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Posted by Mike E on January 11, 2010
Kasama makes these two very different statements available (as usual) without implying agreement with the details of analysis.
Slavoj Žižek on the resurrection of the left in the midst of current crises — and sharply disputes the ideas of limited local activities as a substitute for large collective actions.
Posted in >> communist politics, Slavoj Žižek, Stalin and Stalinism, communism, video | 6 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on January 10, 2010
This is a full length video history of the Naxalite movement — the historic Maoist revolution that started with the 1960s uprising in India’s Naxalbari region and that has now blossomed into a powerful maturing movement for power and change. It discusses the achievements of Naxalbari, the subsequent criticisms made by later Maoists, and the formation of the current revolutionary movement.
We can’t embed this directly, so you can view it by following the Blazing Trails link.
The video is made available through the Democracy and Class Struggle site, whose tireless work is so important for spreading information about revolution in many places in the world.
Some specific references in this may still be unclear to people outside India — feel free to post questions and clarifications here.
Posted in >> communist politics, CPI(Maoist), Maoism, Naxalite, Rosa Luxemburg, communism, peoples war, revolution, vanguard party | 9 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on January 8, 2010
We are all trying to understand more deeply the relationship between human beings and the rest of the planet’s living species. And we have touched a few times (too fleetingly) on the ethical questions for revolutionaries in viewing how animals are treated, industralized and consumed in this society. The following article raises some related questions by examining some little known passages in the writings of Karl Marx (one of the founders of modern communism).
Please share with us titles of other articles (including more recent/modern treatment) that could be shared on this topic — so that we can engage the ecology, ethics, and production transformations that communists and radicals should consider around the treatment of animals in both food production and the wild.
This article was originally published in Capital & Class, Issue no.72, Autumn ‘00. It appears on the Marx Myths and Legends site. Thanks to Chris Cutrone for calling it to our attention..
by Lawrence Wilde
The clarion call for the liberation of animals quoted in the title of this paper is cited approvingly by Marx in On the Jewish Question (Marx, 1975: 172). The words themselves belong to Thomas Münzer, the leader of the German Peasants’ Revolt in the early sixteenth century, and what attracted Marx was Münzer’s view that under the dominion of private property and money, nature is treated in such a contemptuous way that it is debased. Münzer had conduded:
“…all creatures have been turned into property, the fishes in the water, the birds in the air, the plants on the earth; the creatures, too, must become free.”
Posted in >> analysis of news, Karl Marx, animals, ecology | 6 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on January 5, 2010
Photo: Workers affiliated to Maoist unions rally for May Day 2009
In various corners, a lie has passed around: That Maoist revolutionaries (supposedly) moved to ban strikes when they headed an elected government in Nepal.
The (often interesting) Libcom site ran an article entitled, “Nepalese Maoists restate intention to ban strikes and other news.”
In some other corners the soundbite was even more crude. One report simply \claimed “Maoist Leadership in Nepal Bans Strikes.”
Alastair Reith has decided to deliver these rumors a kill shot. He wrote the following piece on his blog under the title: “Did the Maobadi Ban Strikes?”
* * * * * *
By Alastair Reith
Nepal’s Maoists are often accused of being anti-worker, Stalinist, bourgeois nationalist and so on by many on the Western ‘left’, particularly anarchists and Trotskyists. As ‘evidence’ towards this, it is often claimed that while in government earlier this year, they ‘banned strikes’.
Let’s set the record straight. The Maoists never banned strikes.
Posted in >> communist politics, Alastair Reith, CP of Nepal (Maoist), CPN(M), Maoism, Nepal, communism, peoples war, revolution | 14 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on January 3, 2010
The Nevada girls’ big stomper from ‘64 (suggested by Ian Anderson. Thanks)
Posted in Historical Materialism, Mao Zedong, Maoism, empire and imperialism, music, video | 1 Comment »
Posted by Mike E on December 31, 2009
Since it is New Years, we can expect that more than a few will be nursing hangovers — and may not be in the mood for serious fare. by Wilhelm Liebknecht
One evening, Edgar Bauer, acquainted with Marx from their Berlin time and then not yet his personal enemy […], had come to town from his hermitage in Highgate for the purpose of “making a beer trip.” The problem was to “take something” in every saloon between Oxford Street and Hampstead Road – making the something a very difficult task, even by confining yourself to a minimum, considering the enormous number of saloons in that part of the city. But we went to work undaunted and managed to reach the end of Tottenham Court Road without accident.
