Fight Orthodoxy, Fight Dogmatism
ShineThePath
Recently there has been a back and forth on Leftspot between me and Greg Young over whether or not the Baathist Party in Iraq specifically was a Fascist party? I think this discussion revealed some tendencies that should be dropped like a bad habit and I shall write briefly about them. I attend to write a fuller length article on “What is Fascism?,” such a question is an important one today as the word is pejoratively used by anyone and their grandmother to describe some authoritarian measure. RCP for example has been talking about a Fascist movement coming to fruition from the Christian Evangelical movement and the Bush administration. They make some comparisons between Hitler and Bush, and then they conclude “Fascism.” I am not satisfied with that at all, it throws away a lot of important things about Fascism such as ideology and practice.
Greg Young does quite the same; however while RCP is using the term “Fascism” in a flexible way to describe a certain reactionary core of America and the Republican party, Greg Young sticks to the Trotskyite-Stalinist interpretation of Fascism. That Fascism is essentially the bloody hand of the Bourgeois in times of great need, Fascism is just a tool of the Capitalist class to keep itself in power. This is of course a common understanding of Fascism through the eyes of orthodox Marxism and is further the general methodology of understanding consciousness and ideology from a Marxist standpoint. It is also an outdated way of looking at the world, a fundamentally Instrumentalist method that should have been wrapped around the body of Trotsky in his casket.
This instrumentalist thinking comes from the often cited and vulgarized concept of Marxist Base (Economy) and Superstructure (State). A lot to be said here, there has been a lot of work done around this field by many Marxist writers, my favorite being Althusser in his article “On Ideology and the Ideological State Apparatus.” It might contain some remnants of the instrumentalist past, but it is a continuation I think a “rupture,” if you like, that begins with Gramsci and through Mao toward the question of what is Consciousness and Ideology and how is it shaped. The question of consciousness is important for Communists, more important then whether or not the mysterious Productive Forces have given rise to Socialism. It isn't Productive Forces that will lead toward the development of Socialism, it is the consciousness of the Masses and their role as active agents in the radical change of society. This is not to say the radical socialization of the means of production and relations to the means of production or not important, but putting one sided emphasis on the economy is utterly useless without revolutionizing the consciousness of the masses and ourselves. The brilliance of Mass Line is that it gives this opportunity for the masses and ourselves to build class consciousness together.
Gramsci declared a “Revolution against Capital,” meaning the dogmatic Marxism that said societies like Russia and China were incapable of having a revolution because of their lack of an “industrial” class of workers and their backwardness in social relations. It was a revolution essentially against those who said the masses are nothing more than cogs in the systematic play of History, a revolution against a deformed Hegelian system posing itself as Historical Materialism.
This where relevant Marxism (meaning Maoism) obviously splits with Trotskyite dogmatism, a 19th century analysis in the day of Globalization. Over a century and a half have passed since Marx declared a Socialist revolution possible ONLY if Capitalism spawns it like a child from its womb, only if its economic forces are good enough. More and more the truth is leaking itself about Socialist revolution, that it doesn't come into the world as a child naturally conceived by the Capitalist mode of production, but is rather a brutal purge of Capitalism itself. It is a revolution of not only the economy, but is a necessary revolution of the mind. This revolution of the mind of man isn't essentially bound to whether or not you work construction or are an office worker.
Above all I declare our movement a revolution of Ideology.
Recently there has been a back and forth on Leftspot between me and Greg Young over whether or not the Baathist Party in Iraq specifically was a Fascist party? I think this discussion revealed some tendencies that should be dropped like a bad habit and I shall write briefly about them. I attend to write a fuller length article on “What is Fascism?,” such a question is an important one today as the word is pejoratively used by anyone and their grandmother to describe some authoritarian measure. RCP for example has been talking about a Fascist movement coming to fruition from the Christian Evangelical movement and the Bush administration. They make some comparisons between Hitler and Bush, and then they conclude “Fascism.” I am not satisfied with that at all, it throws away a lot of important things about Fascism such as ideology and practice.
Greg Young does quite the same; however while RCP is using the term “Fascism” in a flexible way to describe a certain reactionary core of America and the Republican party, Greg Young sticks to the Trotskyite-Stalinist interpretation of Fascism. That Fascism is essentially the bloody hand of the Bourgeois in times of great need, Fascism is just a tool of the Capitalist class to keep itself in power. This is of course a common understanding of Fascism through the eyes of orthodox Marxism and is further the general methodology of understanding consciousness and ideology from a Marxist standpoint. It is also an outdated way of looking at the world, a fundamentally Instrumentalist method that should have been wrapped around the body of Trotsky in his casket.
