r/MarxistUnityNews

"Jibreel Kateb argues that the pragmatist idealism advocated by Geese Magazine leaves Marxism defenseless against attacks on science in an age of irrationalism and climate crisis."

"The philosophical problems of science, which were once central to the thinking of the great Marxists, have for Marxists faded to the periphery, and in that nether zone have often been downgraded to either object of derision or the subject of panegyrics within the left. No sober philosophical and historical reflection on science seems to exist and the concept of a scientific socialism is treated either as a given or as risible. The left proceeds anti-scientifically, lacking scientific culture and anything resembling a contemporary politics of science. In doing so, it cripples its own strategic and organizational efforts and cedes the field to all sorts of reactionary misanthropes and cranks.

Cosmonaut is in part trying to rectify this problem and apparently Geese have joined in the effort but in a very different way. Yet, the problem of Geese is that despite recent attempts to engage with these philosophical questions of science, they do injustice to science in an age where its defense is paramount. They enjoy a rather peculiar species of idealism which I will term pragmatist idealism and this concoction is ill suited to the present tasks: one can substitute the word “practice” for “mind” or “spirit” or “god”, a substitutive trick of language similar to a Sartrean reversal, and yet one does nothing to escape the problems of idealism."

"What I mean by pragmatic idealism is that Geese couples a practical ontology with a pragmatist epistemology. Ontology is the study of the fundamental citizens or furniture of reality"

"Their philosophical pragmatism is in fact nothing but the deeper justification for their liberal populism, a deeper continuation of their theoretical justifications of the most right-wing elements of DSA. Since political antagonism is discursively constructed, since it is, in a sense, purely discursive acts, a purely subjective act with no real basis in something non-discursive and extra-personal, what matters is that the political leader congeals the “people” by saying the right words. It does not matter that independent of political discourse there is a class structure; it does not matter that position in that class structure constrains one's material interests, it does not matter that this structure heavily constrains collective political agency, and that those interests are antagonistic with other classes. It does not matter that there is an objective state of affairs that we must adapt to, and whose adaptation we must furthermore respond to. It simply matters that one “articulates” the right enemy-friend distinction on the basis of current popular discourse. Social theory becomes not an arm to understand the objective (non-elective) conditions under which Marxists operate, an arm which can elevate the proletariat to a position of genuine social understanding, but a piece of demagogy to get the working-class to march in line with the wordsmith. After all, the wordsmith constructs reality. In the beginning, there was the word, and the word is God."

"A growing army of canvassers isn't enough. Greg C. argues that DSA needs deeper, more permanent roots in the working class to build a lasting socialist constituency."

"The sudden string of DSA victories at the ballot box has sent the Democratic Party bigwigs and their cable TV friends into a delightful fit of hysteria. Former DNC chair Jaime Harrison and ex-Maoist turned CNN pundit Van Jones are shrieking about the “army of on-the-ground organizers” knocking at their doors. Equally, DSA members across factional lines are taking advantage of the political shift to spread the gospel of field."

"Whatever happens, organizing a popular constituency for socialism will require more than growing our army of canvassers. It will also involve more than building a “Tammandani Hall,” where voters remain loyal through a feedback loop of positive legislation and magnetic political personalities. Building a socialist political machine (in the traditional sense) will be frustrated by the political compromises required to pass legislation and expand funding for community services. The goal is not to replicate the machines of old, but to consolidate our project into an alternative society. We need a network of party-led organizations with deep and personal roots in the community for workers to engage in class struggle on a mass scale and connect socialist ideas to their daily lives."

"The purpose here is not simply to offer much-needed aid or even bump up recruitment for DSA and other orgs, but to politicize the community. DSA members discussing NYCHA privatization or semi-privatization with tenants could be elevated by our electeds acting as public tribunes for the tenant movement—whether it’s speaking at anti-demolition rallies or proposing legislation to refund and expand fully public housing. And the importance of this approach doesn’t end with public housing either. In April, DSA councilmember Chi Ossé was thrown to the ground and arrested by the NYPD for protesting against deed theft against Black homeowners in Bed-Stuy. The goal of tying deep community organizing to political office serves to heighten the difference between our political platform and the neoliberal consensus, and to connect the immediate needs of the people with the goal of democratic socialism."

"Whether DSA will plant deep roots or dissipate after this new era of ascendance will be determined by the work we do between elections. Individual efforts need to be linked up into a coherent and permanent strategy that builds buy-in for our program in apartment complexes, workplaces, and community spaces across the city. This requires that NYC-DSA prioritize more than electoral and legislative campaigns. Proposals to this effect have come and gone, but any strategic coherence to bind them together has yet to emerge. Whatever the circumstances, overcoming a transient canvassing operation requires a long-term strategy focused on building deep relationships with the sections of the working class beyond our sphere of influence, built around an uncompromising and distinctly socialist political platform."