There loud singing issued from a public house; we entered and learned that a club of Odd Fellows were celebrating a festival. We met some of the men belonging to the “party,” and they at once invited us “foreigners” with truly English hospitality to go with them into one of the rooms. We followed them in the best of spirits, and the conversation naturally turned to politics – we had been easily recognised as Germany fugitives; and the Englishmen, good old-fashioned people, who wanted to amuse us a little, considered it their duty to revile thoroughly the German princes and the Russian nobles. By “Russian” they meant Prussian nobles. Russia and Prussia are frequently confounded in England, and not alone of account of their similarity of name. For a while, everything went smoothly. We had to drink many healths and to bring out and listen to many a toast.
Then the unexpected suddenly happened…
Posted in Karl Marx | 6 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on December 31, 2009
By Mike Ely
In the darkness of each winter a new year is born. At a time when the sun barely seems to have the energy to push through leaden skys, people have chosen to announce the start of rebirth.
Two years ago, in December 2008, Kasama went live — with the publishing of 9 Letters to Our Comrades. From there our project has become — part community, part discussion, part network. This site itself has (as you can see below) grown in continually in its audience. We have branched out (creating an internationalist center for information on the revolutions of South Asia, and now launching a new theoretical discussion site. There have been efforts to create collectives to take up both communist theory and revolutionary practical work.)
And, meanwhile, many questions about how to both reconceive and regroup remain posed — at the center of this project — for experiment, theoretical exploration and debate.
Rather than post some “one to many” political report, I would like to urge those reading this to post here your thoughts about Kasama.
Some specific questions come to mind:
For now, here is one of our periodic overviews of the site itself: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in >> Kasama Project, >> analysis of news, Mike Ely, revolution | 46 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on December 30, 2009
After launching their armed struggle in the late 1960s, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has scored many successes, including the development of significant “guerrilla fronts” across this archipelago.
However, for many years, this revolutionary movement has been unable to break through to a higher level of confrontation with the brutal government — and has not been able to advance toward the seizure of power in significant regions or countrywide.
This kind of frustrating impasse is a situation faced by diverse revolutionary forces in other parts of the world (including in India over many decades, Ireland during the days of “troubles,” Sri Lanka during the Tamil secessionist revolt, Palestine and Colombia.) Meanwhile, obviously, in far too many countries, the most revolutionary forces have not even been able to consolidate themselves into a serious political party, develop significant initial mass bases, and start to confront the kinds of problems that are presented in the Philippines.
In the following statement, the CPP leadership lays out an ambitious plan to overcome their movement’s long-standing problem: To move from the strategic defensive to the strategic balance with the government forces (a moment Maoists call “strategic stalemate”) within five years. Their plan involves a systematic strengthening of their party and baseareas: with the goals of increasing the number of New Peoples Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts from 120 to 180, greatly expanding party membership, and strengthening its leadership structures in planned and concrete ways.
Posted in >> communist politics, Communist Party, Maoism, Philippines, communism, peoples war, revolution, vanguard party | 18 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on December 29, 2009
Weatherman's last attempt at mass action: the Days of Rage fiasco, Fall 1969
Bill Ayers has been describing his earlier Weatherman organization as merely a militant antiwar group. As part of a longer comment I wrote:
“…there is some truth to what Bill is now saying: because [Weathermen] were essentially a highly moralized, freaked out, highly militant wing of the antiwar movement — rather than a group with any serious revolutionary strategy or potential.”
Matt wrote in response:
“Let’s stipulate right up front: the Weather people, as you write, completely lacked any ’serious revolutionary strategy or potential.’ They were into a deeply twisted macho/moralistic revolutionary suicide schtick: You were either ready to pick up the gun or you were part of the privileged white supremacist imperialist structure, blah, blah, blah…
“The fact that they lacked a serious strategy or revolutionary potential does not negate the fact that the Weather Underground saw itself as a force attempting to topple (or at least too materially cripple)the U.S. state. They were not merely an uber-militant anti-war group. Their analysis (however bizarre — the Manson example is a fine demonstration of their weirdness) was far broader than that, and however deluded they were, they considered and presented themselves a revolutionary organization.
“My point is simply that a proper analysis and critique of our own history must include the revolutionary movement’s swings into adventurism. And that certainly includes the Weather Underground.”
Lemme dig into this:
Posted in >> analysis of news, >> communist politics, Black Panthers, Bob Avakian, Historical Materialism, Mike Ely, New Communist Movement, SDS, antiwar, communism, empire and imperialism, revolution | 24 Comments »
Posted by onehundredflowers on December 18, 2009
The following report appeared in economictimes.indiatimes.com. For an understanding of the importance of federalism in the strategy of the UCPN[M], see the three posts on Understanding Federalism Part I, Part II and Part III.
