Judging from your various posts, though, Carl, I suspect that as a red
diaper baby you have been heavily influenced by your father's politics.
The political views that you express are often radical even if a lot
less radical sometimes than other times and they are inconsistent too. I
can't call you a Marxist even if you do sometimes express ideas that
come almost to the point of being Marxist. What I suspect is that you
may not have completely understood your father's politics when you were
a child or even a teenager and that you now do not remember very well
what you did understand, but unless you have had influences that you
have never talked about here you must have still been heavily influenced
by him.
___
Richard Dawkins
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all
decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this
sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running
for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from
within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation,
thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this
very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the
natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons
and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people
are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find
any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has
precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no
purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
On 7/8/2020 9:29 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
I've joined many Parties...or at least sat in for a while. But I
guess I'm just not a Party Animal. Seems like after a bit someone
comes along and begins telling me how to behave or what to think. And
so I thank them, and move on. But I always leave with more than I
came. And maybe I leave a little something, too. Clyde Jarvis was
much more than my dad. He was also my mentor. Dad grew up during the
teens and twenties, organizing unions and preaching the Gospel
according to the American Communist Party. But I never joined the
Party. Not after sitting through long meetings as a small boy. While
the Party Line did not rub off on me, I did notice that there were
just as many self serving Communists as there were self serving
Christians. I think that the greatest gift my dad gave to me was the
ability to think for myself, and to make my own mind up, and to expect
to be responsible for my decisions whether they turned out to be right
or wrong. And if there is a Judgement Day, which I do not believe
there will be, but if there were, I would be able to stand in front of
that Golden Throne and say, "I've done some good things, and I've
done some bad things. But I am responsible for them all."
In the long run I am just a Wayfarer wandering through Life, believing
that if I seek, I will find, and if I knock, the door will open.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/8/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Every time I read a Militant article, I am reminded of why I can't identify
with the kind of Socialism that it represents. Its inflexible and rigid
views are applied to every situation, distorting each one to fit into its
view. In this case, where is the proof of the allegation that tearing down
the statues is a result of the plan of a few people whose class interests
are different from those of the people in the streets? I remember this
publication supporting Clyde Bundy and his crowd who are right wing
Libertarians who want to use public lands for their own private profit. God
knows what rationalization the Militant had for that position!
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 3:17 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Destruction of statues seeks to erase history we
need to know
I was hesitant about posting this article, but let me repeat my disclaimer
that just because I post an article that does not mean that I agree with it.
This one does contain some parts I agree with and the discussion of stages
of human history is relevant to some recent discussion on this list.
However, I also think that the article completely and totally misses the
whole point of removing these statues.
Okay, maybe small self-appointed groups should not be the ones who make the
decision of removing or vandalizing them, but that does not address why they
should be removed nor does it address the reason a statue is erected in the
first place. No history is being removed.
https://themilitant.com/2020/07/04/destruction-of-statues-seeks-to-erase-history-we-need-to-know/
Destruction of statues seeks to erase history we need to know BY TERRY EVANS
Vol. 84/No. 27 July 13, 2020 Worldwide protests against police killings in
recent weeks reflect the depth of opposition to cop brutality and racist
discrimination among working people today. The protests have made some
gains, leading to charges against cops and racist vigilantes and
strengthening the unity of the working class. But some middle-class radicals
and antifa groups have tried to divert these fights into destroying statues
and other symbols of figures from past history they call “oppressive.”
In fact, these forces try to use the cover of large protests elsewhere to
organize small bands to try and tear down the statues, with backing from the
liberal “woke” press, like the New York Times. They threaten to silence
anyone who disagrees, and aim to rewrite history and obscure the development
of the class struggle that has marked social evolution.
Without this working people can’t understand the class roots of historical
development and find a road forward to overthrow class exploitation and
oppression once and for all.
The editors of the Washington Post pontificate that those who object to
destroying monuments “we don’t like” in effect endorse the “atrocities”
carried out by the figures depicted in the statues — a form of race-baiting.
If the statues have to remain, the Post editors say, working people can’t be
trusted to know anything about them, and the statues should be covered with
warnings and tracts to enlighten people about the evil they depict.
Statue of Ulysses S. Grant before its destruction last month in Golden Gate
Park in San Francisco. Grant was commander of Union Army that defeated
slavocracy in U.S. Civil War.
Statue of Ulysses S. Grant before its destruction last month in Golden Gate
Park in San Francisco. Grant was commander of Union Army that defeated
slavocracy in U.S. Civil War.
Some arguments go far beyond objections to statues of historical figures
whose families owned slaves or held other views now discredited. Laura
Brodie writes in the New York Times that all statues of historical figures
on horseback portray “toxic masculinity” and are candidates for
destruction.
