From: John Holloway (johnholloway@PRODIGY.NET.MX)
Date: Mon May 23 2005 - 19:08:00 EDT
> Michael, > > In my mail of this morning, I should have said how much I appreciated your > comments on Venezuela and how interesting I found them. > > John > > > > Just one quick final point, John. > I had said: > 5) I suggest to you that you cannot be consistent with your book and not be an > opponent of the Bolivarian Revolution. > > And, you responded in your last note, 'I have already said several times > that I support the upsurge of revolutionary struggle in Venezuela.' > > My first impression when I quickly glanced over your last answer was > to conclude that in practice, in the concrete, that you weren't consistent > with your book and that, in practice, we weren't that far apart. Ie., that > statements in your book like 'to struggle through the state is to become > involved in the active process of defeating yourself', that the state is the > 'assassin of hope', etc were not to be taken too seriously in practice. After > all, there you were, indicating your recent support for Lopez Obrador (rather > than saying 'out with them all!) and admitting that you might decide to vote > for him; noting that (rather than worry about, in my words, reinforcing > 'illusions about the "state paradigm"') you would have supported the > Bolivarian Constitution at the time insofar it was 'much more democratic than > the previous one'; and, that you would not oppose the decentralising aspects > of that constitution (on the grounds, in my words, 'that the state by any > other name is still capital'). In short, I was surprised, and I thought, 'hey, > do those people in eg., Argentina who were so active in turning away from the > idea of taking state power know this? > But, before writing this, I looked back over your answer and saw that > I hadn't read it carefully enough. Eg., on the Bolivarian Constitution, you > say 'At the same time, a constitution always has the purpose of demarcating > the state from society, of consolidating the state as an institution, and in > that sense I would oppose it.' > Further, on the question of decentralisation, you went on to say: > 'Generally state decentralisation is an attempt to strengthen the state as > state.' > I would say it did strengthen the state-- not a state over and above > people but the Venezuelan state nevertheless, given the dissolution of the > state as state (ie., its collapse) that seemed to be occurring. > So, I come back to my original statement, now concluding that you > really didn't move very far from the position of your book. However, I do need > to take into account your profession of support for the Bolivarian revolution. > Indeed, I do accept the possibility that you can be consistent with your book > and yet not be an opponent of the revolution--- after all, you are large, you > 'contain multitudes'. > cheers, > michael > > ps. the last reference is from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself'. > Michael A. Lebowitz > Professor Emeritus > Economics Department > Simon Fraser University > Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 > > Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at > Residencias Anauco Suites > Departamento 601 > Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1 > Caracas, Venezuela > (58-212) 573-4111 > fax: (58-212) 573-7724 >
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