Wednesday, December 22, 2010

English translation of "Lenin and Workers' Control," by Didier Limon (1967)

Lenin and workers’ control

Didier-L. LIMON

------------------------------------------------------------

Published: Paris, December 1967, Autogestion: études, débats, documents, cahier no. 4, pp. 65-111.
Translated and Edited: Keith Rosenthal, December 2010

Editor’s Note: This phenomenal, historical and analytical study has, until now, not been translated into English. This is a shame on many levels for it stands nearly peerless in its meticulous treatment of the specific subject it takes up. That is, the debates and discussions surrounding the implementation of workers’ control of production within the first months after the October revolution of 1917 in Russia.

Didier Limon’s study goes in-depth to flesh out the various political tendencies, forces, and organizations at play during this pivotal moment in the revolution’s history. There’s little doubt as to where Limon’s political inclinations lay in all of this, namely, with the Bolsheviks, and more specifically, with Lenin’s approach to the question. Nonetheless, one cannot claim that he has failed to present the first-hand views of the various actors in this drama, and thus provides the reader with a clear, multi-dimensional picture of this centrally-important question to any socialist revolution, as it played out in the days when Russia was controlled by its working class.

One final note on this translation; I do not pretend in any way to be an expert in French-English translations. Indeed, I hope that such an expert will one day be inspired to give this article a much more professional touch. To this end, I am supplying the original French version of this article, which can be accessed at the following link, https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2Zdv5hwi_o6Vmw1bGoyVHRUU3lSTzRUdGxRa2lOQQ. The only reason I tried my hand at this task was because, first of all, I was so delighted upon recently discovering this article that I wanted to share it with a broader audience, and second, given that the article was not available in English, I thought it better for there to be at least a less-than-perfect translated version of this article rather than no translated version at all.

In any event, while I cannot guarantee the reader that the following is a flawless translation, I can most definitely guarantee that in all its essentials, the following is an accurate representation of the arguments, facts, and details as penned by Limon some forty years ago.

All citations and footnotes are those of the original author, unless otherwise noted.


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Saturday, December 11, 2010

The makings of a response to Wetzel & Brinton (or, Were Lenin, Trotsky, and the Bolsheviks Really Just Evil Despots?)

=http://ideasandaction.info/2010/11/debate-with-the-international-socialist-organization/#identifier_5_474
http://www.marxists.org/archive/brinton/1970/workers-control/02.htm#fn67
http://www.marxists.org/archive/brinton/1970/workers-control/06.htm#h1
http://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1971/xx/kronstadt.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj/1972/no052/brinton.htm#reply
http://www.marxists.org/archive/brinton/1975/factory-committees.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1930/year-one/introduction.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/supplem/decept.html
http://www.mediafire.com/file/6wrx8djlr3k5t6h/limon%20lenine%20controle%20ouvrier.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/file/svsl0mnzpm22ij4/Trotsky%20-%20Tenth%20Party%20Congress%201921.pdf
http://libcom.org/forums/history-culture/trotsky-tenth-party-congress-30092010#comment-400154
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/9th/01.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/10th/16d-abstract.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/10th/16c.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/10th/16b.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/10th/16.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/10th/15-abstract.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/11th/02.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/dec/27.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/10thcong/index.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/may/26.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/mar/x03.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/oct/25a.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1918/origins.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/oct/26.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/constitution/1918/article1.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1918/soviets.htm
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/events/a/arcs.htm
http://marxistsfr.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/8thcong/ch01.htm
http://marxistsfr.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jul/04.htm#bk2
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/dec/04.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jan/10.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/jan/20.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/apr/07.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/dec/30.htm#bk11
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jun/28.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/dec/14.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/jan/x01.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/jan/17.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/mar/x02.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/oct/30.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/dec/05.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/nov/05.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/nov/04b.htm#1.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/mar/29.htm#fw3
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/sep/25.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/jan/19.htm#bk02
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/dec/01.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/dec/30.htm#bk01
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/06.htm#bk07
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/23b.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/24.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/27.htm