KATHMANDU: Maoists on Wednesday announced the seizure of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu declaring it an autonomous region, after storming into heavily guarded Durbar Square, in a development that could trigger a new political confrontation.Waving red flags, 5000 militant cadres forced their way into the Durbar Square city centre where their chief Prachanda declared Kathmandu valley as the Newa Autonomous State. The Maoists, who have already announced formation of parallel governments in nine districts and paid little heed to warnings by the Nepali Congress, to desist from such tactics as it may lead to “biggest political and social confrontation”.
Though the Maoist takeover was more of a symbolic nature, their choice of the capital city sent shock-waves in the ruling CPN-UML-led 22-party alliance. Prachanda lit a traditional lamp to declare Kathmandu as Newa Autonomous State by flying a banner that read “Newa Autonomous State” as hundreds of balloons were let off.
Posted in >> analysis of news, CPN(M), Maoism, Nepal, Prachanda, UCPN(M) | 14 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on December 17, 2009
Kasama recently posted a discussion of the ways the internet has undermined the traditional media protection of ruling class figures. It is part of a much needed discussion the new media. Here is a response by Ben Seattle who has described himself as a cyberleninist.
By Ben Seattle
The comments by Mike and Nando are thoughtful and perceptive.
My favorite movie is Spartacus. Near the end, in the final battle scene, the army of slaves is surrounded by three Roman armies. We all know how it ends. No large-scale revolt of slaves in the ancient world ended successfully. The movie had a strong influence on me when I first saw it at a young age. It was my first exposure to class politics and it helped prepare me for the time, later in life, when I decided I was a revolutionary.
If you saw the movie, you will remember this scene. You wanted the slaves to win. I used to fantasize, after watching it as a kid, how things might have been different if the army of slaves, faced with the endless ranks of Roman soldiers marching in precise formations, had possession of a few modern weapons. Maybe a couple of mortars.
The endless rows of Roman soldiers would have fallen down en masse; and what was left would have scattered like so many cockroaches when you turn on the kitchen light in a cheap apartment.
Of course, that is fantasy. We are materialists. We deal with the world as it is, not with dreams of sudden and near-infinite power handed to us at the last minute by god [1]. And, we all know that, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Posted in >> communist politics, >> technology, V.I. Lenin, communism, internet, network, security, social networking, surveillance, theory | 9 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on December 15, 2009
Kasama received the following article from A World To Win News Service.
14 December 2009. The Maoist or Red Corridor stretches from West Bengal in India’s northeast through the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in the west. It includes many forest areas including the Dandakaranya forest. Its millions of adivasis (Hindi for original settler, an umbrella term for ethnic and tribal groups who were among the original inhabitants of the subcontinent) were pushed into forest regions by waves of invaders and generally excluded from “mainstream” Hindu society. They have a long history of rebellion and militant uprisings against British colonial rule, from the Santal revolt of 1855-57 to numerous smaller uprisings and have been a major base for communist organising.
The forests where the adivasis are concentrated have abundant mineral wealth (iron, coal, bauxite, manganese, corundum, gold, diamonds and uranium). Over the last years foreign and Indian corporations, with the protection of the Indian state apparatus, have been exploiting them and violently suppressing the people in the process. The struggle over forest resources and land rights are important aspects of a larger dynamic.
Two sides are shaping up in the “Red Corridor”. One side consists of the adivasis and the Communist Party of India (Maoist), whose members have lived and fought side by side with them since the 1970s, following the Naxalbari rebellion of that period inspired by Maoism and China when it was still revolutionary. The Maoists have helped lead the tribals in their struggles for just demands, such as an end to the theft of their lands inflicted by the Indian government, their starvation conditions as a reserve for labour to be sent all over the country, and their rape, torture and humiliation at the hands of the police and other authorities. The Maoists also have support among the landless peasants including those who are Muslim, Dalits (who are considered impure in the Hindu caste system and are often referred to as “untouchables”) and others. They have helped organise the people to improve subsistence agricultural methods, build wells and educate and struggle against backward feudal practices (for example, the barbaric practice of punishing women accused of witchcraft). For all this the Maoists have earned the label of terrorist and are seen as the biggest internal threat to the Indian state.
Posted in >> communist politics, AWTW news, CPI(Maoist), Ganapathi, India, Maoism, Naxalite, communism, mass line, peoples war, revolution | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Mike E on December 12, 2009
This interview is part of the reports written by a delegation from the World People’s Resistance Movement (WPRM-Britain).
