle hold on <st1:city><st1:place>Gaza</st1:place></st1:city>, their apartheid style treatment of Palestinian Arabs, for the hostile and colonial-settler nature of the Israeli state.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As a fighter who is more than socially aware, you must have known about the massacres of Palestinians in 2008, about the flotilla raid in 2010, about the never ending encroachment and settlement upon Palestinian land. You must have also known that artists from around the world, whether they be musicians or writers, professors or activists, have participated in and helped expand the BDS movement against what is, at its core, a fundamentally unjust state, a state which, as an anarchist, you must know in your heart should be opposed. Everyone from t<span class="apple-style-span">he Pixies and Gil Scott-Heron, to Carlos Santana and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters</span>, to the famous Latin American writer Eduardo Galeano and the world-renowned Desmond Tuto the anti-apartheid activist, have signed their names to the list of BDS supporters.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">You mentioned in the interview how “nice” everyone in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"> was. You almost seem to use this as a justification for Israeli state actions, implying that the misery and suffering of the Palestinian people is chocked up to “derogatory things” that really do not exist because you did not see them. I assume, from your short time there, you did not visit </span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Palestine.</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"> I assume, as well, that you did not visit a Palestinian ghetto, you did not speak with Palestinian activists, you did not see their homes being bulldozed, the massive separation walls, the checkpoints, the dehumanizing searches, the lack of water for Palestinians to drink while Israeli homes sport beautiful green lawns. I suppose you did not speak with the mother or father whose son who has been detained, tortured, beaten, or killed by the Israeli IDF. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">You are absolutely right to point out that this is not a religious “conflict,” itself a euphemistic term that conceals the nature of the aggressor and victim, citing the fact that you saw “Arab kids walking alongside Jewish kids next to a Christian church.” Again, your political dispositions should allow you, better than many, to understand the nature of this is not religious. The nature, instead, is one of state violence, of state-terrorism, of the forceful removal of Palestinians, a form of “slow genocide,” that secures what is, at its core, an essential and strategic centerpiece for </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"> imperial policy in the Arab world. How can one separate </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Afghanistan</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span">, and now </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Libya</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span">, from Isreal and </span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Palestine</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span">? They are not separate issues, they are dynamically interwoven.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What is done is done, and the past cannot be changed. You took the fight, and you broke the BDS campaign in doing so. The question I and many other fans of yours have is why? Why would you break with a campaign, a strategy which has its roots in the anti-apartheid struggle against the old racist South African state? Why would a self-proclaimed anarchist, fighting to stomp out authoritarian hierarchy, economic injustice and inequality, and vicious and dehumanizing imperial wars, break with a campaign which holds similar aspirations for social justice and human dignity?<br />
<br />
I can only hope in the future you join the BDS movement. Join with those of us across the world fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people and help put an end to one of the gravest of injustices occurring in our lifetime.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
In solidarity,<br />
<br />
Derek</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-38043730333377825702011-02-02T19:58:00.000-05:002011-02-02T19:58:18.964-05:00Past and Potential: The Egyptian Peoples’ Struggle for Liberation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TUn7ivCsTYI/AAAAAAAAAOA/RNmr_m1by-E/s1600/w-tahrir-square-cairo-now-j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TUn7ivCsTYI/AAAAAAAAAOA/RNmr_m1by-E/s640/w-tahrir-square-cairo-now-j.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nearly two million people packed Tahrir square Tuesday in what must be one of the most popular, democratic, and collective struggles for liberation in human history. All over Egypt, in Alexandria, in Suez, and many other places, sister demonstrations complemented the primary rally in Cairo calling for systemic political change and end to Hosni Mubarak’s nearly thirty-year rule. Mubarak has become a hated symbol of authoritarianism and political corruption throughout Egyptian society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This popular uprising does not exist in a vacuum, however. It was galvanized in part by the Tunisian revolution a week earlier and was organized, originally, through online social media networks before the regime shut down internet access. Yet, the roots of this popular movement are much deeper, coming after thirty years not only of undemocratic rule by Mubarak, but also three decades of neoliberal economic policies that have continuously deteriorated Egyptian living standards. Furthermore, criticisms from within the predominately Arab state have also revolved around Mubarak’s role as puppet for Western powers, particularly the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and, reflexively, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. <span class="apple-style-span">Hossam el-Hamalawy, a longtime Egyptian dissident, blogger, journalist, and socialist, makes this point clearly:</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Revolutions don't happen out of the blue. It's not because of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Tunisia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> yesterday that we have one in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> mechanically the next day. You can't isolate these protests from the last four years of labour strikes in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, or from international events such as the al-Aqsa intifada and the </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">US</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> invasion of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Iraq</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">. The outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada was especially important because in the 1980s-90s, street activism had been effectively shut down by the government as part of the fight against Islamist insurgents. It only continued to exist inside university campuses or party headquarters. But when the 2000 intifada erupted and Al Jazeera started airing images of it, it inspired our youth to take to the streets, in the same way we've been inspired by Tunisia today.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s democratic uprising, then, cannot be characterized solely as a political movement or as a “Twitter” revolution. Indeed, as one protestor put it, “this is not about the internet, this is about the needs and demands of the Egyptian people.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It must be recognized that there exists a multiplicity of galvanizing factors that have sparked this nascent movement by the masses. Of these, the four most important are: (1) the undemocratic political institutions, (2) the increasing misery via declining economic conditions, (3) the capitulation to the U.S. and Israel, (4) and the revival of popular social and labor movements in recent years. Before analyzing these interrelated phenomena, however, it is vital that we confirm the popular, democratic, and collective attributes of this anti-Mubarak movement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Popular, Democratic, Collective Movement<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It should be understood that this is, indeed, a popular, democratic movement. Despite the ambivalent and ambiguous statements provided by </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> officials, and the outright attack on the uprising by Israeli pundits, every aspect of this movement points to the fact that it is a democratic, popular revolt against what is, at its core, an authoritarian, anti-democratic regime. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Sharif Abdel Kouddous, senior producer of DemocracyNow! and currently in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, painted a vibrant picture of the early days of this popular movement:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">In </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Cairo</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, tens of thousands of people--from all walks of life--faced off against riot police armed with shields, batons, and seemingly endless supplies of tear gas. People talked about Friday’s protest like a war; a war they’d won. "Despite the tear gas and the beatings, we just kept coming, wave after wave of us," one protester said. "When some of us would tire, others would head in. We gave each other courage." After several hours, the police were forced into a full retreat. Then, as the army was sent in, they disappeared.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[3]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">That report was from Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday also say hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. After that, organizers began calling for a million person march on that Tuesday. The popular response far exceeded that. Although no one has exact numbers, all estimates place the number of anti-Mubarak demonstrators at over one million. Some Al Jazeera reporters have estimated these numbers at close to two million. This does not count the hundreds of thousands of people in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Alexandria</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: black;">, or the tens of thousands of people in every other major city. The jubilance could be seen on the streets. One demonstrator, Walid Hegazy, proclaimed that “<span class="apple-style-span">Finally I feel it’s my country. It’s not the country of the police. It’s not the country of the governing elites or the ruling elites. It’s my country. So I’m really proud to be an Egyptian today.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The “legal” oppositional leaders have been largely tailing the population during these uprisings rather than leading them. Instead, the movement has been wide in terms of ideological participation and not organized through the “legal” oppositional channels. The protests have, for the most part, not been directed or lead by the entrenched, older social movements. As one activist, Nazly Hussein, eloquently explains: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">It’s really everyone’s revolution. And I think a lot of people have made it seem like it’s just for the radicals on either side or really a certain party, but that’s not true. If you look around, there’s everyone. Everyone, everyone, everyone, side by side, all with one cause. Women were treated with a lot of respect. I have never been treated with this much respect in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, I must say. I was amazed, amazed at the Egyptian people. They have qualities that I thought they had lost. But no, they haven’t.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[5]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although the youth sparked this movement through social networks, it has drawn in people of all ages, including men, women, workers, peasants, journalists, lawyers, students, secular leftists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, etc. It is an extremely diverse, profoundly broad social movement that has, essentially, brought in all of civil society. <span class="apple-style-span">Hossam el-Hamalawy also described the scene Tuesday:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The atmosphere here is a carnival, in every sense of the word. You find, you know, I mean, banners that are just hilarious. I mean, if you can read in Arabic, they are all denouncing Mubarak as a dictator, as an agent for </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> and </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> imperialism, denouncing him for what he did to this country over the past 30 years. Of course, I mean, the activist community here is a tiny minority for a change. It’s a different picture from what we’ve been seeing over the past few years. It’s ordinary men and women from all sects, and from all the provinces, actually, they descended here. And today, I was also happy to know that there will be simultaneous protests happening, coinciding with the Tahrir occupation, in </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Suez</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, in Mahalla, in </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Alexandria</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> and also in other provinces.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Often, liberation struggles are couched in terms of male liberation and in the West is that Arabs tend to be anti-woman. The conditions on the ground shatter these illusions and falsifications. Thus, it should be recognized that women have played a key role in this revolutionary uprising:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">[W]omen were protesting just the same way men were. Women were jumping on the cars of the police forces just the same—because we’re both very angry. It doesn’t really make a difference. Women are not less angry than men. But now that we’re actually here, you can see women distributing food, taking care of the first aid. I can’t really define roles, because we’re both doing the same thing. Roles are divided, but not according to gender at all. I thought maybe the people staying the night would be mostly men, but I was proven otherwise.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is even more significant is the fact that after enormous clashes with the police and their eventual withdrawal from the streets, regular people have taken up the duty of running society. In nearly every modern revolution, people have formed such committees. French workers, in 1968, formed and used workers’ councils to organize the largest general strike ever to shut down a modern industrial country. During 1972 and 1973, Chilean workers set up <i>cordones</i> to defend the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende and demand workers’ control over production. In 1979, workers created independent councils which they called the <i>shoras</i>, fundamental in overthrowing the ruthless Shah. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is in this spirit that the Egyptian people have formed their “Peoples’ committees,” not only to organize protests, but to keep society functioning at some level as the state apparatus, especially the police, has collapsed. These committees have been vital in organizing demonstrations and dealing with logistical issues. One demonstrator describes the duties of these committees:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">[W]e had to do everything ourselves. So, there was a couple days of anarchy, that we’re kind of still in, so people have to protect their buildings. We have communities, families organizing themselves to have like checkpoints on every corner. We have young people from every house or from every family protecting. But we’ve also gone out in the streets to clean up the garbage and to organize traffic…</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">And so, they’re making sure that we keep this as clean as possible to show that we don’t need this government, we don’t need the minister of interior. We can do this on our own, and we can do it better. It’s safer, cleaner and a much more pleasant life for everyone.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[8]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another one of the important functions the peoples’ committees served was evident during Tuesday’s march of over one million people. Checkpoints were set up at the entrance of Tahrir square and citizens fervently checked the identity of people entering to ensure that none of the state security forces, pro-Mubarak thugs, could make their way in. Furthermore, they have been used to set up defense brigades and peoples’ checkpoints that have protected homes, hospitals, museums, and other important social institutions from looters. In the process, citizen defense committees have sometimes captured these looters and have found that many of them were members<span class="apple-style-span"> of the hated state police forces who had been forced out of the streets on Friday.</span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"> What is important is that that leaving the demonstrations to participate in these defense brigades does not signal that people are tiring or losing their revolutionary fervor. On the contrary, the defense brigades and committees to protect their homes, clean the streets, maintain vital services, etc. are a vital aspect, perhaps as important as the demonstrations themselves, of this revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">This popular movement cannot be removed from its political and economic context, however, both inside of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> and in the larger global community. There are limitations that have not yet been tested, and the full potential of this movement is still, at this time, unclear. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Undemocratic Political Institutions<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hosni Mubarak, as of Tuesday night, is still claiming that he will “die on Egyptian soil” and continue his presidency until his term is scheduled to finish in September. The Egyptian people are not having it, chanting for Mubarak to leave “Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” There is no doubt that Mubarak now personifies the extreme political corruption and anti-democratic nature of the Egyptian state. Yet, Egyptian political institutions are larger than Mubarak, and as one woman so eloquently stated:</span></span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we say we don’t want the regime, it does not mean we don’t want Hosni Mubarak as a person and be stuck with someone else who is imposed on us. We want to choose our president because we want to take this country into the future.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title="">[10]</a></span></span></span></span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In other words, Mubarak’s shuffling around of his cabinet or replacing himself with his hand-picked vice-president would not be good enough for the people. Furthermore, Mubarak never promised he would not run again, stated instead that he simply “had no intentions to.” Yet, as Egyptians are well aware, there is nothing stopping Mubarak from creating a “state of emergency” that would demand his firm hand in stabilizing the country. On top of this, Mubarak’s son and potential successor has not relinquished his leading position in the National Democratic Party, nor has Mubarak called for the illegitimate parliament to be replaced by free and fair elections.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Egyptians are fighting for a political revolution, fundamental institutional change that transcends Mubarak. Despite this, there is deep hatred for Mubarak and his rule, and it is absolutely necessary that Mubarak, as a person, is no longer president. However, simply removing the hated dictator is not enough, the people will not settle with superficial change.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> is, technically, a semi-presidential republic that has purportedly representative institutions. However, the country has been under a permanent state of emergency law since the 1967 war with </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. Mubarak slid his way into power after President Sadat’s 1981 assassination, itself a manifestation of resistance by Islamist groups rejecting Sadat’s authoritarian smashing of Islamist organizations. Decades of political repression have meant that activists from various political parties, especially leftists and Islamists, have not been able to exercise basic political rights. Independent judges that have challenged the Mubarak regime have faced repression. Prison and police violence were often the result of political activism. Thus, Mubarak had essentially ruled unelected and unopposed for 24 years, not being put into the position of being elected until 2005.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This election, however, was marred by fraud, vote-rigging, police brutality, and violence from paid Mubarak supporters. <span class="apple-style-span">One example of this was that the Muslim Brotherhood, arguably one of the most popular political parties in the country, was banned from the election. </span>Aside from those problems, the election itself was completely illegitimate. In what was the first and only Presidential election in Egyptian history, only 16.4% of the population actually took the time to go to the polls, of whom an embarrassing 88.6% voted for Mubarak. In other words, out of a voting age population of <span class="apple-style-span">44.5 million people, Mubarak commanded the allegiance of, at most, a paltry 6.3 million.</span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>Prior to this illegitimate election, equally illegitimate “referendums” were held to ideologically cement Mubarak’s regime.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 2005 presidential election is not an anomaly. All elections in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> are largely recognized as shams by the population. As Tarek Osman explains:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">...despite huge campaigning on the government's and opposition's sides for the package of constitutional changes, fewer than 22% of registered voters (who themselves are a minority) turned out to vote in the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">March 2007 referendum (and that figure includes swathes of government employees who are virtually shipped to the polling booths). Moreover, in</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">June 2007</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">only 7% of Egyptians bothered to vote in the election to the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><em><span style="color: black;">shura</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">(the Egyptian parliament's upper house).</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[12]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s political institutions, then, are simply illegitimate structures of power. There is no popular sovereignty, no accountability, and no serious democratic characteristics to speak of. These repressive political institutions exist in a symbiotic relationship with the growing wealth inequality and exploitative nature of the Egyptian ruling class.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Declining Economic Conditions<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 1952 military coup which overthrew the British-backed monarch King Forouq brought to power a group of so-called “Free Officers” and their leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">, eventually, became the personal manifestation of pan-Arabism and a proponent of state capitalism as an economic model for development. This model was derided as “communism” by Western antagonists and real-world “socialism” by proponents. </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> attempted to juggle support from the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Soviet Union</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> in an attempt to augment </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s economic power as leader of the Arab world. Oil production, despite being relatively less than the gulf Arab states, was nationalized, providing a model for state control of production and the expansion of the public sector. Similarly, the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Suez Canal</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> was nationalized during this period. Profits were redirected, to large extent, into social services and infrastructure development for a period of time. Living standards did, indeed, increase in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> as people had access to jobs and services previously unavailable to them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This phenomenon of Arab nationalism scared the West, who feared they may lose control of the oil-rich Arab world if this development continued. </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, for a time, became hated enemies of the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. The Sunday Herald reports that anti-Nasser mania became so thick among the Western elite that there were even absurd schemes to kill </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> by poisoning his chocolates or inserting a poison dart in his cigarette.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[13]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> In contrast, millions around the Arab world were drawn in to </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">’s secular nationalism and he remained very popular within </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">, however, would go on to die in 1970 and, not long after, the economic model he championed would be dismantled. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The internal contradictions inherent in Nasser-style state capitalism meant that the model could not last forever. As Eric Ruder explains, </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">’s “attempts to win support from the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Soviet Union</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> demonstrated” that the Arab leader “elevated pragmatism and realpolitik over a commitment to any particular economic or political program” and would pursue any policy which “served </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s bid to become the undisputed leader of the Arab world.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[14]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> While the nationalist model of state development aimed at equality, democratic control over the means of production remained an elusive ideal. The political structures, likewise, reflected the centralized control by a bureaucratic elite and not the democratic control by the masses of Egyptian citizens. In other words, the state capitalist model eventually became its own inhibitor:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">…the transformation of economic structures proceeded on the basis of a state capitalism which in no way altered the capitalist relations of production… However great the aspirations and initial steps towards equality, any further progress was rendered highly problematic by the essential incapacity of this social class [i.e., the bureaucrats in control of the state] to formulate a coherent project. Its very nationalism, which had been intended as a revolutionary force, later served to mystify the crucial socio-economic differentiation of the traditional classes and of the privileged layer emerging from the new state-capitalist class.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[15]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As Ruder goes on to point out, “</span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Nasser</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">’s nationalism ultimately secured the rule of an Egyptian elite that used nationalist rhetoric to blunt the demands of the growing Egyptian working class.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[16]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It was from this Egyptian elite that Sadat and, later, Mubarak instituted their authoritarian regime.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Subsequently, Sadat introduced the “intifah,” or open-door policy, in order to combat the debt, inflation, and high oil prices that came to represent the later stages of the Nasserite model. Intifah was, essentially, an all out embrace of the neoliberal model:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Infitah was a sweeping program to impose a neoliberal agenda on the economy, including the loosening of currency controls, the creation of tax-free enterprise investment zones, and the return of various public sector industries to private control (or at the minimum subjecting them to market pressures).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This process from 1970 onward meant that </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> would move itself away from the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Soviet Union</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> and towards the West. This new open-door policy significantly decreased the standard of living for Egyptians. Wealth inequality increased dramatically, and the social services and public sector Egyptians had come to rely on were drastically slashed, either in the form of direct cuts or privatization. From 1961 to 1981, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> went from being one of the world’s largest food exporters to a nation dependent upon food imports to survive. The Egyptian elite, however, augmented their economic power during this period by extracting their wealth from the poor:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the lowest 20 percent of the population held 6.6 per cent of national income in 1960 and had improved their share to 7.0 per cent in 1965, they dropped to 5.1 per cent by the late 1970s. By comparison, the income of the highest 5 percent dipped slightly to 17.4 per cent from 17.5 per cent between 1960 and 1965 but increased markedly to 22 per cent after several years of Sadat’s policies.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[17]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These harsh economic policies continued for the next three decades under Mubarak’s regime. The wealth gap continued to increase, real wages declined, and Egyptians were forced to spiral into economic misery. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Today, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> is the most populous country in the region with over 80 million people. Gross Domestic Product per Capita has steadily increased an average of 2% every year from 1975 to 2000.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[18]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Yet, economic conditions for the mass of Egyptians have only worsened. Infant mortality rates remain high at 26 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with only 6 per 1,000 for the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. Literacy remains just slightly above 71% for adults and is far lower for females at 59%.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[19]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As of 2003, 52.7% of Egyptians lived on less than $2 a day.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[20]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> From 1995 to 2005, distribution of income<i> </i>for the lowest 10% of the population has decreased from 4.4% to 3.9% while for the wealthiest 10% it has increased from 25% to 27.6%.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[21]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> In 1976 the official unemployment rate was 4.6%, increasing to 9% in 1996, and topping off at 13% in 2007<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[22]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> before the onset of the world economic crisis. Since then, it has remained in the double digits. The workweek remains high at 48 hours and the unionization rate is only around 7% of the workforce.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[23]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> From 1987 to 1996, average real wages for Egyptian workers decreased from $58.3 per week to a paltry $45.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[24]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Attempts at unionization have been met with repression and demands to increase the national minimum wage from <span class="apple-style-span">$6.30 a month</span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[25]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"> to $240 a month have fallen on deaf ears.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to the 2005 Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey (HIECS) about 40.5% of the Egyptian population are in the range of extreme poor to near poor:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- 21% of the Egyptian population was near poor, meaning that about 14.6 million Egyptians can obtain their basic food requirements in addition to some basic services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- 19.6% of the Egyptian population was poor, meaning that about 13.6 million Egyptians (one out of every five) had consumption expenditure below the poverty line and could not therefore obtain their basic food and non-food needs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- 3.8% of the Egyptian population was extreme poor, meaning that about 2.6 million of the Egyptian poor could not obtain their basic food requirements even if they spent all their expenditure on food.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Statistics alone cannot show how this crushing poverty enervates such a prodigious segment of Egyptian society. As Tarek Osman points out, “<span class="apple-style-span">Egypt's lower classes are deprived not only of employment opportunities, passable education, and any luxury whatsoever; they are lacking basic human needs such as decent shelter, clear water, and humane transportation systems.</span><span class="apple-converted-space">” This is exacerbated by the “</span><span class="apple-style-span">gradual withdrawal of the state from its market-regulating and social-provision role.”</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[26]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">Furthermore, the Egyptian middle classes have felt the economic decline as well. The diminishing of the public sector means that a failing education system has lead to a “</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">general low levels of skills” plaguing even </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">’s educated class. In terms of purchasing power, </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">’s middle class is less powerful than it has ever been. Meanwhile, the “vast prominence and influence of a small group of businessmen and financiers,” along with the National Democratic Party’s new guard, “has left Egypt's middle class painfully aware of the hollowness and fragility of its traditional position in the society.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">”</span></span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[27]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 1.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">This has resulted in Mubarak dissolving any potential base of support. The Egyptian ruling class has isolated the poor, the working class, and the middle classes. Mubarak’s power now relies, internally, upon state security forces and party officials and, perhaps even more vitally, upon billions of dollars in external military aid from the </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">United States</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><b><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="color: black;"> as </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="color: black;"> Client State<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">With massive protests erupting all over </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and millions of people demonstrating all over </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, Obama still could not mutter the words that Mubarak ought to step down. As violent, pro-Mubarak thugs attacked pro-democracy demonstrators on Wednesday, the State Department urged both sides to show constraint. Many reports from Al Jazeera have claimed that the pro-Mubarak “activists” are state police forces or thugs paid by NDP officials, disproving the claim that Mubarak holds a vast allegiance of the Egyptian people. Numbers have been estimated at “several thousand” pro-Mubarak thugs in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Cairo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: black;"> on Wednesday, compared with close to two million pro-democracy demonstrators the day before. Thus, with this influx of NDP supporters, Wednesday has proven to be the most violent day yet with clashes between two diametrically opposed sides. Conveniently, this violence comes one day after Mubarak threatened that violence would erupt in the streets without his iron fist and stabilizing presence. Even with this orchestrated violence by the NDP, the Obama administration did not out-rightly condemn Mubarak’s regime or call on him to step down, urging instead that he simply to enact reforms in a timely manner.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this respect, as Noam Chomsky points out, Obama follows a long line of continuity:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, so far, is essentially following the usual playbook. There have been many times when some favored dictator has lost control or is in danger of losing control. There is kind of a standard routine: Marcos [Phillipines], Duvalier [</span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Haiti</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">], Ceauşescu [</span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Romania</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">], strongly supported by the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, Suharto [</span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Indonesia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">], keep supporting them as long as possible. Then, when it becomes unsustainable, typically say if the army shifts sides, switch 180 degrees, claim to have been on the side of the people all along, erase the past, and then make whatever moves are possible to restore the old system under new names.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[28]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a reason for all of this, however. It is not that the Obama is simply a pacifist and his administration is committed to non-violence. This is proven false simply by the fact that Obama has waged violent war against the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while promising Israel, one of the most militaristic and violent societies in the world, $30 billion dollars of military aid over the next decade.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Instead, Obama’s ambivalence comes from his </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s primary role as </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> client state in the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Middle East</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> officials are trying to play their cards right, balancing international public support with the Egyptian struggle with their decades-long support for the corrupt, authoritarian dictatorship in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> is, aside from </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, the largest recipient of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> military aid in the world. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Colombia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, another internally repressive society, comes in a close third. Yet, it is this prodigious </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> military and economic aid has propped up an unpopular Mubarak regime for years: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The magnitude of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> aid to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> since the 1970s is staggering. “The </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> has provided </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> with $1.3 billion a year in military aid since 1979, and an average of $815 million a year in economic assistance. All told, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> has received over $50 billion in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> largesse since 1975.” Corruption has created a very thin layer of obscenely wealthy Egyptians at the top, starting with Mubarak’s own family that has amassed a fortune counted in tens of millions of dollars. Conditions for the rest of Egyptian society are desperate: unemployment that has remained in double digits for years, per capita income of less than $6,000 dollars annually, and periodic food crises.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[29]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This support serves a dual purpose, however. Not only does it cement </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> hegemony in the region, it also acts as a form of corporate welfare for powerful military interests. As William Hartung explains:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">It’s a form of corporate welfare for companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, because it goes to Egypt, then it comes back for F-16 aircraft, for M1 tanks, for aircraft engines, for all kinds of missiles, for guns, for tear gas canisters… Lockheed Martin has been the leader in deals worth $3.8 billion over that period of the last 10 years; General Dynamics, $2.5 billion for tanks; Boeing, $1.7 billion for missiles, for helicopters; Raytheon for all manner of missiles for the armed forces. So, basically, this is a key element in propping up the regime, but a lot of the money… is basically recycled. Taxpayers could just as easily be giving it directly to Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics.</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[30]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There have been numerous accounts of protestors finding tear gas canisters, used by police to disperse the popular movement, with the label “Made in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.A.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">” printed across the bottom. On Sunday, F-16s flew dangerously low to protestors in an attempt to scare off the crowds. People, defiantly, roared back in a futile attempt to overcome the percussive sound blasts from the jets. The </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, then, has been a principal proponent of the Mubarak regime and, undoubtedly, has helped the regime stay in power through an influx of repressive military machinery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Yet, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> is not supported simply because it happens to be a cruel, autocratic regime. Instead, it is supported because Mubarak has opened itself not only to neoliberal economic policies, but also has completely capitulated to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> military demands. For instance, as the imperial ambitions of the Bush regime manifested themselves in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> invasion, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> opened up its airspace for </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> use and allowed free passage for U.S. Navy ships through the </span><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Suez Canal</span></st1:place><span style="color: black;">. On top of this, Mubarak has provided support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, despite some rhetorical flares to the contrary. All of this is in contrast to the vast majority not only of Egyptian, but Arab opinion as a whole.