From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Sat Jul 30 2005 - 11:15:28 EDT
Several brief interventions:
1) Re the length of the working day
The public debate on the 8 hour day occurred during Marx's
lifetime and his theory of absolute surplus value could be seen, in
part, as an intervention in that struggle and a reply to both
reactionary opponents of the 8-hour-day and liberal and "utopian"
advocates who justified support for the 8-hour-day in moral terms
(i.e. what was "fair").
2) Re conspiracy theories and Marxism
A futher thought: Marxists attempt to put the question of
whether or not there are conspiracies in historical context. For
instance, they attempt to look for historical and structural
patterns. A couple of examples: after the coup in Venezuela,
most radicals (Marxists included) charged that the coup
was planned by the US and the CIA, etc. The US government, of
course, denied any role or advance knowledge. Even in the
absence of "beyond a reasonable doubt" proof, radicals and
Marxists were _right_ to make this claim (and further evidence to
that effect has been revealed in the last couple of years).
In other words, given the existing pattern and history of the
US in terms of its relations with radical governments in Latin
America that it dislikes, this claim was justified. Another
example: in New York City, they are saying that the NYPD is going to
have "random checks" of backpacks and bags of subway and
mass transportation riders. I will claim -- in the absence of
any hard proof -- that the City _will_ nonetheless use this
occasion to have _non_-random searches of people who fit
their (racist and discriminatory) profile and/or radicals.
In making this claim, I am not being paranoid. Rather, this
belief is informed by a _history_ of other occasions of
police (and mayoral, and gubanatorial, and federal) abuse of
civil liberties.
3) Query
September 5 will be the ***TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF OPE-L!***
Do you have any ideas about how we should celebrate that occasion?
In solidarity, Jerry
Peaks Island and Portland
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