what would lenin say

Many people are very happy about Obama’s victory, saying that “change has come” to America. Lenin would disagree. He would state that real change is not possible without smashing the capitalist state that we are in. That is not possible to establish with one person or with the president; it can only be established by the socialist revolution, where the workers take control over the state (26-27). By destroying capitalism, a dictatorship by the workers, called socialism, would be put into place, followed by a withering away of that state. With this withering away, communism would come into play; the real change.

Obama and Lenin

Lenin would support some of Obama's views like redistributing wealth, however, he would believe that Obama's ideology was not extreme enough to lead to communism.

Traditional vs. Organic

   Alan Keyes                Angela Davis

Traditional vs. Organic

          

     F. Scott Fitzgerald                  June Jordan

Thousand Threads Connected to Congress Too?

Check out this interesting NY Times article on former Senator Phil Gramm's involvement with the banking deregulation that got us into this mess, the huge amount of campaign financing he got from Wall Street, and his subsequent post-Senate career making presumably millions of dollars out of the loopholes he helped to create: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/economy/17gramm.html?_r=1&em

Thousand threads can be pretty clear in legislature too! Think this puts any dent in Lenin's theory that parliamentary democracy is the best shell for capitalism because it obscures the thousand threads?

Gramsci on Luxemburg

Did anyone check out the rather deprecating--though slightly appreciative--comments by Gramsci on "Rosa's little book?" (233). I'm curious what those of you who saw the movie think of this. He seems to basically be pegging Luxemburg as an economic determinist in her 1905 book The General Strike. With his often-used military analogy, Gramsci seems to be arguing that the "heavy artillery" of economic crises alone will not create the revolution--organization and ideological concentration of the "troops" are still necessary and this won't come "in a flash" like Luxemburg seems to think they will. He calls this idea of inevitable crises leading to revolution "historical mysticism." Do you think Luxemburg still held the postion Gramsci accuses her by 1919 after WW1?

Sounds like a Gramsci Studybreak!

Enjoy Gramsci Melodic, a Pittsburg-based art-pop rock band made up of a bunch of almost middle-aged dudes who sing about ex-girlfriends and insomnia (who knew?). Brought to you by youtube randomness.

Jeopardy Question: Class in Itself

Question: The five things that create the Class in itself.
What are:
1. Dependence on Capital
2. Deskilling/Degradation
3. Despotism
4. Homogenization of the Working Class
5. Polarization

These can be found in the Communist Manifesto p.478-480

Good job at today's Jeopardy guys!

Luxemburg meets Burawoy

Professor Burawoy will show the film, Rosa Luxemburg, today at 6.30p.m. in Barrows 402. The film is a fascinating docudrama of German socialism as well as a compelling portrait of the tragic life of one of the great socialist theoreticians and leaders of the 20th Century.

Vida de Gramsci

yay for today's debate!!!

Hey guys! I just wanted to say today's debate was awesome!! yay!

1981 PATCO Strike

Hey all,

I found this article/audio from the NPR website about the 1981 Air Traffic Controllers strike. Barowoy, a couple of lectures ago, talked about this definitive moment for labor relations in the United States: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5604656.

Kropotkin's Letter to Lenin

In preparation of the debate on Monday, I found the following correspondence (quoted, apparently, from Peter Kropotkin : From Prince to Rebel (1990) by George Woodcock and Ivan Avakumovic, p. 426).


Letter to Vladimir Lenin (21 December 1920)

Vladimir Ilyich (Lenin),

... your concrete actions are completely unworthy of the ideas you pretend to hold. Is it possible that you do not know what a hostage really is — a man imprisoned not because of a crime he has committed, but only because it suits his enemies to exert blackmail on his companions? ... If you admit such methods, one can foresee that one day you will use torture, as was done in the Middle Ages.

I hope you will not answer me that Power is for political men a professional duty, and that any attack against that power must be considered as a threat against which one must guard oneself at any price. This opinion is no longer held even by kings... Are you so blinded, so much a prisoner of your own authoritarian ideas, that you do not realise that being at the head of European Communism, you have no right to soil the ideas which you defend by shameful methods ... What future lies in store for Communism when one of its most important defenders tramples in this way every honest feeling?

A: "I shared my toys in kindergarten."

The Hollywood 10

The Hollywood 10 included Salt of the Earth Director Herbert Biberman, who was imprisoned for six months by the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. This clip strongly supports Lenin's view of the state as a collection of institutions that monopolize violence in the service of the "thousands of threads" that bind the state to capitalists and their interests. To contextualize Biberman in Lenin's The State and Revolution, then, we can perhaps say the following: "Every [communist-affiliated director's] experience illustrates this connection in an extremely graphic and impressive manner."

Q: Is Obama a Marxist?

Burawoy has asked us to consider the following: Can you find the quote in Lenin? What would Lenin say if, instead of Joe Biden, he were asked whether Obama is a Marxist?

So, what do you think? Post your thoughts in the comment section.

Lenin Documentary: Part 1

Lenin Documentary: Part 2

Lenin Documentary: Part 3

Lenin Documentary: Part 4

This is the informal blog spot for errant questions, random ramblings and clever musings. For the rest of the semester, we'll use this blog to clarify the work(s) of Lenin, Gramsci and Fanon. Feel free to endlessly post, and don't forget: Theory Rocks!