These calls follow the destruction of statues in San Francisco’s Golden Gate
Park June 19 of former President Ulysses S. Grant — the commanding general
of the Union army that defeated the slavocracy in the Civil War and was
elected president to enforce postwar Radical Reconstruction — and other
figures in U.S. history. Even a statue of Miguel Cervantes, who had been
held as a slave and was author of Don Quixote, was vandalized. A number of
nearby structures were marked with the symbol of area antifa groups.
The American Museum of Natural History, backed by New York City authorities,
decided to remove the statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt.
You can’t ‘cancel’ history, we need it
Behind the destruction and removal of monuments lies the notion that by
erasing symbols from the past, reflecting different stages of class
development, you can “cancel” them and pretend they didn’t happen.
Eradicating the record of slavery, a historical epoch that was key to the
development of capitalism, and with it the development of the modern working
class, in order to avoid something that is “hurtful,” does nothing to help
working people learn how historical changes are made nor from seeing
ourselves as the makers of history.
Frederick Engels, a founder of the modern working-class movement, took these
questions up in his criticism Anti-Duhring, published in 1878, after the
U.S. Civil War that overthrew the slavocracy. “It is very easy to inveigh
against slavery and similar things in general terms, and to give vent to
high moral indignation at such infamies,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately all that this conveys is only what everyone knows, namely,
that these institutions of antiquity are no longer in accord with our
present conditions and our sentiments.”
“Without slavery, no Greek state, no Greek art and science, without slavery,
no Roman Empire. But without the basis laid by Hellenism and the Roman
Empire, also no modern Europe. We should never forget that our whole
economic, political and intellectual development presupposes a state of
things in which slavery was as necessary as it was universally recognized,”
he said. “In this sense we are entitled to say: Without the slavery of
antiquity no modern socialism.”
The working class has an interest in developing a long view of history —
understanding how civilization emerged from the earliest toolmakers; how
exploitative social systems developed as ruling classes subjugated the
toiling majority; and especially how human progress is driven by inevitable
rebellions of slaves, serfs, laborers and other oppressed classes throughout
history. Through revolutionary struggles more advanced social systems
replace outmoded ones.
The bosses and their government want us to believe that people are
inherently greedy and capitalism will last forever. But history teaches that
the working class and its exploited and oppressed allies are capable of
uniting to overthrow dog-eat-dog capitalism, transforming ourselves in the
process, and taking political power into our own hands.
This will be the mightiest weapon possible for working people to carry
forward the battle to end Black oppression and every form of human
degradation inherited from millennia of class-divided society.
The Confederate battle flag came down
There is no broad working-class movement today demanding Confederate symbols
be taken down as part of advancing the working-class struggle against racist
violence. But there have been times when this has been important. In 2000
some 50,000 people marched in Columbia, South Carolina, demanding that the
Confederate battle flag be taken down from the state Capitol Building. They
urged that the flag, a symbol not of past slavery but a banner for racist
Klan violence, be removed from the Capitol grounds.
At the end of June this year the government in Mississippi voted to take
down its flag — the last state symbol flying in the country containing the
Confederate battle flag.
This is a blow to any who would seek to organize racist violence today.
Knowing the real history of past class struggles is key to charting a road
forward. Along that road working people will decide what statues and other
historical monuments we want to keep and where, and what new ones to erect.
We don’t need small self-appointed groups imposing their own will on others
tearing down statues, putting barriers in front of working people learning
from our history, and gaining confidence in what we can become.
Protests demand: ‘Charge cops who killed Breonna Taylor, and others!’
Protests against cop brutality and police killings are continuing in cities
and small towns across the country, as well as worldwide. They’ve remained
strongest and most determined where new cases of police violence have been
forced into public view, or… Malcolm X: You’re in revolutionary times, there
has to be change
Malcolm X Talks to Young People is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month
for July. In the last year of his life, Malcolm became the authentic voice
of the forces of the coming American revolution. The main excerpt is… Front
Page Articles Shipyard strike is a fight for all working people!
Demand jobs program to put millions back to work!
Amid layoffs, workers resist attacks from bosses, gov’t Hong Kong protests
defy Beijing’s drive to tighten grip Protests demand: ‘Charge cops who
killed Breonna Taylor, and others!’
SWP 2020 campaign presents fighting working-class program Feature Articles A
working-class road to expand rights for all the oppressed Also In This Issue
Cuban medical missions face US gov’t slander and threats Destruction of
statues seeks to erase history we need to know SWP ‘stimulus’ appeal now
stands at $132,300 Weekly audio version of ‘Militant’ available online Books
of the Month Malcolm X: You’re in revolutionary times, there has to be
change 25, 50 and 75 years ago
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Okay, thanks
--
___
Richard Dawkins
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all
decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this
sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are
running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being
devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying
of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time
of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the
population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In
a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic
replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to
get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice.
The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect
if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but
pitiless indifference.”
― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
