Parallel Perspectives
DEAR COMRADES
February
2012
Dear
Comrades,
This is
my spot to politically vent a little—ok, a lot—as well as
a
section to post letters from other socialist individuals & organizations. The
opinions I express here do not represent the views of other people associated
with Parallel Perspectives.
Regards,
JEFarrow
Previous Posts:
Dear Comrades #1 [April 2008] California budget woes; Red Army in Afghanistan;
Humans unwilling to modify their behavior.
Dear Comrades #2 [May 2008] Treacherous Arab Oligarchy; Capitalists & the
Environment.
Dear Comrades #3 [August – December 2008] Stimulus package; Animal Rights
Terrorists; Castro praises Russian Orthodox Church.
Dear Comrades #4 [March - April 2009] More
bailout (for the Capitalists); The Disarming Myth of the Liberal Bourgeoisie.
Dear Comrades #5 [July - August 2009] California
draconian budget cuts—and more on the way; Anti-religious views; Michelle Obama
vs. Laura Bush.
Dear Comrades #6 [November – December
2009] Karma or Complicity? Mission to Mars: Fasten your seat belts?
Dear Comrades #7 [March – April 2010]
Reactionaries in The Occult; School children join demonstrations over education
cuts; Tech industry warns that Obama administration
seeks to kill free websites.
Dear Comrades #8 [May – August 2010] Civil
War in America? Whose NWO (New World Order)?
Dear Comrades #9 [September – December 2010]
More paranoia from Jesse Ventura; We've met the right-wing target—and it's us;
Homosexuals in the military…Hell, no, don't go!; US leaders destroying the
dollar; FBI intimidation. Riots in Europe.
Dear Comrades #10 [February – March 2011]
People revolt in Middle East
Dear Comrades #11 [June – July 2001] More
on the budding Global Social Revolution; Marxism a religion? On sectarianism
& Charlie Sheen.
Dear Comrades #12 [April – May 2011] Bin Laden Down
& out; The Royal Commercial; "Turn the guns around: The main enemy is
at home"; Mini-series: The Kennedy's.
Dear Comrades #13 [October-November 2011] Occupy
Movement & failure of an early organized Socialist response.
Paranoid?
28. January 2012
Dear
Comrades.
I usually don't post personal
correspondence here, but a reader sent me a question I think worth sharing
& responding to. The question (paraphrasing) is: Don't you feel paranoid
about having a website that publicly promotes anti-capitalist revolution?
[NOTE: Actually I sort answered
this in an earlier "epistle," but that's OK since most people don't read
'em that far back anyway.]
My
response: No, I don't and here's why: I just take it for granted that
everything I say over the telephone and most definitely everything I post on
the web is subject to being monitored by a Government agent or agency. In other
words, don't publicly say or write anything you don't want to have possibly
used against you in the future. It would be the height self-delusion to believe
that our site poses an immediate threat to anybody—let alone the
Government. We may or may not be on some sort of "Watch" list—but if
so, it must be a very long list. In addition to this, were it publicly
known that we were on such a list, our readership base would positively go
through the roof!
No, I'm
definitely not paranoid about publicity—particularly if it's State
sponsored—'cause that's free.
But
seriously, folks, there's no such thing as privacy any more. You have a
telephone, they know where you live. When you use a cell phone, they know where
you are. You have cable/satellite TV, they know who you are, where you live
& the type of programs you watch. If you have the Internet, they know who
you are, where you live & your interests & affiliations. This is just a
given. Yes, if you really pose a serious challenge to the status quo, you could
be treated á la the Assange-Wikileaks Affaire, but that whole thing was
pretty drastic; most private individuals would never come in any way even
close to posing that kind of threat—and that includes us.
So, I
say: Defend Assange & Wikileaks—and LET 'ER RIP!
Regards,
Jeff
Farrow
the
global social revolution
1
the military & police
1
anarchists & sexy communists
18.