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This phenomenon goes back many years. Beginning with Sadat, the Egyptian ruling class tried desperately to break with the Nasserite-style pan-Arabism. Solidarity among all Arabs, especially support for the Palestinian liberation struggles, was an object of scorn:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">For example, as Sadat attempted to consolidate his power, he reacted by unleashing a vicious anti-Arab campaign reasserting that </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s primary identity is “Pharaonic.” A whole period of rejecting Arabism and scapegoating the Palestinians for </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s wars and poverty was led by the state-run media and permeated public culture.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[31]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">While </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> remains rhetorically committed to “peace” for the Palestinians, this rhetoric has very little effect on their foreign policy. Israeli newspapers, at the onset of these demonstrations, urged that international criticism of the Mubarak regime be silenced. They feared that a popular, democratic uprising would mean more solidarity and support for the Palestinian struggle. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s ruling class understands that its position in society rests upon their imperial benefactors. Indeed, as with other corrupt Arab regimes, the Mubarak regime has attempted to balance pro-Palestinian rhetoric to calm its impoverished population with pro-imperialist policies to please its real constituencies, the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Inherently, then, the millions of people taking to the streets to demand the overthrow of Mubarak are a direct threat to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and Israeli interests. Imperialist “domination in the region cannot be shattered without overthrowing those junior partners [such as </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">] of imperialist exploitation, the ruling classes in the Arab world.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[32]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Already, the seeds of revolution are being sown across the Arab world. The Tunisian revolution was simply the first shot in what appears to be a much wider regional phenomenon. The Egyptian continuation of this process greatly threatens </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> interests. Furthermore, the revolutionary fervor is spreading. Already the rumblings of discontent are being felt and reports of protest have come from other Arab states. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Jordan</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> has dismissed its government and in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Sudan</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> students have clashed with police. </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Yemen</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">’s president for 32 years, a corrupt </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> ally, has already publicly stated he will not seek re-election in 2013, while protestors are planning a large public rally against the government for Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This upsurge in popular resistance to corrupt regimes sweeping the Arab world comes as a welcome development. It is possible, although not guaranteed, that millions of people will, finally, throw off the yoke of Western hegemony. The final outcome, however, will rest largely upon the composition of the social movements propelling them forward.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Revival of Popular Movements<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In recent years </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> has witnessed a revival of mass struggle primarily in two areas. First, the Palestinian Intifada of 2000 galvanized large-scale political action. Second, labor battle beginning in 2006 saw the onset of enormous strikes that gripped the nation and sent shockwaves through the Mubarak regime. These two popular uprisings, in conjunction, both influenced and invigorated the Tunisian uprising. The Tunisian revolution, in turn, fueled the Egyptian struggle against Mubarak. Both the Egyptian and Tunisian revolution, then, cannot be separated from the recent history of struggle that had gripped </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> the decade prior. The third factor in this is the increasingly civil relationship between leftists organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood. This phenomenon may have influenced the ability of various political parties to come together and take a united stand against the Mubarak regime.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Second Palestinian Intifada of 2000 sparked widespread support among the Egyptian people. The Egyptian people, despite the propaganda campaigns to the contrary, recognized and rejected the anti-Palestinian policies of their leaders. University students eventually organized a demonstration supporting Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. Yet, it quickly spread to the high schools and, then, to the larger population. The people pushed for solidarity with Palestinian struggle and condemnation of Arab regimes that were actively capitulating to the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. Likewise, and against the wishes of their pro-U.S. dictator, some fifty thousand people took to Tahrir square in 2003 at the onset of the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> invasion of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. Despite the brutality of the police, protestors and demonstrators carried on. It was Mubarak’s compliance and subjugation to imperial powers, combined with the corrupt political system and declining economic conditions, that pushed Egyptians over the top. One Egyptian socialist details the movements next evolution:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In December 2004, the first public demonstration for the new movement for change happened, which we refer to as Kifaya, which means “enough.” The first slogan of the movement was, “Down, down [with] Mubarak!” Other slogans appeared against Mubarak’s plan to transfer power to his son, Gamal, to be the next president. The slogan of the movement was no to the continuation of the regime and no to the handing over of power to his son Gamal. This led to other demands, including an end to the emergency laws that were in place for more than twenty years, and another was to call for a free, democratic process for political parties and movements.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[33]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Economic conditions for Egyptians, however, were not improving. Therefore, it was not simply political issues and foreign policy that concerned Egyptians. Conditions for the Egyptian masses were dire throughout the 1980s and 1990s and any moves by labor during this period to increase their standing in society were met brutally by police. In 1989, state police used live ammunition against strikers during strikes in the steel mills and again in the textile strikes of 1994. The state machinery was blatant in its defense of capital in these cases. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The sham election of 2005 escalated things in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> as well. After Mubarak’s façade of democracy in 2005, Egyptians understood the anti-worker policies of privatization and attacks on labor would continue. In late 2006, however, Egyptians fought back and organized the most enormous strike wave since the end of World War II. Malhalla, a Nile Delta town with around 27,000 workers, triggered the strike and it quickly spread like wildfire to nearly every sector of society. Even with the partial victory of these strikes, and the eventual recognition of a new union for thousands of workers, there remain serious differences between the revolution in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and the union-led revolution in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Tunisia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">One major distinction between us and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Tunisia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> is that although it was a dictatorship, </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Tunisia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> had a semi-independent trade union federation. Even if the leadership was collaborating with the regime, the rank and file were militant trade unionists. So when time came for general strikes, the unions could pull it together. But here in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> we have a vacuum that we hope to fill soon. Independent trade unionists have already been subjected to witch hunts since they tried to be established; there are already lawsuits filed against them by state and state-backed unions, but they are getting stronger despite the continued attempts to silence them.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[34]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet, within these developing political and class struggles, a new and previously unlikely civility began to develop between two previously bitter enemies. The radical left, especially newer organizations centered around the Revolutionary Socialist Tendency, began to form partial alliances with younger members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Prior to this, fistfights on university campuses were commonplace between the two groups:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Bad blood between the Egyptian left and the Brothers has a long history, from the Islamists’ coordination with King Farouq in breaking strikes in the 1940s to President Anwar al‑Sadat’s encouragement of violent Islamist assaults on leftist university students in the 1970s. Most independent leftist organizations in the 1980s and 1990s hewed to a line on political Islam similar to that of the Egyptian Communist Party…equating Islamist organizations, reformist or radical, with fascism.</span></span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[35]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the advent of the new political movements centered around the Palestinian intifada, often spearheaded by leftists, some of the younger Muslim Brotherhood members opened up to their socialist counterparts. Likewise, younger leftists began to reject the “fascist” label that was broadly applied to all Islamist organizers. A split began to emerge between the older, more conservative leadership and the younger, more military Muslim Brotherhood members willing to work side-by-side with socialists. Yet, as socialist activist Hossam El-Hamalaway points out:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Today, the majority of factions on the left still stand opposed to (or express caution about) joint actions with the Islamists, most notably the newly evolving Democratic Left (a reformist tendency centered around<i>al‑Busla</i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">magazine), the Egyptian Communist Party, the People’s Socialist Party and a faction of the human rights community. But the Brothers and those comrades who will work with them remain engaged in mutual confidence building. The Muslim Brothers’ leadership is staunchly gradualist, and always on the lookout for compromises with the Egyptian regime. That stance will likely impede a further rapprochement with the radical left, unless the Brotherhood’s base of youth attains a greater say in when, and how, their powerful organization bestirs itself.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Still, these developments show that the potential for collective political action was developing prior to 2011. Mubarak’s capitulation to the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"> and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">, the increasingly desperate condition of working people, and the increased political activity and civil dialogue between opposition groups were all vital components in preparing the Egyptian people for the revolutionary uprising in 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As of Wednesday evening, Mubarak has still refused to step down. Yet, the Egyptian people are adamant that they will not accept his rule, not superficial political changes. The atmosphere is one in which there will be no negotiations with this corrupt, brutal regime. Already, pamphlets circulated Wednesday afternoon and calls for another massive demonstration are being put forth for Friday, February 4th. Three major blocs, the Movement of the Youth for Liberation, the Socialist Bloc for Change, and the Voice of Revolution, are calling for this demonstration.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[36]</span></a></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The Western media, and even Al Jazeera, have been looking at El Baradei, a “non-aligned, secular” politician, as a possible alternative to the Mubarak regime. In spite of this, it is very likely that El Baradei, if he takes power as an interim leader, will, in the words of El-Hamalaway, “diffuse the revolution, not take it forward.”</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[37]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> The Egyptians are struggling, first and foremost, for democracy. However, without the sort of direct democracy, evidenced by the popular committees running society at the moment, that can control how the resources in society are distributed, it is likely that </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> will remain subordinate to Western powers and their neoliberal economic policies. Collective decision making and a radical redistribution of wealth are desperately needed in Egyptian society. If, as has happened historically, wealthy reformers co-opt the popular, democratic cries from the poor and from workers, it is likely that Egypt’s revolution will produce little more than a superficial change in leaders. What Egyptians must demand is a fundamental restructuring of society, one that allows the institutions of society to be democratically constructed and the resources to be democratically distributed. Furthermore, the Egyptians must demand a government that truly represents them on the international scene, and stands firmly against U.S.-Israeli hegemony. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">It is hard to say at this time what sort of society will come from the ashes of the Mubarak regime, or how long this protracted struggle with his crumbling dictatorship will continue. It is clear that the left is playing a vital role in this movement, but it is not clear whether or not the left is strong enough to win over the majority to its program or to protect against the co-opting of this popular movement against elite, superficial reformers. At this time, we can only celebrate the historical struggle of the Egyptian people, and hope desperately that they do not replace one form of oppression and exploitation with another.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /> </span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy, Al Jazeera, 2011: <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201112792728200271.html">http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201112792728200271.html</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn2"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Video interview of protester from Monday, Jan 31st: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLJpzUp2Z8&sns=em">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLJpzUp2Z8&sns=em</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn3"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> Live from the Egyptian Revolution, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, DemocracyNow!, 2011: </span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/1/29/live_from_the_egyptian_revolution_by_sharif_abdel_kouddous">http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/1/29/live_from_the_egyptian_revolution_by_sharif_abdel_kouddous</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn4"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Voices of the Egyptian Revolution, 2011, DemocracyNow!: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn5"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy">I</a>bid.</span></div></div><div id="ftn6"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy">I</a>bid.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div id="ftn7"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy">I</a>bid.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div id="ftn8"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/voices_of_the_egyptian_revolution_democracy">I</a>bid.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div id="ftn9"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title="">[9]</a> The Rebellion Grows Stronger, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, DemocracyNow!, 2011: </span></span><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/1/30/live_from_egypt_the_rebellion_grows_stronger_by_sharif_abdel_kouddous">http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/1/30/live_from_egypt_the_rebellion_grows_stronger_by_sharif_abdel_kouddous</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn10"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[10]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Video interview of protester from Monday, Jan 31st: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLJpzUp2Z8&sns=em">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLJpzUp2Z8&sns=em</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn11"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Egyptian Voter Turnout, IDEA: <a href="http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm?CountryCode=EG">http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm?CountryCode=EG</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn12"> <div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Egypt: A Diagnosis, Tarek Osman, OpenDemocracy, 2007: <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy_power/protest/modern_egypt">http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy_power/protest/modern_egypt</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn13"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Sunday Herald article detailing abscure plans to assassinate Nasser, 2000: <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000319/ai_n13945412/">http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000319/ai_n13945412/</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn14"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Egypt, Israel, and the U.S., From Nasserism to Collaboration, Eric Ruder, International Socialist Review, 2011: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn15"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[15]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Marie-Christine Aulas, “State and ideology in republican <st1:country-region><st1:place>Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>,” in Fred Halliday and Hamza Alavi eds., State and Ideology in the <st1:place>Middle East</st1:place> and <st1:country-region><st1:place>Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1988), 137. Quoted in <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn16"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ruder, ISR: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn17"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[17]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Marvin Weinbaum, “<st1:country-region><st1:place>Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s ‘Infitah’ and the politics of <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> economic assistance,” Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 21 no. 2 (April 1985): 217. Quoted in <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn18"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Economic Indicators - Egypt, 2003: <a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_818.pdf">http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_818.pdf</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn19"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> CIA Factbook: <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn20"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[20]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Econmic Indicators - Egypt, 2003: <a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_818.pdf">http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_818.pdf</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn21"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[21]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ironically, the wealth gap is smaller in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region> than in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world.</span></div></div><div id="ftn22"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[22]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Challenging Neoliberalism, 2007: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/54/egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/54/egypt.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn23"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[23]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Global Policy Network, Egyptian Economic Indicators, 2003: <a href="http://www.gpn.org/data/egypt/egypt-data.pdf">http://www.gpn.org/data/egypt/egypt-data.pdf</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn24"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[24]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="color: black;">Nominal Wages: CAPMAS, Employment, Wages and Hours of Work (Ewhw), Several Issues AND El-Ehwany, N. & H. El-Laithy (2001) Poverty, Employment and Policy Making in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;">. Quoted in </span><a href="http://www.gpn.org/data/egypt/egypt-data.pdf">http://www.gpn.org/data/egypt/egypt-data.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn25"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[25]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Al Jazeera article detailing protests over the ridiculously low minimum wage in Egypt: <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201052161957263202.html">http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201052161957263202.html</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn26"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[26]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Osman: <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy_power/protest/modern_egypt">http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy_power/protest/modern_egypt</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn27"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[27]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ibid.</span></div></div><div id="ftn28"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[28]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Noam Chomsky interview on DemocracyNow: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/noam_chomsky_this_is_the_most">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/noam_chomsky_this_is_the_most</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn29"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[29]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ruder: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn30"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[30]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Interview on DemocracyNow! detailing the level of U.S. military aid provided to Egypt: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/31/made_in_the_usa_tear_gas">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/31/made_in_the_usa_tear_gas</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn31"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[31]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ruder: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-egypt.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn32"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[32]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Moshe Machover and A. Said (Jabra Nicola), “Arab revolution and national problems in the Arab East,” The International, Summer 1973, www.matzpen.org/index.asp?u=101&p=revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn33"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[33]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Class Struggle in Egypt, International Socialist Review, 2008: <a href="http://www.isreview.org/issues/59/feat-egyptstrikes.shtml">http://www.isreview.org/issues/59/feat-egyptstrikes.shtml</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn34"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[34]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy: <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201112792728200271.html">http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201112792728200271.html</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn35"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[35]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Comrades and Brothers, Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy, 2007: <a href="http://www.merip.org/mer/mer242/hamalawy.html">http://www.merip.org/mer/mer242/hamalawy.html</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn36"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[36]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Interview on DemocracyNow: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/as_mubarak_pledges_to_finish_term">http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/as_mubarak_pledges_to_finish_term</a></span></div></div><div id="ftn37" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Past%20and%20Potential%20Egypt.doc#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[37]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Hossam El-Hamalawy answering readers' questions on Washington Post: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2011/01/31/DI2011013102323.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2011/01/31/DI2011013102323.html</a></span></div></div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-37514272616990686232011-01-29T14:50:00.001-05:002011-01-29T14:57:04.906-05:00The Real Democratic Force in the Arab World<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is apparent, given the revolutionary upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, along with the accompanying protests in Jordan, Yemen, and other places in the Arab world, that neither the United States nor Israel are the proponents of democracy. In fact, Israel's devout support for the corrupt Mubarak regime, alongside the United States' billions of dollars of yearly military aid for the corrupt state apparatus, shows that far from being progenitors of democracy, these states have shown themselves to be stalwart defends of oppression and exploitation.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TURvRjbIEXI/AAAAAAAAAN8/EXhrkS8LM44/s1600/egyptprotest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TURvRjbIEXI/AAAAAAAAAN8/EXhrkS8LM44/s320/egyptprotest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although the following post will not relate directly to Egypt (for a live stream, please visit <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/">Al Jazeera</a>), it will deal with Morocco, another U.S. client state with a highly undemocratic regime that presents a facade of popular government. I wrote this reflection after having to attend a discussion on a civics program called Civitas. Some Moroccan government officials, as participants in the program alongside the U.S., were present. It is obvious, in my opinion, that the program is largely a front to propagandize the participants in the United States and, even more so, in Morocco, to buy into very superficial conceptions of democracy. In honor of the Tunisian revolution, and the valiant struggles of the Egyptian people still ongoing, I post this piece.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can only imagine the prospects of these struggles for the future. Perhaps, the people of Morocco and the Western Sahara will be next.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The notion of how to students, and teachers, involved in civic education at a grassroots level is an intriguing and well-pursued area of study. It is vital for students to understand both the forms of civic participation narrowly confined under the legal and political scope of “public policy,” alongside the more broad and participatory forms of civic engagement which extend beyond the traditional institutions imposed from above. In other words, while students ought to be educated about the legal channels through which small-scale change may occur, it should never, for the sake of democracy, displace the emphasis on the form of activism that pushes the legal limits and, in many cases, fundamentally challenges the dominant structures of our society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My experience with the Center of Civic Education representatives, along with the delegation from Morocco, has lead me to the conclusion that the Civitas program, headed by the Center for Civic Education, is not entirely conducive to the goal of democratizing society as I understand it. Instead, aside from the benevolent-sounding rhetoric, Civitas seems aimed primarily at enervating popular movements and forcing them to be subsumed into the current political system, rather than encouraging them to fundamentally alter what are, essentially, unjust social relations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore, by completely ignoring the economic system, which is inherently undemocratic when organized under the auspices of capitalism, political democracy is little more than a sham. To paraphrase what John Dewey proclaimed a century ago, until we free ourselves from industrial feudalism, politics will remain the shadow cast over society by big business. Power in society will, as James Madison so exuberantly effused was the correct order of things, remain with the “minority of the opulent.” My largest complaint with Civitas, then, is that its understanding of “democracy” is limited to the most basic and low levels of democratic participation which, in large part, are the most unimportant and non-participatory forms of civic engagement that currently exist. It is narrow in scope and serves not as a gateway to more progressive forms of democratic participation, but as an ideological weapon to prove that the “system works” because students are able to get rid of plastic lunch trays or get a few truant classmates back into school (worthy goals, no doubt, but out on the periphery). In other words, while in its mission statement it claims to be “nonpartisan,” it is definitely not “non-ideological,” it is inextricably linked to a conception of democracy tied to capitalism as an economic system, and insofar as this is true, its commitment to democracy proves nothing more than rhetoric.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next complaint is that, while it aims to show that “democracy works,” it is funded by a government, namely, the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which simply does NOT take democracy seriously around the world. In <st1:country-region><st1:place>Vietnam</st1:place></st1:country-region> it staged a brutal occupation and war to avoid democratic elections in which it feared Communists would win. In 1973, the United States materially supported the overthrow of the democratically elected government in Chile because it challenged corporate interests in the region and upset the hyper-exploitation of the people there. In the 1980’s it backed the vicious and brutal terrorist organization named the Contras in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Nicaragua</st1:place></st1:country-region> against the Sandinistas, who garnered mass popular support, in their overthrow of a <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> backed dictator. There are various more instances that could be cited here. The <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> supported the apartheid regime of <st1:country-region><st1:place>South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region> until the very end against the democratic will of the majority black population there. When Huge Chavez won the democratic election in 1999, the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> leaders panicked and, in 2002, with the help of the CIA, supported a military coup against him. When Hamas was democratically elected by the people of <st1:city><st1:place>Palestine</st1:place></st1:city>, the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> placed them on the terrorist watch list and would not negotiate with them, despite being internationally observed as a free and fair election. Just last year, when President Zelaya of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region> was overthrown in a military coup, the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> backed the military government that brutally repressed civil dissent in the country. In other words, democracy is fine as long as the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> backed candidate is elected. Democracy is a threat, however, when it challenges <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> corporate interests and the larger ideological capitalist hegemony. How then, can one of the most anti-democratic governments in the world construct and implement a program that claims to support democracy? Simply put, it cannot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For instance, one of the countries in which the program takes place, Morocco, and also where the representatives in our meeting were from, is one of the most highly undemocratic, in fact, anti-democratic nations in the world. <st1:country-region><st1:place>Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region>, a constitutional monarchy, has always been a pawn of the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, both as an anti-Communist buffer in <st1:place>North Africa</st1:place> and, more recently, as an “anti-terrorist” state who happily signed on with the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> wars of aggression to placate its own colonial holding in <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place>. While <st1:country-region><st1:place>Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region> has a democratically elected parliament, the only democratically elected body, only 37% of the population actually voted in the last election, meaning that far less than half the population was represented. Furthermore, real power lies with the Moroccan monarch, who wields an enormous amount of executive power, enough to even disband parliament at will. The country hosts a brutal occupation of the <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place>, which it took over after <st1:country-region><st1:place>Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region> withdrew in the 1970’s. Since then, there has been a popular, grassroots movement in the <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place> for independence and democracy. Ironically, the <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place>, which is 99% Arab and Berber, has a female spokeswomen as the head of the democratic movement there, which is what the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> claims it wants to see in the Arab world in regards to womens’ rights and so on. Instead, it supports <st1:country-region><st1:place>Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region> in its colonial exploits over the region, and as permanent member of the Security Council, has blocked United Nations resolutions promoting Western Saharan independence. We are to believe, then, that these two highly anti-democratic governments have formed a partnership through Civitas in which they are mutually exploring democracy. Orwell must be rolling in his grave.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I attempted to engage the Moroccan delegation, who were, basically, government spokesmen, not educators, on their occupation of the <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place>, the English-speaking representative misleadingly attempted to sway the audience by claiming that the occupation was, essentially, just a “media misunderstanding” because one Spanish outlet had put a picture of <st1:city><st1:place>Gaza</st1:place></st1:city> up when talking about the <st1:place>Western Sahara</st1:place>. Then, I was instructed that I was not qualified to speak on <st1:country-region><st1:place>Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region>, or its political institutions, because I was not from there nor had I been there, and “reading about <st1:country-region><st1:place>Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region> is different than being there.” I suppose that reading about the enormous power that the Moroccan leader has, or listening to ground reports and first-person accounts of the Western Saharan occupation, or having read and listened to the foremost author of the Western Saharan occupation, means absolutely nothing to the Moroccan government officials. Indeed, this is what, presumably, passed for democratic discourse in Moroccan society. No wonder the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> leaders are pursuing such close ties, the ideological unanimity among the Moroccan rulers must inspire them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perhaps the most telling comment came from the big screen, where Civitas directors from another part of <st1:state><st1:place>Ohio</st1:place></st1:state> were trying to explain their program through the superb technological capabilities available at the <st1:place><st1:placetype>University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Toledo</st1:placename></st1:place>. At one point, and this is when I truly understood for the first time the core component of what Civitas was, the male representative explained that the program was designed to get people to try and change public policy through the most basic channels and to get them to work without “protests, holding signs, or street demonstrations.” Those words were the most lucid, clearest articulation of what the program actually was meant to do. After I engaged that comment, some of the representatives backed off that claim, and attempted to back-peddle. One man, in particular, the gentleman I had a conversation with afterward, was open to dialogue, which I found refreshing concerning the ideological dogma manifested by the rest of the Civitas representatives.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite this, it remained apparent that Civitas was, primarily, a program meant to inculcate teachers and students with the idea that social change was best pursued through the lowest legal channels available, and that civic participation beyond that ought to be questioned and, sometimes, even ridiculed for ineffectiveness and, as they basically implied, its “non-democratic” nature. Regardless of the purported aims, it was clear to me upon leaving that meeting that Civitas is something that is meant to funnel our disgust with the inequality in society into safe channels, into outlets that make us feel good about doing something small but do not cultivate an idea or organizing for greater societal change. Civitas, for instance, would not support the work of WikiLeaks, an organization truly fighting for democracy and transparency, or the British students fighting back against budget cuts and austerity. The day that Civitas gets students to protest their schools for slashing their budgets, raising tuition, or cutting teachers, that is the day that I will get Civitas a second glance. Until then, I understand the program is little more than, despite the benevolent intentions of some individuals involved, a government-sponsored propaganda program meant to install what are, essentially, undemocratic values under the guise of democratic participation.</span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-85733219538709822792011-01-05T17:03:00.001-05:002011-01-05T17:06:27.294-05:00The Best and Worst of 2010<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This was supposed to be done on New Years, but life sidetracked me. A lot has happened in the past year, and since I have not posted anything in a minute, here’s a brief list of some of the most important, in my opinion, events of the year. I may have forgotten a few things, so if I have let me know and I’ll be sure to add it! Events are not organized chronologically or in terms of importance.</div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpO7tDb1I/AAAAAAAAANo/E-V3twe98s4/s1600/howard+zinn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpO7tDb1I/AAAAAAAAANo/E-V3twe98s4/s200/howard+zinn+3.jpg" width="153" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Our favorite peoples’ historian and teacher, Howard Zinn, passes away in early 2010, not long after releasing an excellent theatrical performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The People Speak</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Venezuela passes a law, one which we ought to have had years ago in the United States, making banking a “public service,” putting some serious regulations on banks and requiring them to contribute more to social programs, housing construction, etc.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Vandana Shiva betrays any leftist credentials she has ever had by opening up a conference for the quasi-fascist, Hindu supremacist <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Lowkey drops FIVE of the hottest political hip-hop videos ever: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Obama Nation</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cradle of Civilization</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrorist</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Million Man March</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood, Sweat, and Tears</i>!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpPQwoqSI/AAAAAAAAANw/tH4ULpl-n0w/s1600/lowkey1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpPQwoqSI/AAAAAAAAANw/tH4ULpl-n0w/s200/lowkey1.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The </span></span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">University</span></span></st1:placetype><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> of </span></span><st1:placename><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Toledo</span></span></st1:placename></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">’s president autocratically pushes through a massive restructuring of the university with, basically, absolutely no student, faculty, or staff input.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Some reactionary judge dismisses all charges against Blackwater mercenaries in the </span></span><st1:street><st1:address><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Nisoor Square</span></span></st1:address></st1:street><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> massacre.