Re: Slave state

[Hairong Yan <hairongy@Princeton.EDU>]

response to:

"In what way is the US, Europe, or Japan not "free"?  I think the sarcastic 
quotes blurs the line between social justice and freedom.  They are 
different, and not always present in tandem.  Marx was insistent throughout 
his writings that "bourgeois" freedoms mocked by Lenin so forcefully were 
absolutely essential prerequisties for justice, just not sufficient in and 
of themselves.  He enthusiastically welcomed their expansion in Europe as a 
triumph for the working class, even when NOT accompanied by social justice 
reforms."

Since Brain brought up Marx, here is what I can remember. If I remember right, Marx consistantly put freedom of the working class in the process of primitive accumulation in quotation marks (see "the so-called primitive accumulation", Capital 1) and always grasped the double meaning of "freedom"--free of feudal protections and dependecies, but also free from having any means of production. He criticized that bourgeois economists only saw the former freedom, but not the latter which is process of bloody violence.

On slavery, Marx also stated, quite relevant to the issue here, "The veiled slavery of the wage-workers of Europe needed, for its pedestal, slavery pure and simple in the new world." (quoted in Sweetness of Power by Sidney Mintz, p. 65. This work explores the place of slave labor for sugar production in the systematic development of capitalism). 

Hairong

YAN Hairong
Society of Fellows
Joseph Henry House
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Fax: 609-258-2783

----- Original Message -----
From: brian turner <bkt90@hotmail.com>
Date: Friday, October 15, 2004 0:42 am
Subject: Re: Slave state

> Re: Coulter's rhetoric, it is not generally representative of the 
> right-wing 
> in the US.  She makes her living by making provocative statements 
> (and a 
> good one).   William F. Buckley or Christopher Caldwell, to pick 
> two 
> examples, do not talk and write this way.
> 
> Her comment about racism is partly right.  Those calling for 
> special 
> treatment of races other than African Americans is usually 
> considered 
> racist, and not unjustly in most circumstances.  Her over the top 
> comment is 
> a shot back at those who insinuate the Republican Party is racist 
> because 
> it's against affirmative action.
> 
> 
> >it's one of the funnier rhetorical devices used in american politics,
> >reference to slave state where workers change their jobs faster 
> than you
> >can blink an eye...go figure.
> 
> She meant slaves of the state, not a particular employer.  Of 
> course the 
> statement is nonsense.  Some rightists haven't gotten the memo 
> that the PRC 
> is a pro-big business center-right powerful state now, and they 
> can adore it 
> like they did and still do re: Pinochet era Chile.
> 
> > > The AFL-CIO's case that China is
> > > engaging in unfair trade is also the absence of bourgeious
> > > freedoms in China, and  you hear stuff like this ad nauseum in 
> the press 
> >of
> > > the 'free world.'
> 
> In what way is the US, Europe, or Japan not "free"?  I think the 
> sarcastic 
> quotes blurs the line between social justice and freedom.  They 
> are 
> different, and not always present in tandem.  Marx was insistent 
> throughout 
> his writings that "bourgeois" freedoms mocked by Lenin so 
> forcefully were 
> absolutely essential prerequisties for justice, just not 
> sufficient in and 
> of themselves.  He enthusiastically welcomed their expansion in 
> Europe as a 
> triumph for the working class, even when NOT accompanied by social 
> justice 
> reforms.
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Check out Election 2004 for up-to-date election news, plus voter 
> tools and 
> more! http://special.msn.com/msn/election2004.armx
> 
>