December 2011
Updated
27. January 2012
Dear
Comrades,
As
stated in the last posting, The Global Social Revolution has begun. I say that
because the OCCUPY Movement in the US was directly inspired by the amazing
& totally unexpected events of The Arab Spring. What unites the two—besides
the youthfulness of the participants & the creative spontaneity they
evidenced—is the perception of the Oligarchs as the common enemy (which they
are.) The rather ossified elders of Marxist-Leninism were caught totally
off-guard (but they're scrambling now to get up to speed.) The Global Social
Revolutions' departure from the politics as usual of the previous century
demonstrates that this Revolution really is a Revolution, a completely
revitalized political AND spiritual movement to overturn the Capitalist &
Religious disturbing-Order.
I found myself appreciative of non-violent
tactics & their ability to bring about a more peaceful & harmonious
Revolution. This represents a major shift in my political orientation. If there
was a fly in the OCCUPY movement, it was the violence & destructiveness of
so-called "Anarchists." I say so-called because I believe most
Anarchists today are non-violent. There has been an unfortunate legacy earned
by Anarchists in the past, even its' shinning star, Emma Goldman, who promoted
the strategic use of terror, including assassination. Many young people who
consider themselves Anarchists have adopted the interesting movie "V"
and its Gay Fawkes-like protagonist as a rallying cry. Of course, Guy Fawkes
was anything but an anarchist. He was a Roman Catholic terrorist who
paid a particularly hideous price for his zealotry. But let's get real: who
hasn't privately fantasized blowing up Parliament—or the White House
(particularly the pre-Obama White House.) It's interesting that even with the
post 9/11 hysteria, "V" resonated with so many people.
I
believe the Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyite analysis of capitalist society
is basically accurate, but to presume that the global anti-capitalist movement
of the 21st century can be defined & directed by the opinions of a
brilliant man of the 19th century, and the early-middle 20th century Marxist
leaders: Lenin, Trotsky & Mao. To insist that the views & strategies of
these men offer the only route to achieving Global Socialism seems the height
of hubris.
I don't
want to get into a whole rehashing of the Menshevik vs. Bolshevik debate, or
the White encirclement of the USSR, etc, but I am not ashamed to say this: The
unconscionable slaughter of the Romanov children was a defining moment for
Russian Bolshevism. It showed no mercy, no heart. The summary execution without
trial (and with what crime could the children be held accountable other than
the circumstances of their births?) —was designed to eliminate a Monarchist
rallying point, 
but it
had just the opposite effect. People (including masses of peasants) who may
have supported the Revolution were in reality driven further from it. As the
saying goes, Old sins cast long shadows. The end result of a consistent
legacy of lies, treachery, torture, death & deceit was the downfall of the
USSR and canonization of the entire royal family. The idea that there is a
bourgeois morality as opposed "proletarian" is rubbish. When it comes
to questions of life & death, there is only morality—fundamental &
absolute for all humanity. There are no excuses for attempting to
circumvent it.
Violence
is not the road to be taken. Saying
that, how can the Social Revolution succeed before the violently entrenched
Global Oligarchy? I have not become such a born again pacifist as to suggest
"turning the other cheek" when personally confronted by the armed
terror of the State Capitalist military & police. In the Arab world
hundreds of protesters have been murdered by the very forces that are supposed
to protect them. So far in the US the State reaction has been fairly restrained;
after all, this sort of real people's rebellion hasn't been seen since the late
60's & early 70's. On top of that, it's an election year. Candidates are
(supposedly) on their best behavior. Well, blatantly that's a joke.
We are
taught to respect the armed authority of the State from an early age. We are
taught to modify and restrict our individuality. We are often taught the first
lesson of violence & social conformity on the school play yard. Violence is
rewarded as leadership and passive resistance is punished by ostracism—and
worse. We eventually grow up & the survivors learn to conquer or to
compromise. Most of us learn to compromise. The police are there to protect us,
and soldiers to defend national interests. But who is there to protect us from
the police & military when we become their targets?