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Obama has STILL kept </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Guantanamo</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> open, despite campaign promises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">A bunch of us in the </span></span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">College</span></span></st1:placetype><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> of </span></span><st1:placename><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Education</span></span></st1:placename></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> at UT make it through the hell that was our Methods!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The earthquake in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Haiti</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, as well as the years of instability and economic deprivation due to foreign imperialism, causes countless misery and death for hundreds of thousands of Haitians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">In the midterm elections Republicans sweep the House while Democrats barely cling on for dear life as they struggle to maintain a majority in the Senate (although no Black people will be present in the Senate).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpPHbDPEI/AAAAAAAAANs/zficy4gtPu8/s1600/labotz-senate1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpPHbDPEI/AAAAAAAAANs/zficy4gtPu8/s1600/labotz-senate1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Dan La Botz, a socialist, gets 25,311 votes in heartland </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Ohio</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Akala releases what is probably THE best hip-hop, genre-crossing album of 2010 with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DoubleThink</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Self-proclaimed contrarian, “neo-Marxist” Slavoj Žižek spews some racist, anti-Roma crap and defends what are, essentially, pogroms against them in </span></span><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Europe</span></span></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Sell-out Wyclef Jean, supporter of the anti-democratic coup against Aristide, attempts to run for the Presidency in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Haiti</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, only to be shutdown because the bastard hasn’t even lived there for the years it requires.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Elton John sells his soul for $1 million by playing at the anti-gay bigot Rush Limbaugh’s wedding, and then turns around and plays a show in Tel Aviv, despite the Israeli boycott, and calls those protesting SB1070 a bunch of “fuck-wits.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place><st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Kiev</span></span></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, </span></span><st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Ukraine</span></span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> hosts the second annual International Anti-Fascist Mixed Martial Arts festival, something we cannot afford to not have here in the states!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">A couple of fed-up black workers rise up and slay </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">South Africa</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">’s most prominent white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">After originally sporting some real percussive Free Palestine ads on their city buses, </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Seattle</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> backs down from political ads and claims they will only show “commercial” ads, as if corporate speech is apolitical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court rules corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect and defeat candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Boots Riley of The Coup and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine get together to form The Streetsweeper Social Club and drop a pretty good mixtape.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpJln0heI/AAAAAAAAANU/oV4ZAbwrFd4/s1600/alg_isom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpJln0heI/AAAAAAAAANU/oV4ZAbwrFd4/s200/alg_isom.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">David Isom runs up to a right-wing crazy trying to burn a Qur’an, grabs it, then skates off, only to become a youtube sensation with a sweet auto-tune remix of his accomplishment. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Some brave Jimmy John’s workers get together and organize the first IWW union within the chain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Coup government of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Honduras</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> is sworn in, while democratically elected leader Zelaya is forced to leave.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Some 50,000 British students protest and occupy university buildings to demand that the new Lib-Dem government go through on their promises not to raise tuition fees, which they do anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> finally, after a bunch of dithering back and forth, repeals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in a major victory of the LGBT community.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Eminem, once again, completely and utterly wastes his talents by releasing an album so self-absorbed and apolitical it is sickening, only slightly redeeming himself by sardonically comment that gays ought to be able to marry because everyone ought to have the opportunity to be miserable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">The M_Ahmadinejad (which I assume is NOT run by Ahmadinejad) responds to the Qur’an book burning by claiming that he would “like to retaliate by burning a book that you Americans hold dear, but the only book you care about is Facebook.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Spain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"> takes the World Cup while the rest of the world leaves South Africans with debt and despair afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">Athletes, including “Los Suns,” speak out against the vicious and vitriolic anti-immigrant law SB1070 in </span><st1:state><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span">Arizona</span></st1:place></st1:state><span class="apple-style-span">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">Rap News releases some of the most hilarious satirical commentary regarding WikiLeaks and government repression ever done through the hip-hop medium.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Nutjob Alex Jones condemns WikiLeaks for being an inside job to promote the global illuminati conspiracy theory after condemning Noam Chomsky for working for the CIA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Arundhati Roy’s home gets attacked by right-wing thugs for claiming that the Kashmiri people deserve some respect and, perhaps, autonomy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Eyedea, a rapper, dies at only age 28. R.I.P.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpOZzj_OI/AAAAAAAAANk/Dm9a0JXdL2U/s1600/Glee+Ballad+-+Finn+and+Kurt+at+Piano.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpOZzj_OI/AAAAAAAAANk/Dm9a0JXdL2U/s200/Glee+Ballad+-+Finn+and+Kurt+at+Piano.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glee</i> really takes on the issue of gay rights when Kurt’s dad confronts Finn for spewing some homophobic crap in his home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">A barrage of suicides, attacks, and violence against LGBT youth takes place, promoting the “It Gets Better” campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">In a sweet move for us broke, politically-minded college students, Dead Prez releases their mixtape RBG Grillz for free, which flips Lloyd Bank’s vacuous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beamer, Benz, or Bentley</i> into the more revolutionary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marcus, Garvey, Huey</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Rich Iott, trying to win a representative seat for </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Ohio</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, gets caught dressing up as a Nazi, and then gets rocked by Marcy Kaptur in the election.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Mark Coleman attempts what is, basically, one of the most disastrous comebacks in MMA history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Israel</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> continues its illegal and immoral settlement of Palestinian land, perpetuating the suffering and misery of the already suffocated, starved, and enervated Palestinian people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">ACORN is essentially dismantled after one video surfaces of an organizer helping out a right-winger pretending to be a pimp.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">For a few minutes the world watched as Shane Carwin pounds on the purportedly invincible Brock Lesnar, only to get choked out in the first part of the second round after gassing bad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Congress passes what is, perhaps, the absolute worst version of healthcare “reform” that could ever take place, basically handing private insurers more “customers” and not doing much in the way of actually providing care.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpLrAECBI/AAAAAAAAANc/w1Jsrq0i0rI/s1600/Cain-Velasquez-beats-Brock-Lesnar-UFC-121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpLrAECBI/AAAAAAAAANc/w1Jsrq0i0rI/s200/Cain-Velasquez-beats-Brock-Lesnar-UFC-121.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Cain Velasquez, sporting his “Brown Pride” tattoo, sweeps through the heavyweight division culminating in his relentless whooping of Brock Lesnar, known for his conservative politics, in what was as powerful a political victory for Mexican-Americans as it was an individual victory for Cain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Researcher exposes the fact that </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> doctors secretly infected hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis in the 1940’s. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Rampage makes a terrible showing against Evans, but comes back a few months later and really shows his stuff against </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Machida</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, winning a decision, even if he did comment at the end that “</span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Machida</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> whooped my ass!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Middleweight champ Anderson Silva plays with Damien Maia for five rounds and, then, gets beat up for five by racist, homophobic Shael Sonnen until Silva triangle chokes him with a minute left in the last round (serves him right for the homophobic trash he talked about Brazilian Ju-jitsu).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Attempted police coup in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Ecuador</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> almost ousts democratically elected President Correa.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Chuck Liddell gets knocked out HARD by Rich Franklin, despite showing some potential for the first minute or so of the fight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">TSA introduces highly invasive body scanners to protect us against all sorts of devils.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S. Social Forum brings thousands of activists together in </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Detroit</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpJBSle6I/AAAAAAAAANQ/TM_BvHZTsM4/s1600/100726-wikileaks-hmed-1p.grid-6x2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTpJBSle6I/AAAAAAAAANQ/TM_BvHZTsM4/s200/100726-wikileaks-hmed-1p.grid-6x2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">WikiLeaks releases classified war documents in massive quantities relating to </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Iraq</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Afghanistan</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, and </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> diplomacy dating back decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Julian Assange, head of WikiLeaks, is accused of violating two women in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Sweden</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> and stirs an international debate on the left, especially the feminist left, of how to deal with such accusations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">A BP Gulf Coast oil rig blows up, killing eleven workers and resulting in the largest </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> oil spill ever, devastating both the ecosystem and livelihoods of people in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Frankie Edgar, in probably the biggest upset of the year, beats BJ Penn not once, but twice!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, faculty, and staff take part in a day of action to defend </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">California</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">’s schools against austerity and budget cuts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Jon Stewart leads the anti-climatic “Restore Sanity” rally to tell everyone to calm down and stop being so darn political.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">MasterCard revokes the right for individuals to donate through them to WikiLeaks, while maintaining that service for the KKK.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">FBI raids Palestinian activists homes in what is reminiscent of the COINTELPRO raids of the 1960’s, although slightly less violent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">A Massey Energy Mine, cited for hundred of safety violations, explodes and kills 25 workers while the CEO gets off clean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Blue Scholars drops <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coffee and Snow 2</i> and, although it is not as good as the original, it was superb!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Paul Daley sucker punches Josh Koscheck after the fight in which Kosheck fakes getting hit in the eye and refuses to stand up and box with him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTrWvWADhI/AAAAAAAAAN4/hicENP6Pbog/s1600/greece-financial-crisis-344ba15484aa0320_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTrWvWADhI/AAAAAAAAAN4/hicENP6Pbog/s200/greece-financial-crisis-344ba15484aa0320_large.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Striking truckers and other workers in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Greece</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> literally shut down the country to protest austerity measures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Eleven activists are murdered in the Israeli siege of the humanitarian aid flotilla headed for </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Gaza</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">The police officer who murdered Oscar Grant is convicted not of murder, but involuntary manslaughter and gets off easy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Shirley Sherrod is the attack of a racist smear-campaign by the right, facilitated by the capitulating nature of the Obama administration, and removed from her post in the Agricultural Department.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> officially declares the “end of combat operations” in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Iraq</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> while maintaining 50,000 troops there for, we are to presume, laundry and daycare duty for Iraqi mothers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Massive flooding in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Pakistan</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, as well as the anti-Islamic sentiments restricting donations to the Muslim majority country, causes intense suffering and destruction for millions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span">French students and workers show their disgust with the reactionary Skarkozy administration’s attempts to force people to work longer and hold a series of massive protests, occupations, and strikes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTqmRsHy6I/AAAAAAAAAN0/nBwu5VyUQtU/s1600/french+strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TSTqmRsHy6I/AAAAAAAAAN0/nBwu5VyUQtU/s640/french+strike.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-83984212336786902352010-12-16T22:08:00.001-05:002010-12-16T22:08:57.755-05:00Green Gone Wrong - A Book That Gets It Right!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TQrUFAj5aWI/AAAAAAAAAMo/nguln7gGT_4/s1600/p15_GreenGone_Wrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TQrUFAj5aWI/AAAAAAAAAMo/nguln7gGT_4/s320/p15_GreenGone_Wrong.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This is a long process,” says Lely Khairnur, director of a social justice and sustainability organization in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, “It’s not fighting against one company, we are fighting a system.” This quote succinctly represents the essence of Heather Rogers’ <i>Green Gone Wrong</i>. Her book is a percussive blow to the “green capitalism” ideologues and consumer-oriented conceptions of environmental sustainability. The criticisms, and possible alternatives, she raises in her work are purposefully astonishing and suggestive of the radically broad structural changes that must be forced upon the ruling class if we wish to maintain Earth as a habitable and sustainable home for our species. Her scathing critique of the consumer-based approach to sustainability and the market-based approach to regulating the environment are presented within a framework which attempts to articulate the need for a systemic overhaul, not piecemeal reforms or slightly more expansive regulatory powers. She claims that our “toxic emissions” as individuals are not ours alone, but instead they are “linked to a larger socioeconomic system that actually depends on pollution to maintain its well-being.” She is correct in this assertion, and her criticism of the new ideological currents within the environmental movement are much needed breath of fresh air in a highly irrational and anti-human system.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Her first target is the highly marketed “organic” and “fair trade” labels that have recently flooded grocery stores and large chains all over the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Many within the progressive movement look to these as an alternative to the highly-processed, chemically tainted, and mono-cropped agricultural practices of big businesses. She dismantles the notion that these labels are really helping regular people (say peasants in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Paraguay</st1:place></st1:country-region> or truly organic farmers in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>) and are more about projecting an image which helps sell commodities and promote <span class="textexposedshow">the idea these problems can be fixed simply through market mechanisms. It is, in other words, an attempt by the dominant ideological elites to legitimize capitalism in a world where the population is becoming more and more critical of its environmental track record. </span>To be certain, such desires on behalf of consumers who truly wish to help by buying organic and fair trade products is a progressive step within the framework we are operating in. And, while it is true that <span class="textexposedshow">not all organic and fair trade sellers bend the rules and corrupt the process, it is apparent the entire certification system and regulation system are systemically flawed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow">In the US, for example, monopolization and regulations that actually support large agribusiness has forced many small farmers out of business and made many others rely on outside income (wives working full time jobs as wage workers) to simply support the farm. The average small farm in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="textexposedshow">, according to a USDA economic research study, earns 85-95% of its income from "off-farm sources."</span> <span class="textexposedshow">On top of that, most organic farms are simply "visually inspected," meaning that if an inspector comes out at all, they do not have to run any chemical tests or fertilizer tests.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow">Similarly, international organic standards are meant to mean a host of things, including crop rotation to protect the soil and non-chemical use, etc. However, with crops like sugar cane most small farmers in, say, Paraguay, cannot afford to take the chance (or hire the labor) to rotate crops every year and perennial crops like sugarcane remain in the same spot for years and years. And manure used to fertilize the ground, for instance, often comes from "non-organic" sources where they pump the animals with hormones and even lace the food with arsenic to increase growth. This manure is used in certified "organic" crops that we consumers eat. All the while, large agribusiness, who is quickly taking over the "organic" niche in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="textexposedshow"> market, is benefiting from the increased sale prices they can charge and cutting costs. In other words, consumers and small farmers are getting screwed.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thus,<span class="textexposedshow"> organic certification in third world countries mean almost nothing. Since poor farmers cannot afford certification (it costs a lot, and the time involved in documenting their credentials takes away from valuable labor time, which they are very, very limited in) they are often bunched together under one large manufacturer. There certification, then, is often under the name of a large corporation, meaning they can only sell their organic crops through this producer, because it maintains the right to the seal. They can sell their crops for conventional prices but they get massively screwed if they choose to do so. Furthermore, any attempt at independent selling and they are cut off from their organic certification. Fair trade does essentially the same thing, and they are relegated to selling to a big producer. Basically, these labels are serving to confine small farmers and forcing them to subjugate themselves to large agribusiness, who control the market. And, since they are "group certified," there is no independent regulation. Regulators are hired by the large company who are certified, and they only have to "randomly select" farmers once in awhile to be checked. In many parts of </span><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">Latin America</span></st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">, where the infrastructure for regulation barely exists, organic and fair trade mean almost nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="textexposedshow">It is not just organic and fair trade products that are so distorted within the capitalist framework. Greener technology in, say, architecture are simply non-existent or barely existent in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="textexposedshow"> for working class consumers because of the insanely high price, despite having the appropriate technology. Public transportation was decimated by the large oil and auto companies and, unsurprisingly, the state literally sanctioned this destruction by giving them little more than a slap on the wrist, a $5,000 fine, for literally dismantling public rail in most </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="textexposedshow"> cities. Even greener and environmentally friendly cars are withheld because corporations function around the profit motive and gas-guzzlers are far more profitable than compact and eco-friendly automobiles. Carbon offsetting is more about the “bottom line” than actually offsetting carbon emissions. Even poor peasants in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="textexposedshow"> are forced to chop down and sell wood to biomass energy plants to simply make enough cash to survive. Solar energy is haphazardly installed without the adequate support or voltage to make it functional due to price constraints. The horror tales concerning market solutions to our planet’s environmental problems are innumerable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The moral of the story, then, is that capitalism as a socioeconomic system cannot, and will not, provide an Earth on which sustainability is a likely outcome or, even, a possibility. The market fundamentally distorts potential for environmentally sustainable technology to become the norm. Likewise, the inherent tendency towards expansion and production are also significant limitations to what the market can to do negate environmental damage. Roger’s provides an absolutely essential critique of the purported market “solutions” that many within and outside of the mainstream environmental movement are currently advocating. She provides 12 pages at the end of her book titled “Notes on the Possible,” in which she advocates cultivating biodiversity by looking backwards to the farming techniques of the past, developing an agroecology with the ability to feed the six billion people on the planet, accommodate small farmers, enforce stricter regulations, and subsidize technology that fosters environmental sustainability. Her call for huge government intervention to save our Earth from destruction is a welcome one, and money could easily be redirected from imperialistic wars and the wealthiest sectors of society to fund alternative technology and its implementation on a mass-scale. This is something that requires economic and political power that only the national and international agencies can harness. It cannot be done piecemeal by individual consumers, one at a time, or forward-looking businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="textexposedshow">Rogers</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="textexposedshow">’ argues that a “more comprehensive regulation of industry and a major rethinking of our political and economic structures” are the key to a new ecology. She is correct. Her contribution to this dialogue is essential, and will help combat the market proponents who so eagerly defend the status quo or small reforms. However, we must also take her argument a bit further. She gives us an idea of how government policies and farming practices can be changed to support our environment, but she does not provide us with the vehicle through which we make those changes. They will not come through our leader’s benevolence, as gifts handed down to us. Indeed, as Frederick Douglass once said, “Power concedes nothing without demand, it never has, and it never will.” T</span>ime still remains to save our planet and ourselves, but this cannot be done without marshalling our forces and constructing edifices that facilitate the growth of social movements. Broad-reaching, radical social movements are what can provide Douglass’s demand and force qualitative changes in our infrastructure, workplaces, economy, and environment. I highly recommend that this book be read alongside John Bellamy Foster’s book <i>Marx’s</i> <i>Ecology: Materialism and</i> <i>Nature</i> and Chris William’s <i>Ecology and Socialism</i>.<span class="textexposedshow"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is apparent that throughout the world there is a serious augmentation of environmentally-aware people and ideas. The multi-faceted and piecemeal solutions put forth by market ideologues focus primarily upon individual lifestyle choices, but it is evident that the scale of the crisis we face requires a far more radical approach. Heather Rogers does well to further the discourse that needs to occur, but we need to push her, and others, to adopt an even broader and more radical approach to ecology. In other words, we need a socialist ecology, one that emphasis production for human and environmental need and not profit. We need an ecology, as George Orwell so brilliantly surmised, that goes beyond the “change of spirit” and instead focuses on the “change in structure.” Capitalism as an economic system needs to be replaced by a system where the vast majority democratically decide how to produce, distribute, and use Earth’s resources in a sustainable and liberating manner. Rogers' <i>Green Gone Wrong</i> is a powerful addition to this vision. </span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-56036300919447266562010-12-03T12:08:00.000-05:002010-12-03T12:08:13.697-05:00Care About Democracy? Defend Julian Assange!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TPkjiIhS_aI/AAAAAAAAAMk/BsTmg80aGJk/s1600/Wikileaks-founder-Julian--006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TPkjiIhS_aI/AAAAAAAAAMk/BsTmg80aGJk/s320/Wikileaks-founder-Julian--006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks and a man who a year ago was relatively unknown, is now the victim of a vicious, international attack. This attack is simultaneously occurring on the political, legal, and economic fronts. Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, claims that Assange ought to be "hunted down" and Tim Flanagan, a former aide to the Conservative Prime Minister of Canada, claimed that he ought to be assassinated, perhaps by "a drone or something." Republican Mike Huckabee, often regarded as one of the main 2012 presidential candidates, recently stated that the leaker of U.S. classified documents, Bradley Manning, ought to be executed for treason. There is no telling what he would do, if it were up to him, to Julian Assange, the main transparency and democracy protagonist in this case.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right-wing fantasies aside, Interpol, the international police agency, has just sent out an provisional arrest warrant for Assange who is currently in Britain. The charges rest tentatively on the grounds that, essentially, Assange did not use a condom during sexual intercourse with two women in Sweden. Obviously, international searches for such heinous criminals are warranted!</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perhaps we ought to be a little more than skeptical about the timing of such legal charges, especially considering they had previously been dropped, only to be picked back up again once Assange released more documents about U.S. foreign and diplomatic policy. There are, however, for more serious legal challenges ahead for Assange. Attorney General Eric Holder has recently claimed that U.S. officials are looking into prosecuting Assange under the Espionage act. These threats, if followed through on, could prove far more serious for Assange.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore, the government has, essentially, forced servers to simply drop WikiLeaks from their realms. Amazon.com and EveryDNS has removed WikiLeaks, caving to government pressure. As I am writing this I have tried to access WikiLeaks online, to no avail. As one commentator stated, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books." Maybe they are right.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what exactly does the organization claim to do? Well, according their website:</span></div><blockquote style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to <i>bring important news and information to the public</i>. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. </span></blockquote><br />
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why is all this being done? After all, so many within the government, and the pundits outside of it, claim that what WikiLeaks is doing is relatively unimportant. They argue it has no real effect, that the information presented was already known and nothing substantial has come from these reports. Aside from the right-wing rhetoric of treason and espionage, the main discourse has revolved around the idea that the work Assange, and those working with him, are carrying out is, simply, not that significant. This was the official government line after the first major leak of Iraq war documents, and has been echoed ever since then. Glenn Greenwald, legal writer for Salon.com, briefly summarized why this is an outright lie:</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If there's Nothing New in these documents, can Jonathan Capehart (or any other "journalist" claiming this) please point to where<span style="color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;">The Washington Post</span></span> previously reported on these facts, all revealed by the WikiLeaks disclosures: </span></blockquote><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none !important; color: black; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: normal normal normal 1.3em/1.5em georgia, serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><blockquote style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(1) the U.S. military <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-detainee-abuse-torture-saddam" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">formally adopted a policy of turning a blind eye</span></a>to systematic, pervasive torture and other abuses by Iraqi forces;</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(2) the State Department <a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2010/11/hbc-90007831" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">threatened Germany not to criminally investigate</span></a> the CIA's kidnapping of one of its citizens who <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/01/wikileaks-and-the-el.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">turned out to be completely innocent</span></a>;</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(3) the State Department under Bush and Obama <a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2010/12/hbc-90007836" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">applied continuous pressure on the Spanish Government</span></a> to suppress investigations of the CIA's torture of its citizens and the 2003 killing of a Spanish photojournalist when the U.S. military fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad (see The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch today about this: "<a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/At_least_not_quite_as_many_people_died_when_Obama_lied.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The day Barack Obama Lied to me</span></a>"); </span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(4) the British Government privately <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8172243/WikiLeaks-British-government-promised-to-protect-US-interests-at-Chilcot-inquiry.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">promised to shield Bush officials from embarrassment</span></a> as part of its Iraq War "investigation"; </span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(5) there were <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69L54J20101024" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">at least 15,000 people killed in Iraq that were previously uncounted</span></a>;</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(6) "American leaders lied, knowingly, to the American public, to American troops, and to the world" about the Iraq war as it was prosecuted, a conclusion the Post's own former Baghdad Bureau Chief <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-25/wikileaks-shows-rumsfeld-and-casey-lied-about-the-iraq-war/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">wrote was proven by the WikiLeaks documents</span></a>;</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(7) the U.S.'s own Ambassador <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/12/01/john-perry/yes-it-was-a-coup/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">concluded that the July, 2009 removal of the Honduran President was illegal -- a coup --</span></a> but the State Department did not want to conclude that and thus ignored it until it was too late to matter;</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(8) U.S. and British officials <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-cluster-bombs-britain" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">colluded to allow the U.S. to keep cluster bombs on British soil</span></a> even though Britain had signed the treaty banning such weapons, and,</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(9) Hillary Clinton's State Department <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-spying-un" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">ordered diplomats</span></a> to collect passwords, emails, and biometric data on U.N. and other foreign officials, almost certainly in violation of the Vienna Treaty of 1961. </span></blockquote></blockquote><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: none !important; color: black; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: normal normal normal 1.3em/1.5em georgia, serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's just a sampling.</span></blockquote><br />
<div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obviously, the WikiLeaks has done nothing argument simply does not hold up to the evidence. Similarly, we can reject, out of hand, the right-wing notions of treason and espionage articulated by the most hyper-reactionary elements in our society. It should be noted that I include the Obama administration among that group, especially in relation to this particular issue. This vitriolic and super-patriotic rhetoric, as Noam Chomsky recently stated, displays little more than a "profound hatred for democracy" on behalf of our political leaders.</span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arguments from more rational observers and left critics of WikiLeaks, however, are slightly more interesting to inspect. Arguments of this type against the organization revolve, fundamentally, around three primary ideas. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First, WikiLeaks has made grave mistakes, threatens personal privacy, and has fallen to libel. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second, WikiLeaks endangers transparency activism by "taking it too far" and exciting a government backlash. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Third, the actions taken by the organization have not fundamentally changed the way U.S. foreign policy functions.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first charge is profoundly absurd. While it is true that within the four year existence of the organization they have made mistakes, it is also clear to anyone who cares at all for exposing human rights violations, war crimes, and the imperialist nature of U.S. foreign policy, the vast majority of the work WikiLeaks has done has provided the raw material we need to construct and supplement our arguments challenging U.S. hegemony around the world. While minor mistakes may have been made here or there in the organization's existence, such a prodigious amount of work has been done that is good in terms of exposing U.S. government policies and crimes, that it far outweighs any relatively small mistakes that some "transparency activists" have harped on.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second, the idea that WikiLeaks endangers transparency activism by "taking it to far," a position <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/3/is_wikileaks_julian_assange_a_hero">articulated by Steven Aftergood on the DemocracyNow debate with Glenn Greenwald</a>, is fundamentally incorrect and, worse, highly enervating for our movement. In fact, the same arguments were used by conservatives and moderates in every movement for social change and every struggle in our history. Whether it was civil rights, in which conservative leaders preached patience and legal means to achieve their ends, fearing a "white backlash," or Women's rights issues where activists were told to just wait for fear of "male backlash." Following this course of action, workers could have simply waited for bosses to increase their wages or decrease the work day. I have the strange feeling that, had our ancestors followed Aftergood's advice, we would still be working 12 hours a day for non-living wages. </span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The driving notion behind this critique is that activists and citizens are not the drivers of change, but the people at the top who currently hold political and economic power. Aftergood, someone who does do decent work within the confines of the system, has allowed himself to be consumed by the system. Simply trying to change the system from inside will corrupt you. Instead of relying on concrete activism and illegal, subversive activities to supplement the legal work going on, we ought to simply confine ourselves to the dominant institutions in society, the same institutions which perpetuate the oppression we are fighting against. This sort of logic is, at best, extremely naive and, at worst, purposefully misleading and debilitating.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lastly, the idea that WikiLeaks, in and of itself, has not single-handily changed U.S. foreign policy or stopped the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is an absurdly high standard to hold any organization, especially a media organization, to. Greenwald himself responded well to this critique, explaining that the critics of WikiLeaks, who advocate actions within the system, have obviously not stopped the wars, not won prosecution of officials for war crimes, not won the transparency we need to understand and analyze our government's actions, things required for a democratic society to function. Furthermore, it is not the responsibility, nor the intended aim, of WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks stated goal is to bring disclosed information to the public, to promote the transparency needed for a democratic society to function properly. We cannot, therefore, blame WikiLeaks for not building the organizational infrastructure needed to sustain a large-scale anti-war movement. We cannot blame WikiLeaks for <i>the failures of our anti-war movement</i>. WikiLeaks has provided the raw materials for us to use in order to build our case, to supplement our movement, but it is NOT the movement itself. It is our duty, our job, our responsibility, to take action against unjust, illegal, immoral, and imperialistic policies perpetuated by our own government.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To paraphrase Julian Assange, transparency tends to produce just government. To the extent that this is true, WikiLeaks is doing their job. It should be our job to defend them, and defend Assange, against these attacks. For those you who cherish democracy, who think that we ought to be able to criticize our government, and have the information to do so, you should sign the petition below. We ought to do whatever we can to defend organizations and people fighting for us.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We here undersigned express our support for the work and integrity of Julian Assange. We express concern that the charges against the WikiLeaks founder appear too convenient both in terms of timing and the novelty of their nature.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We call for this modern media innovator, and fighter for human rights extraordinaire, to be afforded the same rights to defend himself before Swedish justice that all others similarly charged might expect, and that his liberty not be compromised as a courtesy to those governments whose truths he has revealed have embarrassed.</span></blockquote><br />