Three Members of the World People’s Resistance Movement (Britain & Ireland) recently spent a month in Nepal from August to September 2009 [all reports are available online at www.wprmbritain.org]. Their thirteen reports have appeared here on Kasama (and on their own WPRM site).
We urge our readers to find the ways to circulate these pieces widely.
by WPRM (Britain)
WPRM: Thank you for meeting with us today. In your article in The Worker #4 ‘The Political Economy of the People’s War’ you write that “the transformation of one social system into another, or the destruction of the old by the new, always involves force and a revolutionary leap. The People’s War is such a means of eliminating the old by a new force and of taking a leap towards a new and higher social system.”
Why then did the Maoist party enter the peace process and attempt to change society through Constituent Assembly elections?
Baburam Bhattarai: This is a very important question related to the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM).
The basic motive force of history is the contradiction between the existing level of productive forces and the production relations within society. At a certain stage this contradiction sharpens and there is a break with the old relationship and a leap to the new one. We call this social revolution. That leap necessarily confronts a certain force, because every set of productive relations is backed by a state, and the state means basically the organised force of the army.
Posted in >> communist politics, CP of Nepal (Maoist), CPN(M), Maoism, Nepal, communism, peoples war, revolution | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Mike E on December 11, 2009
“For people who think communism and revolution are historical relics, the Maoists in Nepal have turned history upside down…”
Three Members of the World People’s Resistance Movement (Britain & Ireland) recently spent a month in Nepal from August to September 2009 [all reports are available online at www.wprmbritain.org]. Their thirteen reports have appeared here on Kasama (and on their own WPRM site).
The facts listed in this report form a sharp repudiation of the arguments made by some communists for withdrawing support from the revolution in Nepal. It directly answers their charges and prejudices.
We urge our readers to find the ways to circulate it widely.
* * * * * *
Two of our members had been on the 2nd International Road Brigade in April 2006, but its fair to say Nepal looked like a different country than it did back then. No longer underground and fighting a People’s War, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has now opened offices and operates legally in every village in the country. The monarchy is a relic of the past, abolished in 2008, and the Maoists, after having led the government for nine months, are now leading a popular protest movement against the current government with the aim of creating a third Jana Andolan – People’s Movement.
But similar to 2006, party leaders and supporters alike were keen to welcome us to Nepal, help us with whatever we needed and talk to us at great length about the situation. With huge smiles, warm shakes of the hand and the constant raised clenched fist of lal salam, red salute, we were able to see much in our one month visit. We traveled to the districts of Rolpa, Dang and Banke in the mid-west, Kailali in the far-west, and Dolakha in the east as well as Kathmandu. We met with leaders and cadres of the UCPN(M), especially members of the Young Communist League (YCL) and various Cultural Groups. In Kailali we visited the cantonment of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) 7th Division, and in Dolakha we visited a model school. Along the way we spoke to many party supporters and ordinary masses about their thoughts and experiences of the struggle in Nepal.
Posted in >> analysis of news, >> communist politics, CP of Nepal (Maoist), CPN(M), Maoism, Nepal, Prachanda, communism, peoples war, revolution | 1 Comment »
Posted by Mike E on December 10, 2009
Kasama received the following statement. We are publishing several statements by communists internationally on the global climate changes. Posting is an invitation to dissect, discuss and develop — it does not represent agreement with the analysis offered.
December 3, 2009
Statement by the (new)Italian Communist Party
Central Committee
Preparatory Commission
Let’s lead mankind out of the cultural and moral chaos, of the economic and political crisis and of environmental disaster in which the bourgeoisie and the clergy bogged it down!
On December 7 to 18, the leaders of most of about 200 countries and major world and regional organizations established on the Planet will gather in Copenhagen. The vast majority of them are individuals promoted to the position they occupy in their country and in the world and stay there as they are useful to ruling classes whose primary role in society is to increase capital. Each their member must raise its money and the one he manages. His morals, his mentality and the rest of his social relations are formed primarily by this social role.
Among the personalities who will gather in Copenhagen, very few are not so. They are the spokesmen of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, North Korea’s governments and of few other countries. Not by chance the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and of other countries of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative) gathered in late November in prospect of the conference in Copenhagen which they would participate in, and, synthesizing their position in relation to the themes that would be on the agenda, drafted a statement entitled “Let’s save the planet from capitalism.”