The
conservative reaction is to say that we who defy the violence of the State
deserve whatever we get. Probably most readers have seen this sentiment
expressed on countless blogs & editorials. We may be the 99%, but
politically speaking, fully aware anti-capitalist activists today in the United
States represent less than 20%. The Occupy Movement has shown how those numbers
can be raised—not by peddling obscure Marxist literature on big city street
corners—but rather by engaging potential social revolutionaries with smarts,
imagination & maybe a little sex tossed in as well.
America's
"finest" urinating on dead Afghans
Y
Well...that
was some diversion, what was I writing about? Oh, yeah the nature & function of the
military & police in capitalist society. The military fights for the things
the capitalists want from other States—and to punish people they don't like.
The police are paid to protect the things capitalists have—AND to keep the
streets pacified—as well as to do a lot of risky & demeaning things nobody
else wants to do. I have more respect for the police than the military. In
fact, I have no respect for the military at all.
We spoke
with a female probation officer in Occupy Oakland, and it was very instructive.
She has a caseload of 350 probationers to monitor! It's impossible, but
she does it. She was taking quite a risk just to be at the protest. She said
that what finally pushed her over was—not that she was being worked to
death—but all the families losing their homes. "When you work a regular
job and then suddenly lose your home, what's left? You put everything into it,
just to have it taken away. You can lose your entire sense of identity. Something's
got to change. We should all be marching on the Stock Exchange because that's
where all this comes from—just the worst blatant greed. This just can't go on
like this. Something's got to change and soon."
At the
very least, law enforcement is usually at the local level. Cops could be called
to enforce an eviction—and actually know the people being evicted! And
it's not transients or "dead beats" we're talking about, but a
working family—and a middle class working family—and where both husband &
wife hold down jobs, and it's still not enough. This is stuff some cops can
relate to.
The one
point that I agree with almost all socialist organizations is that sooner or
latter the Occupy Movement must evolve to raise Global Socialism as the
ultimate goal. If it doesn't, it will quickly dissolve into irrelevant
"Be-in" type activity...or worse. The degeneration of State
Capitalism will be a factor in preventing this, but a new leadership in the US
must be formed that will also prevent The Global Social Revolution losing
momentum. As evidenced in the Occupy Movement, socialist/communists show little
predilection to cooperate among themselves, let alone with the vast majority of
non-aligned, anti-capitalist individuals & groups. In one organizations'
daily newsletter the incredible statement was made that it—the organization—was
the only one capable of successfully orchestrating the anti-capitalist social
revolution. This from group that didn't even recognize the Occupy movement
until the amazing, spontaneous demonstrations had become a fait accompli.
We don't
need socialist organizations like that.
_____________________________
Now this is a good
propaganda photo.
Y
You've
got a trio of really good-looking guys up front. This conveys to the viewer that
1. to be involved in X-Y-Z cause, Party or event is cool, that 2. This is a
place where youth is appreciated, and 3 Good-looking people
("winners") are involved. Naturally the same effect can be created
with all female "models" or a mixed group. To a person who sees this
as perpetuating "sexism," I respond "No kidding—and thus the
world goes 'round & 'round." Is this a shallow perceptive? Maybe, but
I say we can beat capitalism
at its
own game.
When
asked what I do by people I trust, I tell them that I am a propagandist for The
Social Revolution. Most often a person laughs it off, thinking that I am joking
or being self-effacing: I'm not. I think propaganda is a legitimate—and
vital—ancillary to the Global Social Revolution. Yes, the term
"propaganda" carries a lot of baggage because of its' use in the last
century by totalitarian governments & "radical" groups.
Nevertheless, ALL political & religious organizations & many social
networking groups use propaganda as well—or maybe not well, as the case may be.
We
should learn well to use it for our purposes.
Clearly
there are fantastically creative & artistic people already involved in
various aspects of the Social Revolution—and just as the Revolution itself
needs a global central committee of people who are capable of working with one
another, rather than alienating everybody—we need a solid Global Propaganda
Office. I see that developing already.