<div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.readersupportednews.org/index.php?option=com_petitions&view=petition&id=381">Sign the petition!</a></span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-15732234394436666882010-11-25T22:36:00.000-05:002010-11-25T22:36:27.586-05:00I'm Thankful For... the Zapatistas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TO8q6BBtP4I/AAAAAAAAAMg/IrVcpsDzBBs/s1600/Subcomandante_Marcos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TO8q6BBtP4I/AAAAAAAAAMg/IrVcpsDzBBs/s320/Subcomandante_Marcos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Thanksgiving everyone, enjoy the day off! Also, let's not forget what we're thankful for, like the <i>indigenous </i>resistance movements of the world and their <i>struggle </i>against exploitation. In their honor:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The January 1, 1994 uprising of the <em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), or Zapatistas, garnered worldwide attention for its apparent spontaneity and challenge to the ruling Partido Revolucinario Institucional. Its political program was vague but consisted of a call for “</span></em>work, land, housing, food, health, education, independence, freedom, justice and peace.” They articulated a unique conception of developmental democracy which they hoped to introduce into the primarily indigenous state of </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. American views concerning the Zapatistas, far from a monolithic bloc, range from mainstream, liberal denunciations to nearly hysteric support in some leftist circles. While slight disagreements may exist within particular currents, the prominent American analyses are associated with four historic political ideologies: mainstream capitalist (nearly unanimous in their hostility), non-aligned leftist (post-modern in its association), Marxist-Leninist (of the internationalist, Trotskyist variety), and Anarchist (anti-establishment and anti-statist). While mainstream commentators, writing for powerful, highly-disseminated organs of capitalist power, are able to more extensively promote their vacuous analyses and manufacture for the American public what is ostensibly objectivity, the various leftist tendencies do not hide themselves behind a veil of objectivity. Instead, the multifaceted analytical frameworks of the American left provide a much deeper, and more interesting, understanding of how serious American activists and organizations are approaching the Zapatistas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Prior to surveying the various ideological commentaries concerning the Zapatistas, the origins of this movement must be lucidly understood. </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the southern state known for its enormous agricultural and resource wealth, maintains a population that constitutes one of the poorest, most abject sectors of Mexican society. While agrarian reform reached the state originally in the 1930’s, a significant portion of the land, especially the most arable, remained in the hands of wealthy ranchers and plantation owners. The onset of intense cattle ranching, along with petroleum drilling by the nationalized oil company PEMEX, further devastated the land peasants barely clung to. The government of </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salinas</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> destroyed the constitutional base upon which agrarian reform was based, Article 27, and rolled back the relatively nominal rights enjoyed by peasants to control communal <i>ejidos</i> upon which they depended for survival. Export incentives for the Mexican state fueled the growth of cash crops at the expense of peasant needs; </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> became what Roger Burbach dubbed an “internal colony.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This contradiction, of great resource wealth and utter poverty, has only increased in the past two decades with the onslaught of neoliberal economic policy implemented in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The Zapatistas were born within this context. Claiming no desire to take hold of state power, a blatant rejection of both legitimate electoral politics and traditional leftist goals, they claim instead the desire to open up communal, democratic space in which the indigenous can function and organize. Two important factors, for instance, are that leaders can neither own property nor take political office.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> They are organized upon a fluid, rotating internal structure and have created thirty-two autonomous municipalities within </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. These municipalities are composed of various indigenous communities who decide whether or not to participate. The local communities handle all local affairs, are separate from the state, and elect representatives to the </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Autonomous Municipal Council, which handles regional decisions. They rely upon a social basis composed primarily of indigenous populations and the leaders remain relatively secluded in order to elude government repression. Much of the leadership is derived from the now defunct Frente Liberacion Nacional (FLN), a militant guerrilla group based upon Che Guevara’s conception of the revolutionary vanguard. However, traditional Indian influences and the liberation theology associated with certain radical Catholic priests are also prominent within the Zapatista movement. Above all, the Zapatistas claim to represent a movement for democracy and plan, with or without the state, to take democratic control over their own lives.</span></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Originally organizing as an armed uprising, the military unsuccessfully attempted to suppress them twice in 1994 and 1995; mass protests and resistance forced them to back down.</span></span></span><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Since then the Zapatistas have operated on a relatively peaceful basis. </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It is safe to assume that aside from perhaps having seen the extraordinarily hyped images in mainstream media of a masked Subcommandante Marcos with guns, most Americans probably know very little about the Zapatista uprising. Thus, the attitudes many Americans, if they have any predilection towards the situation at all, harbor of the EZLN most likely reflects the portrayal given to them by mainstream, corporate media outlets. These accounts are primarily hostile to the movement and, as is necessary to perpetuate their own cultural hegemony, reflect the dominant class interests of their owners. Even the brief instances where the Zapatistas are given room to speak in the corporate press, they are usually quotes removed from context and utilized in order to set up a caricature or straw-man they easily torn down of what the movement represents. Surveying six articles dating from 1994 to 2006 produced by the New York Times, one of the most influential and widely read mainstream newspapers, the unsympathetic attitude towards the events in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is particularly blatant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The first three articles all date from the early stage, 1994, of the Zapatista uprising when the EZLN still articulated the idea that struggle through armed force would achieve liberation. The first article, entitled “Shadowy Origins of Rebel Movement,” the title itself presenting a rather ominous tone, attempts to piece together the relatively unknown origins of the Zapatistas. While the article itself is rather harmless, it does imply that instead of an organic uprising, the leaders of the movement were outside agitators who came into the villages to stir up rebellion.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The second article is openly hostile to the uprising and suggests that various “peasants” had warned the mayor in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that the Zapatistas were organizing in their communities, implying they were unwanted outsiders and ignoring the vast support they shared among the indigenous people. It goes on to explain, based upon an account by interviewees critical of the Zapatistas, how men with guns stormed the <i>ejido</i> hall and forced peasants to participate in the uprising.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[6]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The last article from this period is the first to give the Zapatistas any space at all to speak for themselves; one sentence. It tells the story of the EZLN taking over the second largest city in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">San Cristóbal</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, claims the government called a cease-fire which the guerrillas refused, invokes images of “thousands fleeing Zapatista strongholds,” and ends with a random commentator denouncing the movement.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[7]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This treatment continues throughout nearly every other <i>New York Times</i> article. One, dated from 1999, claims around a thousand pro-Zapatista protestors began smashing rocks into police cars and fueling violence.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[8]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Another fear-mongering article from 2003 explicates upon the seizure of an eco-tourism lodge in a liberated area and warns tourists to avoid the area.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[9]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The latest article, dated 2006, calls Subcommandante Marcos a “Marxist guerrilla,” a label he has denied repeatedly, and details his anti-electoral political campaign; this article is, perhaps, the only semi-neutral article appearing in the <i>New York Times.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[10]</b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </i>The attitude taken by the rest of mainstream press is undoubtedly consistent, or even more pejorative, than this liberal outlet. Thus, the information disseminated to most Americans is that the Zapatistas represent a dangerous, hostile, Marxist threat to the Mexican government, the peasants, and American interests and tourists. It can only be expected that a capitalist press, which serves to maintain a cultural hegemony intended to facilitate the perpetuation of the existing state apparatus, would take such an approach to what is, more or less, an anti-capitalist rebellion. More serious and scholarly political analyses, from a variety of political traditions, give a much more multifaceted, pragmatic analysis of the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A more sympathetic but rather ambiguous analysis of the movement comes from the <i>New Left Review</i>, a non-affiliated but radical leftist journal published in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Britain</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and widely read by radical circles on the American left. Roger Burbach, in “Roots of the Postmodern Rebellion in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">,” appearing in the <i>New Left Review</i> in May-June 1994, focuses more on understanding the historical context in which the EZLN arose. His account also articulates the idea that the Zapatistas desire neither state power nor socialism in the orthodox sense.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[11]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Burbach lacks any serious political analysis of the Zapatistas, aside from rendering them a “post-modern political movement” which, it seems, the author does not take issue with. </span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second article, appearing two years later in the July-August 1996 issue, is written by Régis Debray, a “one-time comrade of Che Guevara,” who travels to </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to interview Marcos and details his experience.<i> </i>Furthering Burbach’s open-ended lead, his account gushes with uncritical support for the EZLN. Aside from extremely brief, vague accounts of unidentified “problems” which could arise, Debray explicates upon the Zapatistas from a post-modern political stance which romanticizes the movement. His account, perhaps correctly, utilizes the object-subject dichotomy of Paulo Freire and concludes that the Zapatistas have “</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">transformed hundreds of thousands of people-objects into the subjects of history.” However, absolutely no critical analysis is given and, while this may serve as a useful propaganda piece to counter the harsh anti-Zapatista coverage in the mainstream press, it does little to clarify the Zapatista movement’s strengths and weaknesses.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[12]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Therefore, we find within the “post-Marxist” left a rather lackadaisical analysis of the actual political content of the Zapatista movement, filled instead with romantic imagery and what appears to be unconditional support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Marxist-Leninist critique, drawn from two articles dating from 1997 and 2005 by the same author, Lance Selfa, representative of the International Socialist Organization, the largest revolutionary socialist group in the United States, is much more critical of the Zapatista movement. The ideological approach to the Zapatistas is best summarized by this statement, “For socialists, the justice of the EZLN's demands is not in doubt. The question is whether their politics and strategy offer a way forward in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[13]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Selfa’s assessment in 1997 is that, while maintaining that the aspirations of democratic control for the indigenous are worthy ones, the EZLN has organized primarily upon a Guevarist guerrilla structure and failed to coalesce the demands of the peasantry with those of urban workers, thus alienating the majority of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">’s population. An example of this is when they refused to sanction the </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico City</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> bus drivers’ struggle in 1995.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[14]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This is the primarily complaint leveled against them, but Selfa furthers the critique suggesting that they fail to seriously challenge capitalism and function primarily upon the “revolutionary nationalist tradition of Zapata and Villa” which does not allow room for socialist ideas. While the 1997 article can seem slightly sectarian, the 2005 reappraisal is less so. The fundamental analysis remains the same, but the style and approach differ. Instead of simply rejecting the Zapatista movement, Selfa begins by explaining that the </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> situation has opened up a new debate on the left which begs the question “<span style="color: black;">What kind of political strategy is needed to win the demands of social movements and ordinary people?”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The article is much more critical of the three mainstream political parties (PAN, PRI, PRD), and presents the Zapatistas as an alternative. Yet, a new criticism is added to the previous stance; the fact that Zapatistas refuse to participate in any electoral politics whatsoever Selfa proclaims is a mistaken tactic. He concludes that a “</span>revolutionary socialist organization” must stand independent of “Zapatismo, Guevarism or Mexican nationalism” for all Mexicans to achieve liberation.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[16]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The antithesis of the Marxist-Leninist critique is exemplified by the Anarchist conception of the Zapatista uprising. The article by Andrew Flood entitled “What is it that is Different About the Zapatistas?” originally published in the journal <i>Chiapas Revealed<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[17]</b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></i> but adopted by Flag.Blackened.net, a California based website which has “provided free web space for anarchist thinkers since 1997,”<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[18]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> summarizes the Anarchist position. Flood’s basic premise is that, while not providing a model for all situations, the Zapatistas represent an organic, participatory, and democratic struggle from below that negates the need for the Leninist vanguard party. Ignoring the fact that the vanguard concept, being that the most class-conscious members lead the others of their respective class, basically applies to the Zapatista situation, the Anarchist account is highly sympathetic to the movement and its principles. It quotes heavily from Subcommandante Marcos and draws upon his refutation of Marxism as a liberating ideology. He defends the Zapatistas principled stand against seeking state power and criticizes Leninist critiques by questioning why they ignore the democratic structures and organization of the Zapatistas. The democratic methods of organization, the anarchist view contends, are the most fundamental aspect to understanding and sympathizing with the movement. Flood provides a fleeting criticism of the undemocratic internal structure of the military wing of the EZLN, but explains this contradiction away by claiming that the army command is actually democratically controlled. He also dislikes the fact that the Zapatistas, while refusing to participate in electoral politics, believe that their direct democracy and the indirect representative forms of democracy can coexist peacefully. Lastly, he gives a brief criticism that the movement correctly disassociated itself with neoliberal, but fails to argue that land should go to those who work it rather than those who simply have a right to it because of traditional claims. Flood’s conclusion maintains that “</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">power of the Zapatistas is the power of example” and that they represent an infinitely more democratic “authority” than anything which can be achieved from established institutions.<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[19]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Therefore, while the mainstream accounts of the Zapatistas are almost unanimously opposed to the democratic movement, the wide range of debate within the American left provides a much more thorough analysis of how informed Americans view the events in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Each one is useful for understanding the dynamics of not only </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chiapas</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, but of how both the American establishment and social justice activists and radicals respond to them. The mainstream accounts, exemplified by the New York Times articles, betray the class biases of their corporate owners. The various left-wing analyses provide the basis upon which mainstream accounts can be refuted; more importantly, however, each account, in a unique fashion, provide absolutely vital critiques of the Zapatista movement. The non-aligned leftists are perhaps the least useful for this but most useful as propaganda pieces to challenge corporate hegemony on this issue. The Marxist-Leninist critique transcends the romantic post-modernist view and attempts to articulate why a movement which seriously incorporates working-class politics is essential. The anarchist critique, while ostensibly in opposition to the other analyses, also details, in a more sympathetic manner, some problems within the Zapatista movement that are not necessarily in opposition to either of the above currents of thought. All of these, in one way or another, promote much needed dialogue and debate on the left of how to best achieve a democratic society. These critiques help less to point a way forward for the Mexican left and the Zapatistas than for how the American left can organize and struggle for a truly democratic alternative.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"> <div class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Roger Burbach, “Roots of the Postmodern Rebellion in <st1:state><st1:place>Chiapas</st1:place></st1:state>,”<i> New Left Review</i>, Issue 205, (May-June 1994), accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://newleftreview.org/?view=1755; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn2"> <div class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Burbach, “Roots of the Postmodern Rebellion.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn3"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> “A Commune in <st1:state><st1:place>Chiapas</st1:place></st1:state>?” Aufheben, Issue 9, Autumn 2000, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://libcom.org/library/commune-chiapas-zapatista-mexico; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn4"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[4]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Lance Selfa, “Zapatistas Reenter the Political Fray,”<i> International Socialist Review</i>, Issue 44, (Nov-Dec 2005) accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://www.isreview.org/issues/44/zapatistas.shtml; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn5"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[5]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> “Shadowy Origins of Rebel Movement,” <i>New York Times</i>, <st1:date day="17" month="1" year="1994">Jan 17 1994</st1:date>, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb?did=116632022&sid=2&Fmt=10&clientId= 3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP; Internet.</span></span></div></div><div id="ftn6"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[6]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> “Guerrillas Summon Peasants to Battle,” <i>New York Times</i>, <st1:date day="17" month="1" year="1994">Jan 17 1994</st1:date>, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb?did=116632023&sid=2&Fmt=10&clientId= 3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP</span></span></div></div><div id="ftn7"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[7]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> “Guerrillas Strike, Then Fall Back,” <i>New York Times</i>, <st1:date day="17" month="1" year="1994">Jan 17 1994</st1:date>, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb?did=116632017&sid=2&Fmt=10&clientId= 3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn8"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[8]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Julia Preston, “Rebels in Mexico Take a Town Hall Seized by Police,” <i>New York Times</i>, Apr 9 1999, accessed 30 July 2009; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb?did= 117102839&sid=3&Fmt=10&clientId=3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP </span></span></div></div><div id="ftn9"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[9]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Tim Weiner, “Mexican Rebels Confront Tourism in <st1:state><st1:place>Chiapas</st1:place></st1:state>,” <i>New York Times</i>, <st1:date day="9" month="3" year="2003">March 9 2003</st1:date>, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb? did=866861262&sid=1&Fmt=10&clientId= 3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP </span></span></div></div><div id="ftn10"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[10]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> James C. McKinley Jr., “The Zapatistas Return: A Masked Marxist on the Stump,” <i>New York Times</i>, <st1:date day="6" month="1" year="2006">Jan 6 2006</st1:date>, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://0-proquest.umi.com.carlson.utoledo.edu/pqdweb?did =1631610052&sid=7&Fmt=10&clientId= 3963&RQT=309&VName=HNP </span></span></div></div><div id="ftn11"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[11]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Burbach, “Roots of the Postmodern Rebellion.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn12"> <div class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[12]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Régis Debray, “A Guerrilla With a Difference,”<i> New Left Review</i>, Issue 218, (July-August 1996), accessed 30 July 2009; available from http://newleftreview.org/?view=1866; Internet.</span></span></div></div><div id="ftn13"> <div class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[13]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Lance Selfa, “Mexico After the Zapatista Uprising,”<i> International Socialistm</i>, Issue 75, (1997), accessed 30 July 2009; available from http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj75/selfa.htm; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn14"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[14]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Selfa, “<st1:country-region><st1:place>Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> After the Zapatista Uprising.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn15"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[15]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Lance Selfa, “Zapatistas Reenter the Political Fray.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn16"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[16]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Ibid.</span></span></div></div><div id="ftn17"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[17]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Andrew Flood, “What is it that is Different About the Zapatistas?” <i>Chiapas Revealed</i>, Issue 1, accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico/comment/andrew_diff_feb01.html; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn18"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[18]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> “About Flag,” accessed <st1:date day="30" month="7" year="2009">30 July 2009</st1:date>; available from http://flag.blackened.net/about/; Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Derek/Desktop/Writings/School%20Work/09%20Summer/HIST%204470%20The%20Zapatistas%20A%20Survey%20of%20Analyses.doc#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[19]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Andrew Flood, “What is it that is Different About the Zapatistas?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div></div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-72993158487421328012010-11-18T19:23:00.000-05:002010-11-18T19:23:46.209-05:00Speth's Bridge At the End of the World: Possibilities and Limitations<div style="text-align: justify;">James Gustave Speth, in <i>The Bridge at the End of the World,</i> articulates a percussive condemnation of the existing form of capitalism, or what Noam Chomsky refers to as “really existing free-market theory.” He argues that while small improvements have been made in local situations, the global economic order and the concomitant drive towards growth or, the principle tenet guiding the “secular religion of the state,” has maintained a disastrous record on global environmental issues. The environmental degradation that plagues Earth literally threatens human existence on a mass scale. Climate disruption, including global warming, deforestation, desertification, the loss of freshwater, and other serious environmental damage in being done by the dominant economic mode of production. Thus, Speth asserts that fundamental changes in the way the world functions and is organized are required to reduce the enormity of and rectify this precarious situation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although Speth advocates for, and weights the positives and negatives of, a variety of different ways to reverse the damaging effect of the capitalist mode of production, his primary emphasis is on the fundamental restructuring of the system as we know it. He argues, as many have before, that capitalism is an economic system that requires constant growth. The drive towards capital accumulation constitutes the “secular religion” of any business and corporation and, subsequently, it is what directs the state. Constant expansion, then, is an inherent tendency in the capitalist mode of production. While Marx originally located this fundamental aspect, arguing that capital accumulation eventually led to exploitation, overproduction, and crashes in the system, Lenin argued that the need for expansion led to imperialism and war. Speth, although not the first, continues this tradition by showing how the desire to produce for growth, and not for human need or environmental concern, leads to environmental destruction. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, Speth does not begin with broad and radical changes. First, he maintains that a mix of environmental regulations and standards, along with market mechanisms, will provide a more beneficial outcome than just regulation. Interesting, he claims that “documented economic savings from cap and trade approaches…have been real and substantial.” This is an interesting claim, considering the progress of cap and trade in both Europe and the United States concerning reducing CO2 emissions have been negligent at best. Despite this, while Speth takes time to address various market mechanisms and other machinations, such as cap and trade, within the mainstream establishment, he makes it clear that these are important, but ancillary tools for reducing the damaging aspects of capitalism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speth argues that the environmental movement has made some important gains, but provides a serious critique of that movement as well, arguing that a new and “real” environmental movement, located within grassroots communities and recognizing the solidarity that must exist on global issues, is the hope for change. He identifies the characteristics of the “old” environmental movement. First, the old movement believes everything “can be solved within the system, typically with new policies, and more recently, by engaging in the corporate sector.” Second, it tends to be “pragmatic and incrementalist.” Third, it tends to “deal with the effects rather than the underlying causes.” It also relies on economic indicators and the “right cost,” maintains a sectarian approach to policy solutions, and “entrusts major action to expert bureaucracies.” These assertions are, on the whole, accurate. Therefore, Speth articulates the need to drastically break from this corporate, bureaucratic, and elite mode of organization. The “old movement” must be replaced with a new one, where GDP is not the main driving factor and economic concerns are not the main considerations. Instead, this new environmental movement ought to strive for a “post-growth society” where raw economic growth is replaced with growth in green jobs, health services, environmentally friendly public transit, nonmilitary government spending, etc. Speth spends a great deal of time tearing down the idea that GDP represents material well-being or happiness in a society. In this instance, and many others, Speth continually ties environmental well-being with human well-being.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another primary features of his strategy involves corporations. The very nature of corporations, he argues, ought to be fundamentally changed from entities which exist to increase shareholder returns to things which exist to serve humanity. This would entail a serious re-writing of the modern corporation and bring a new meaning to a corporate charter. While Speth does not go so far as to argue for the elimination of corporations as illegitimate power structures, he does construct and impressive list of way to limit corporate power. He argues that corporate charters ought to be revoked or countries ought to expel corporations if they threaten the environment. Similarly, he maintains that limited liability ought to be rolled back and corporate personhood should be eliminated. Lastly, he asserts that politics ought to be free of corporate influence through campaign finance reform and corporate lobbying ought to be drastically reduced. These are all extremely progressive steps that could, and should, be taken in any society with a vestige of democracy left.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The strongest aspect of Speth’s work is his argument that society needs to rid itself of the economic model and values it currently abides by. He quotes William Robinson who argues that global capitalism is headed for a crisis because of overproduction, polarization, the crisis of state legitimacy and sustainability. Robinson is correct to point out that when an “organic crisis” of both “structural (objective)” and “hegemony (subjective)” nature, that change is possible. Change, however, can also lead to authoritarian or fascism and not necessarily towards progressive social change. It is important here to note that the concept of hegemony cannot be abstracted from political control. Ideological hegemony, as the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci argued, is intricately tied to political and economic control. Therefore, the grassroots environmental movements that Speth advocates for need to be a direct force that counters the hegemony of the dominant state apparatus and the ruling class. If a strong, leftist, radical alternative is not present when these fissures erupt in the ruling class legitimacy, crisis could allow for the galvanization of political and economic forces even worse than today. Finally, Speth maintains that a synthesis of localism and direct democracy are the only viable solutions to the global environmental problem. Although he does not provide a particular model for how direct democracy would function, he provides a fervent defense for the concept.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speth articulates both a dystopian and utopian vision of the world in this book. For instance, his vision of the world as it currently exists, and as it would exist if it continues on the same trajectory, is an extremely depressing one. The notion of serious environmental catastrophe, the huge polarization of wealth, the highly deteriorated democratic institutions, the growth of corporate power, all of these things are dystopian to the extreme. They present a sad state of affairs, but Speth correctly points out that we need to be reminded of these things, because until we are aware of the scope of the problem, we cannot fix it. Thus, dystopia serves a purpose, because it is reflective of reality and acts, in the same way that Orwell or Huxley act, to warn people of the possible ramifications that may arise if we do not take action.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the reverse, however, he also presents a utopian vision. Now, I feel I must clarify what I mean by this. I do not believe his vision is utopian because it involved a fundamental reorganization of society. On the contrary, I argue that this is the only way to achieve both human liberation and environmental sustainability. Instead, I believe his vision is utopian because he seems to think that simply the presence of a strong, grassroots environmental movement can make these changes without the dismantling of the power structures that currently exist. He points out that the institutions in U.S. society are highly undemocratic and need to be restructured, but appears to argue that this can be done without the organized power of the working class aimed at a revolutionary upheaval. I just do not see how, without directly challenging capitalism and having a commitment to a system to replace, that these power structures can be toppled. The need for a grassroots environmental movement with a focus on social justice is obvious, but what are the limits of this movement? Is it to reform corporations? To reduce the power of undemocratic institutions? These would be important victories, but they cannot take us all the way. I argue that a revolutionary organization, which understands that power rests in who provides the labor and who controls the means of production. Thus, until working people control the oil rigs, the fisheries, the factories, democracy, and sustainability, cannot be achieved. Workers, democratically deciding upon what to do with the resources at hand, can redirect resources from harmful industries and towards renewable energy and protective environmental measures. Until the profit-motive, and capitalism, is done away with, environmental sustainability is utopian. And I do not think an environmental movement alone has the potential dismantle the entire system of corporate power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the plethora of progressive reforms toward corporate power, Speth never actually challenges the legitimacy of corporations by questioning their source. Corporations are, by nature, illegitimate power structures and private tyrannies. The debate should revolve around why we need them at all. I tend to agree with his assertion that there needs to be a “democratization of wealth” and that a blend of localism and direct democracy are vitally needed. I, however, reject the notion that socialism is incapable of providing this. For instance, he argues that neighborhood assemblies in every rural, suburban, and urban district need to be created. This is true, but why shouldn't such important democratic decisions also be rooted in the workplace? In every revolutionary situation, where a “democratization of wealth” was desired, workers created workers’ councils where they decided how to organize society. This was true of France in 1968, Chile in 1973, Iran in 1979, and Poland in the 1980s. Working people, once organized, how their hands on the levers of power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He is correct to point out both that the global justice or anti-capitalist movement “is stronger than many imagine and will grow stronger” and “the end of the Cold War…creates the political space for the questioning of today’s capitalism.” The latter is absolutely true, but this does not mean we should reject socialism or the democratic governance over the economic by the masses of working people. What existed in the Soviet Union, Cuba, or China had little to do with socialism. Most socialists know that. However, this also does not mean that we can revert to vacuous social democratic positions and argue that social changes comes through incremental and piecemeal reforms. As the revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg explained:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">[P]eople who pronounce themselves in favor of the method of legislative reform in place of and in contradistinction to the conquest of political power and social revolution, do not really choose a more tranquil, calmer and slower road to the same goal, but a different goal. Instead of taking a stand for the establishment of a new society, they take a stand for surface modifications of the old society.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe this is true of the environmental movement. We cannot simply hope for small reforms of the current existing system. We cannot even rely purely on the ideas, however progressive they are, provided by Speth about limiting corporate power and making corporations work for human good. The “conquest of political power and social revolution” by working people, who have to live with the day-to-day effects of environmental degradation, are the ones who can reverse it. Until then, a “post-growth” society is unrealizable, and any reform can be averted, rolled back, or simply dismissed by illegitimate structures of power. Speth is right in arguing for a grassroots environmental movement, and he is right in linking that movement with social justice, but he is incorrect in assuming that a fundamental restructuring of society can be done with the “conquest of political power and social revolution” that we need to do it.</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-18183075286254965992010-11-11T19:23:00.002-05:002010-11-12T10:48:42.078-05:00Support Our Veterans, Bring Them Home!For Veteran's day this year, instead of empty slogans, perhaps we ought to consider "Supporting our Troops" in other ways, like bringing them home to their families and not forcing them into situations where they must maim and kill innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all the other places in the world where U.S. military force is employed. <br />
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I have compiled a brief list of resources that I think may help dispel the myth that support for veterans ought to be equated with supporting the imperialist ventures manifest in U.S. foreign policy. I hope these will be using in countering the dominant hegemony around ultra-jingiostic days like today, and help us see that it is not foreign citizens or critics of imperial policy that are the enemies of U.S. troops, but the leaders who will push them into war with callous regard for their safety, their lives, or their families.<br />
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First, here is succinct Noam Chomsky clip discussing the purpose of empty slogans like "Support Our Troops." I think he makes a compelling argument that, in reality, they simply do not mean anything:<br />
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<center><object width="380" height="290"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G7DdWmWUa_8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G7DdWmWUa_8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="380" height="290"></embed></object></center><br />
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Second, here is some audio and some written excerpts of Michael Parenti's "Superpatriotism," which provides a percussive blow to the Superpatriots who proclaim that all glory goes to the nation-state and should take the shape of uncritical support of that particular state's foreign policy aims:<br />
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"Superpatriots are those people who place national pride and American supremacy above every other public consideration, those who follow leaders uncritically, especially in their war policies abroad. Superpatriotism is the nationalistic hype propagated by officialdom, the media, and various flag-waving groups.<br />
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Michael Parenti demonstrates how superpatriotism attaches itself to religion, sports, the military, the schools, and big business. He questions whether its top politico-economic propagators are themselves really patriotic, given how they evade taxes, export our jobs, pollute our land, and plunder the public treasury.<br />
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With incisive probing, fine style, and humorous touch, Parenti treats such urgent questions as: What does it mean to love one’s country? Why is it so important to be Number One? What determines America’s “greatness?” And are we really God's gift to humanity? He examines how US leaders and the corporate media fan the flames of fear to win support for huge arms budgets, global aggrandizement, and the suppression of political dissent at home and abroad.<br />
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Finally, Parenti poses an alternative to superpatriotism, arguing that the real patriots are those who care enough to educate themselves about our country’s history and its present plight. He reminds us that it is not “anti-American” to criticize unjust social conditions at home or oppose global policies pursued by our rulers. Rather it is our democratic right and patriotic duty to do so."<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.takeoverworld.info/mp3/parenti/Parenti_Michael_-_Superpatriotism.mp3">Audio of Michael Parenti's Talk on Superpatriotism</a></center><br />
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Third, here is a fantastic, powerful documentary called "Sir, No Sir!" that shows Vietnam veterans speaking out against U.S. empire and dismantling the myth of "superpatriot" soldiers who mindlessly go into battle pursuing U.S. hegemony:<br />
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<center><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4045645915938136883#">The full-length 2005 film "Sir, No Sir!"</a></center><br />
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Lastly, here is the page to Iraq Veterans Against the War. Here is a very brief outline of their program.<br />