http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/workers-opposition/index.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/shliapnikov/1922/appeal.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/shliapnikov/1921/workers-opposition.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/shliapnikov/1920/theses.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/party-congress/11th/02.htm
http://marxists.org/archive/lozovsky/1920/russrevunion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_Democratic_Centralism
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/apr/12.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1935/02/ws-therm-bon.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/shachtma/1943/04/intro-trotsky.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timofei_Sapronov
http://www.marxists.org/archive/hallas/works/1971/xx/introis.htm#f5
http://www.marxists.org/archive/shachtma/1943/fnc/nc02.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1948/stalruss/ch01.htm#f2


http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1990/trotsky2/11-warcomm.html#p6
Tenth Parthy Congress, March 1921, Trotsky argues for militarization of labor, "shake-up" in the trade unions on the part of the Soviet state, rejecting trade union autonomy from workers' state, and that Soviet dictatorship trumps democracy (See English translation of Trotsky's speech here).

Trotsky roundly denounced by Lenin, voted down by Tenth Party Congree in favor of Lenin's opposed proposal, Trotsky nearly loses seat on Central Committee.

Trotsky later says he was wrong & that Lenin was correct.

Exactly one year later, in a prepared speech for the Fourth World Congress of the Cominter (Nov 1922), Trotsky clarifies his position on the trade unions (stark contrast to his 1921 arguments):

"Naturally the legend spread by the reformists that Plans are afoot to subordinate the trade unions organizationally to the party must be unconditionally denounced and exposed. Trade unions embrace workers of different political shadings as well as non-party men, atheists as well as believers, whereas the party unites political co-thinkers on the basis of a definite program. The party has not and cannot have any instrumentalities and methods for subjecting the trade unions to itself from the outside.
The party can gain influence in the life of the trade unions only to the extent that its members work in the trade unions and carry out the party point of view there. The influence of party members in the trade unions naturally depends on their numerical strength and especially on the degree to which they are able to apply party principles correctly, consistently and expediently to the needs of the trade-union movement.
The party has the right and the duty to aim to conquer, along the road above outlined, the decisive influence in the trade-union organization. It can achieve this goal only provided the work of the Communists in the trade unions is wholly and exclusively harmonized with the principles of the party and is invariably conducted under its control." (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1924/ffyci-2/08.htm)

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1932/12/lenin.htm
http://www.isreview.org/issues/71/featrev-trotsky.shtml
http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1960/xx/trotsub.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1922/02/tu.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/mylife/ch38.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/mylife/ch39.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/hallas/works/1979/trotsky/ch2.htm#f7
http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1989/xx/broue.html#f1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotsky#Trade_union_debate_.281920.E2.80.931921.29
http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/ilo/1923-lo/ch01.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/broue/works/1971/ussr/ch07.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1910/xx/intell.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1989/11/vanguard.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/ch05.htm#ch05-2
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/ch00.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1907/1905/ch08.htm#f1
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1907/1905/ch24.htm#f1
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1907/1905/ch26.htm#f1
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1918/ourrevo/ch05.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1923/12/faction.htm


http://marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1919/xx/dictdem.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/09/11.htm#n5
http://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sections/britain/periodicals/communist_review/1922/04/emma_goldman.htm
http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/unions/iww/1921/0900-gannett-haywoodmoscow
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/keller-helen/works/1920s/21_11_19.htm
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/keller-helen/works/1920s/29_x01.htm
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kropotkin-peter/1910s/19_04_28.htm


http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/spusa/1918/0316-debs-russia.pdf
"The Revolution in Russia is now in its most critical stages. The near future will determine whether or not the Bolsheviki can maintain their supremacy. They represent the peasants, the workers, and the soldiers — the great bulk of the population. Their demand is the land to the peasants who till it and the tools to the workers who use them. This means real democracy, for which the Russian people alone are fighting in the present war . . . the Bolsheviki, the representatives and the only representatives of real democracy in Russia."