DOWN WITH STATE CAPITALISM
& RELIGIOUS TERRORISM!
FOR GLOBAL SOCIAL REVOLUTION!!!
PS. I
think a great project would be to create a Communist Cheesecake Calendar &
fly them all over the Midwest. The targets would be those bored, insular farm
boys with their anti-socialist, militia fantasies. This would be a
re-education program they might actually like. Even they might find it
hard to hate an object you're jerking off to.
A Bolshevik Beefcake Calendar would also be nice.
From the
sire Beautiful Comrades:
Sexy Commie,
Paul Robeson
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Bold
Marauder Words and music by Richard Farina
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Last Update: 28.
January 2012
"Draw this, Uncle Walt!"
1/29/12
Hands Off the People of Iran
Hopi, PO Box 54631,
London N16 8YE
office@hopoi.info,
www.hopoi.org
Fights at Stop the
War Coalition's protest against impending war on Iran
On Saturday January 28 2012, Hopi supporters attended a rally called by
the Stop the War Coalition to protest against impending war on Iran.
Unfortunately, due to the unprincipled politics of the StwC more general and
the rally in particular, this soon descended into chaos. You can read the full
report and watch a short film here: http://hopoi.org/?p=1878
On January 28 around 300 protesters gathered at the American embassy to oppose the increasingly bellicose rhetoric against Iran and Syria. Called by the Stop the War Coalition under the title of ‘Stop the war before it starts: don’t attack Iran/Syria’, the protest was in many respects something that seasoned activists in the anti-war movement would be all too familiar with. Well-meaning, if often slightly tedious and repetitive speeches, a few chants and the promise to build an enormous opposition that could finally scupper the imperialists’ plans once and for all. However, it soon became apparent that this was not going to be simply ‘business as usual’. In a somewhat embarrassing indictment to the approach of ‘as broad as possible’ typified by the coalition, several speakers were booed or chanted down, and fights broke out between protesters. At one point a group of Iranians from the London Green movement lined up against supporters of the Syrian Baathist regime under the sway of Bashar Al-Assad. It was not pretty. [...]
Make your voice heard: No war on Iran! For regime change from
below!
Our
campaign is gathering momentum. Tony Benn, John McDonnell MP and Moshe Machover
are only some of the many people supporting the campaign. There are video and
picture messages up on our website: http://hopoi.org/
Can you get
involved too? Send us a picture, a video, an email or voice messages and tell
the world why you oppose the war threats on Iran! Email us on office@hopoi.info
In
solidarity,
Tina Becker
for Hands
Off the People of Iran
__._,_._
1/28/12
Dear Comrade,
We thought you might be interested in our event coming up next month.....
NEW UNIONISM: HOW WORKERS CAN FIGHT BACK
A dayschool hosted by Workers' Liberty
Saturday 18 February 2012, 11:30-17:30
Highgate Newtown Community Centre, 25 Bertram Street, London N19 5DQ (Archway
tube)
http://www.workersliberty.org/newunionism for more details and to pay online
Facebook event: New Unionism: how workers can fight back
In the late 1880s, workers (often unskilled or semi-skilled, often migrants and
often working in casualised and precarious environments) organised militant
industrial unions to fight back against their bosses. Socialist activists like
Eleanor Marx, Tom Mann and Will Thorne were crucial to the struggles.
Faced with increasingly similar conditions today, can we build a New Unionism
for the 21st century that transforms and revolutionises the modern labour
movement?
Tickets: £15 waged, £8 low-waged/ student, £4 unwaged.
Speakers and sessions are:
* How the socialists organised: the life and times of Tom Mann (Cathy Nugent
and Charlie MacDonald)
* The movement for working-class self-education (Colin Waugh, further education
activist, author of Plebs, the Lost Legacy of Independent Working-Class Education)
* Finding a political voice: from New Unionism to Labour representation (Martin
Thomas and Sam Greenwood)
* Organising the unorganised: (Mick Duncan, Unite p.c; Ruth Cashman, Lambeth
Unison p.c.)
