On 2010-01-06 02:00, GERALD LEVY wrote:
> Much of the Left
> in the advanced capitalist nations does not understand this because ... well ... they're
> a bit soft on opposition to imperialism even if it is sometimes couched in
> leftier-than-thou leftistlanguage.
>
> One of the reasons for the irrelevance of much of the Left is that when monumental
> and historic class struggles are going on in the world some of them sit on the
> sidelines and chat as if it was just a topic for conversation over a coffee table.
>
Is it not precisely on an electronic list on political economy that one
does have the luxury to reflect on the theoretical meaning and
implications of things? Electronic lists are not the arena of political
struggle against oppression. (Moreover, in a past post I showed how a
weak conception of imperialism and labour aristocracy may lead to
irrelevance and sectarian Left politics.)
Paula is rightly hinting at some weak theoretical points in the orthodox
formulation of imperialism. Either one has to refine the framework or
accept that some countries that were once considered to be victims of
imperialism are now imperialist too.
The alternative is to add the postulate that only countries in North
America and Western Europe can be imperialist. But then one abandons the
philosophical ground of Marxism in favour of 'Third Worldism'.
//Dave Z
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Received on Wed Jan 6 06:06:16 2010
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