This instrumentalist thinking comes from the often cited and vulgarized concept of Marxist Base (Economy) and Superstructure (State). A lot to be said here, there has been a lot of work done around this field by many Marxist writers, my favorite being Althusser in his article “On Ideology and the Ideological State Apparatus.” It might contain some remnants of the instrumentalist past, but it is a continuation I think a “rupture,” if you like, that begins with Gramsci and through Mao toward the question of what is Consciousness and Ideology and how is it shaped. The question of consciousness is important for Communists, more important then whether or not the mysterious Productive Forces have given rise to Socialism. It isn't Productive Forces that will lead toward the development of Socialism, it is the consciousness of the Masses and their role as active agents in the radical change of society. This is not to say the radical socialization of the means of production and relations to the means of production or not important, but putting one sided emphasis on the economy is utterly useless without revolutionizing the consciousness of the masses and ourselves. The brilliance of Mass Line is that it gives this opportunity for the masses and ourselves to build class consciousness together.
Gramsci declared a “Revolution against Capital,” meaning the dogmatic Marxism that said societies like Russia and China were incapable of having a revolution because of their lack of an “industrial” class of workers and their backwardness in social relations. It was a revolution essentially against those who said the masses are nothing more than cogs in the systematic play of History, a revolution against a deformed Hegelian system posing itself as Historical Materialism.
This where relevant Marxism (meaning Maoism) obviously splits with Trotskyite dogmatism, a 19th century analysis in the day of Globalization. Over a century and a half have passed since Marx declared a Socialist revolution possible ONLY if Capitalism spawns it like a child from its womb, only if its economic forces are good enough. More and more the truth is leaking itself about Socialist revolution, that it doesn't come into the world as a child naturally conceived by the Capitalist mode of production, but is rather a brutal purge of Capitalism itself. It is a revolution of not only the economy, but is a necessary revolution of the mind. This revolution of the mind of man isn't essentially bound to whether or not you work construction or are an office worker.
Above all I declare our movement a revolution of Ideology.
I disagree with the WCW idea that America is somehow fascist now. I think fascism has definately become over used and needs to be updated and redefined. Lenin's idea that fascism is capitalism in decay is good, but there is more. I look forward to seeing your article on fascism.
Posted by
LeftyHenry |
4:48 PM
Nicely written and well though out explanation STP.
Posted by
celticfire |
8:13 AM
Where the hell do you expect "the masses" to get their conciousness from? Thin air? You're simply repeating idealist arguments that Marx smashed so many years ago. Social being determines conciousness. It doesn't just appear.
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:31 PM
I have never said that consciousness doesn't arise from being in the world; however further and more importantly it is not determined soley by the socio-economic base.
What I am arguing for is NOT Idealism but utter Materialism and the rejection of the mysticification of History and Economy that many Marxists...Orthodox, Trotskyite, and 'Stalinist' commit. Building the 'Socialist Man' will not be determined by mechanically regulating economy and building "productive forces," but is rather the very engagement of of the struggle of ideology and Mass Line.
Yes Being grounded in the world is surely determining our consciousness. But the world is Complex and Overdetermined to say only your soci-economic life determines it. Further that has been flatly proven incorrect by any reputiable Psychologist.
The revolution of consciousness shall precede the succession of Communism. And in fact this has been the matter of fact throughout history.
Posted by
ShineThePath |
10:48 PM
That sounds like a mess of idealism and mysticism.
"the very engagement of of the struggle of ideology and Mass Line" cannot exist without the material conditions that give life to them.
One cannot have proletarian class consciousness if one is not a proletarian.
Yes, it takes class consciousness to carry out a revolution; but that class consciousness ITSELF comes from material conditions, i.e. the sharpening of contradictions under capitalism, etc.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11:12 PM
No...CSC what you're promoting is in fact mysticism. Can you have class consciousness of the Proletariat and not be Proletariat? Absolutely, wasn't the clearest example of that Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels themselves...both from the Bourgeois class. Consciousness is not merely determined by class, it is determined as well by ideology and culture.
What the Proletariat is, in any sense, is a historical class that is exploited by Surplus Value; however I am quite sure that those who are not exploited for Surplus Value can come to understand the ideology of Socialism.
However it is indeed the engagement in the class struggle that CREATES class consciousness. It isn't something inert within us. That is pure Mysticism to treat class consciousness as some type of force needing to be released.
In fact, the consciousness of most today reveals that. Workers don't have the consciousness the ideology necessary for Socialist revolution, but are in fact many are using the consciousness of the Bourgeois and this is not just the Labor Aristorcracy.
Posted by
ShineThePath |
12:17 PM
Well I wouldn't say Marx was bourgieousie but engels definately.
Posted by
LeftyHenry |
6:51 PM
“@kristeeenc_: @WisdomiHave bought me my own tube of carmex since i always ask for some of his carmex, lol :)” don't use it all in a week!!
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Posted by
Anonymous |
9:46 PM
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