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/groups/fsr/1922/0401-debs-appealforfsr.pdf

Friday, December 10, 2010

John Lennon: "I am a socialist"


"In England, there are only two things to be, basically: You are either for the labor movement or for the capitalist movement. Either you become a right-wing Archie Bunker if you are in the class I am in, or you become an instinctive socialist, which I was. That meant I think people should get their false teeth and their health looked after, all the rest of it. But apart from that, I worked for money and I wanted to be rich. So what the hell -- if that's a paradox, then I'm a socialist." (John Lennon - 1980 Interview)

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Notes on the state, anarchism, and marxism

Anarchism vs. Marxism
Marx and Engels on Anarchism
Anarchism: A Marxist Criticism | Molyneux
Anarchism | Paul D'Amato
Marxism & Anarchism | Blackledge
Another side of anarchism | Birchall
The relevance of anarchism | Arblaster
Contemporary Anarchism | Kerl
The Makhno Myth | Yanowitz
EMMA GOLDMAN: A life of controversy | Selfa
In defense of Leon Trotsky | Gasper
ANARCHY IN THE UK? | Stack
Trotsky | Hallas
Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War | Bailey
Proudhon: Father of anarchism | Hal Draper
Anarchist Libertarianism? | IS Canada
Bakunin's antisemitism and his 'invisible dictatorship'
Bakunin vs. Marx | Diemer
Marx vs. Bakunin | Woods
The Philosophical Roots of the Marx-Bakunin Conflict | Robertson

Trotsky & Lenin on Anarchism
--Trotsky--
My First Exile, My Life
Why Marxists oppose Individual Terrorism, 1909
The July Days, History of the Russian Revolution
The Makhno Movement, 1919
Makhno’s Coming Over to the Side of the Soviets, 1920
How Is Makhno’s Troop Organised?, 1920
Contradictions Between the Economic Successes of the Ussr and the Bureaucratization of the Regime, 1932
--Lenin--
Anarchism and Socialism, 1901
Guerilla Warfare, 1906
Socialism and War, 1914
State & Revolution. Controversy with the Anarchists, 1917

===

* Alienation, dislocation, precariousness, uncertainty; politics of middle-class alienation; the uncertainty principle; politics of powerlessness; exaggerated/obverse pacifism (fear of violence vs. fear of organized violence, i.e., the state); social groups/class bereft of power/agency

* Anarchists view the state in the same way that pacifists view violence -- as something which inherently corrupts all who use it, and is incapable of being used in any sort of emancipatory way.

* Anarchist/pacifist taboos on the self-created sacrosanct fetishes of power/violence are like the superstitious (and ultimately harmful) fears of the ancient Hebrews regarding blood and female menstruation -- it is a natural phenomenon which is not understood and thus feared; a thing to be shunned and hidden along with the unfortunate woman who has thereby been 'sullied' by its presence.

* Mystical fear of a social phenomenon that is not understood -- it is a cursed object (like prehistoric human burned by fire, sees the devil in it, doesn't understand its origins, purpose, transmutations, how to control, etc)

* Thus far, the state has exclusively been used by ruling classes comprised of a minority of society -- anarchists draw the conclusion that states necessarily produce a minority-bureaucracy ruling over majority

* They assume the state first arose by someone/group creating a state out of thin air, subjecting rest of society to state authority, and only then accruing economic powers/privileges by force of arms

* They believe the state was used by its original wielders to create previously-nonexistent capitalist relations of inequality and exploitation; rather than seeing the state as a creation of the rulers of an already-obtaining economic system of capitalist relations, which itself evolved into being out of the contradictions inherent in the feudal system of economy.

* In other words, the fallacious notion that the state produces inequality, rather than itself being a product of inequality -- i.e., the state is an institution brought into being for the purposes of consolidating, defending, and extending, the already-won socio-economic supremacy of a ruling clique in society.

* First state emerges only after a class of people economically freed from productive labor & supported by the development of a social surplus emerges to carry on social functions (irrigation, trade, religion, etc) -- took centuries for this class to gel into a self-conscious clique and impose its laws & authority upon society 'from above' (i.e., constitute a state).

