Kosova and the left
It has come to my attention that part of the "left" community is opposed to national self-determination for Kosova. Thinking that this cannot be, I mounted my own investigation into this phenomenon.
After conducting a series of interviews with various representatives, I can now offer the following explanations as to why some among us are opposed to an independent Kosova.
(a)In the Balkans, nationalism is always reactionary because people there get their politics from their mothers' milk.
(b) Reactionary nationalism in the old Yugoslavia is so dominant it (I) should not be opposed, (ii) can never be opposed, (iii) is sure to triumph anyway.
© The old Yugoslavia is such an exceptional case of nationalist aspirations that different laws apply to it.
(e) To be on the safe side, lefts and progressives should avoid the issue of supporting any national grouping as much as possible as they don't want to later have to wipe the egg off their faces.
(f) The class dynamic is absent from the Balkans and what we have here is just sectarian conflict to which the issue of nationalism does not apply.
(d) All of the above.
(e) All of the above plus frequent use of the term, "globalisation".
Brisbane
Arm the KLA?
The Democratic Socialist Party has effectively called for the arming and supplying of the Kosovo Liberation Army by the West. Does this include the use of Apache helicopters, B-52s, cruise missiles and stealth bombers as the essential air support required for victory?
The KLA is dedicated to the establishment of a "Greater Albania". This would include portions of Macedonia and Montenegro. Does the DSP wish the partition of these territories too?
This is nothing more than a recipe for social catastrophe and unending war. I would suggest that the idea of "the right of nations to self-determination" is a dangerous absurdity in the Balkans.
Evandale SA
Kosovar refugees
The prime minister's offer to temporarily house 4000 Kosovars on military bases in remote Australia, which he described as a humanitarian gesture, could only be matched by Germany being prepared to reopen Buchenwald and Auschwitz.
Brisbane
Kosova and the media
Media analysts and experts, such as Noam Chomsky, provide extensive evidence of the manner in which the media create reality through the manipulation of language and images.
The current situation in Kosova reminds us that "collateral damage" actually means real people are being killed and "humanitarian crisis" refers to real people being socially and physically dislocated, terrorised and starved, the clearing out of entire villages, communities and their sense of identity destroyed.
Being aware of this, I was none the less stunned to awake to the level tones of a US military advisor explaining that it was a "democratic pilot" who dropped the bomb that killed Kosovar refugees "in good faith".
All the efforts at sophisticated language will not hide the fact that the US government is continuing to operate as the global cop, using brutal tactics to force other countries to submit to its will. In plain language that means that ordinary people are being displaced and killed so the US government, on behalf of big business, can maintain control.
Adelaide
[Abridged.]
Permanent revolution
Jeff Richards' comments (Write on, #353) on John Nebauer's review of my book, Trotsky's Theory of Permanent Revolution: A Leninist Critique, demonstrate that he (a) has not read the book and (b) is woefully ignorant of Lenin's views.
Richards claims that up until Lenin's "April Theses", the Bolsheviks were unable to chart a Marxist course during and after the February 1917 revolution in Russia. How then does he account for the fact that at the end of March 1917 , Lenin, commenting on the political line set out in the Manifesto of the Bolshevik Central Committee, published in Pravda on March 18, declared that, "These are the only really socialist, really revolutionary tactics" (Collected Works, Vol. 23, pp. 355-361)?
The line of the manifesto was the same as that contained in Lenin's "April Theses", i.e., that peace, the confiscation of the landed estates and their transfer to the peasants, and the confiscation of grain stocks to overcome impending famine could only be achieved through the transfer of all power to the soviets of workers' and soldiers' deputies.
Richards further claims that up to the "April Theses" Lenin had adhered to "Kautsky's schematic Marxism". Lenin himself never attributed Kautsky's turn to opportunism with the outbreak of World War I to a "schematic" understanding of Marxism. To the contrary, in his 1920 book "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder, Lenin observed that Kautsky (and other ex-Marxist opportunists) had "learned Marxist dialectic and taught it to others (and much of what they have done in this field will always remain a valuable contribution to socialist literature)".
