Hardt-Negri on Genoa

On Sun, 22 Jul 2001 16:56:10 -0400 (EDT), Boris Stremlin wrote:
>Unfortunately, this response is utterly devoid (and not for the 
first
>time) of an honest attempt to confront the issue that was raised.
>Mr.
>Proyect challenged my argument that Empire is still hierarchical by
>claiming it was an interpretation unsupported by the text.  Now, he
>has
>changed his tune, and says that the argument is un-Marxist (a claim 
I
>never made; nor did the text, incidentally).

I wrote 10,000 words to this mailing list making one and one point 
only: Hardt and Negri have no connection to Marxism. Frankly, any 
other points are not worth discussing as far as I'm concerned. I 
never would have written 10,000 words answering David Korten or 
Jeremy Rifkin. Mostly your response to me has been around peripheral 
issues, such as the integrity of college professors or why it was 
okay for Hardt and Negri to write a pro-globalization piece in the NY 
Times because Marx wrote for the Tribune. We are wasting each others 
time, I'm afraid.

> in spite of the fact that the longer passage
>reproduced here by Mr. Wilpert makes it patently clear that states
>are
>still actors in the system (although they no longer hold the 
dominant
>position they once did).

Of course, they are still "actors", but the main point of Empire is 
that socialist revolution on the basis of the nation-state is no 
longer feasible. That is not only inimical to Marxism, it defies 
logic and the living class struggle all across the world.

>  One thing I learned from Giovanni Arrighi is that in
>critiquing a
>book, it is important to engage with the book that was written, not
>with
>the book you wish was written.

Did you get a good grade?

>Finally, why is Zizek is "miscreant"?  Is it because he does not
>accept
>Milosevic as the model socialist democrat?

No, it is because he supported NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. I do not 
consider Milosevic the model socialist democrat, either but neither 
would I join ranks with the blood-stained liberals of the world who 
backed war crimes like using uranium-based shells, bombing television 
stations and railroad trains, and attacking power stations and water 
systems. This is what Hitler did.

-- 
Louis Proyect, lnp3@panix.com on 07/22/2001

Marxism list: http://www.marxmail.org