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<center>The mission of IVAW is to mobilize the military community to withdraw its support for the war and occupation in Iraq. To achieve its mission, IVAW emphasizes three distinct goals:<br />
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<b>Immediate Withdrawal<br />
</b><br />
Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq<br />
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<b>Reparations</b><br />
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Reparations for the human and structural damages suffered in Iraq so that the peoples there might regain their right to self-determination.<br />
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<b>Full Benefits</b><br />
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Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.<br />
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Iraq Veterans Against the War has also passed resolutions opposing the war in Afghanistan, in support of non-violence, and opposing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.</center><br />
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Also, <a href="https://www.ivaw.org/about/why-we-are-against-wars">please go here</a> to view a far more in-depth, articulate account of their opposition to U.S. wars.<br />
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The best way we can honor our soldiers is by bringing them home to their families and loved ones, supplying them with the adequate healthcare to combat the horrors of war and the resulting PTSD and increased depression, and by providing reparations to the countries that these young men and women were forced to go over and wreak havoc upon. Let's remember the veterans who have been pushed into fighting and dieing, but let us remember alongside them the innocent civilians, the mothers and daughters, the fathers and sons, who have been witnessed the cold hand of death take away their loved ones and family members.Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-91542403391581467932010-11-04T21:58:00.002-04:002010-12-31T01:32:58.100-05:00The 2010 Election: A Tea Party Tidal Wave or a Call to Action?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TNNkrSckA-I/AAAAAAAAAMc/-pkE-HCBkSA/s1600/ElectoralMap2010.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TNNkrSckA-I/AAAAAAAAAMc/-pkE-HCBkSA/s400/ElectoralMap2010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is it, the biggest election in world history. The most percussive, profound, serious electoral battle in the last century. The people have spoken, America remains a center-right nation, the grassroots Tea Party movement has voiced its outrage with big government... or so the corporate rhetoric would have us believe.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Republicans have swept the Democrats out of the House, leaving them barely clinging on to the Senate. From the ways some political pundits and commentators are talking, you would guess this was the final nail in the coffin for the Democratic party.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us not forget that just four years ago the Democrats easily wiped the floor with Republicans, taking control of Congress and, two years later, the Presidency. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It comes as no surprise that the mainstream media presents this as the downfall of the Democratic party, as a rejection of the purportedly "progressive" economic policies, of "social justice," which Glenn Beck so prodigiously despises. To the liberals, this election is a disaster, exaggerated and overplayed in its significance. Social networking websites Tuesday and Wednesday night were filled with the groans and moans of liberals complaining about Republican victories.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rightfully so, perhaps. There is no doubt that the ideas, both social and economic, of the leaders of the Tea Party movement and right-wingers who captured so many seats and offices Tuesday evening are reprehensible. That does not, however, mean that the Democrats provided a viable alternative from the left. Instead, they pandered to the most reactionary, most conservative elements of their party in order to "reach across the aisle" and make "pragmatic concessions" to right-wing demands. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barack Obama, the night after the elections, played this tune as hard as ever: </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">"Over the last two years, we’ve made progress. But clearly, too many Americans haven’t felt that progress yet, and they told us that yesterday. And as president, I take responsibility for that. What yesterday also told us is that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here, that we must find common ground in order to set—in order to make progress on some uncommonly difficult challenges."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">With all this Democratic back peddling on even their extremely mild, timid legislative actions over the past two years, the question remains, was this election an issue of the American people coming back to their center-right roots? The statistics simply do not live up to the hype. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Approximately 82.5 million people voted, about <i>one-third less</i> than the 130 million that voted in the 2008 election, but slightly higher (about one million votes) than the number that voted in the 2006 midterm elections. This means voter turnout was <i>well below </i>40%. A <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-elections-2010-turnout-says-a-lot">recent article in the Guardian</a> outlines the changed electoral makeup:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The 2008 electorate was 74% white, plus 13% black and 9% Latino. The 2010 numbers were 78, 10 and 8. So it was a considerably whiter electorate.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. In 2008, 18-to-29-year-olds made up 18% and those 65-plus made up 16%. Young people actually outvoted old people. This year, the young cohort was down to 11%, and the seniors were up to a whopping 23% of the electorate. That's a 24-point flip.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. The liberal-moderate-conservative numbers in 2008 were 22%, 44% and 34%. Those numbers for yesterday were 20%, 39% and 41%. A big conservative jump, but in all likelihood because liberals didn't vote in big numbers.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The author of the article, a liberal, then goes on to explain that instead of "soul-searching," the Democrats should simply "invest $200 million" in "get out the vote" operations. The fundamental question, of why voter turnout was so low, is simply ignored. Apparently, the outrageous conclusion of an otherwise pertinent statistical analysis was that the Democrats simply did not spend enough money to get people out to the polls. There was no hint of irony in the article. Presumably, this is the essence of democracy.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">To an extent, however, this disturbing analysis may be somewhat accurate. For instance, as John Nichols of <i>The Nation</i> recently explained on a <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/3/election_roundtable_breaking_down_the_results">DemocracyNow interview</a>:<b></b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This election will cost the better part of a billion dollars more than the presidential election. And there’s substantial evidence that this is going to be the most expensive election in American history. It could well get well above $4 billion. And the important thing to understand is that that money didn’t just play in the races that we all talk about. It didn’t just play in Senate races and in some congressional races. Karl Rove, in the final days, put a million dollars into California to beat an attorney general candidate who he thought was attractive as a future contender."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously the influx of corporate money, which was given the greenlight after the recent Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend as much as they want on election advertising, played a role in getting conservative voters to the polls. On top of this, a 24/7 blitz of right-wing media and radio certaintly played its part as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">On the other hand, maybe some "soul-searching" could do the Democratic Party some good. This is evident in the fact that the the greatest loss in quantity came not from the more progressive sections of the Democratic party (with a few exceptions, like Russ Feingold), but from the conservative Blue Dog Democrats. As Juan Gonzalez, co-host of DemocracyNow! explains:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">"The Blue Dog caucus was cut in half, going from fifty-four to twenty-six. At the same time, the seventy-nine-member Progressive Caucus lost about four members on Tuesday. This means progressives will make up a notably higher percentage of Democratic House members in the 112th Congress."<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the left, neither the fact that corporate money influenced elections or that progressives maintained their seats are entirely startling revelations. What is different this time around, however, is that this time the right-wing has an extremely vocal, populist front for their corporate policies and anti-democratic, anti-working class predilections. It is called the Tea Party.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There has been a tremendous debate on the left in recent months over how, exactly, to deal with the Tea Party movement. Is it a grassroots, reactionary movement fueled by a growing number of ordinary, disillusioned people harboring anti-democratic, anti-government, quasi-fascist tendencies similar to the Weimar Republic prior to a Nazi takeover, as <a href="http://progressive.org/wx041210.html">Noam Chomsky argues</a>? Or, perhaps, just a facade of activism put up by the corporate backers and right-wing media hosts that will, as <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/03/02/tea-party-tidal-wave">Lance Selfa of SocialistWorker argues</a>, lose its steam after the November elections?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time will tell, and I am not entirely sure either side has the answer. Given the various statistical analysis of the electoral makeup, the influx of corporate advertising, and the significantly low voter turnout, I think there is more evidence to suggest that Selfa may be correct. That does not, however, mean that we should not take Chomsky's warnings seriously. It is conceivable that a growing fascist movement could arise from the nascent Tea Party organizations. Let's not forget the corporate media and big business was just as important in fostering fascist growth in the Weimar republic, forming a base composed of primarily rural and middle-class components, as it is in funding reactionaries here in the United States.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless, the Tea Party rhetoric has to be challenged. The question is, how do we on the left go about doing such a thing?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is where the debate becomes far more complex. The left, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and this includes the revolutionary left, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">despite our own rhetoric, is not entirely sure where or how to proceed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are three trends that we ought to consider exploring in more depth.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First and foremost, we need to consider running left wing, socialist alternatives in these elections on a more consistent basis. We should not expect to win, but we should expect to use them as tools in order to organize and mobilize our side, to get the chance to go out, door to door, and simply speak to people in "plain proletarian English" (or Spanish!), to quote Fred Hampton, what socialism really means.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the gloomy results of these past elections in the broad sense, we have a very bright spot that should be a source of pride. Right here in Ohio, the so-called Heartland, we garnered 25,311 votes for socialism in the Senate race! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I paid particular attention all night to the rising vote tally for the Senate candidate, Dan La Botz, partly because of my living in Ohio, but also because he was, to my knowledge, the only strong, socialist candidate to run for office on an explicitly socialist platform.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not want to overemphasize the importance of this election either. We on the left have a tendency to, sometimes, exaggerate even the mildest shifts in opinion, even the smallest struggles, as if they were the culmination of working class radicalization. To be fair, La Botz garnered the smallest amounts of votes in the Ohio Senate race, falling behind both the super reactionary Tea Party candidate and the right-wing Constitution Party candidate. Rob Portman, the mainstream Republican, won the race with two million votes, the Democrat coming in a far second with one and quarter million.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, only three and a half million of Ohio's 8.2 million registered voters actually cast a ballot. As was the trend in the rest of the country, this electorate tended to be whiter, older, and more conservative than those who did not head to the polls. Had Ohio's entire electorate voted, it is possible to imagine our socialist candidate garnering far more than 25,000 votes.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, we need to consider continuing this trend of running strong socialist candidates in places where we have the organizational infrastructure to do so, or building it in places where we currently do not. In terms of organizing and educational value, I would argue Dan La Botz's campaign was at least a partial success that can, and should, be replicated.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, one could very well point out that we have nowhere near 25,000 active socialists here in Ohio and that passive votes for a candidate does not equate with activism. This is absolutely correct.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, we should rejoice in the fact that we have an audience so large, so open to the idea of radical economic restructuring. This is something we cannot afford to waste. One could only imagine the possibilities, the potential, if we on the left could harness even 5% of that vote and convince them of the need to become dedicated, organized activists. Imagine 1,250 socialists activists in Ohio, something that must be at least five times the amount we have now. That would be a force to be reckoned with!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second trend, developing a macroeconomic analysis and theoretical constructs in which we can explain the world, we are exceedingly brilliant at. Seriously, leftist newspapers, magazines, journals, online or print, provide percussive critiques of capitalism, of the economic system in its holistic form. The system is often accurately described and criticized in terms of its totality. This is a talent which, correctly, those on the left facilitate and cultivate.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third and last trend, however, sometimes suffers at the hand of the second. Our immense focus upon the macroeconomic analysis, often impeccable and lucid, oftentimes does not allow for us to develop the sorts of microeconomic ideas, actions, and institutions which could, in my opinion, lead to a seriously quantitative and qualitative development of our force. We often hear rhetoric about "organizing a grassroots challenge to the right," or "building political alternatives," but when the extent of those political alternatives are simply selling papers at rallies and in universities, once in awhile building a demonstration or educational event, and reading Lenin and Trotsky on Thursday nights, we are in serious trouble. Those of us on the left often exist within an "intellectual ghetto," where we can discuss and debate the intricacies of Marxist theory, of the labor theory of value, or what Engels or Luxemburg meant when they wrote a certain word a certain way, etc., but those sorts of things, simply put, will not garner us any more supporters at the most basic level.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I run the risk of being attacked for downplaying theory, for not understanding the role that theory plays in the buzzword "praxis," for not having the correct political arguments... I've heard it all before, and I'm prepared to hear it again. Yet, I am not arguing that we should not study theory. On the contrary, we should absolutely study theory when it is appropriate to do so. But we should do two things. First, we need to open up the theorists we allow in what is, essentially, a very "closed" list of Marxist theorists who are, for the most part, white males who died a hundred or so years ago. By no means am I saying discard them, but I don't think its entirely practical for us to read and reread Engel's <i>Socialism: Utopian and Scientific</i>. Nor do I find it particularly useful, despite how intellectually interesting we may find something personally, to argue over how and why dialectics applies to every aspect of nature. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, we need to develop serious microeconomic goals that can not only help us draw in those being opened up to socialism, but that can genuinely help the working class and poor in terms of material subsistence. Here, I think we can listen to the eloquent words of Boots Riley, from the Coup, who lucidly outlines this concept in his interview with Amy Goodman:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Well, I think that [we're dealing with] the same issues that are important to organize around all over the world. What people are worried about is how are they going to have a roof over their heads? How are they going to put food on the table? And, you know, because of that, what wages are they getting paid? I think that a lot of the radical movements have left behind some of <i>those regular, everyday things</i>. You know, when I talk to people in Oakland—and throughout my time growing up in Oakland, people have said to me, you know, "What you’re talking about, this, you know, revolution, socialism, communism, all of that is great, but I’ve <i>got to pay the bills</i>." There was a time when that was one and the same thing. Right now there is a lot of <i>focus on the macroeconomic problems</i> and what’s left—who’s left to deal with the everyday nuts and bolts of people’s lives are not the radical element. And so, I think that we need to put some revolutionary politics onto some reform struggles that have to do with feeding people, have to do with people getting higher wages. Some militant union work, basically. Things like that."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone who has seen his father lose the factory job he has worked at for most of his life, and who has watched his family's home go into foreclosure, I understand that these sorts of things are needed now more than ever. I do not think my own father would be so averse to political organization if he felt that we were doing more than simply talking at him about how bad things were, about why he should buy a paper or read about how terrible things are.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand that the political model of the 1960's New Left failed. I understand that major flaws in Students for a Democratic Society, in the Black Panther Party, and other groups lead, simultaneously with the profoundly intense repression by the oppressive state apparatus, to their downfall and the right-wing, neoliberal resurgence of the 1970's onward. I do not, however, believe that we ought to reject all of their methods because of this. There is an emphasis within the radical left today not on the Black Panther Party's social service programs, for instance, which undoubtedly drew in a plethora of volunteers, activists, and radicals wanting to make a difference, but instead a focus on their newspaper as a pivotal organization point. No doubt, the paper as a means of agitation, organization, and education is important. Yet, I do not see why we must articulate some strict dichotomy between the two. Why does our focus tend towards words, and not action? That is, after all, what the paper primarily represented, analysis, not action. Action without theory is empty, we can be sure of that, but theory that pretends to be active, that purports to represent some sort of synthesis, some sort of praxis, may be even worse.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should ask ourselves what draws people to religious organizations. This should be done not because we hope to aspire to become a religious organization in terms of ideological makeup or intellectual culture, but because their methods and tactics, of providing a sense of community and, in many instances, of providing material relief and support for those who need it, can, at the very least, prove to be valuable tools in taking steps toward socialism.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be clear, I am not arguing that I have the answer, that my analysis is entirely correct or that flaws do not exist within it. I am, however, arguing that maybe we can at least entertain the idea, and perhaps act upon it experimentally, of taking a different path. Maybe we can consider other options. Perhaps the best way to end here is to say that we could learn a thing or two from Fred Hampton, leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party, when he said the following:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People learn by example. I don't think anyone can argue with that. I believe when Huey P. Newton said, "People learn by observation and participation," I think that everybody caught on to that. So, what we saying here simply is, if people learn by observation and participation, then we need to do more acting than we need to writing, and I think the Black Panther Party is doing that. We didn't talk about a Breakfast For Children program, we got one.</span></blockquote></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-13798263809257825122010-11-02T17:45:00.001-04:002011-11-15T22:50:44.030-05:00Arundhati Roy, Political Repression, and Hindu Nationalism<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the most eloquent, articulate, and poetic voice of our age is facing persecution by an oppressive and hostile government. Her name is Arundhati Roy, and for those of you unfamiliar with her, I suggest you spend the next hour or two of free time you get reading her work, listening to her speeches, or exploring the topics she analyzes with such potency. She is currently the target of a campaign against her by the Indian government for <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/10/27/arundhati-roy-speaks-out">s</a><a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/10/27/arundhati-roy-speaks-out">peaking out against the atrocities</a> committed by them in the region of Kashmir, a Muslim-majority area occupied by the Indian military and police.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On October 31, right-wing thugs from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), which I deal with extensively in my article below, surrounded Roy's New Dehli home, chanting virulent slogans for half an hour before breaking into her home and vandalizing it. Fortunately, Roy was not at home during the attack. You can read her statement about the attack <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/11/01/inciting-mob-anger-against-me">here.</a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following is a sample of her, as always, eloquence concerning the campaign of terror:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMyK-0ksZTI/AAAAAAAAAMY/fAcyqS5Mkco/s1600/ARUNDHATI_ROY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMyK-0ksZTI/AAAAAAAAAMY/fAcyqS5Mkco/s320/ARUNDHATI_ROY.jpg" width="277" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;">"Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists and those who prey on the poorest of the poor roam free."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;">Pity them, indeed.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">The article that follows is one written by me just after the Mumbai attack in 2009. It explores the issue of Hindu nationalism, a topic which Roy has written on extensively. I relied upon her heavily for this article, and quote her on occasion throughout. I hope that this small piece can do her justice, and those of us on the left should stand by her in her struggle against the Indian state, which seeks to silence dissent. Let us help keep it alive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To garner an accurate understanding of the extremely diverse and complex religious atmosphere in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, one must also recognize the inter-tangled web of cultural and political aspects which are, in many ways, fused with religion. Since the 1920’s an ideology labeled Hindutva, outlined in 1923 by one of its founding theoreticians, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, has galvanized a prodigious revivalism among <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Hindus. This revivalism takes many shapes, manifesting itself in the form of cultural groups, political parties, private militias, military factions, corporations, businesses, and a host of other social, political, and economic entities. However, all of this has developed within a certain political context where Hindu revivalism is intricately tied into the idea of Hindu nationalism, the concept which regards Hinduism as an ethnic, cultural, and political identity. Similarly, it is inextricably linked with a rather virulent Indian nationalism which, given the ideas expressed by many of its followers and philosophers, borders on fascism in its theoretical postulations. The concept of racial impurity, ethnic cleansing, and a virulent nationalism have stoked religious animosity, propped up an oppressive and undemocratic military occupation in Kashmir, and fueled the recent violence that has gripped India as exemplified in the bloodletting of 1,500 to 2,000 Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat massacre.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The term Hindu revivalism is often associated with Hindu fundamentalism, however that label is challenged by some who argue that no such fundamental text exists which can promote the hard-line philosophy espoused by many Hindu nationalists.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a> Savarkar, an atheist himself, regarded Hindutva as less of a religious interpretation and more a way of life, blurring the lines between religion and political ideology. Regardless of terminology, however, the expressions and outcomes of this particular ideological interpretation of Hinduism have, historically, been molded around extremely undemocratic conceptual ideals intended to marginalize minority populations, placate the suffering majority, and empower a small elite sector of society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region> there are various currents of Hindu nationalism. Three in particular, however, stand out among rest. All three are intricately bound up together in ideological convictions yet utilize different vehicles to achieve their aims. The cultural organization, <i>Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh</i> (RSS), is, in the words of Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy, “the ideological heart, the holding company” of Hindu nationalism. They maintain that all devotion should be directed towards the “motherland” of India, promote extreme nationalism, and exhibit an intense absorption of Hindutva by the daily <i>Shakha</i> (meeting) which includes “physical exercises, patriotic songs, group discussions on various subjects, reading of good literature and a prayer to our motherland.” It has approximately 50,000 organized <i>Shakhas</i> all across <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, seven million <i>swayamsevaks</i> (volunteers), and 13,000 educational establishments. The <i>Baratiya Janata Party</i> is the political wing of the Hindu nationalists and similarly espouse a doctrine of “strong national defense, small government and free-market economic policies,” intended to promote economic growth at all costs while using the United States’ “War on Terror” as an ideological backdrop to marginalize and oppress the Muslim minority population. The <i>Vishwa Hindu Parishad</i> (VHP) and <i>Bajrang Dal</i> are the private militias, the physical arm of Hindu nationalism. These organizations all have a long history of extremism and brutality, as evidenced in <st1:place>Gujarat</st1:place>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is this fascistic revivalism which has infiltrated the hearts and minds of many Hindus that allows for genocidal acts of extermination to be proudly waved as acts of heroic service to the nation-state. Arundhati Roy cites “We,” or, “Our Nationhood Defined,” by M.S. Golwalker, head of the RSS in 1940’s, as the “RSS Bible.” Some of the excerpts from this work are extremely relevant:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since that evil day, when Moslems first landed in <st1:place>Hindustan</st1:place>, right up to the present moment, the Hindu Nation has been gallantly fighting on to take on these despoilers. The Race Spirit has been awakening... In <st1:place>Hindustan</st1:place>, land of the Hindus, lives and should live the Hindu Nation.... All others are traitors and enemies to the National Cause, or, to take a charitable view, idiots.... The foreign races in <st1:place>Hindustan</st1:place>. . .may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment-not even citizen’s rights... To keep up the purity of its race and culture, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races-the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here...a good lesson for us in <st1:place>Hindustan</st1:place> to learn and profit by.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sort of language, written in the 1940’s, remains prominent today. In 2002, when the burning of a railway coach killed fifty-three Hindu pilgrims, a “planned orgy of supposed retaliation” was carried out in which “two thousand Muslims were slaughtered in broad daylight by squads of armed killers, organized by fascist militias [the VHP and Bajrang Dal], and backed by the Gujarat government and administration of the day.” Babu Bajrangi, leader of the Gujarat Bajrang Dal, explained the massacre like this:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We didn’t spare a single Muslim shop, we set everything on fire...hacked, burned...we believe in setting them on fire because these bastards don’t want to be cremated, they’re afraid of it.... I have just one last wish.. .let me be sentenced to death… I don’t care if I’m hanged...just give me two days before my hanging and I will go and have a field day in Juhapura where seven or eight lakhs of these people stay… I will finish them off...let a few more of them die...at least 25,000 to 50,000 should die.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Narenda Modi, the chief minister of the state of Gujarat and member of the BJP, and his government planned the 2002 Gujarat massacre of the Muslims living there, he was quickly reelected with a landslide victory; it is obvious the poisonous virulence of Hindu nationalism runs deep through <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s veins.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sort of violence is inevitably tied into the concept of Hindu nationalism. Racism, xenophobia, and dehumanizing virulence are often the spawn of extreme nationalism and radical concepts of ethnic identity. With brotherhood always comes the risk of otherhood. With ethnic identification comes the threat of ethnic hostility. However, acknowledging ethnic identity does not always have to lead to ethnic violence. A recognition or proximity to one’s cultural and ethnic background should not necessarily lead to exclusion and rejection of other ethnic, cultural, or religious groups. However, within the context of a despondent, poverty-stricken nation such as <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region> where class antagonisms could, and often do, erupt at any moment, the ruling class must utilize some sort of ideological component to repress and redirect class tension. In a society split between rich and poor, ultra-wealthy minority and hungry, exploited, suffering majority, politicians and corporate rulers have no qualms with postulating an ideology which pits poor against poor, Hindu against Muslim, Indian against Indian. All that matters is that they maintain their stranglehold on the power, wealth, and means of production in society. Years ago it was the Dalits, the untouchables, whom could be discriminated against with impunity. Recently, in <st1:place>Gujarat</st1:place>, Muslims were the scapegoat for <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s ills. Tomorrow, it will be the revolutionary Maoists who have given up the Ghandian ideal of non-violent resistance to an oppressive state apparatus.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latest violence, as evidenced quite recently in Mumbai, gives credence to the argument that terrorism cannot be stopped, cannot be contained, unless the states which wish to declare war on it first give it up as a tactic to maintain control. The terrific destruction by Hindu nationalists of the Babri Masjid Mosque in 1992, the Gujarat Massacre carried out by the BJP in 2002, and the 700,000 strong occupation consisting of the Indian “army, the police, the paramilitary, the counterinsurgency” that brutally represses the Muslim-majority state of <st1:place>Kashmir</st1:place> must be addressed if atrocities like Mumbai are not to be repeated again. The sort of religious animosity that provides the ideological façade for non-aligned or state-sponsored terrorist atrocities cannot be curbed with anti-terrorism laws or more militarism. It is contained by addressing the root causes of the problems, the very real grievances, and material deprivation which lodges itself in the heart of the politically, economically, and socially marginalized sectors of society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a reporter asked one of the attackers in the Mumbai attacks why he would not surrender to save his life, he explained, “We die every day. It’s better to live one day as a lion and then die this way.” <st1:city><st1:place>Roy</st1:place></st1:city> notes that “He didn’t seem to want to change the world. He just seemed to want to take it down with him.” Religion, it seems, may provide the ideological backdrop which comforts and aides atrocities, allows for the denial of genocide, and the continuance of oppression carried out by the state. Hindu revivalism, and its extremist, nationalist appendage of Hindutva, undoubtedly provides the psychological context in which a massacre can be celebrated rather than reviled. It also promotes the specific interests of a particular group, namely those who control and dictate by maintaining political and economic power. Thus, whatever one chooses to call it, fundamentalism, revivalism, or nationalism, a cultural affinity, ethnic identity, or religious fixation, this sort of virulent ideology must be challenged by all people, Hindu and non-Hindu alike. Reform movements in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region> who challenge the caste system must also challenge the class system which perpetuates inequality, racism, and xenophobia.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Adhopia makes the argument that “Unlike Islam and Christianity, Hinduism is not a “One Prophet, One Book” religion... There is nothing in Hinduism, despite its antiquity, that a fundamentalist group can interpret to suit or justify its extremist ideology.”</span></div></div><div id="ftn2"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""></a><o:p> </o:p> </span></div></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WORKS CITED</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ajit Adhopia, “Hindu Fundamentalism: Does it really exist?” available from: http://www.boloji.comlanalysis/016.htm<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arundhati Roy, “9 is Not 11,” available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.conilarundhati-roy/9-is-not-11</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arundhati Roy, “Listening to Grasshoppers,” available from: http://www.countercurrents.org/roy260108.htm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BJP, available from: http://www.bjp.org/content/view/752/408/</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br clear="all" /> </span><br />
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</div></div></div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-1099810678319353412010-10-30T14:32:00.000-04:002010-10-30T14:32:10.086-04:00Get Out There and Vote Dan La Botz, Socialist for Senate!<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMxGLl8qTUI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bPmmZsxuMpA/s1600/labots4senate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMxGLl8qTUI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bPmmZsxuMpA/s200/labots4senate.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Certain conspiracy-addled commentators want you to know that scary Kenyan Socialists are secretly plotting to overthrow America as you read this newspaper. In the face of such panic, surely no Socialist would be brazen enough to run for office — especially here in heartland Ohio... Enter Dan La Botz."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's how a short <a href="http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/10/26/ohios-socialist-candidate-hide-the-kids">article from the </a><a href="http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/10/26/ohios-socialist-candidate-hide-the-kids">Cleveland Scene</a> begins, describing the campaign by Socialist Dan La Botz for the Ohio Senate seat. While no Kenyan, La Botz is running on a principled, anti-capitalist campaign, as outlined by the "radical ideas" he espouses, such as "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the right of Americans to full-time jobs at a living wage, universal access to health care, ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and opposing prejudices like racism, xenophobia, and homophobia." Sardonically, they add, "Yes, there’s no room for this brand of nutbag thinking in our fair corner of the world."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Among the political mainstream, with their corporate sponsors and narrow ideological dogmatism, those ideas certainly are radical. But for someone like my father, a factory worker for thirty years who was laid off during the 2008 economic crisis, a "full-time job at a living wage" with "access to health care" isn't exactly a revolutionary message. For someone like my father, a white man with an adopted black son, my brother, "opposing prejudices like racism" isn't a radical demand either. The thing is, my father is not alone. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Everyone knows Ohio, and it's many urban centers like Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus, have been hit hard by unemployment and declining living standards. Many folks are looking toward the future in a sense of despair, with the economic indicators relatively bleak for anyone making under a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. Frustrated, many people are turning to alternative political voices, or turning away from politics all-together.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is not a bad thing. We should reject the corporate platform of the Democratic and Republican parties, with their ideological commitment to corporate capitalism and big business. However, we need a political organization, a vehicle through which can articulate the demands, the needs, and the hopes of working class people.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unfortunately, many have turned not to the left, where there is a noticeable absence of well-organized political structures, but to the right, where corporate populism, a sort of fake grassroots has taken hold. I am, of course, talking about the infamous Tea Party.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the Cincinnati City Beat, in an <a href="http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-21963-curiouser-and-curiouser.html">article endorsing Dan La Botz for Senate</a>, explains so lucidly, "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">on a political level, the Tea Party simply is a “populist” cover for the Republican Party's desire to maintain tax cuts for the wealthy, eliminate the estate tax for the wealthy, deregulate Wall Street firms that almost drove the country into financial ruin and protect profits for health insurance corporations."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No doubt that. City Beat continues: </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're angry that our health insurance premiums skyrocket while coverage gets scaled back and insurance corporations report record profits. We're angry that BP can dump millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and get away with it. We're angry that the Supreme Court equates corporations with personhood and now allows businesses to pump even more money into an already corrupt political system. And we're angry that this country has spent more than $1 trillion and endured more than 5,000 dead soldiers to fight largely unsuccessful wars in the Middle East."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And, I should add, for any of us with a conscience that extends beyond our national borders, we are angry that hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been murdered in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And we are angry that our tax dollars go to funding an immoral, illegal, and illegitimate, and horrendously violent occupation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But best of all, I think City Beat sums up many of the feelings Ohioans share about the Senate race here, when they say they're "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">unexcited about the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, and squeamish about the GOP nominee, former Cincinnati area Congressman Rob Portman."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Disgusted with the mainstream choices, the City Beat has openly and courageously endorsed a Socialist candidate. Besides the fact that he "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">supports radical democracy, the democratic control of the economy by the majority of Americans instead of by a small minority," part of the reason they want Ohio voters to choose La Botz is the likely chance that the "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">heads of those on the Far Right who consider Obama a socialist would explode, and that could be fun to watch."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I couldn't agree more.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And, for those of you following the election, you should know that Rob Portman, the Republican, is ahead in the polls. So far ahead, in fact, that Lee Fischer, the Democrat, has essentially dropped his campaign. You could still vote for him, but it would be a waste. A huge waste, in fact, when he has no chance of being elected.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Instead, I urge everyone to read the <a href="http://thirdpartydaily.blogspot.com/2010/10/oh-open-letter-to-progressive-democrats.html">open letter by Dan La Botz to Progressive Democrats</a>, which I have copied here:</span></span></span></div><br />