* From the Matchworkers to the Chainmakers – how women organised (Jill
Mountford and Louise Raw, author of Striking a Light, The Bryant and May
Matchwomen and their Place in History)
* What came next – The Great Unrest 1911-1914 (Edd Mustill)
* Organising at work today: using the ‘Troublemakers’ Handbook’ (Kim Moody,
founder of Labor Notes magazine, academic, author — most recently US Labor in
Trouble and Transition — and activist)
* New Unionism 2012? How can we reinvigorate the labour movement? Speakers
include Eamonn Lynch (Bakerloo Line driver tube driver victimised for his union
activity and reinstated following an RMT campaign) and Jean Lane (Workers'
Liberty and Tower Hamlets Unison)
Creche, cheap food and bookstalls
More details/queries: awl@workersliberty.org
1/27/12
ADBUSTERS TACTICAL BRIEFING #25
Hey you redeemers, rebels and radicals out there,
Against the backdrop of a global uprising that is simmering in dozens of countries and thousands of cities and towns, the G8 and NATO will hold a rare simultaneous summit in Chicago this May. The world’s military and political elites, heads of state, 7,500 officials from 80 nations, and more than 2,500 journalists will be there.
And so will we.
On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.
And this time around we’re not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, 1968 … nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights. We’ll go there with our heads held high and assemble for a month-long people’s summit … we’ll march and chant and sing and shout and exercise our right to tell our elected representatives what we want … the constitution will be our guide.
And when the G8 and NATO meet behind closed doors on May 19, we’ll be ready with our demands: a Robin Hood Tax … a ban on high frequency ‘flash’ trading … a binding climate change accord … a three strikes and you’re out law for corporate criminals … an all out initiative for a nuclear-free Middle East … whatever we decide in our general assemblies and in our global internet brainstorm – we the people will set the agenda for the next few years and demand our leaders carry it out.
And if they don’t listen … if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they’ve done so many times before … then, with Gandhian ferocity, we’ll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe … we’ll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear.
Jammers, pack your tents, muster up your courage and prepare for a big bang in Chicago this Spring. If we don’t stand up now and fight now for a different kind of future we may not have much of a future … so let’s live without dead time for a month in May and see what happens …
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
Adbusters issue #100 is hitting doorsteps and newsstands in a couple of weeks. Go online or call Nicole at 1-800-663-1243 to make sure you don’t miss it!
1/26/12
If you're having
trouble viewing this email, you may see it online.
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1/24/12
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1/16/12
For interesting
readers and french-speaking comrades, some stuff worth of
reading :
- http://voila.net/bulletin_Liaisons/docs/Aide_lecture_Capital_livre_I.pdf
http://www.le-militant.org/Militant/Theorie/Entrees/2010/5/7_Aide_a_la_lecture_du_Capital_-_livre_1.html
http://www.le-militant.org/Militant/Theorie/Entrees/2010/6/21_Aide_a_la_lecture_du_Capital%2C_livre_II.html
http://www.le-militant.org/Militant/Theorie/Entrees/2010/8/11_Aide_a_la_lecture_du_Capital_-_livre_III.html
- http://www.le-militant.org/praxis/laporteeducapital.htm
And soon, there will be on line an exchange between Alain Bihr and Vincent
Presumey around some discussion about the last book writen by Alain Bihr on
Marx’s Capital… Texts are ready, on-line publication is slow !!
Best wishes,
Olivier
1/16/12
Capital Reading Group:
Volume I
Hosted by the Alliance for Worker's Liberty
Monday nights from the
16th January
6.30pm-9.30pm
67 Grayson House
Radnor Street
-- near Old Street Tube
capital-reading-group@googlegroups.com
07527064326
'If money, according to Augier, “comes into the world
with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek,” capital comes dripping from head
to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt.'