Lenin explained that Kautsky had proved unable to apply Marxism in practice to the rapid change in the objective political conditions that the war heralded.
Auburn NSW
Education union levy
The Australian Education Union (Vic) has breached its own solidarity again. Last time it was a "don't sign" campaign when members were instructed not to sign away their rights to Kennett for a bribe of a 4% pay rise and 2% later. Members followed the line, watching the scabs being paid more for the same work, and then suddenly the AEU capitulated and gave grace to certain unequal and selfish members to sign over.
This time they proposed a non-voluntary levy to pay for a media campaign. Again they capitulated to the scabs, who don't have to pay if they don't wish to. So anyone who pays is a fool. What sort of choice is that for a committed member: a scab or a fool?
The letter to all members announcing the decision to collect the levy is an insult. It iterates the sentiment "unprecedented support" five times — which lying tyrants does that remind you of? It states the campaign will not be party political, yet the union has abandoned its industrial weapon (strike) and embraced a political weapon, winning "unprecedented support". It states "no account will be debited to collect the levy" but "full accountability for the monies ... will be provided" — this is to hide the scabs and is a fraud on all paying members (only the AEU can audit the payments).
The monies will exceed $1 million and won't be wasted by giving it to Kennett through striking — that is the union line. How wasteful will it be to spend this money in an election atmosphere just after the opposition has purged it leader?
The whole exercise is a ploy by the AEU to claim some credit for the coming increase in education expenditure which Kennett has already promised in his third term.
Mordialloc Vic
[Abridged.]
Ireland
I am writing in reply to "Ireland: has the peace process failed?" (GLW #350) by John Meehan.
It is right that we all condemn that car bombing of the civil rights lawyer which occurred prior to Easter. However, as true Marxists, it is also right for us to take a more objective view of the events now unfolding.
While confronted by immense challenges, the peace process hasn't failed. Indeed, this should, if little else, be a time of immense opportunity. A time for the operations wing of the Provisional IRA (PIRA) to lead the way, by means of a two-thirds to three-quarters disarmament of its total firepower arsenal, and thus bring forth an all too public disgrace-filled humiliation on the Protestant militants in turn.
That's because of their flat refusal to abide by the peace treaty's terms and not disarm. If the operations wing of the PIRA does disarm, then the IRA will indeed win the hearts and minds of the people from both sides of Ireland.
Diamond Creek Vic
[Abridged.]
Distributing GLW
In recent meetings of the Darwin ENuFF (Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future) group, there has been discussion about whether it is appropriate for Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly to be sold at ENuFF actions.
The main arguments, presented primarily by Rebecca Nissim and Kirsten Blair, were that actions have to appear non-partisan and single issue and Â鶹´«Ã½'s back cover clearly shows the word "Resistance" and it contains a variety of topics.
It was also argued that the style of selling the paper is intrusive, and that while the ENuFF stall includes publications from other organisations, these material are more specific. Also, the issue was raised that Â鶹´«Ã½ and Resistance material at actions implies that the action was organised exclusively by Resistance.
Right-wing forces often attempt to censor people's democratic right to distribute alternative newspapers, but it seems ridiculous and counter-productive for some left activists to be alienating their allies. Â鶹´«Ã½ has consistently supported the Jabiluka campaign and includes weekly articles on environmental, anti-nuclear and peace issues.
The paper is a tool for activists to discuss issues, debate strategy and gain information — and where better to do this than at an action? Also, Resistance members around the country have consistently built the campaign on the ground and through the paper. Our material on display at actions reflects our participation in, not ownership, of the campaign.
As a seller of Â鶹´«Ã½ and a Resistance activist I am committed to the Jabiluka campaign and see all these activities as complimentary, not counterposed.
Darwin Resistance Organiser