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 20px;"><div style="line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dear Friends and Fellow Progressives, </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;">In the Senate race, the Democratic Party in Ohio has largely ignored your wishes, crushed your hopes, and now abandons you to the Republican Rob Portman. In the beginning, when many and perhaps most of you wanted Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to be the Senate candidate, the Democratic Party organization used its power and its money to push Brunner aside and impose Lee Fisher as the candidate. Now, as we approach election day, Lee Fisher has apparently thrown in the towel, giving up on his race and turning his remaining campaign funds over to the Democratic Party to use for other races where they think they still have a chance. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.3em;"><div style="text-align: justify;">What are you going to do with Fisher having failed so badly and now going down to defeat? I know that you won’t vote for Rob Portman or for the Libertarian or Constitution or party candidates who are perhaps even further right than he is. But I am afraid that you might waste your vote by casting it for Lee Fisher. This would be squandering your vote. </div></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8725419710604925149&postID=109981067831935341" name="more"></a></span></span><br />
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 20px;"><div style="line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">First, of course, as you know it was Fisher who pushed Brunner and the progressives aside. Second, Fisher refused to take a strong stand on issues that concern us progressives, like getting out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Third, even the Ohio AFL-CIO didn’t endorse Fisher (look at the mailing you got or go to the website and you’ll see his name is not on the voting card: <a href="http://www.ohaflcio.org/2010endorsements.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.ohaflcio.org/2010endorsements.html</span></a>) Finally, Fisher ran a lackluster campaign failing to go out and fight for the principles you believe in. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.3em;"><div style="text-align: justify;">And now Fisher is anywhere between 10 and 20 points behind in the polls. He doesn’t stand a chance of winning. If you vote for Fisher now, you just waste your vote. It won’t harm the Republicans. And worst of all it will convince the Democrats that they don’t really need to pay attention to progressives like you, since you’ll always bite the bullet and vote for them anyway.</div></span></blockquote><blockquote style="margin: 1em 20px;"><div style="line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, this year, don’t knuckle under. Send a message to the Republicans, to the Democrats and to Washington. Let them know that you’re tired of being dragged to the right, that you want a progressive alternative. Vote on November 2 for Dan La Botz, Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate. You won’t be alone. Cincinnati’s CityBeat has endorsed me and progressives around the state have let me know they’re voting for me. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;">Thanks for giving this some thought. Look at my website and you'll see we believe in many of the same things. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon at the same demonstrations against the war, for immigrant rights, for gay rights, and for all the other things we believe in. Take care. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.3em;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Dan La Botz </div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.3em;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Socialist Party candidate for Senate</div></span></blockquote><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If that doesn't sway you to vote, I don't know what will. La Botz recently mentioned that along the campaign there has been a "willingness to discuss Socialism," and we on the left should not</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> forgo this opportunity to push for radical change </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let's take advantage of this moment. If you want your vote to actually mean something this time, get out there November 2nd, vote Dan La Botz for Senate!</span></span></span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-45430628514668842432010-10-28T13:22:00.000-04:002010-10-28T13:22:45.137-04:00Fellow Ohioans DO Have a Choice on the Ballot This Year!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Midterm elections are quickly approaching and the mainstream press is quickly latching on to the latest polls showing that GOP voters are more “fired up” and enthusiastic than Democratic voters. </div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Anyone who has been paying attention the past two years should already know this, as its no surprise once-upon-a-time Obama supporters have been let down again and again on a variety of issues. From healthcare to the wars, from LGBT rights to the Employee Free Choice Act, the Obama administration has let its base down again and again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Unemployment is still high as ever, workers are being laid off left and right, teachers are getting sacked, billions of dollars are still being funneled into killing people overseas, and anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments have grown. Meanwhile, wealth disparity in the United States has shot up, and the only wage increases have gone to those in the very highest wealth bracket.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We could learn a lot from the percussive lyrics of a recent song called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4OI0GUCI_A">Obama Nation</a> by the British rapper Lowkey:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>It’s over people, wake up from the dream now / Nobel peace prize, Jay Z on speed-dial / It’s the substance within, not the colour of your skin / Are you the puppeteer or the puppet on the string? / So many believed it was instantly gonna’ change / There was still Dennis Ross, Brzezinski and Robert Gates…/ I have the heart to say what all the other rappers aren’t / Words like Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan / The wars on, and you morons were all wrong / I call Obama “your bomba” cause those are your bombs…</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">None of this should shock us. There were many of us on the left who warned that Obama’s rhetoric about hope and change was little more than hot air. He has simply stepped in as imperialist-in-chief and anything of significance he has attempted has been watered-down and beaten around by right-wingers, with approval by Obama on “pragmatic” grounds, leaving a worthless, crippled mess in its wake. The rest of the Democrats have fallen in line behind him, with little opposition to the left within the party.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">And now, surprise, surprise, they want us to vote for them, claiming that a Republican victory this November would be disastrous. Those of us on the left should not fall into this line of voting for the “lesser evil,” no matter how clever the rhetoric peddlers are who spout this idea. Do not allow them to scare you into voting with someone do not agree with simply because you disagree with the other candidate even more. A Republican victory will be disastrous for working people, for poor people, for any historically marginalized group. But so will a Democratic victory. Indeed, if the past two years has not yet convinced us of this fact, we are in trouble.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">People in the United States have struggled long and hard for the right to vote. The problem is we often do not have anyone to vote for. Our votes are so commonly funneled into what Noam Chomsky refers to as the “two factions of the business party,” the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democrats are the “second most enthusiastic capitalist party,” and we will do well to remember that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The socialist and labor leader, and many time presidential candidate (who garnered nearly a million votes from prison cell, which he was in for his opposition to World War I), Eugene Debs once said, "It is better to vote for what you want and not get it, than to vote for what you don’t want and get it!" I am here to argue that position to those you planning (or not planning) to vote in Ohio November 2<sup>nd</sup>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMmwvMvDrEI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/BRzGHTtzt7k/s1600/danlabotz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan La Botz, Socialist Candidate for Senate</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMmwvMvDrEI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/BRzGHTtzt7k/s1600/danlabotz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>For the first time in awhile, we have some real choices on the ballot. I’m talking, first and foremost, about <a href="http://danlabotz.com/">Dan La Botz</a>, the socialist candidate for senate, and <a href="http://www.votespisak.org/governor/">Dennis Spisak</a>, the Green candidate for governor. I urge you to vote for both, but my focus here will be on Dan La Botz. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">If you live in Ohio you are probably aware that the mainstream candidates for Senate are Rob Portman, a former Bush administration official and Cincinnati congressman, of the Republican Party and Lee Fisher, the business friendly Lt. Governor of Ohio, of the Democratic Party. They, of course, are the only ones represented in the mainstream media. Aside from a few local papers, the debates have been closed to the third party candidates, and instead we have gotten the normal, narrow, limited debates that are so common in our “democracy.” Alternate voices, like those of La Botz and Spisak, were, as predicted, left out. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Undoubtedly, right-wingers have and will gain from this whole debacle, from the failure of the Democrats to deliver on their promise of change. On the flip side, however, I've spoken to many people who are far more open to ideas about socialism than ever before. Numerous polls reinforce this idea, and socialism, despite the varied and multi-definitional understanding of the word, is gaining ground, especially among young people. I've even convinced some died-in-the-wool Democrats, including my nearly seventy year old grandmother, to switch their votes from the Democratic Party. People are frustrated, and they are getting fed up with being let down, especially in the midst of such an economic crisis. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Let me be absolutely lucid before continuing. I am not in any way arguing that voting is the essence of democracy, or that going to the booth every two years (or sending in your absentee ballot) is the zenith of civic participation. On the contrary, we should listen when <a href="http://sherrytalksback.wordpress.com/">Sherry Wolf explains</a> that genuine change comes from “the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours a year activists spend organizing protests, rallies, speak outs, fundraisers, meetings, speeches and the like,” as they are the “most crucial political acts a person can undertake.” She is absolutely correct, and no amount of vacuous voting can replace the genuine activism that she advocates.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Still, we here in Ohio ought to cast our vote November 2<sup>nd</sup>, not because if we do not we are “un-American,” apathetic, or cynical. No, we ought to vote because for the first time we have some choices on the ballot who are not beholden to corporate interests, who are not afraid to stand on principles against the budget cuts, the austerity measures, and an economic system which places profit before people. I urge everyone in Ohio to read the <a href="http://danlabotz.com/issues1/">socialist platform for 2010</a>, you will not be disappointed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Let me be absolutely clear. Electing Dan La Botz as senator will not change the system. We will still live in a cut-throat, profit-driven society that dehumanizes and alienates working people and the poor. But that is the thing, he has no illusion that his victory will create fundamental change, and don’t take my word for it:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“I want my Senate race to be a campaign for justice…As a Socialist in Congress, I will use the office of Senator to <i>organize and mobilize the American people</i>. I would as Senator support and call for mobilizations of Ohio’s people and the people of the country to stop the wars, to create jobs, to win health care for all, and to stop the destruction of the environment.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
And, if you are not yet convinced, take ten minutes and watch the short clip here:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There you have it. The end goal is not to get La Botz elected, despite how wonderful that would be, but to mobilize and organize for real change, not the kind promised by Obama. We should remember Obama’s campaign during the primaries, when he so eloquently explained that change does not come from Washington, it comes to Washington. The reality of his statements, ironically, have been far to obvious for most of his administration. Dan La Botz understands that reality, and that is why a vote for Dan La Botz on November 2<sup>nd</sup> is a vote for real, fundamental change.</div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Do not pass up the chance to vote for a real alternative. Vote Dan La Botz on November 2nd, and in the process help build the social movement that can bring about fundamental change.</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-37376036497519452332010-10-25T21:05:00.000-04:002010-10-25T21:05:09.459-04:00Cain Velasquez and the Hypocrisy of the UFC<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMYo-OWwjQI/AAAAAAAAAMM/s2hH81NWtP4/s1600/cain-velasquez-brock-lesnar-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMYo-OWwjQI/AAAAAAAAAMM/s2hH81NWtP4/s640/cain-velasquez-brock-lesnar-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“Todos Latinos, we did it, eh?”</div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Those were the words of the new heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) this Saturday after his historic upset over the favored ex-champ Brock Lesnar. Lesnar had been the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world by Sherdog and MMA Weekly prior to be pounded out with one minute left in the first round by the 30 pound smaller Velasquez.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Needless to say, thousands and thousands of Latino and non-Latino supporters erupted in applause at the spectacular win. Mexican flags and pro-Velasquez banners were commonplace among the 14,000 plus fans that packed Anaheim’s Honda Center.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The media pitch for this event, spearheaded by the UFC’s head figure Dana White, was the story of Velasquez, “Brown Pride” tattooed across his chest, trying to defeat the purportedly unstoppable force that was Brock Lesnar to become the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Prior to the fight at a press conference, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/10/brock-lesnar-cain-velasquez-ufc.html">one reporter tried to get the fighters to respond to a question</a> regarding their stance on the anti-immigrant SB1070 passed in Arizona recently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Lesnar, known for keeping his personal life private but also understood to harbor rather right-wing political views, as exemplified in his conservative views on <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Lesnar-returns-rants-about-Canadian-healthcare-?urn=mma-214797">healthcare and President Obama</a>, declined to comment and simply stated he was “for legal immigration” and didn’t “have time to talk about [his] nationality.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Like the <a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/brock-lesnar-ain%25E2%2580%2599t-got-time-your-baiting-political-questions-mma-media">editors at Cage Potato</a> explain, this was probably the best response he could have given, “especially since dudes like Lesnar usually can’t pass up an opportunity to talk about their nationality, or put stickers about their nationality on their enormous 4X4s.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Velasquez, on the other hand, remained true to his “Brown Pride” tattoo and explained that he was “against, definitely. Both my parents came into the United States from Mexico." He went on to explain his choice of music when he enters the ring, "It's a story about a man crossing the border and all the hardships…”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Undoubtedly those hardships must have shaped Velasquez, and those of us anti-racists in the MMA community can only thank him for speaking out when some other athletes would have chosen not to. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, this was one of the first times that nationality was used so explicitly and overtly to sell a UFC event. Despite past attempts with fighters like Roger Huerta to break into the Latino market, every UFC commercial and blog mentioned the fact that Velasquez could be the “first Mexican-American heavyweight” ever.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Steven Marracco of MMA Junkie outlines the media campaign:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“The promotion's "UFC Primetime" series deeply delved into his ethnic roots and portrayed his father, a migrant lettuce farmer, as a pivotal character in his push to become champion.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">All too often issues of nationality and race simply slip by the radar and are ignored by the MMA community. For instance, Cheal Sonnen, an MMA fighter and lackluster Republican politician, before losing to Anderson Silva, who is from Brazil, got away with a host of bigoted comments. At one point he basically explained that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was only for gays and told Silva’s manager that he should “pray to whatever Demon effigy you prance and dance in front of that I decide not to CRUCIFY you.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">So, for the UFC to highlight Velasquez’s Mexican-American heritage seems like a progressive leap within the world of MMA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">“The guy's Mexican. His parents came here from Mexico (and) came over the border. ... Do you think we had him tattoo 'Brown Pride' on his chest? What the [expletive]?" Dana White so eloquently told reporters after the fight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Some, of course, criticized the media blitz for using his nationality to sell the UFC to Latinos.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">White did not reject this idea. He admitted that Velasquez could provide a serious opening for the UFC to enter the Latino community, adding that this fight as a “big deal” and could be a watershed moment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Doesn’t sound like a bad thing, right? Think again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">White’s comments are a classic example of a CEO talking out of both sides of his mouth. While he is attempting to break into the Latino market and paint himself as a crusader for the Mexican-American fighter, he is also moving to get MMA shows for the first time in Arizona, the very state where the most racist and vile form of bigotry is alive and well in the form of SB1070.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The utter hypocrisy on display could not be more obvious.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Arizona's SB1070 is a law that will authorize officers to pull over, question, and detain anyone they have a "reasonable suspicion," including skin color, to believe is in this country without proper documentation. This is a law meant to legalize racial profiling and increase the harassment of Arizona residents and anybody who visits the state, including MMA fighters, their families and fans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with a wide array of Latino and Latino-American fighters. White is trying, with one already in the works for December 2010, to bring large-scale events to Arizona which could bring millions of dollars in revenue to a racist state. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, he’s selling his brand to Latinos in hopes that they will not smell the rottenness of the deal they are getting sold. White could care less about discrimination or racism against Latinos, he only cares about how much of their money he can strip from their wallet. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">This, of course, is the essence of capitalism. Due what is best for the bottom line, not what is best for human beings, even if these human beings are some of the most important people in your business.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every anti-racist should celebrate the victory of Velasquez, in the same way that anti-racists would celebrate the whooping of James Jeffries by Jack Johnson. We should not, however, be duped into thinking that Dana White gives a damn about Latinos.</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-71101155642799304982010-10-23T18:13:00.000-04:002010-10-23T18:13:13.271-04:00The French Uprising over “Pension Reform” and Where We Ought to Stand<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMNdn3mzn6I/AAAAAAAAAMI/ppaMkWk8RUo/s1600/FrenchHighSchoolGirl2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TMNdn3mzn6I/AAAAAAAAAMI/ppaMkWk8RUo/s320/FrenchHighSchoolGirl2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Noam Chomsky <a href="http://www.chomsky.info/talks/19960413.htm">once explained</a> that we ought to be wary of the word “reform.” He says:</div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">Reform is a word you always ought to watch out for... Reform is a change that you're supposed to like. And watch -- so as soon as you hear the word reform, you kind of reach for your wallet and see who's lifting it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">His words could not be more accurate. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Currently, the French working class is up in arms (<a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/10/france_on_strike.html">see some fantastic photos here</a>) against the austerity measures in the form of “pension reform” being forced upon them via the reactionary Skarkozy administration. On Friday, the French Senate pushed through a bill to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 and the age for a full pension to 67 from 65. The vote, with 177 for and 153 against, was much closer than the vote in the National Assembly, France’s lower house.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="swinterviewee">Charles-André Udry</span>, in <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/10/22/the-revolt-shaking-france">an interview with Ahmed Shawki</a>, outlined the seriousness of this so-called reform:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">And in any event, one thing that's typical of the general economic situation is the growing number of workers who, for reasons of ill health or because of layoffs, are forced to leave work at 55 or 58 or 60 years of age, and go on unemployment. As a result, they aren't able to contribute sufficiently to assure themselves of a full pension at 60--and it's not certain that they'll have a full pension at 65 or 67, which is the final proposal of the Sarkozy government… It's not even that there's so much opposition to pushing back the minimum age of retirement to 62, but rather that most people know that in order to get a full pension you can live on, you would be forced to work until you're 67.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Its passage is a pernicious victory for the reactionary French government and will prove very harmful to the French working class. Regardless, the fact that the vote was so close shows that the prodigious upsurge in struggle did have some effect on forcing politicians to rethink the bill.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Nearly every town and city in France, no matter the size, has been touched by the wave of strikes and street protests that have swept across the country. All last week strikes, blockades, and demonstrations shut down oil refineries, schools, highways, gas stations, etc. Even Lady Gaga had to cancel her shows in Paris. The main unions have called extremely successful nationwide strikes, with organizers estimating around three million people out in the streets. Meanwhile, smaller actions are taking place every single day. Police have clashed with workers and youth all around France.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Even with the measure passing, a two-day general strike has been called for Thursday and another for November 6<sup>th</sup>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The conservatives in France are claiming that someday workers will thank them for the pension rollback. They argue that a certain retirement age, as well as other social services, are not rights, but privileges, and sometimes these privileges need to be revoked. Pretentious right-wingers like Greg Gutfeld <a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2010/10/19/sarkozy-learns-that-taking-candy-from-the-french-is-a-bitch/">factitiously</a><a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2010/10/19/sarkozy-learns-that-taking-candy-from-the-french-is-a-bitch/"> claim</a> that, in essence, French workers are like children who need to learn that “when you don’t work, you can no longer pay for stuff,” and Skarkozy, who “has more balls than a McDonald’s play pit,” is the only daddy-like figure who has the bravery to scold them. Apparently, only those of us with testicles can smash workers down and destroy their standard of living. Thatcher must have been a guy in disguise. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">While this sort of right-wing garbage is to be expected, what is not so clear is how liberals and the left are talking about the issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Even though many of them voted against it, the Socialist Party in France <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/world/europe/20france.html?ref=world">is worried</a> about the protests because they could be “discredited if there are excesses.” Likewise, even many people here in the states who identify themselves as progressives or liberals argue that the pension system is unsustainable and that the French shouldn’t care about raising the pension age two years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/10/18/part_iislavoj_zizek_far_right_and_anti_immigrant_politicians_on_the_rise_in_europe">recently appeared on DemocracyNow</a> and, when asked about the strikes in France, had this to say:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">A strange phenomenon is now exploding in Europe, getting more and more accentuated, which was here, we just didn’t notice it all the time. Those who dare to strike today are usually the privileged, those who have a guaranteed state employment and so on. And they strike for these things like, no, we don’t want to freeze our salaries; we want raise them up, while, for example, in my country, there are thousands of textile workers, women, who, if one were to offer them what—that situation with regard to which those who strike today are protesting, like "we guarantee you permanent employment, just with frozen salaries for next five years," they would say, "My god! That’s better than we dared to dream." This is what worries me a little bit, that this strike waves, you know, are clearly predominantly strikes of the, let’s call it in old Leninist terms, workers’ aristocracy, those with safe positions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In other words, he juxtaposes the workers in France and the workers in Slovenia, and is basically, without saying it, insinuating that the France workers should be take the pension reform and shut up, because things could always be worse. This sort of rhetoric is, in my opinion, the most disempowering that a leftist, especially one with as much of a following as Zizek, could articulate. <span> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We on the left have to be utterly clear on this issue. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">First, t<span class="textexposedshow">he French government is not simply trying to preserve the pension system, as many claim. The pension system is in no urgent danger, and is not on the verge of collapse as some economists claim. Furthermore, extending the full pension age to 67 would be harmful for older workers, many of them having lived through the speed ups and excessive increases in productivity over the last few years. It would mean there are less jobs for young people entering the workforce, a section of the population which already suffers from high unemployment. This, in large part, as well as solidarity with their friends and family, explains why youth have organized to fight back alongside workers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">There is not fatal flaw in the pension system. It is not, and would not be, short by any significant sum of money. Some economists and politicians like to provide a few abstract percentages, tailored in a way to make one think there is some tremendous shortage, in order to push the ideological case for changing the pension. Any shortages could be easily fixed by a few tax adjustments, especially on the rich, and not a continual push towards austerity for French workers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">The money is there. The question is, who should bear the burden? These pension cuts are “being <a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/fran-s17.shtml">planned amid a financial scandal</a> rocking the Sarkozy government. Sarkozy and his Labour Minister Eric Woerth—who is in charge of the pension reform—allegedly obtained illegal campaign funding from </span><span class="textexposedshow">France</span><span class="textexposedshow">’s richest woman Liliane Bettencourt, who received €100 million in tax refunds from Sarkozy’s tax breaks for the wealthy.”</span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">So, while Skarkozy is pushing through tax cuts for the rich, he plans to cut social spending by €100 billion, €19 billion of which come, purportedly, from raising the pension age.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">We ought to find it more than ironic that Skarkozy pushed through a large tax cut (cutting inheritance taxes, reducing taxes for the wealthiest from 60% to 50%, etc.) in 2007 worth $18 billion euros, just shy of the amount he claims this pension reform will save. </span><br />
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<span class="textexposedshow">Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1042/French_pension_pickle.html">people like Martine Durand</a> plays with abstract statistics and useless percentages while not actually providing any solid numbers in terms of actual money being brought in and paid out by the pension program. She gives the classic “we’re going to have more old people and less young people, the whole system is going to collapse” rhetoric when, in reality, these things could be fixed with very minor tax adjustments, particularly increases on the wealthiest sections of French society. Our only options, she argues, is to cut pensions or raise the age to receive them. Apparently, because of the ideological interests she represents, no other solution is possible. The only solutions presented are those that harm working people.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Interesting, also, is the fact that she presents a blanket claim that “even the unions think the pension system needs to be fixed,” but not a single union or working class voice is present in the entire article. It is very easy to inject claims on behalf of the other side when they are not there to represent themselves!</span><br />
<br />
The French people know which side of the battle they are on. SocialistWorker.org reported that:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">Fully 71 percent of the population opposes Sarkozy's "reform," and that support for the movement rises to 87 percent among manual workers and routine office workers. A poll last week even reckoned that two-thirds of the population thought the strike movement needed to get tougher on the government, while 53 percent of the population and 70 percent of manual workers wanted a general strike.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">Us workers in the </span><span class="textexposedshow">United States</span><span class="textexposedshow"> should be in solidarity with our French counterparts, asking ourselves why we do not have pension eligibility at age 60, not condemning them for it. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">Second, this is not the first attack on the French working class by Skarkozy. There are various instances of the Skarkozy government attempting to dismantle and undermine unions in </span><span class="textexposedshow">France</span><span class="textexposedshow"> and push austerity measures onto the people there</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">For those that argue retirement is not a right, we must stand unequivocally against such rhetoric. Rights are defined by a given society at a given historical point. They are socially constructed and constantly changing. Thus, we need to understand that the definition of what constitutes a right is a site of struggle. Likewise, we need to be ready to defend the idea that retirement is and should be a guaranteed right. We must stand against those, like Skarkozy, who would attempt to shorten or remove our right to it.</span><br />
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<span class="textexposedshow">We ought to argue against the idea that the cost of financing state deficits should be on the backs of the working class in the form of social cuts. These are meant not to “save the pension system” but to cheapen labor and help the French capitalist class to be more competitive in the global market. That is, fundamentally, what this is about.</span><br />
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<span class="textexposedshow">Third, the entire context of this general strike is within the worldwide austerity measures that are hitting Europeans especially hard. French workers understand that once you allow the state to remove one hard earned benefit without a battle the social safety net and hard earned gains can be unraveled piece by piece. It is, in essence, the ultimate failure of reformist ideology. Reforms can always, and historically this has been proven again and again, be rolled back.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="textexposedshow">In fact, it has been happening here in the </span><span class="textexposedshow">United States</span><span class="textexposedshow"> for the past thirty-five years, and we would be ignorant to not make the comparison. The French have maintained a fairly higher standard of living because of their militancy.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We need to understand that, and we need to support them in their struggle to maintain a decent standard of living. In fact, not only should we support them, we should take inspiration from their struggle and start fighting back here, where for the last four decades we have been smashed in the face again and again as neoliberal “reforms” have eaten away at the already failing social safety net in the United States. We need our own version of France’s “May 1968,” that’s for sure, but I’d settle for anything comparable to what’s going on in France right now. At a time when unemployment is high and wages are at their lowest point in decades, we need to start fighting back. It’s time, America.</span></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-61654196613706915902010-10-20T21:26:00.000-04:002010-10-20T21:26:16.505-04:00Uncommon Sense or Traditional Ethnocentrism?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Uncommon Sense or Traditional Ethnocentrism? </span></b><br />
<b>A Review of </b><span><b><i>Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science </i>by Alan Cromer</b><i><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Given the ideological dominance of scientific thought and the scientific community in the 21st century, science is often portrayed as a natural development or growth arising from innate human proclivities towards such methodological inquiry. Alan Cromer, in his book <i>Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science</i>, forcefully rejects the notion constructed by some scientists and historians that science was a predetermined or mechanistic development in the course of human evolution. In contrast with the commonly accepted view that the development of science is a natural process, he attempts to trace the metaphysical origin and historical trajectory of scientific inquiry as a unique phenomenon occurring because of the peculiar material and cultural developments observed in Ancient Greece. In other words, Cromer posits that science developed not because humans have a natural proclivity towards it, but because the society established in Ancient Greece, and nowhere else, cultivated the perfect combination of economic and ideological variables that lead to its development. He argues that no other place in the world developed, nor could have developed, modern science, as the concept is understood today. By rooting the development of scientific inquiry in its material and economic roots, and simultaneously drawing on a myriad of sources and documents, Cromer makes a compelling but ultimately flawed argument for his case.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Although not substantively dealt with until much later in the book, it is important to note at this point that Cromer accepts the definition of science articulated by the British physicist John Ziman. Ziman argues that science is a social activity and can be defined as “the search for a consensus of rational opinion among all competent researchers.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> All of chapter one deals with particular aspects of science and Cromer maintains that science, despite a few exceptional leaps in scientific theory, is generally cumulative rather than revolutionary in its advancement. Due to this fact, the scientific basis upon which the scientific community currently builds is relatively stable. Cromer skillfully utilizes the theory of Newtonian mechanics to reinforce this assertion:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">Although some future theory may be able to relate <i>G</i>, <i>m</i>, <i>e</i>, <i>c</i>, and <i>h</i> to a smaller set of still more fundamental constants, it won’t decrease the validity or scope of the existing relations that involve them. Our knowledge of Newtonian mechanics and quantum theory is complete because it is knowledge — not of absolute causes, but of relations of broad generality — that is valid to the limits of our current measuring abilities. Future theories can only broaden the scope and deepen the range of our knowledge.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> He cites the exploration of DNA as yet another example of this principle. Thus, the fact that science is so recent and complete in its fundamental knowledge, and intrinsically unified, allows Cromer to posit that “for the first time in human history we have true knowledge of the nature of existence and of our place in it.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Establishing truth and certainty as the basis upon which modern science is predicated, however, is only an ancillary argument in his book. According to Cromer, “higher rational abilities don’t develop spontaneously, but must be carefully cultivated by a process of formal education.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> Therefore, something other than the course of human evolution must have galvanized the development of such an unnatural intellectual propensity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Cromer’s primary thesis rests in his contention that Ancient Greece was the womb in which the modem conception of science was cultivated. He begins by constructing a dichotomy between scholars who argue the traditional view that science was “a product of the special genius of Ancient Greece... [which] developed the concepts of objectivity and deductive reasoning that are necessary for science” and those who argue that science develops in all civilizations but some may develop the concept further than others.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> Cromer develops what he labels a neotraditionalist interpretation of scientific development. Within this framework he claims that “antecedents of science either permeate a culture or are absent altogether.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> Thus, the tradition of open debate and non-contradiction, found solely in Ancient Greece, support the idea that science is not a natural proclivity but a historically unique phenomenon that can only be developed “under a very precise set of cultural circumstances.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> This is the fundamental thesis that runs throughout Cromer’s work.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Alongside this is the rejection that science ought to be applied to any system of thought dealing with problem-solving. Therefore, according to Cromer any “bland relativism that applies the term science so indiscriminately…hopelessly muddles thinking on the subject.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> Nonscientific systems such as psychoanalysis and astrology function within their own traditions and their own closed sets of ideas. They, accordingly, do not constitute authentic science. Cromer spends an entire chapter comparing and contrasting different forms of what he considers to be pseudoscience. Similarly, he purports that the technological advances in a variety of areas across a broad range of different civilizations, including China, Egypt, and the Islamic world, do not constitute a holistic and rational scientific approach comparable to modern forms of scientific endeavors.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Cromer maintains, in alignment with the psychologist Piaget, that the development of rational capabilities require cumulative accumulation. Therefore, rational and critical capacities must be overtly cultivated and fostered. They require a specific environment which, he argues, only the Greeks were able to develop. The result is that other societies, even if they produced certain technological advances beyond the Greeks, could not break through traditional egocentrism into scientific objectivity. However, Cromer attempts to formulate a dialectical synthesis between objectivity and subjectivity; “Although it sounds contradictory,” he explains, “what we call objective thinking is possible only after we come to understand the subjective nature of thought”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a> Once that subjective nature is understood, a break with egocentric continuity between private thoughts and the external world is possible. Only then, with the emergence of this historic schism, and the recognition of the role subjectivity plays, is the development of rational, scientific models able to come to the fore.