* State is not universally repressive -- to wit, it is not repressive, viz., the class that wields it -- in fact, it is quite responsive to that class's needs and interests (i.e., the monarchy, viz, the landed nobility; the bourg republic, viz, the capitalists) -- to them, the state is merely an organ to express and enforce their will on the rest of society, which it does quite well. To all other classes in society, the state confronts them only as a repressive, non-representative, corrupted tool, which anarchists identify as universal features of all states, regardless of place, time, content

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Kronstadt and Anarchism

General
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronstadt_rebellion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Petrichenko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_uprisings_against_the_Bolsheviks
http://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/index.htm
A Look At Kronstadt 1921 | James Hinchee

Kronstadt Index at Marxists.org
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/kronstadt/index.htm

Socialists on Kronstadt
An Anarchist on Russia: A Reply to Emma Goldman | William 'Big Bill' Haywood
Kronstadt: A Tragic Necessity | Abbie Bakan
Hue & Cry Over Kronstadt | Trotsky
The Truth About Kronstadt | John Wright
More on the Suppression of Kronstadt | Trotsky
The Tax in Kind | Lenin
The Fifth Wheel | Trotsky
1921 and All That | Brian Pearce
The Russian civil war: a Marxist analysis | Trudell
Kronstadt 1921: Bolshevism vs. Counterrevolution | 4th Intl
Kronstadt and the
Defeat of the Russian Revolution | Chris Harman

Kronstadt Takes Up Arms | Cliff

Victor Serge on Kronstadt
Kronstadt | Victor Serge
Once More: Kronstadt | Serge
Serge-Trotsky Debate
http://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1938/10/25.htm
Victor Serge's Early Bolshevism | Peter Sedgwick

Paul Avrich (anarchist) on Kronstadt
Selections from Kronstadt 1921 | Paul Avrich ("the historian can sympathize with the rebels and still concede that the Bolsheviks were justified in subduing them" - page 6)

Emma Goldman on Kronstadt
Trotsky Protests Too Much | Emma Goldman
Kronstadt | Emma Goldman

Anarchist Violence Against the Bolshevik Government
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_Russia#Anarchists_during_the_Third_Russian_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin#Failed_assassinations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_uprisings_against_the_Bolsheviks#Anarchist_attacks

Trotsky & Lenin on Anarchism
--Trotsky--
My First Exile, My Life
Why Marxists oppose Individual Terrorism, 1909
The July Days, History of the Russian Revolution
The Makhno Movement, 1919
Makhno’s Coming Over to the Side of the Soviets, 1920
How Is Makhno’s Troop Organised?, 1920
Contradictions Between the Economic Successes of the Ussr and the Bureaucratization of the Regime, 1932
--Lenin--
Anarchism and Socialism, 1901
Guerilla Warfare, 1906
Socialism and War, 1914
State & Revolution. Controversy with the Anarchists, 1917

===

Anarchism vs. Marxism
Marx and Engels on Anarchism
Anarchism: A Marxist Criticism | Molyneux
Anarchism | Paul D'Amato
Marxism & Anarchism | Blackledge
Another side of anarchism | Birchall
The relevance of anarchism | Arblaster
Contemporary Anarchism | Kerl
The Makhno Myth | Yanowitz
EMMA GOLDMAN: A life of controversy | Selfa
In defense of Leon Trotsky | Gasper
ANARCHY IN THE UK? | Stack
Trotsky | Hallas
Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War | Bailey
Proudhon: Father of anarchism | Hal Draper
Anarchist Libertarianism? | IS Canada
Bakunin's antisemitism and his 'invisible dictatorship'
Bakunin vs. Marx | Diemer
Marx vs. Bakunin | Woods
The Philosophical Roots of the Marx-Bakunin Conflict | Robertson

Links on Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin
http://joanofmark.blogspot.com/2011/01/proudhon-bakunin.html

Monday, November 15, 2010

Dog Diary vs. Cat Diary


The Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


The Cat's Diary

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

Friday, August 6, 2010

The cover I designed in response to the recent pro-war TIME magazine cover





For resources on the views of Afghan women, viz., the US war on their country, check out the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.


Friday, July 30, 2010

THE CAMEL and THE HORSE

In the desert sands where the sun reigns free,
And pools of water lie ever lonely,
A camel walked both day and nite,
Never showing joy nor fright.

