[P2P-F] Fwd: New pamphlet: “Resisting Trumpist Reaction (and Left Accommodation)” + upcoming meetings in NYC

Sun May 13 20:51:23 CEST 2018

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From: Marxist-Humanist Initiative <mhi at marxisthumanistinitiative.org>
Date: Sun, May 13, 2018 at 5:10 AM
Subject: New pamphlet: “Resisting Trumpist Reaction (and Left
Accommodation)” + upcoming meetings in NYC
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com

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May 12, 2018

To our friends,

*New MHI Pamphlet: Resisting Trumpist Reaction (and Left Accommodation) *
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=87273abf2a&e=f55c2c465a>

At this critical moment, there is an urgent need for widespread discussion
of the ideas in MHI’s 2018 Perspectives thesis, now available as an
88-page, bound pamphlet, for only $5. It brings Marx’s revolutionary
humanism to bear on the singularly critical task of the moment: opposing &
defeating Trumpism and other far-right tendencies.

We encourage everyone to read *Resisting Trumpist Reaction (and Left
Accommodation*), to share it widely, and to discuss it with colleagues,
friends, family––and with us. Beating back and transcending the latest wave
of reaction requires wide and deep discussion among everyone fighting to
protect liberal-democratic rights and to continue the struggle until we
achieve full freedom for all human beings.

------------------------------
*Only $5 + shipping charges. **Order your copy here
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=21a9e7baf9&e=f55c2c465a>*
*.*
------------------------------

Key ideas in this pamphlet include the following:

* It may not be possible to stop US president Donald Trump before he
launches the country and the world into a monstrous war, even a nuclear
war. Similarly, the real threat Trump poses to Americans’ civil rights and
liberties could be just as fatal. The unthinkable must be acknowledged and
our support for the Resistance to Trumpism must be intensified.

* The ongoing activity of tens of millions of people resisting Trump and
Trumpism is the principal reason why Trump has not yet done even more harm
than he has done to date. The permanent state of revolt across the US
underlines the Resistance movement’s firm and indefatigable commitment to
get rid of Trump, not to reform him.

* One notable feature of the Resistance is that women, and especially women
of color––who know that Trumpism is a threat to people’s lives, and women’s
bodies in particular––dominate the field in intensive, continual, and
creative protesting. The convergence of the anti-racist and Resistance
movements is likewise very significant, as is the fact that the leading
edge of the Resistance also challenges the Democratic Party and its efforts
to play “politics as usual.”

* Marxist-Humanists must help to ensure that the Resistance remains
independent, so that its goal of ending Trumpism will not be subsumed under
alien agendas. Its independence from the Democratic Party is crucial, as is
its independence from tendencies on “the left” that serve to normalize
Trumpism by trying to divert the Resistance onto an “anti-neoliberal” path,
a path that refuses to prioritize the fight against the extraordinary and
distinctive dangers of Trumpist reaction.

* We must also combat and root out the idea that the left can somehow win
over Trump’s base and turn white nationalists towards revolutionary
socialism. That is a pipe dream of a segment of “the left” that wants power
for itself, and which acted in ways that helped Trump win the 2016 US
election. We redouble our commitment to fight such accommodation. Trump
must be removed and Trumpism must be rooted out. The left needs to stand
for freedom and the rights of all human beings once again.

* Although research shows conclusively that Trump’s election was not due to
an uprising of the “white working class” against “economic distress”
brought about by neoliberalism, that myth remains a key talking point of a
newly-resurgent left-populist current. Left-populism seeks to win adherents
by appealing to popular superstitions and myths, and by offering easy,
inaccurate answers in response to popular discontent. It does not worry
about the difficulty of delivering on its promises. This is what makes it
populism. It is the trait it has most in common with Trumpism.

* An opportunistic relationship to ideas cannot form the basis for a real
left project that aims to confront the central contradictions of our era
and to posit a way out of them. “Post-truth politics” is a direct
impediment to the development of a clear understanding of our world and
what is required to change it. And although emotional appeals and the like
may help “the left” win new followers and elections, such opportunism
reproduces the existing divisions between mental and manual labor and
between leaders and the led. It thus represents a real barrier to the
self-development of the working class as an independent force for human
liberation. We need to wage an uncompromising battle against “post-truth
politics.”

* Far from being a revolt against neoliberalism, Trump’s election was
actually an expression of a long-standing white-nationalist strain of US
politics. It predates neoliberalism; it pervaded the campaigns of George
Wallace in the 1960s and early 1970s, which, like Trump’s, were remarkably
successful in the industrial Midwest.

* Analyzing Marx’s writings on and activity around Irish independence and
the US Civil War, we arrive at a unique conclusion regarding Trumpism and
the “white working class. To fight white nationalism in the tradition of
Marx, the way to solidarize with the “white working class” is by helping
the Resistance to decisively defeat Trumpism and other far-right forces.
Their defeat will help liberate the “white working class” from the grip of
reaction and thereby spur the independent, emancipatory self-development of
working people as a whole.

------------------------------

*New York City MHI Events, June 2-6*

We’ll be at the Left Forum conference
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=e1447f9b54&e=f55c2c465a>
at John Jay College in Manhattan, where we are sponsoring 3 panels to be
held on* Sat. and Sun., June 2 and 3*. (When we know the days, times and
rooms, we’ll post them on our website at www.marxisthumanistinitiative.
org/our-publication
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=6d13322722&e=f55c2c465a>
. We’ll also have an exhibit table on the Mezzanine.

The titles of our panels are:

   - Can Marx’s humanist philosophy of emancipation assist the Resistance
   and other battles against Trumpism? If so, how?

   - Has “the Left” Accommodated Trump (and Putin)? A Debate

   - Combatting White Nationalism: Lessons from Marx

On the following *Wednesday, June 6*, we are hosting a event on

*Assisting the Self-development of #TheResistance and of Opposition to
Authoritarianism** in Europe*

featuring Ravi Bali, a visiting London activist, and Andrew Kliman, author
of *Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital”: A refutation of the myth of inconsistency*
and *The Failure of Capitalist Production: Underlying causes of the great
recession.*

The time is 6:00 to 8:00 pm (promptly). The place is the Jefferson Market
Library on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street in Manhattan,
425 Ave. of the Americas
<https://maps.google.com/?q=Manhattan,+425+Ave.+of+the+Americas&entry=gmail&source=g>,
in the Willa Cather Community Room. Voluntary contributions appreciated; no
one turned away.

------------------------------

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For a description of this pamphlet
by Andrew Kliman, see* video
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=131a6b45c6&e=f55c2c465a>.*

Available for purchase at
* Bluestockings Books *or order from MHI* here
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=ebb9208a43&e=f55c2c465a>.*
<https://marxisthumanistinitiative.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfae7928775a996aaff05fe6&id=de972384aa&e=f55c2c465a>

Click image for trailer & information on showing this documentary film.
Marxist-Humanist Initiative
P.O. Box 414
Planetarium Station
New York, NY 10024

email: mhi at marxisthumanistinitiative.org
web: www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org
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(888) 579-2245

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