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Cromer briefly outlines the evolution of humanity in order to situate the development of rational thinking in its historical and evolutionary context. After articulating how early humanoids interacted and positing a variety of plausible explanations for common behaviors among them, he moves on to juxtaposing Ancient Greece and Israel. By reviewing the dominant literature of these two civilizations, the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Old Testament, Cromer argues how these works are manifestations of the dominant ideological discourse and nature of thought present in these societies. In the former, open debate and the ideas of non-contradiction are fundamental aspects in Greek society and are ever present in the stories written by Homer. In the former, appeals to mysticism and higher powers prevail as the dominant discourse. Cromer credits the Greeks with developing a variety of mathematical branches, science, astronomy, theater, history, history, philosophy, and democracy, all of which resulted from their contribution of objectivity and the development of their rational capacities. The development of such rationality in Greek society is attributed to a variety of cultural factors, with material conditions playing an ancillary role in this development The Greco-Israeli paradigm is the primary example supporting his thesis.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">The rise of Christianity into power alongside repeated attacks by what Cromer refers to as barbarian hordes during the fifth and sixth century decelerated the spread and eventually reduced notions of rationality and objectivity to an obscure and esoteric fate. It was not until the resurgence of European developments associated with Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, which Cromer maintains was “directly simulated by the work of ancient Greek mathematicians, astronomers, and natural philosophers,”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> that science again became universal discourse. His argument is that during the European dark ages, even great civilizations such as China, India, and the Islamic world did not develop scientific inquiry. China, despite being “more unified, organized, cultivated, and technologically advanced than Europe” for many centuries, never reached objective thinking.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a> Instead, Cromer argues that such a rigid and hierarchical bureaucracy, along with affiliative or purely collective forms of thinking, actually dissuaded the pursuit and development of science. India, despite some mathematical developments, remained trapped in an egocentric ideology that often dismissed the material world. Islamic society actually produced technological advances and maintained Greek classics, which spurred the scientific revolution in Europe. However, Cromer argues that religious restrictions on things like printing and surgery kept Islam “cut off from the scientific revolution that...it helped initiate.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a> Therefore, rationality and scientific pursuit is a decidedly Greek phenomenon.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Material changes in European society galvanized the growth of capitalism and an economic system. These included, but were not limited to, the expansion of trade and the development of technological advances such as three-crop rotation systems and the horse collar which, subsequently, augmented crop production and work output,. Therefore, a combination of material changes led to the scientific revolution in Europe, and Europe alone:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">First, European science was a direct continuation of Greek science... Second, the distinctive feature of European culture was its tendency to develop autonomous self-governing institutions [the guild and university, which]… offered stability and continuity to Europe’s intellectual life... Third, capitalism provided a force and a class that could stand up to the nobility and the clergy... Fourth, the printing of inexpensive books spread new ideas among the learned and also made possible the education of an increasing number of students from the middle class.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> Thus, Cromer’s assertion is buttressed by his reference to the changing material conditions which were made possible primarily by chance. The ideological and cultural impacts that these material conditions, along with the lasting legacy of Ancient Greece, had on Europe were the primary reason why science was resurrected there and not methodologically constructed elsewhere.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">In essence, then, his thesis is that science is a unique phenomenon that is not common to humanity and, due to this, it developed because of the particular material and cultural dimensions of one society. The potential for science, the rational pursuit of consensus concerning objective knowledge, can only develop given certain historical conditions. Cromer argues that despite the existence of these conditions, however, the development of rationality and science is not mechanistically determined or inevitable. Instead, a unique synthesis of objective and subjective elements, the material conditions and subsequent cultural predilections crafted by human thought and action, must occur. This synthesis is what fosters the development of scientific inquiry.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">There are many strengths and factors that contribute heavily to the legitimacy Cromer’s work and reinforce his thesis. The approach he utilizes as his analytical framework is a materialist one. First, Cromer attempts to draw on a wide range of sources to support his thesis. Throughout the work he cites a wide range of literature from the Bible to Homer’s epics, classic philosophers like Aristotle, major scientific theorists such as Newton and Einstein, and scientific researchers studying a broad array of topics. This extensive arsenal of primary and secondary source material gives a sense of legitimacy and scope that scaffolds his argument. Second, the sociological approach he uses to address a history of science, and the definition of science itself; is a unique approach that allows room for debate. Scientific advances and the development of rational, scientific inquiry are situated within their appropriate historical, social, economic, and political contexts. Furthermore, Cromer’s relatively easy approach allows for non-science majors to comprehend the often dense, theoretical, and esoteric topics he engages.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Perhaps both the strongest and weakest aspect of his is that it is, essentially, a materialist one. Although no explicit materialist label is provided by Cromer, it is clear that he addresses the material conditions as the root out of which society, culture, and evolution occurs. Vague abstractions and idealistic notions are rejected for a solid, fundamentally material analysis. His approach, as seen near the end of his chapter titled “From Apes to Agriculture,” even incorporates a nascent understanding of class struggle in the development of human society. This class struggle, however, is ancillary in Cromer’s view. The term is not used, but the concept is present. Cromer generally portrays an accurate view of human history and evolution. He makes it clear that material conditions, and not abstract ideological changes or idealistic tribal leaders, forced the development of agriculture. “The Neolithic agricultural revolution was one of the most important episodes in human history,” he explains, “It’s wrong, however, to think that it was an advance on a previous economy. Agriculture arose from grim necessity.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a> This materialism, however, could be attributed purely to a Darwinian approach. It is clear when analyzing Ancient Greece that Cromer falls far short of a Marxist or dialectical approach. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Therefore, his primary weakness arises from the fact that his materialism falls far short of a serious, consistent historical analysis. Although rooting any work in a materialist framework is important, Cromer falls into the trap of reductionism. It is clear that an analysis based upon dialectical materialism could have broadened Cromer’s scope and allowed for a more lucid, holistic work. Instead, as evident in his analysis of Ancient Greece, Cromer’s materialism is often haphazardly applied. For instance, he locates the development of Greek rationality in seven essential Greek characteristics: the assembly, a maritime economy, the existence of a widespread Greek-speaking world, the existence of an independent merchant class who could educate themselves the Iliad and the Odyssey, and a literary religion not dominated by priests, and finally, the “persistence of these factors for 1,000 years.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a> Out of these, only two deal with material and economic conditions; namely, the development of a maritime economy and a merchant class. However, the other factors, while vital it his analysis of why Greek society developed rationality, are ideological abstractions that Cromer does not provide a material base for. In other words, he appears to adopt a rather Hegelian approach that puts the idea before the world that constructed it. For example, when dealing with the assembly he shows how rationality and non-contradiction were fundamental aspects. Yet, the actual development of the assembly, and how Greek society was the sole society to develop such a democratic institution, is not addressed. In other words, Cromer leaves this purely to chance and gives no real material root for why and how such an institution developed. It is in instances like these that his analysis appears superficial. Even with these critical oversights, his primary argument is clearly flawed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Subsequently, his material framework is all too often used solely as a historic approach; Cromer’s analysis of contemporary society post-Scientific Revolution, and his specific proposal for educational reform, lacks the critical insight and piercing clarity that his historical analysis can potentially offer. His political convictions often shine through in his work, diminishing the clarity and objectivity he claims to support. For instance, he claims that the redirection “from physical aggression to economic aggression” is one of the “major accomplishments of our species.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a> This is the same economic aggression, manifested in a capitalist economic system, which condemns millions of people to death every year because they are not part of the market system or force millions to toil under heavily exploitative conditions for the benefit of an elite economic class of owners. Despite this, the assertion itself is not accurate. Humanity has not been redirected from physical aggression. The last century, which has been plagued by world wars and imperialistic slaughters, dismisses such an utterly absurd statement. His hagiographic analysis of capitalism is evident elsewhere throughout the book as well. Furthermore, his assertion that it was the “entrepreneurial spirit” that “launched the age of discovery”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a> in medieval Europe is drastically misguided. Instead, an analysis of the colonial drive for primitive accumulation by the burgeoning capitalist class and the militaristic monarchial regimes striving to maintain dominance would have been much more appropriate. This sort of Euro-centrism often pierces and deflates an otherwise important material analysis.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Considering these theoretical failures, Cromer also commits a myriad of fallacies and purports truth to a list of historical inaccuracies. For instance, when he proclaims that if Greek mathematics “had been totally lost, it probably would never have been reinvented” is an utterly absurd statement to make. Despite authoritatively asserting such nonsense, Cromer gives no serious evidence to support such an absolute statement. While it is clear that the material base determines what ideological superstructures can potentially arise in any given society, it is not so clear that objectivity and rationality were the result of a highly unique Greek culture. Similarly, the idea that Ancient Greece discovered objective thinking and that Homer was the world’s first example of it are not only improbable, they are impossible to prove. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Similarly, when Cromer adopts his definition of science as the search for consensus of rational opinion among all competent researchers, he cloaks what he refers to as this sociological definition in a host of glittering generalities. For instance, he never defines what constitutes a rational opinion or competent researcher. He asserts throughout the book that some objective, eternal reality must exist which can constitute an objective search for rationality. However, he does not address the problem that arises when one considers that different opinions or ideas could prove rational within a particular framework. For instance, inside a capitalist mode of production where inter-state rivalries pursue nuclear weapons to maintain hegemony in a region or over the globe, such massive weapons of human destruction, and their creation by purportedly rational scientists, may appear rational to some observers. In some other context, a society where Cromer’s supposedly benevolent economic competition is a thing of the past, nuclear weapons may prove a futile, irrational waste.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Historically, Cromer’s arguments often fail the test as well. He constructs a dichotomy where two forms of intelligence dominate. One, the kind human beings have been confined to for most of their existence, is common intelligence that confuses consciousness with egocentrism and, therefore, is nothing more than the intelligence an animal would possess. The other, the unique kind Cromer posits only developed in Greek society, is the hyper-rationalism suited to mathematical methodology and consciously cultivated. Although the argument for unique cultural factors contributing to the development of such intelligence may appear legitimate, this dichotomy is arbitrarily constructed and defended with religious zeal. There are a multitude of problems with this approach.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">First, it is entirely too simplistic to assert that there is a black and white choice between excepting the traditional view of science originating in Greece and science developing in every human civilization. The reality is much more complex. For instance, many scientists and historians posit that the development of monotheism was an essential step towards the scientific concept of the universe being constructed along certain natural laws. This could disqualify Cromer’s assertion that science could not “evolve from the prophetic tradition of Judaism and Christianity.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a> Similarly, many of the earliest European scientists came directly from the church apparatus. Although it is fair to say that at times the church greatly hindered scientific development, the claim cannot be made that Christianity single-handedly destroyed the scientific rationality developed in Greece.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Furthermore, the ethnocentrism Cromer displays is historically inaccurate as well. While it is not true that scientific though is innately generated by every human being confronted with a problem, this does not mean that Cromer’s equally dramatic assertion is the only explanation left. Cromer maintains that the Scientific Revolution was a direct continuation of the work done by ancient Greek figures. This is blatantly false. The Scientific Revolution in Europe would never have been realized without the stimulus provided by the Islamic societies that kept Greek learning and rational thought alive. The very fact that scholars within Islamic society maintained such a rigorous and methodological method of learning is not diminished simply because some sectors of society were dominated by religion. Even during the European rebirth in scientific thought this was the case. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Lastly, despite Cromer’s claims otherwise, the significant scientific and mathematical advances developed in Islamic societies, India, and the Mesopotamian area cannot be ignored. Things like the concept of zero and infinity were fundamental for mathematics. Without some form of rational and critical inquiry these developments would not have been possible. It is a strong claim to make, and one nearly impossible to prove, that throughout the history of such civilizations no form of rational thought was developed that lead to scientific inquiry.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Perhaps the most distressing view he takes is on education, where he asserts vacuously that the problem with American education is “fundamentally one of values.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a> Instead of addressing institutional inequality, an entirely unequal funding structure for schools, a prodigious lack of resources, racism, economic segregation, and a host of other ills that the American educational system faces, Cromer simply asserts that “the poorest and least successful families dictate what public schools can demand of students and parents.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a> His class consciousness is apparently not in solidarity with the working majority. In place of the current system, he advocates what is essentially a meritocracy based upon the principle of social efficiency. Churning out obedient workers and transforming them into what is the most economically advantageous for the state apparatus remains his primary goal, despite the rhetoric he sometimes employs about higher levels of thinking. Even more extreme social and economic stratification, then, based upon a purportedly meritocratic system, would be the result of Cromer’s educational reforms. This chapter was the most disappointing conclusion to an otherwise thought-provoking and engaging work.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Cromer provides a lucid and entertaining read that is accessible to non-science majors and lays out a host of important arguments and ideas to consider. He utilizes a wide range of sources and theories, properly engaged as to not confuse the reader, to support the main tenants of his argument. He falls short in some areas, especially concerning his approach to education and his extreme emphasis on the merits of the capitalist economic system. However, his thesis that science and rationality ought to be cultivated, and are not necessarily inherent to human thought, is a fair proposition. It is not so clear, however, that Greece was the only society to ever develop rational thinking and scientific inquiry. Still, <i>Uncommon Sense</i> ought to be read by anyone who finds science or history engaging but none of Cromer’ s propositions ought to be accepted without a serious and critical analysis.</div><div><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="ftn1"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <span>Cromer, A<i>., Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science </i><span>(Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1993), </span></span>144.</div></div><div id="ftn2"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Cromer, <i>Uncommon Sense</i>, 13.</div></div><div id="ftn3"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 17.</div></div><div id="ftn4"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 18.</div></div><div id="ftn5"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., vii.</div></div><div id="ftn6"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., viii.</div></div><div id="ftn7"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., x.</div></div><div id="ftn8"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 19.</div></div><div id="ftn9"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>Ibid.,<span> </span>29.</div></div><div id="ftn10"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 100.</div></div><div id="ftn11"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 103.</div></div><div id="ftn12"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 100.</div></div><div id="ftn13"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 140-1.</div></div><div id="ftn14"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 60.</div></div><div id="ftn15"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 79.</div></div><div id="ftn16"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 56.</div></div><div id="ftn17"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 70.</div></div><div id="ftn18"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 198.</div></div><div id="ftn19"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8725419710604925149#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a> Ibid., 199.</div></div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-51266511867185292692010-10-14T20:29:00.000-04:002010-10-14T20:29:23.256-04:00A Review of "Alternate Pathways in Science and Industry" by David Hess<div style="text-align: justify;">Often science is presented as a pristine authority due to its completely objective nature that is deserving of exception from the social, political, cultural, and economic pulls of the outside world. Dealing with the question of science as an autonomous field that is somehow transcends these external factors is extremely complex. However, it is safe to say that this notion of science as a purely objective exception to other influences has been resolutely dismantled by David Hess in Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry, as well as by other historians of science such as Stephan Jay Gould. This idea extends even further back to Marx, who argued that the ruling ideas in society, including those within the scientific realm, are the ideas of the ruling class. Hess rejects the Marxist analysis and instead adopts a pluralistic approach by explicitly objects to the term ruling class, replacing it instead with elites. These elites, he argues, comprise an often unconnected and combative web of various wealthy businessmen, industrialists, and high-level professionals. Despite this pluralistic approach, it does not seem necessary to reject ruling class as a conceptual category unless one ignores what Marx said about the ruling capitalist class as a “warring band of brothers.” Therefore, I do not find Hess’s rejection of ruling class particularly helpful and will continue its use. If this is the case, as I argue it is, then science is not, and cannot, be above or outside of the dominant ideological and hegemonic power structures in society. Therefore, science is inevitable constricted and/or pushed forward by the ever-changing, dialectical material and social conditions in which it operates.<br />
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Hess makes some valid assertions when attempting to situate scientific knowledge and the research process within its historical and social context. For instance, Hess is absolutely correct to argue that science “sets the stage of modern politics by circumscribing the horizons of the possible.” In that way, science directly impacts political decisions. For example, what sort of alternative energy sources are possible replacements of fossil fuels and, subsequently, what sort of policies should be constructed to further these developments? Questions like this are determined, at least in part, by scientific knowledge and advancement in these areas. Despite this, it is not entirely clear how politics, economics, and social relations affect science. While Hess addresses these issues in a form of WHAT is studied, it should be briefly mentioned that HOW things are studied was an important debate in science for a long time. Both racism and sexism have historically played in the development of science. Gould has written expertly on this topic. He explains that racism and sexism, and the scientific study of them, helped perpetuate long-existing notions of female and racial inferiority that served to marginalize these groups. In other words, the scientific process and the facts that came from it were skillfully manipulated to serve the ideological convictions of the dominant political and economic class. Hess’s focus, however, is not on this construction or use of knowledge, but on what sort of research is undertaken and what is not.<br />
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The crux of his argument is that of “undone science,” in which he argues that the debate is no longer how scientific knowledge is created or constructed, but by what research is undertaken to be studied and what is not. Hess argues, in his pluralistic fashion, that research agendas have been influenced by industrialists, consumers, and non-profit groups. This is, undoubtedly true. However, it does not take much time to figure out which of these groups is dominant in influencing research decisions. For instance, the concept of “clean coal” technology, an oxymoron if there ever was one, is being pushed by the coal industry. There was literally no debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections over clean coal; it was simply accepted as a matter of fact that such policies would be pursued. Environmental organizations that argue against the destructive nature of coal are highly marginalized. Concerns they are concerned about, such as the environmental damage caused by mountain-top removal, the safety concerns for working class people forced to mine in often under-regulated and non-union or de-unionized mines (Massey Energy’s mines, for example), or the fact that coal-sequestering technology does not, and will not for a long time, exist on a scale that would even remotely justify such policies, are pushed aside or simply never enter the debate at all.<br />
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Furthermore, I think Hess accurately responds to autonomist perceptions of science when he explains that research is often determined by variables outside of the scientific realm. In other words, science is not a purely rational, objective, independent force. Hess is correct to point out that “when one steps back and follows the money, it is clear that funding flows help some fields to prosper while others whither on the vine.” Researchers, he points out, tend to follow the money at an “aggregate level,” even if all individuals do not pursue the same course. Therefore, who does what research depends heavily upon who can fund it. Corporations, the military sector, and other anti-democratic and dehumanizing forces are the ones with the power and money to manipulate scientific research. This does not even account for the “specialists” or scientists who have been bought off and attempt to downplay or disprove human-influenced climate change because they are in the pockets of certain dominant energy sectors.<br />
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Not only is science caught up in the web of economics, it is also not a purely rational pursuit. If, for instance, we assume science is a search for consensus of rational opinion among competent researchers, a common sociological definition, then we are simply covering science with a glittering generality. For instance, who defines what constitutes a rational opinion or competent researcher. This would, of course, imply that an objective, eternal reality must exist which one could then, consequently, pursue a rational search for. However, this does not address the problem that arises when one considers that different opinions or ideas could prove rational within a particular framework. For instance, inside a capitalist mode of production where inter-state rivalries pursue nuclear weapons to maintain hegemony in a region or over the globe, such massive weapons of human destruction, and their creation by purportedly rational scientists, may appear rational to some observers. In some other context, a society such a pernicious and destructive economic system is a thing of the past, nuclear weapons may prove a futile, irrational waste. Hess makes this argument well when he explains that scientists are often caught up with industrial priorities and pursue programs that are in conflict with social justice and social movement goals. With the advent of the security state, this trend will only increase. <br />
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I do not, on the other hand, find Hess’s arguments about epistemic modernization particularly convincing. While I do believe that this ought to be the case, and the scientific field should be opened up to users, patients, social movements, and other historically marginalized groups, I do not think this trend can be fully realized as long as an economic system remains in place that will always marginalize such communities. Until democratic control over society, including the economic sector, is in the hands of the people who do the work, corporate society will continue to dominate and, subsequently, negate the effectiveness of any democratic forms currently established. Therefore, science is not, and cannot, be above or apart from society, politics, economics, or social relations in general.<br />
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The question one could ask is how ought industrial production be regulated? This, of course, can be addressed in a variety of ways. We could, first, address who and how environmental standards are set and if they are adequate. We could also address how standards should be set within a regulatory, state-capitalist or welfare state model that maintains quasi-market relations. Lastly, we could argue for set of environmental standards that are fundamentally different and could only exist in a radically transformed society. I would like to briefly address the first two, and then make an argument for the third.<br />
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Currently, it is clear that environmental standards are NOT adequately met. Hess continues his pluralistic trend when he argues that a primary feature of standardization the definitional struggles or what he calls “object conflicts.” He maintains that such struggles involve governments, firms, individual consumers, and civil-society organizations which interact with each to set standards. This is, more or less, an accurate picture. As with scientific research, however, it is not hard to see which group, hailing from the ruling class, maintains more power. Furthermore, it is clear that environmental standards are not nearly adequate. We could take the Exxon-Valdez spill twenty years ago or the BP oil catastrophe today. We could analyze environmental destruction in the forms of desertification or pollution. We could address the immense threat from global climate change. Any of these areas are enough to show that this current system of regulation is inadequate. It is clear, therefore, that this pluralistic model where the industry and government maintain a revolving door (sort of like the way that large financial firms often employ government officials once they leave office or vice versa), and those with money and power can swindle their way into the standards they find least harmful to profit-making, is not working. Similarly, the United States has consistently rejected international proposals on climate change, such as the Kyoto Protocols, primarily from industrial and economic pressure from the ruling class.<br />
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The second idea, that a more stern regulatory culture within a capitalist model that allows for more government intervention in the form of regulation, could provide a basis for helping to reduce harmful environmental degradation. Hess maintains that standards “push industries to undergo ecological modernization” and “regulatory push remains the crucial factor in motivating industries to undertake environmentally oriented changes…” I think, therefore, a more strict and firm network of regulatory agencies, and an cap on the amount of profit that could be garnered yearly, would slightly reduce the amount of damage the corporate world inflicts upon the Earth. This sort of government regulatory agency could take charge in, for instance, implementing serious and rigorous labeling standards for products and undertake independent reviews of oil rigs (unlike was done in the BP case) and require that mines are unionized and consistently reviewed by OSHA. Agencies like the EPA would be strengthened considerably, and would have far more funding and options for regulatory possibilities. This would, undoubtedly, be a better situation for the environment than currently exists. Globally, participation in the United Nations would be less adversarial and more cooperative. More far-reaching and broad regulatory agencies at the international level would not be vetoed by the United States as frequently with more stringent environmental measure at home. The obvious drawbacks, however, are that corporate push-back against such limits on their profit-making would be severe. Capital flight, violations, rule-breaking, civil service corruption, bought-off administrative services, etc. could all break-down the quality of such an agency. Lastly, there is little hope that with all the power and money large corporations can throw around that such a strict regulatory agency is possible in the United States at this time. Lastly, if you leave the corporate power structure in tact, just weakened, and capitalism or the “really existing free market” (Chomsky) remains, it is simply inevitable before corporate power once again reaches a new annex and rolls back the gains struggled for.<br />
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Since the first two scenarios are either problematic or politically unrealizable, I would like to posit a radical proposition that extends beyond Hess’s proposals. I agree with Hess that a focus on just sustainability is appropriate. I also agree with his critique of the pernicious effects of corporate dominance and his understanding of the serious democratic limits in the United States. I do not, however, share his conviction that social movements, like Industrial Opposition Movements and Technology/Product Oriented Movements, ought to focus there efforts purely on corporate targets and not on the nation-state regulatory agencies. Although he admits that both, in a combination, would be preferable, he seems to relegate radical political organizations that desire to change society to an ancillary spot. Therefore, I suggest that a radical political organization, that focuses on the working class and underclass as its main vehicle of change, which aims for just sustainability is the necessary and pragmatic solution to the environmental standard problem. <br />
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If society could be fundamentally re-altered in a way that removed the profit-motive and replaced it with democratic control over the resources in society, human beings would tend towards environmental protection and regulation, understanding that not only theirs, but their childrens' and grandchildrens' livelihoods depended upon it. Standards would be democratically decided upon once all the experts had weighed in. Academic debates and conferences would be open to the public, and since the corporate sector would have been dismantled, society as a whole, or the regulatory commissioners they elect to represent them, could decide what sort of standards needed to be met. Accountability would be vital, and those who do not promote the safety and security of both the population and the environment would be immediately revoked. Furthermore, since profit would have been eliminated as motive, and goods were produced for human need, society could easily redirect resources from military spending and harmful energy sources to productive ones. Regulations and standards would keep pace with the constantly expanding alternative energy sector. These regulations would eventually eliminate fossil fuels and the funding would exist to replace them appropriate and sustainability energy sources. It is hard to tell what exactly, if any, the role of agencies as they exist today would be. However, this alternative form of regulation and standardization could only exist if a working class organization, large enough to take control of society and erect democratic institutions in the place of private tyrannies (or corporations), could be organized for the purpose of revolutionary change. Globally, the United Nations would have to be fundamentally restructured. Agreements like Kyoto would have to be binding, and the security council would have to be removed. This, however, would require more than just radical changes within the United States and extends beyond the scope of the question. In short, environmental regulation should be a mix of democratic participation by civil society and regulatory agencies that are manifestations of that civil society.<br />
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It is on the issue of the agents of social change where Hess and I seem to have a serious split. He maintains that social change advocates often alter history, but not according to their original vision. Environmental movements inspire change, but never is it far-reaching or radical. IOMs, for instance, usually only get partial moratoriums (like the anti-nuclear movement not getting rid of nukes completely) and TPMs are usually absorbed into the mainstream and simply become an alternative niche in the market (energy-efficient light bulbs or organic foods). After such a partial-victory or partial-loss, depending on how you approach it, a new “historical field for action” is available for activists and movements. Hess seems to believe that movements that desire ownership, like those that target the WTO, are inspiring but are simply not pragmatic. Constraints on pollution have helped clean the air and water in many instances, and have negatively impacted the profit-driven economic growth model followed by much of industry. However, while non-scientific voices and voices from the industry have made changes, they are not enough.<br />
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Hess argues that democracy is limited to three simple forms: voting once in awhile, regulatory decisions by indirectly elected officials, and consumer purchases. He even raises a serious critique of capitalism as it currently exists, but argues that democratic control over the means of production (namely, socialism, and not the state-capitalist models that one finds in Cuba or did find in the USSR) is not the answer. Instead, an incrementalist approach where non-profits slowly take over and edge out the corporate sector is the way forward for humanity. Lifestyle changes, which are required but need life-affirming social policies to back them up, are given positive light in his book. While critical of industry, he does not out rightly oppose it. He even goes as far to articulate what he calls a “dialectic of opposition and compromise.” Apparently, he cannot go far enough in renouncing any ties to Marxist theory he may hint at. By stripping Marx’s dialectical materialism of its fundamental tenant, that history revolves around struggles in which one group takes power and new social relations emerge, Hess seems to be articulating some sort of social democratic vision of society where reformism is the way towards social change.<br />
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Essentially, Hess makes a compelling, but ultimately flawed call for social change that argues social change movements should simultaneously target business institutions and governments, with a special focus on corporations and their public images. Democracy, then, is limited to simply making small changes in the structure of private, unaccountable tyrannies. Even if radical changes were to be desired by a majority of the population, they are unrealistic and would probably result, given the current organization of society, in partial changes to the way business is done. Hess’s solution, them, is to change industry in a way that may be harmful to profit-making, but leaves it in tact.<br />
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I agree with Hess, that without a fundamental change in the way society is organized, this is what society is condemned to. Therefore, I reject incrementalism as the most appropriate method of social change. Therefore, as I articulated in the response prior to this, I believe the evidence is there to support that a radical, fundamental change in the way society is organized is needed and, consequently, call for a working class organization that can democratically take control of society, both the economic and political realm. It is in this way that the non-scientific and non-industry voices can most effectively make their voices not only heard, but implement serious social change that aims at just sustainability. <br />
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I, and many others, call it socialism. I think industry should be in the hands of the people who do the work. I also think that given the current economic crisis, the massive material wealth that exists on Earth, and the environmental threat posed by capitalist expansionism, that there has been no better time in human history to call for such radical change. In this way, non-scientific voices, namely working class people, could liberate science from the tentacles of a hyper-rationalism that inevitably continue the trajectory toward militarization and environmentally harmful production that exists within a capitalist framework. Instead, science would be put towards socially useful use and the clutches of corporate power and money would no longer negatively impact scientific research. <br />
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In short, as Hess has shown, people are capable of organizing, motivating others, and fighting for social justice and change. I think the victories with the Clean Air and Water acts are sufficient to prove that social movements work, despite the potential effects they may have on industry. He cites numerous others examples, from the anti-nuclear movement or the fight against genetically modified food, to the New Urbanist reform plans and fair trade movements, to the battle in Seattle against the WTO. Of these, the social justice movement against corporate globalization in Seattle was perhaps the closest to a radical, wide-ranging social movement that could have potentially achieved radical change. Something along those lines must be recreated and push for fundamental social change if we are to save the environment. If we are to save ourselves from utter destruction and environmental degradation, we will have to take industry out of the hands of private corporations and into the hands of the people. You can look at this as harmful to capitalism and the economic model of industry that currently exists, but I feel this will not only help the environment, it will galvanize a sustainable and democratic form of industry that is beneficial to all of humanity.</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-65031314454776044772010-09-22T17:15:00.004-04:002010-09-22T17:18:43.858-04:00A Quick Update, What's to Come, and a Petition (Please Sign!)<div style="text-align: justify;">Hey, everyone. I know this has been inactive for almost a year. I have been involved in field placements and methods courses for my education degree and will be completing my student teaching in the spring. Even during the summer I was packed with strenuous six-week courses that consumed the majority of my time. However, I still receive the occasional e-mail about an article (usually the hip-hop one) that reinvigorates my desire to get new material out. I've done a lot of research and written some things on wide variety of topics since my last post, including the Japanese left in the pre-Wold War II (something Western leftists I think are relatively unaware of) era and the Great Starvation in Ireland among other things. Still, the amount of material I've been able to produce under the stress of these past couple semesters has been limited. I hope in the coming weeks to touch things up and make them available here. I have also collected an enormous amount of information, almost every possible piece I could find, on the Toledo Auto-Lite Strike of 1934, which I hope to explore more thoroughly as time allows.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In lieu of any new material, I hope that I can point people in the direction of a recently opened petition. In the grand scheme of things, it is a small effort towards social justice, but I hope that it helps do a small part in both legitimizing Mixed Martial Arts as a tool in the fight for equality and stopping the creeping quasi-fascist racism manifested in SB1070. We currently only have a little over 40 signatures, but if we are going to stop the event in December we will need a LOT more! Please, <a href="http://chn.ge/awbJvE">sign the petition here.</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is the full write-up that gives a bit of background:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TJpxsJJd83I/AAAAAAAAAMA/IvZXf6bClrs/s1600/DanaWhite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kkIGgfk7B0/TJpxsJJd83I/AAAAAAAAAMA/IvZXf6bClrs/s200/DanaWhite.jpg" width="200" /></a></i></div><i>Dana White has expressed for the past couple of years his desire to get both UFC and WEC events in Arizona. In August of 2010 he announced that the WEC would hosting an event there in December:<br />