The camel's friend was a wild horse,
Who laughed and played and was never bored.
Occassionally, they'd talk awhile,
Occasionnally, the camel smiled.

But the two would never play for long,
Their ways would part as separate songs.
For horses must drink thrice a month,
While camels take drink from their humps.

Everytime the two would meet,
They'd talk and laugh with friendly feet.
But when they came upon a lake,
These best of friends would separate.

The horse would stop to take a drink,
The camel wouldn't even blink.
'Til distance made a separate sound,
Of clopping hoof and toes on ground.

The horse was saddened by his thirst,
Which came between the two like dirt,
And wished for humps with all his heart,
That the camel, he, need never part.

Then one day at a lonely pool,
Where the horse had come to drink and cool,
Surprised was he to see right then,
His friend, the camel, jumping in.

The camel drank, the horse just stared,
For he had been caught unawares.
To see the camel stop and drink,
Made the horse begin to think.

"My friend!" the horse exclaimed surprised,
"Tell me, for I can't surmise,"
"Why 'tis now you wet your tongue?"
"This is a thing you've never done!"

"My friend," the camel whimpered slow,
"As you may know I'm getting old."
"And as I age, my hump runs dry,"
"So now my back is flat," he sighed.

At this the horse just laughed and said,
"You've lost your hump, but gained a friend!"
"You shouldn't be so sad at all,"
"For now, alone, we needn't walk!"

At this the camel cracked a smile,
"My friend," he said, "I like your style."
"Come, let's walk and drink when dry,"
"And share this land of endless sky."

THE END

THE GIRL WITH THE HALF-MOON EYES

There once was a girl with half-moon eyes,
Who danced a halo of falling stars,
She fell in love with a wilted rose,
Trapped in a cage of iron bars.

The girl would come to sniff the rose,
Whose smell would blush her face with glee,
But the rose turned white when she came close,
And turned its head to not be seen.

The girl would circle round the rose,
In hopes to catch its eyes by chance,
But the rose would turn its head each time,
And in this lonely way they danced.

Each time the girl would rise to leave,
The rose would turn to watch her go,
And if she looked back as she went,
The rose would turn and not be known.

The girl would sit for hours long,
And sing the rose the song of love,
The rose would weep with head away,
Blushing from the sounds above.

One day the girl crept quietly,
And stood above the back-turned rose,
She cried and cried and cried until,
The rose's pot had overflowed.

The rose, thinking a storm had passed,
Lifted its head to drink the rain,
Surprised it was to find indeed,
A face awash with tears of pain.

And for the first, their faces met,
Rose and girl with half-moon eyes,
And through the iron bars they kissed,
And danced a halo in the diamond sky.

THE END

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Resources, links, and facts regarding Marx/Engels & accusations of racism, sexism, anti-semitism, etc.

Marx on US slavery/civil war (racism):

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1861/10/25.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1861/12/14.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1862/02/02.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1862/05/22.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1862/06/20.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1862/08/09.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1862/11/10.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1865/to-americans.htm

http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/marx/works/1862/letters/62_11_17.htm

http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/marx/works/1862/letters/62_07_30.htm

http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/marx/works/1862/letters/62_10_29.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm


Marx & racism ('n-word', etc):

http://www.google.com/search?as_sitesearch=www.marxists.org%2Farchive%2Fmarx%2F&hl=en&ie=8859-1&oe=8859-1&as_occt=any&num=30&btnG=Google+Search!&as_epq=nigger&as_occt=all&as_q=&as_oq=&as_eq=

(lassalle) http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/marx/works/1862/letters/62_04_28.htm

http://joanofmark.blogspot.com/p/karl-marx-racist.html


Use of 'n-word' in 1860s (douglass, tubman, truth, etc):

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838/is_4_37/ai_n6075274/pg_8/?tag=content;col1

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/minstrel/miar03bt.html

http://www.yale.edu/glc/soskis/fr-5.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASoverseers.htm

http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/bradford/summary.html

http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit133/lesson2_attachments/1.html


Contemporary racists (rhodes, johnson, etc):

