9 Comments
May 13, 2023·edited May 13, 2023

This is how an opp talks. "If you're not with us, you're against us"? How liberal can your Dubya sounding ass get? Pure, plain crackery in defense of Mises Caucus fascists; I can't believe I *ever* took you seriously.

Expand full comment

Awful take and yet again shows how the white supremacy that is rooted in this country. There are strategic coalitions, and there are principles-betraying coalitions. To side against Black Agenda report is a mistake. They are one of the most principled organizations operating right now.

I understand how you came to this conclusion but it betrays a lack of real organizing experience. When you are in a coalition with these weirdo libertarians at the table, you have to factor in their goals and objectives and risk getting tangled up with them on their issues. I mean do you really think that they are not infiltrated by the feds? It's clear there is an attempt to hijack anti-war sentiment by the bourgeoisie and we are supposed to help them do that?

The question is moot anyway, their 'rally' did not garner big numbers and the rally organized by PSL and other groups the following week got way more people out. If you think that the majority of people are not going to support the struggle unless we have these weirdoes at the table then you have not faith in the people.

You correctly identify the primary contradiction in the world around US hegemony and its opponents. But this take with the libertarians is simply false, just for the reason that they are racist white supremacists. I ask you to correct course and factor in that never under any circumstance do we we align ourselves with any white supremacists orgs that want to harm our black and racialized comrades. This is also broader point on how many white 'socialist' organizations have this racial blindspot. If you are in a room full of white socialists and no racialized comrades, you know you are doing something wrong. Finding yourself criticizing Black agenda report is the same thing.

Expand full comment

I always love your work, and agree with you on most everything. I am absolutely with you on supporting Z, but I believe you misconstrue your comrades criticism of RATWM. You talk generally about our opposition to this rally but I’ve never seen you bring up the particular criticisms that we have. Throughout history coalitions with right wing and reactionary forces has not brought victory for the left. I believe you are a smart guy and it puzzles me why you are so hung up on an anti war rally that was organized by the Libertarian Party. This was not a large rally, and it seems short sighted to blame us Marxist-Leninists and groups like the ANSWER coalition who made a stand against organizing with right winger “Libertarians” who have openly said they seek to court Trump voters.

Why not blame them for openly stating they seek to court Trump voters, being openly racist and transphobic, and themselves not reaching out to groups like the ANSWER coalition..? These are people who oppose this war, but what actions do they truly take? Seeking to court voters even further right wing then them shows us the reality. Trump voters and Libertarians can claim to oppose war all they want, their actions never match up. Trump claimed to oppose the Iraq war and yet continued the war in Syria, continued to set us up for war with Russia in Ukraine, and himself said he wanted to invade Venezuela. The organizers of this rally hope to court people wooed by Trump, they have made no real effort to court a true alliance with the left, because that would be in direct contradiction to what they actually are. I fail to see what you actually think would happen if groups of principled Marxist-Leninists decided to ally with these right wingers.

It is obvious the state has made up it’s mind, allying with such detestable groups such as Mises Caucus’s Libertarian party would only seek to delegitimize and take away the revolutionary character of our anti-war stance. Simply being anti-war in one instance is not enough, where were these guys for Libya, Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan? Their reasons for being anti-war are in direct contradiction to our own. You mention idealism, I don’t doubt that some have an idealist opposition to this , but to use that to say we all do, that we are all “ultra left” or “purists” is a legitimately anti-dialectical analysis. You yourself seem to have an idealist view of this entire issue. I have not seen you give any credence to our opposition based in our historical analysis that shows these kinds of right wingers are not allies, and what our criticism of the organizers actually is. It seems idealist to say the reason we do not have a mass anti-imperialism front is due to our principled stance against men like Mises Caucus and his party, our refusal to work with outright racists and transphobes with the character of Mises Caucus.

I find the assertions you make in this to have no basis in dialectical materialism but instead you are stating what you believe as a definitive truth. What exactly is it that makes you think a coalition with these Libertarian, western chauvinist bigots, is the ONLY way? The quote you add in this essay does not back the claim that we need coalitions with these bigots and chauvinists... these unrepentant worshipers of private property. This was a small rally organized by right wingers who are very problematic, not simply well meaning conservatives.

The way you write off everyone who is currently anti-Russia is short sighted. I was anti-Russia last year, I was smitten with the Western lies about Ukraine. The idea that simply because these Libertarians are pro-Russia means they are compatible with a true anti-imperialist coalition is short sighted. They are not anti-war and pro-Russia in the same way Marxists are. Things would not have clicked into place for us and created a true anti-imperialist movement simply because we allied with these right wing forces, since you are the one making these claims as though they are a foregone conclusion you are responsible for bringing the evidence. In all your articles mentioning this issue I have no seen you do more than state these things, where is the legitimate evidence? What is your counter to the well sourced criticisms that BAR shared..? Why exactly are you so concerned with one small rally set up by people who believe in completely unregulated Capitalism..? A group who is keen to court Trump voters? Do you think they’d suddenly drop everything they truly stand for if they gained power themselves? Why should we principled Marxist-Leninists promote the Libertarian Party?

There seems to be some real reactionary underpinnings here... my hands are tired from working, I got some cubital tunnel syndrome and typing on this thing is rough or I’d further annunciate on this. Again, this is a good faith criticism and I love your work, but the amount that you bring this one rally up is puzzling. I’ve never seen historical evidence or any evidence to support your claims that allying with these specific groups is essential. We need to court the American people, we do not and should not court openly an unrepentant bigots and chauvinists who are also clearly right wing opportunists. There bigotry in America runs deep, but that does not mean that are only option is to ally with bigoted Libertarians who openly say they want to court Trump voters. I also think you should consider that many anti-Russia people are more than reachable, your essays can present as a bit of a binary “pro-russia is good” and “anti-russia is bad” as though the ideology of these people is irrelevant. Espousing this kind of attitude is IMO the same kind of “only the right wing is revolutionary” attitude that keeps anti-russia people from seeing the light. When pro-Russia sentiment is espoused alongside a stated affinity for the right I personally believe that keeps many well meaning leftists and Marxists from understanding the situation. The right is not pro-Russia for good reasons that speak to leftists, it is possible to articulate a pro-Z position that does not openly say that they believe Z is incompatible with anyone who does not want to ally with the right.

Expand full comment

“Donbass people”. “Operation Z”. You are the dumbest motherfucker lmfao. I can’t wait to watch your bubble pop as you find out what’s actually happening over there. The excuses are going to be fucking 😘👌

Expand full comment