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“It’s funny, people have been terrorizing me for a long time to get either a UFC or WEC event to Arizona," he said, "it’s finally going to happen now.”<br />
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White has chosen to do this at one of the most irresponsible times, when Arizona's SB1070 law is set to hit the streets and begin terrorizing the latino and immigrant communities in that state.This is a vile and racist law that forces police to racially profile and harass Latino communities, a serious violation of both the American constitution and international human rights standards.<br />
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The UFC and WEC have contracts with a significant number of Latino and Latino-American fighters, including but not limited to the Gracies, Thiago Alvez, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira brothers, Roger Huerta, Cain Velasquez, Efrain Escudero, etc.<br />
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Any of these fighters, outside of the octagon and on Arizona's streets, could be targeted for the color of their skin. SB1070 is a law meant to legalize racial profiling and harassment of Arizona residents and anybody who visits the state, including MMA fighters, their families and fans.<br />
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There is an international movement that is calling for an economic boycott of Arizona until it repeals the racist law.<br />
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We, devoted mixed martial arts fans, demand that Dana White refuse to host any event in Arizona as long as the racist SB1070 remains on the books. We are taking a page from the activists who are calling on Bug Selig, the commissioner of major league baseball, to move the 2011 All-Star game from Arizona.<br />
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When Arizona refused to honor Martin Luther King Jr. as a national holiday, the Superbowl was moved. The NCAA refused to host postseason games in states that flew the confederate flag. Sports players and fans have a long history of resisting racist laws. It's time the MMA world joins that legacy!<br />
<br />
To Dana White: We say NO UFC or WEC event in Arizona until SB1070 is OFF the books!</i><br />
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<a href="http://chn.ge/awbJvE">SIGN THE PETITION, tell Dana White NO UFC/WEC in Arizona!</a>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-16150564369851545042009-11-17T18:18:00.003-05:002009-11-17T18:22:12.037-05:00Questions Concerning Bolshevik Power and the Russian Revolution<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The question of inevitably depends upon ones understanding of history and how it unfolds. To assume the Bolsheviks’ win was inevitable vastly ignores the importance of human agency in the historical process. Human praxis, the action and reflection taken by real people involved in the material reality of a particular instance, plays a prodigious role in the flow of events. The Bolsheviks often provided lucid and resolute leadership in times of class struggle. As Trotsky once noted, the leadership was to the working class as the box that channels the steam; either would be useless without the other.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/gowithflo/krondweb/krondresearch/kronstadt_1919_color-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://homepage.mac.com/gowithflo/krondweb/krondresearch/kronstadt_1919_color-1.jpg" width="143" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> As the text notes, because of the deep roots Bolsheviks had in large urban factories, their support continued to grow after the overthrow of the Tsar and the failure of the parliamentary government to represent working class interests and stop World War I. Popular Bolshevik slogans and keen political leadership helped augment the Bolshevik Party to 200,000 members in mid-August of 1917, compared to only 80,000 of April of the same year. The Bolsheviks eventually dominated the democratically elected Soviets, with large sectors of working-class and peasant support (gained in part by the alliance with Left Social-Revolutionaries). Lenin articulated the need to overthrow the parliamentary regime and remove the tension between it and the Soviets created by the “dual-power” situation after the Tsar’s downfall. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Thus, it was active participation by thousands of working-class Bolsheviks and decisive political leadership that, in the end, helped the Bolsheviks win in November; nothing was predetermined. Human agency was absolutely essential in the Bolshevik revolution, and no amount of vacuous, dogmatic “Marxism” presented by Stalinist historians could prove otherwise. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The Russian Revolution took place in the midst of “wartime amid military defeat, economic collapse, and governmental disintegration</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">." These were the fissures in the ruling class that that allowed for the subterranean energy of the masses to usher forward. These conditions, combined with the fact that the Russian working class and peasants had developed a sense of collective identity which gave them the confidence to fight back (especially after the overthrow of the Tsar), allowed the Bolsheviks to provide the political leadership necessary to take power and fight the White counter-revolutionaries. Despite claims from both the right and the left that Lenin was simply a political mastermind which devised the coup or revolution (the words change depending on whether the historian is a right-wing anti-soviet or bureaucratic Stalinist) and solidified power, the reality is the Bolsheviks had garnered massive popular support and “superior leadership, unity, and purpose” allowed them to overcome the foreign-funded and supplied White armies, who shared much less support among the people.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The White army, lacking coordination, full of personal rivalries, and finding no coalescing idea to unite them, allowed for the Bolsheviks to pick apart the former ruling class of military officials, tsarist holdovers, and wealthy who composed the White leadership. However, it must also be noted that Trotsky, serving as war commissar, also reinstituted conscription and severe army discipline into the Red Army, thus taking a step backward and utilizing despotic means to preserve the society they fought for. This can be seen most lucidly, perhaps, in the brutal suppression of the 1921 Kronstadt revolt by 50,000 Red troops, where workers demanded more democratic processes and access to food.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Still, the fact that the Bolsheviks supplied the masses with a highly centralized, yet popular framework under which they could organize the resistance, along with the miscalculations and political weaknesses of the White Army, allowed for a decisive Bolshevik win against counter-revolutionary forces, both domestic and foreign. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The merciless counter-revolution propagated by the White Army, along with the Allied Intervention of various capitalist nations on their side, drastically reduced the likelihood of peaceful and democratic transition within Russia. The needs required by armies and political organizations when faced with civil war “hardened and militarized” the Bolsheviks, pushed them into harsher economic policies, and greatly isolated them from the majority of the capitalist nations. Bolshevik policy, faced with possibly devastating pressure from civil war, was forced into draconian measures both internally and against foreign enemies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The democratic possibilities of a worker-run society were reduced to utopian dreams with the onslaught of hostile foreign armies, a white counter-revolution, a decimated working-class, and heavy losses in industry. The Cheka, an “incipient Soviet secret police,” was formed and a “Red terror” aimed at counter-revolutionaries began. At the same time, where previously workers’ committees had been told to seize factories, many industries simply were nationalized and became controlled by bureaucratic decision-makers not truly representing workers’ power. Reformist parties, such as the Mensheviks and sections of the Social-Revolutionaries, were made illegal and forced to disband. Rigid authoritarianism was reestablished in the military, and conscription was once again common. Nations, following true Leninist principles, had been granted national autonomy. However, as they became breeding grounds and entrance points for counter-revolutionary forces, Red Army troops intervened, galvanizing what would eventually became a long history of imperialist intervention (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, etc.). Political dissent, even while remaining true to workers’ power and democratic principles, were crushed, as exemplified by the repression in Kronstadt.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Thus, the intense civil war and foreign invasion rightly fostered anti-Western distrust and hostility, along with internal autocracy. Essentially, the possibilities for a truly democratic society based upon working-class power was eroded by the decrepit material conditions and isolation of post-revolutionary Russia. Without the spread of revolution, which Lenin argued must occur for Russian Socialism to succeed, since it was too economically weak to do so on its own, the Revolution had a very short life span. This would eventually allow Stalin to develop his idea of “Socialism in One Country” which would be used to cultivate nationalist subservience to a Soviet bureaucracy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The question for us on the left, then, is what importance does this have for us? Many socialists uphold, rightly, the significance of the Russian Revolution in the history of socialist thought and action. Likewise, many accept that the revolution was fundamentally a progressive struggle against an inhumane society that fostered, for the first time in actual praxis, the true potential for the masses to take control of their own destiny. Fundamental questions remain, however. These questions, I must admit, I do not pretend to have the answers too. I have opinions concerning some of them, and others I am simply seeking out potential answers that will allow a dialogue to flourish. I am not convinced, at this point, that the Bolsheviks were completely innocent in Stalin's rise to power. I do not, however, believe that intentions of the early Bolsheviks were anything near what resulted. Among some of these questions, that I hope you all will take up, are the following:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 - Is the primary reason for the failure of the revolution the objective, material conditions in which the revolution took place?</span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 - If those on the left and right who accuse the Bolshevik Party of being organized in a manner conducive to the seizure of power by Stalin, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">what does this say concerning Lenin's theory of Democratic Centralism? And, if </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> democratic decisions are not centrally enforced, how are collective measures to be taken that combat a system that is highly organized and and able to take advantage of splits and fissures within the revolutionary movement?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3 - Do actions taken by the Bolsheviks, such as the reinstitution of draconian measures in the military, the banning of political factions and a multi-party democracy, and the repression at </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Kronstadt, reflect fundamental anti-democratic predilections in the Bolshevik Party structure or the severity of the material situation and the decrepit conditions of the working class after World War I and the civil war?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4 - If it was the material conditions which galvanized anti-democratic Bolshevik policies, could these have been averted without a victorious workers' revolution in Germany? If not, what does this say for the role of human agency in transforming society?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5 - It is obvious that Stalin broke radically from Lenin and many leaders of the revolution. Likewise, it is obvious that Stalin's policies were tremendously harmful to the majority of the population in Russia, both peasant and working class. However, to what extent did the structure of the Bolshevik party, and the removal of a multi-party democracy, play in allowing Stalin's rise to power? Or, as some on the left contend, was this merely a reflection of the inability of the working class to overcome hostile conditions that were not suitable for a socialist society to emerge?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">6 - If it is the case that the working class could not seize power and transform society in a socialist direction, given the objective conditions (a minority working class, a significant peasant population, a society lacking the technological advancements of other capitalist nations, etc.), without outside assistance, then was the October revolution (the Bolshevik seizure of power) simply voluntarism?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">7 - What does this say about the potential for revolution in a country such as the United States, where the actual, objective, material conditions would allow a socialist society of equitable distribution and democratic-decision making to flourish? Would the revolutionary organizations argue for a one-party state during a transition period such as the Bolsheviks implemented or would a multi-party democracy be allowed to exist? Or, as some contend, would democratic representation and participation be so radically different that political parties would cease to exist?</span><br />
</blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> These are just some of the questions that I hope to explore. My intentions are to provoke dialogue, dialogue I believe is far too often muted in many circles concerning serious issues in our tradition. Dogmatically accepting what the Bolsheviks did, in my opinion, only isolates us from many people. Dogmatically rejecting or demonizing them, however, does similarly. All mistakes in my reading of the Russian Revolution are my own, and I attribute them to my own misunderstanding. I would, however, encourage anyone and everyone to weigh in on the questions I hope to explore.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*** Quotes were taken from a university level textbook (as the original portion of the text was written for a class), entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0534571956?ie=UTF8&tag=theorgainte-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0534571956">Russia and the USSR in the Twentieth Century</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=theorgainte-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0534571956" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. Despite having some useful figures and data, it is not a source I would recommend for truly engaging the Russian Revolution. </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=theorgainte-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=1597407623" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=theorgainte-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=1931859582" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=theorgainte-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=1931859698" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=theorgainte-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=069100868X" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></span></span><br />
</div></div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-71838373782604222572009-11-13T12:41:00.002-05:002009-11-13T12:45:16.972-05:00Putting Fort Hood In Context and Combating the Newest Wave of Xenophobic Bigotry<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">By now, nearly everyone is familiar with the tragic <span id="goog_1258133709087"></span><span id="goog_1258133709088"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>shooting that occurred in Texas at Fort Hood. For the sake of brevity, I will not attempt to recount the events, the details of those involved, or the percussive, emotionally-charged accounts that most media have sufficiently covered. I also do not intend to posit any new analysis or approach to this shooting. I do, however, intend to synthesize some of the best writing and analysis that has been articulated on the topic</span><span style="font-size: small;">.</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/10/alg_fort-hood-church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/10/alg_fort-hood-church.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">First, it is imperative, in my view, that the horrendous display of violence, and it was indeed a terrible tempest of bloodshed, be viewed within a broader context. Yes, this was a tragic event, but let us remember that, as Eric Ruder and Terry Kindlinger <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2009/11/09/making-of-a-tragedy">explain</a>:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's important to remember that for millions of people throughout the world, there is grief at the carnage that the U.S. military causes day in and day out--the bombing of Afghan wedding parties that leave dozens dead on what should have been one of the happiest days for their families; the gunning down of whole families at checkpoints in Falluja and Baghdad and Basra.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Hasan may have pulled the trigger, but it was the U.S. military that loaded the gun--with its killing fields around the world, its callous disregard for the troops it sends into battle and its neglect of the mental health professionals who are supposed to help soldiers survive their mental scars.</span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Within this context, we cannot ignore the fact that much more violence, much more bloodshed, an untold amount of carnage and destruction has been unleashed against people in foreign places that far exceeds the bloodshed that occurred at Fort Hood. What happened here, as unfortunate and tragic as it was, was a single occurrence, a particular event, but one that is reproduced in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Palestine, and in other places where the institution of the U.S. military makes its presence felt. This does nothing to console the families of those involved, it does nothing to redeem the lives lost, and does not justify the actions taken by </span><span style="font-size: small;">Major Nidal Malik Hasan.</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">It does, however, raise vital questions concerning the institution of the military in general, the purpose it serves and the function it performs around the world, the concept of it being a "volunteer force," the way it treats those who work within it, and, ultimately, the manifold ways in which xenophobia, racism, and nationalism all spout forth from the fissures of this groundbreaking tragedy.</span><br />
</div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">To begin, I quote a column from a friend who, in my opinion, most <a href="http://www.independentcollegian.com/forum/tragic-presumptions-1.2063545">eloquently expressed</a> the gambit of fear and worry that gripped many American Muslims and, likewise, those of us who detest the dehumanization of and stand in solidarity with marginalized groups:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 15px;">The minute I heard the name of the gunman my heart lurched. Of course, he was identified by his religious affiliation, unlike other non-Muslim gunmen in the past. I expected that this shooting would gain the most attention because it was a Muslim, Arab American who committed it. Likewise, I predicted the media would highlight Nidal Malik Hasan’s religion and some ever-present, bigoted and xenophobic people would exploit this detail. The immediate suspicions of terrorism upon hearing his name reflect the ongoing misconceptions about Muslims; nowadays such reactions are inevitable.</span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">These fears and predictions were, unfortunately, all too real. Without skipping a beat the right-wing ideologues attempted to utilize this tragic event to push their fear-mongering, xenophobic denunciations of Islam in general and those within the Muslim community, here and abroad. The dehumanization was ever present as they preached these megalomaniac war-mongers <a href="http://www.debbieschlussel.com/11620/shocker-man-who-shot-up-ft-hood-soldiers-was-muslim-and-a-loyal-muslim-u-s-soldier/">pushed their doctrine of hate</a>:</span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">[Commenting on Hasan's Palestinian descent] </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">This isn’t just the Palestinian way. It’s the Islamic way. And we expect Israel to make peace with guys like this? Even in the midst of the land of plenty, look at how they behave.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">...think of Major Malik Nadal Hasan (and all of the other Muslim American traitorous soldiers in the U.S. military who’ve shot their fellow soldiers up and killed them or otherwise helped the enemy), whenever you hear about how Muslims serve their country in the U.S. military.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Well, actually, they do serve “their country” in the U.S. military. And their country is Dar Al-Islam and greater Koranistan.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It’s Islamic terrorism, stupid. Wait, that’s repetitive. It’s Islam, stupid.</span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Say a prayer for these soldiers who were killed and injured. G-d bless them. They fought Islam in Iraq and Afghanistan. And now Islam has killed them because we let it fester on our own soil. Very sad, indeed.</span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Normally, to give such space to such incredulous racism, such hostile vitriol that reeks of racism, would not be appropriate. However, it has occurred to me that sometimes it is better to allow the right to speak for itself, to fully understand the depth of their bigotry.</span><br />
</div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Such fringe commentators are the extreme, of course, but the immense correlation the media continually insists upon between Hasan, Islam, and the shooting has plagued any serious analysis of the case:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">Understanding that his actions are not representative of Islam should be a given and yet, we have accusations of terrorism, claims that Islam is still a “danger” to America and violent threats to mosques around the nation.</span></span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">Regardless of the sentiments Hasan harbored or with whom he communicated, the coverage of this story and emphasis on Hasan’s faith has caused Islamophobia to sprout up once again. Ordinary Muslim Americans have to bear the brunt.</span></span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Qaseem Uqdah of American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, being <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/6/in_worst_ever_shooting_of_its">interviewed by Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow</a>,<b> </b>stated so simply what should be obvious to us all, "If this soldier was a Christian, we wouldn’t be saying that the Christian soldier or blaming Christianity." Likewise, as Ruder and Kindlinger write: </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The bigoted conclusions of the Michelle Malkins--that the "violent teachings" of Islam caused this tragedy--must be rejected. <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2009/05/15/war-off-the-battlefield">When Sgt. John Russell shot and killed five fellow soldiers at the Camp Liberty combat stress clinic in Baghdad</a>, his religion wasn't used to explain why he went on a shooting spree. Hasan's shouldn't be used as an explanation for what happened at Fort Hood.</span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">If religion did play a role, it had more to do with the abuse and bigotry aimed towards him than any imaginary religious zealotry aimed against America on his part:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">...after the September 11 attacks, Hasan experienced racist harassment within the military and outside it that left him feeling isolated and under siege. A bumper sticker that said "Allah is love" in Arabic was torn off Hasan's car, and the vehicle was scratched with a key while it was parked at his apartment complex in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood, in August.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Hasan's uncle, Rafik Ismail Hamad, who lives in the West Bank town of Al Birah, said his nephew told him that fellow soldiers once handed Hasan a diaper and told him to wear it on his head. In another incident, according to a <i>Los Angeles Times</i> report, they drew a camel on a piece of paper and left it on his car, with a note that read, "Here's your ride."</span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">In fact, it appears that Hasan repeatedly attempted to leave the military. According to his cousin, he even "hired a military attorney to try to have the issue resolved, pay back the government to get out of the military." This should, more than anything, bring into question the idea that our military is a "volunteer force." Many question what sort of volunteer force does not allow you to quit "volunteering" under such strenuous, psychologically enervating, and dehumanizing conditions. </span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">All of this ignores the intense pressure that psychiatrists and soldiers are put under within the military, regardless of religion:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The crushing caseload--there are 408 psychiatrists for 553,000 active-duty troops around the world--leads to burnout and despair among those charged with treating the mental health trauma of a generation of soldiers. "It's a pretty damn stressful place to be," said Dr. Stephen Stahl of the conditions for psychiatrists at Fort Hood. "I think it's a horrible place to practice psychiatry." </span><br />
</blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps the recommendations put forth by Iraq Veterans Against the War, which they attempted to be given to Obama in person but he refused, can shed some light on where to go from here:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Each soldier about to be deployed and returning from deployment be assigned a mental health provider who will reach out to them, rather than requiring them to initiate the search for help.</span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Ensure that the stigma of seeking care for mental health issues is removed for soldiers at all levels--from junior enlisted to senior enlisted and officers alike.</span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Ensure that if mental health care is not available from military facilities, soldiers can seek mental health care with civilian providers of their choice.</span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Ensure that soldiers are prevented from deploying with mental health problems and issues.</span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">5. Stop multiple redeployments of the same troops.</span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-size: small;">6. Ensure full background checks for all mental health providers and periodic check-ups for them to decompress from the stresses they shoulder, from the soldiers they counsel to the workload they endure.</span><br />
</div></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">There is much more to say, and much has been said, within the alternative media and on the left about what this means and what sort of dialogue this shooting should arouse. It is imperative that we do not allow this tragic event to be hijacked by the right to promote persecution and bigotry against Muslim Americans or augment their ideological control over how we view the unjust military occupations being committed by or enforced by the U.S. military machine and the ruling elites.</span> <br />
</div><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8725419710604925149.post-17840664878477892482009-11-09T14:48:00.000-05:002009-11-09T14:48:00.195-05:00Using Malcolm X to Anaylze the Role Schools Play in Society<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The degradation and dehumanization Malcolm X, or Malcolm Little as he was known then, was forced to endure throughout his schooling experience is a testament both to the dominant ideology’s derogatory, overt racism and the interrelated political and economic subjugation which was a reality for blacks during the 1930’s. The barriers Malcolm faced, such as being denied the opportunity to pursue a career of his choice despite his outstanding grades, were the result of an oppressive hierarchy of racial oppression, determined in large part by a nearly impenetrable class structure. This class society, which inevitably fueled racism, was essential in perpetuating the dominant ideology and political economy which so prodigiously influenced Malcolm’s schooling experience. One will find that racism and other forms of prejudice are not only direct results, but integral functions of a capitalist society. As such, the element of racism within the dominant ideology, as well as its material manifestation in the political economy, cannot be removed without the dismantling of a class-based society; the abolition of class society, however, is not a guarantee for the abolition of racism, but rather a prerequisite. Viewed within a dialectical framework, it becomes obvious that Malcolm’s experience was not simply the result of prejudiced or misguided authority figures. Instead, it was heavily dependant upon how various social, political, and economic factors interacted in a specific historical and material period. His experience provides illuminating details that are applicable today.</span><br />
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The most brazen ideological component stemming from the dominant culture is the overt racism, both personal and institutionalized, so common during the 1930’s. This consisted of the belief in the natural superiority of the white race and, conversely, the natural inferiority of the black race. This racism of the dominant culture manifested itself in the action taken upon this belief; blacks were less human than whites and, accordingly, were less capable of performing at the level of whites. This was true in most areas such as intelligence, professions and occupations, sports, and a variety of other social categories. Tied into this idea was the concept that blacks were naturally lazy, more prone to crime, and less likely to be able to function in society than their white counterpart. Despite the skill shown or intelligence displayed, blacks were largely unable to achieve any social status and economic position in society that challenged this idea of racial supremacy. In other words, while blacks may compete amongst themselves and other poor whites for vocations deemed lowly by middle and upper class whites, they were generally denied the already extremely limited chance to move up the social ladder. <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">What one may label the white power structure held immense sway over the daily lives of ordinary people and societal institutions in which they worked and lived. Indeed, nearly all societal institutions were in some way affected by the ideological hegemony stemming from the predominately white, capitalist power structure. In the South, legal segregation remained an important aspect of society. In the North, discrimination was usually more discreet. Instead of legislation promoting segregation in housing, banks and government agencies simply redlined districts or selectively gave loans along racial lines. Confined to poor, urban neighborhoods, this translated into the schools where blacks were generally confined to low quality schools with fewer resources. The ingenious scheme to unequally fund schools through property taxes is an important continuation of this trend today. By under funding certain schools, rulings whites could easily push propaganda about the inferiority of the black child’s mind when they scored worse on tests or dropped out to pursue a life of hustling, robbing, drug dealing, or other self destructive behaviors as Malcolm outlines in his autobiography. Indeed, Northern racism, hidden behind a cloak of modern liberalism, was as prevalent as in the South. <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">One cannot question the link between the dominant ideology of the 1930’s and Malcolm’s experience in school. The inferiority of blacks was a built in component of society, reinforced by legislative and corporate maneuvers which further marginalized the black community. Despite the fact that Malcolm’s teacher was friendly and even liked Malcolm, he still doubted his potential because of his skin color and covered his racist ideas with a façade of pragmatism. His comment, that Malcolm should consider some sort of manual labor such as construction instead of pursuing law, was not meant to malign Malcolm as an individual, but instead reflected how profoundly racism impinged upon all aspects of society. However, Mr. O, with his personal prejudice betrayed by this display of benevolent racism, should not be analyzed separately from the society in which he lives; the institutions and establishment he was part of were prodigious factors in transmuting the dominant ideology onto him and, from him, onto Malcolm.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Malcolm’s understanding of the limits society would impose on him became much more lucid after this incident. As he reflects, “It was then that I began to change – inside… Where nigger had slipped off my back before, wherever I heard it now, I stopped and looked at whoever said it” (Haley, 1964, p.37). It is important to note that Malcolm was conscious of the effect these artificially imposed limitations were having upon him. He began to see that society was not based upon individual merit but instead upon a set of societal norms enforced by the dominant ideology. This sort of ideological hegemony would undoubtedly shape his lens through which he analyzed society in various phases of his life. It must have played an immense role when, during his involvement with the Nation of Islam, when he viewed racism and racist ideology as an integral and natural aspect of white society and an inherit quality in white people more broadly. It must also have played a decisive and much more profound role when he dismissed his earlier notions of white supremacy as a natural instinct of white people and instead embraced the idea that racism was a historic phenomenon arising from a particular form of society. Because of this recognition, which he developed after traveling to Mecca and splitting with Elijah Muhammad, he also understand that racism was perpetuated by the current economic system and, born from and galvanized by certain material roots, it could also be dismantled with the abolition of the dominant economic system. Thus, at each period in Malcolm’s life, Mr. O’s comment appears to take significance in a different and unique way, dependant upon the framework Malcolm employs.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another aspect of the dominant ideology apparent in this scenario is the implicit acceptance of an extremely hierarchal, class-based society. Malcolm’s teacher, whether or not he meant to, sent a dualistically degrading message to Malcolm. On one hand, he implied that because blacks were inferior, they should be confined to jobs consisting of manual labor. By this implication, he not only degraded Malcolm and blacks in general, but also anyone, white or black, involved in jobs where you must be “good with your hands” (Haley, p. 36). Not only was Mr. O’s comment an invective towards the very conception of black humanity, it was also an insult to a significant portion of the working class; being a manual laborer, according to Mr. O, was something that inferior humans pursued because they were mentality less capable. More importantly, the dominant ideology once again plays an immense role in this situation. Without this passive acceptance of the wage system and a capitalist economy, the ruling class could not maintain its power and privilege; this was a system Malcolm would eventually come to reject. In fact, Mr. O’s comment towards Malcolm provides an extremely important look into the political economy of the time period.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The 1930’s were a tumultuous time in American society; a depression was sweeping the nation, unemployment figures were staggering, unionization rates were surging and labor battles were being waged fiercely between exploited workers and bosses. The ruling class was shook by immense strike waves and increasing worker militancy. At times such as these it is essential that those who run society are able to use creative means to divide the working class. Racism is a vital weapon in the ruling class arsenal. In fact, it was extremely beneficial that up until this point labor unions had more or less remained segregated or at best ambivalent on the race question. By utilizing black workers (or any marginalized group) as scabs during strikes carried out by a mostly white working class, workers were able to skillfully manipulate each group so that instead of viewing their natural interests as workers in alignment they would view their own fellow workers as competition. Hostility and animosity would replace solidarity. This rancor would be further fueled by elite propaganda and the pseudo-scientific theories postulated claiming the inferiority of blacks and other marginalized groups.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This divide and conquer tactic has been, and continues to be, utilized regularly to defend corporate interests. Many white labor organizers failed to realize that racism or ambiguity concerning the rights of blacks was extremely detrimental to the working class cause. The only benefit whites gained, as W.E.B. DuBois so brilliantly explained in his work concerning Black Reconstruction, was a “psychological wage” (Taylor, 2008, 64). By maintaining a permanent underclass, bosses are able to keep wages and benefits low for all workers. Unorganized, divided workers are much less of a threat than an organized, collective force. The function of racism in a capitalist framework, then, is to destabilize the workers’ movement and paralyze it through with virulent ideological poison. So when Communist Party members, despite their many flaws, began organizing black and white sharecroppers together in the South, this provided a radical challenge to both the ruling class (North and South) and the conservative labor organizations (Pope, 2001, p. 232-266). Critically literate, radical blacks who began organizing the unorganized were threats to the economic and social stability of the capitalist political economy and the dominant ideology stemming from it.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thus, one can begin to understand why Malcolm’s teacher pushed him to pursue something which engaged his hands and not his mind. The hegemony of the dominant ideology demanded that blacks maintain positions of inferiority in order to avoid the threat of militant black radicals and to undermine white laborers struggling for economic gains. Keeping blacks and white separated, based upon what today seems arbitrary, was a logical and rational maneuver for those who ran society. Had Malcolm followed the advice given him, he could have become an obedient black worker, marginalized and underpaid for his labor. Likewise, he may have even been used as a scab worker to help foster artificial hostility between blacks and whites, provide ideological ammunition to racist labor leaders, and undermine working class unity. It is quite interesting to consider that the radical, militant Malcolm X could have simply remained a passive, submissive construction worker named Malcolm Little. Mr. O’s gentle reminder to Malcolm of his place in society should not be viewed as an isolated instance of personal prejudice but instead an integral aspect of the dominant ideology being transmitted through an institution where the primary goal was the maintenance of the capitalist political economy. While Mr. O may not have been consciously plotting to subdue the black community, he was unconsciously helping to fulfill the desires of the dominant class, of which he was not even a part. <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">One cannot question the fact that societal institutions are reflections of the economic system under which they are created. Schools and the ideas transmitted by these institutions are designed to perpetuate the existing society. As reflections of the dominant class, these ideas are necessarily reflections of the interests of that class. The example Malcolm explicates upon provides a paragon for analyzing both racial and class relations in the 1930’s and how they affected schooling. The threat of militant, black radicals (especially when involved in labor organizing) to the political and economic establishment was a fear many ruling elites dared not take lightly. Similarly, marginalizing blacks and maintaining an obvious disparity allowed elites to maintain low wages for all workers and utilize them as scab workers. This helped to suppress the disruptions caused by the laboring masses who were challenging the profit-driven, free market system. These two important aspects of the political economy were backed up by an ideological hegemony which promoted the ideas that blacks were intellectually inferior and that a class society was fundamental to human existence. The artificial wedges used to divide black and white workers would be impossible to preserve without the dominant ideological components which accompanied them. Malcolm’s experience at school in Mason, Michigan was intricately bound upon in the existing order and the class structure of society. Without educational institutions which inculcated youth with the dominant ideology, the political economy would be hard pressed to maintain itself. Thus, Mr. O’s personal, singular instance of racial prejudice cannot be understood outside the context of American capitalism in the 1930’s.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Works Cited</span></span><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Haley, A. (1964) The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York, NY: The Random House Publishing Group.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pope, D., (2001) American Radicalism. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Taylor, K. (2008) Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880. International Socialist Review, 57, January-February. Also available from http://www.isreview.org/issues/57/feat-reconstruction.shtml.</span></span><br />
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</div>Derek Alan Idehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04454593422868297899noreply@blogger.com