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/we_must_find_new_lands_from_which_we_can_easily/343653.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/cecil-rhodes-a-bad-man-in-africa-654195.html

http://www.nas.com/~lopresti/ps17.htm

xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/scartoons/car1860.html

www.perno.com/amer/docs/Defense%20of%20Slavery%20As%20a%20Benefit%20to%20Society.htm


Marx & anti-semitism

www.engageonline.org.uk/journal/index.php?journal_id=10&article_id=33

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/may2002/corr-m29.shtml

http://www.marxists.de/religion/draper/marxjewq.htm

http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=460&issue=119

http://www.marxists.de/religion/leon/


Marx & women's oppression

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/women/index.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1970/07/women.htm

http://links.org.au/node/934

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Paris_Commune

http://www.marxists.de/gender/cliff/03-commune.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Dmitrieff

http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1868/letters/68_12_05.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1885/letters/85_07_05.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1868/letters/68_12_12.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1889/letters/89_11_20.htm

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1889/letters/89_12_07.htm


Engels on native americans:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1839/letters/39_01_20.htm


Proudhon:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1966/twosouls/4-anarch.htm

Friday, April 9, 2010

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I am not a womb for rent


(From SocialistWorker.org)

I'VE BEEN engrossed in the pro-choice issue, more so recently than in the past, and I am glad I am paying more attention! I get ever so mad at people who say that abortion should only be in the case of rape, incest or if carrying a child to term would hurt the mother. What is the difference of aborting that fetus vs. aborting any other fetus?

And are you going to go through all the adoption hooplah when the child is born? And are you going to pay for all the things that that child deserves after it is born? And are you going to push a 10-lb object through your vagina for seven hours? And are you going to not judge a single mother? And are you going to pay for the medical bills for the child if it has a terminal disease? And are you going to force me to have a child I do not want?

It's about choice and safety for the woman. It's about power over a woman's body, not about the unborn.

Just think--if the government can force you to have a child, it can force you to have an abortion. I am not a womb for rent.

Jacquelyn Patterson

Monday, February 1, 2010

Novel Concepts:

* Setting: the year 2050, much social turmoil, edge of war & rev -- geographical area of U.S., but in alternate reality -- context: 13 american colonies had lost war of independence to the british -- america subsumed into the broader 'north american' province (of united kingdom) alongside canada, stretching from alaska to florida, and from east coast to louisiana purchase territory. area west of this is part of the Mexican territory, stretching to the west coast, and from present-day mexico to oregon. man is persecuted by british govt in n.a.p. (north american province) for writing (censored) book depicting alternate reality in which the american colonies had won the war of independence -- history of this story is exact to the one of 'our real' history, except that it ends in 2050 (the present year); twist: in this story, the u.s. govt persecutes a man for writing a (censored) book depicting an alternate reality in which the american colonies had lost the war of independence -- world described is the exact same as the original, ending, of course, in the year 2050.

* setting: distant future. poses question: whence the human soul? science has ability to switch a person's 'soul' from one body to another using electro technology, maps person's memories, emotions, etc., and relays it over to new brain in a new corporeal form -- new bodies are taken either from preserved corpses or from artificially-constructed clone-like bodies (stem cell, etc); may even be 'body shops' where one can go & browse potential new bodies; other issues: what kind of bodies can be purchased by rich versus poor, racial question, weight/height, etc.


* N.A.P./U.S. 2050

N.A.P. 2050

uk british->anglo-american->french-american->irish-a->native-amer->various other european->black->mexican->asian 

world powers: uk, africa, russia . . . world teetering on edge of war/conflict . . . new movt for amer independ emerging . . . class struggle . . . mccarthy repression

author: 'u.s. 2050,' john stump (black man) . . . persecuted/censored (reason: u.k. fearful of new amer independ movt; local u.s. authorities/nationalists fearful of negative u.s. depicted)



U.S. 2050

u.s. vs china/britain . . . world on edge . . . (israel v. iraq)

mass turmoil at home . . . mccarthy repression . . .

author: 'nap 2050,' francisco hidalgo (mex-amer, illegal) . . . persecuted/censored (reason: u.s. fearful of british/china war victory, fearful of 'better' n.a.p. conditions, viz, u.s. present-day).