So, with few exceptions, the people who gather in Copenhagen are delegates, representatives and members of the class responsible for the path that humanity followed up to here. In particular, they are also responsible of the environmental disaster. But they will carefully refrain from honestly show their responsibilities and indicate the reasons.
The environmental crisis is not an accident in humanity’s history. It does not happen by chance. It is not even a natural disaster.
Posted in >> Science, >> communist politics, Communist Party, Italy, capitalism, communism, ecology, global warming | Leave a Comment »
Posted by onehundredflowers on December 4, 2009
This was originally posted on monthlyreview.org.
by John Riddell
Over the past decade, a new rise of mass struggles in Latin America has sparked an encounter between revolutionists of that region and many of those based in the imperialist countries. In many of these struggles, as in Bolivia under the presidency of Evo Morales, Indigenous peoples are in the lead.
Latin American revolutionists are enriching Marxism in the field of theory as well as of action. This article offers some introductory comments indicating ways in which their ideas are linking up with and drawing attention to important but little-known aspects of Marxist thought.
Posted in >> analysis of news, Che Guevara, Cuba, Evo Morales, Fidel Castro, John Riddell, José Carlos Mariátegui, Latin America, Peru, Venezuela | 20 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on November 21, 2009
RDF India: “Resist the Indian government’s war on the people! Stand by the struggling masses fighting for their land, life and livelihood!”
16 November 2009. A World to Win News Service. Following is a statement by the Revolutionary Democratic Front of India (rfindia.gmail. com).
The former U.S. President George W. Bush declared a “War on Terror” on the pretext of 9/11, and attacked Iraq and then Afghanistan so that U.S. imperialism could capture oil, gas and other natural resources in these foreign countries. The prime minister of India too made an open declaration of “war against terrorism” after 26/11. P. Chidambaram [The Home Minister in charge of "Operation Green Hunt"] too recently announced the government’s decision to go on a military offensive adhering to the dictates of the U.S. This time the offensive was aimed at the people of this country, those who are among the most deprived and exploited. This is just to facilitate the handing over of the country’s natural resources to the plunder and loot of foreign corporations, even though purported aim is to re-establish the sovereign rule of the Indian state in Maoist-influenced regions.
Posted in >> communist politics, AWTW, CPI(Maoist), Mao Zedong, Maoism, Naxalite, communism, peoples war, revolution | 1 Comment »
Posted by Mike E on November 21, 2009
The following presentation was given at the Rethinking Marxism conference. It is detailed and nuanced — but on hearing it delivered by Barbara Foley there was also a very sharp and even emotional impact. It lays bare the fact that Obama’s politics and purpose are the opposite of the hidden socialism he is accused of. It shows the construction of a careful political ideology and persona – familiar (in many way) with active radicals, but deeply different and systematically disdainful. And, in many places, like when the piece discusses Obama’s approach to the Suharto massacre in Indonesia, you get a sharp sense of the unrepentant imperialism that underlies his overt anticommunism.
by Barbara Foley
The subject of my talk today is the rhetoric of anticommunism that is both explicit and implicit in the writings of Barack Obama.
Posted in >> analysis of news, Africa, African American, African liberation, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Black History, Democratic Party, Domestic violence, Kenya, capitalism, civil rights, communism, empire and imperialism | 5 Comments »
Posted by Mike E on November 19, 2009
Six months ago, I wrote this piece after traveling through high passes and forests. Now we are returning as the snow starts to fall there. The rest of our moderator team will maintain the site, as we go welcome in December with the wolves.
Some of my projects for Kasama will be on hold. For the coming week, write to the kasamasite email rather than my personal address. Send suggestions about posts, videos and any alerts about site problems. Also, we will be using Kasama Threads more to discuss this site and its progress.
Talk to you a little later — about ten days later.
By Mike Ely
We were staying in a green flat valley in the northern Rockies. A steep snow-covered ridge of mountain started to rise abruptly just a short walk from the house. At about 2 am in the morning there was a knock on the door. “Come outside. Hear this.”
We stepped out onto the wide porch, into a slight chill, and listened — looking up at that wall of mountain in black silhouette against the stars.
We waited, and there it was.
A wolf howled loud, and held its note. And then, far to the right on a different part of mountain, came a reply, mournful, searching. And then another. Over and over they howled in longing.
A wolf pack must have gotten separated during their nighttime adventures. They were seeking each other out. Howling, and moving closer to connect, in the dense woods above the valley.
And then, an amazing thing happened.
Posted in >> Kasama Project, >> communist politics, Kasama, Maoism, Mike Ely, revolution | Leave a Comment »