Karl Marx, Capital Vol. I, Chapter 31
150 years ago Marx wrote his investigation into the workings of the capitalist system; what he wrote continues to be relevant today.
Join us in discussing and understanding Vol. I through David Harvey’s 13-session lecture series.
All welcome!
The Sessions:
16th January—9th April
Monday nights weekly
16/01/12
Session 1: Introduction to Vol. I
23/01/12
Session 2: Chapters 1-2
30/01/12
Session 3: Chapter 3
The full list and Harvey's lectures can be found here:
http://davidharvey.org/reading-capital/
1/14/12
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1/14/12
PA Editors Blog: Capitalism among
the Vultures
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Posted: 13 Jan 2012 02:09 PM PST I confess that I
don't watch Republican debates too much. It is very bad for my acid reflux.
But something very funny is happening. Mitt Romney, the front runner of a
very backward running pack, is being "criticized" by his rivals as
a Vulture Capitalist. Republicans using such language. Now my first thought
was that this was like the 1920s gangster Bugs Moran criticizing front
running rival Al Capone for violating the Prohibition laws. Then I thought
that the GOP was being "brainwashed" by partisans of socialism. But
then I began to thin a little more seriously about it First of all, the
phrase "vulture capitalism has been around for many years. It no more
originated with reactionary Texas governor Rick Perry than the death penalty,
of which he and his predecessors have been so fond, originated in Texas. It is essentially
play on the words of "venture capital" and has been used by
militant opponents of virtually everything all of the Republican candidates
stand for decades. You can find it in Michael Moore's" Capitalism A Love
Story" and in the work of brilliant popular political economist Naomi
Klein(who also has given us such better terms as "Casino
Capitalism" and "Disaster Capitalism." It was even the title
of a 2002 novel.
But others look at
it differently, namely the proponents of venture capitalism: meaning
"private equity firms" which raise and invest capital stress the
achievements of such firms from the 1950s on in funding new businesses,
"startup firms," which bolster economic growth, jobs and income.,
advancing "high tech," making "Silicon valley" possible,
etc. But most students of
financial capitalist history (including its supporters) mention that with the
deregulation of the Reagan era and the proliferation of such private equity
firms, these firms competing with each other for capital (with a government
that let them do pretty much what they wanted) moved away from investing in
new companies to "investing in" aka leveraging aka hostile
takeovers of established firms and inflating the stock market value of such
firms.
All sorts of booms
Internet booms were then followed by all sorts of busts, further
deregulation, Internets bubbles, NASDAC crashes, etc. and of course the big
bust of 2008, wreaking miserty and suffering through the economy Of course, this all
reflected to and for its supporters what that old economist of the right
Joseph Schumpeter, once called capitalism work for "creative
destruction" paving the way for new developments and breakthroughs out
of the debris of shattered industries and workers without jobs.
Romney
"retired" from Bain Capital at the turn of the 21st century more
than a decade ago to pursue political and other activities, serving as
Governor of Massachusetts between 2003 and 2007. In that position he cut
funding for all forms of education massively, advanced a deregulation state
program for business, increased fees for drivers licenses, registration,
marriage licenses pretty much everything that he could . And he was hailed as
a financial statesmen who turned a large budget deficit into a surplus. By the way, as
Romney was carrying out these policies in Massachusetts, he, as part of his
"retirement" from Bain Capital, continued to receive millions
annually from the profits of a number of the firm's activities,
The general solution
to the problems of capitalism is to abolish it and replace it with socialism.
The specific and immediate solutions to "vulture capitalism" is to
advance the reregulation of finance and industry and the public protection of
the jobs, pensions and benefits of employees to both drive the vultures away
and create a healthy political and social economy which will prevent them
from feeding.
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BRUTE FACTS AND POLITICAL CHOICES: THINKING ABOUT 2012 Posted: 13 Jan 2012 07:19 AM PST
See
my blog at www.heartlandradical.blogspot.com |
