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Eric from The FIRE Collective (Fight Imperialism, Rethink, Experiment) gives a talk about the importance of the current revolution in the small country of Nepal.

The following is a response to Sharon Smith's (a steering committee member of the International Socialist Organization) critique of identity politics that originally appeared on Good Morning, Revolution. Posting here is not necessarily meant as an endorsement, but as an opening up of a discussion in the process of reconception and refoundation.

By Comrade Baba

In an article “The politics of identity” published in the journal of the International Socialist Organization (ISO), a Trotskyist group in the US, Sharon Smith argues:

“At the most basic material level, no one group of workers ever benefits from particular forms of oppression.”(1)

Smith’s reasoning: “Whenever capitalists can force a higher paid group of workers to compete with a lower paid group, wages tend to drop. . . . The only beneficiaries are capitalists, who earn bigger profits, while ensuring the survival of the rule of the profit system.”

Smith’s argument, an attempt to undermine identity politics and “counterpos[e] to it a Marxist analysis,” greatly oversimplifies the problems of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Rather than a Marxist analysis, a concrete analysis of concrete conditions, the argument reduces social reality and its multiple contradictions into a single abstract contradiction between Labor and Capital.

While the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is the fundamental contradiction in capitalist society, the social relations in capitalist society are too complex and particular to be reduced to extensions of the fundamental contradiction. These social relations have their own histories and particularities. They have to be understood in their own right.

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Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day that Charles Darwin was born on in 1809. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin -- the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity. [darwinday.org]

The following was originally published in A World to Win News Service.

8 February 2010. A World to Win News Service. Following are excerpts from a leaflet by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist- Maoist) of Iran. Dated 5 February, it was put out on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the people's uprising that toppled the Shah in 1979.

 

As millions of Iranian people all over the country await 11 February their hearts are beating hard.. Brave women and men are planning to turn that date into a decisive day. The enemy is also planning to stay in the field and not lose its perilous balance. The chants of "Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran!" will come from the heart and find echo in other hearts.

 Over the last eight months the Iranian people's anti-regime movement has significantly inspired the people of the Middle East and other parts of the world. They too are enthusiastically looking forward to 11 February. The Western imperialists and Russia and China who are all as reactionary as the Islamic Republic are already speculating about "Iran after 11 February" and expressing their concern about the "future of the Middle East and Iran" – which means concern about their interests in Iran and the Middle East!

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Props to EverythingIsTerrible for creeping us out even more than we thought possible.

If you don't remember this Christian fundamentalist preacher raging against Pokemon (that's right... Pokemon) from our previous post, here's a refresher.

Please, tell us this isn't the creepiest thing  ever .

Special thanks to Christina for this!

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Presented by Eric Ribellarsi of the FIRE Collective

Today, seemingly a world away, the population of a small oppressed nation is engaged in an ongoing revolution that is striving and maneuvering for a decisive victory. They approach their revolutionary process in a way that is deeply radical yet shockingly undogmatic. Their thinking is fresh. What can we learn from their new revolution and how can we defend it?

DetailsRefreshments at 7:15PM, followed by program at 7:30PM. Discussion following.

For further information contact Pat Nichols, 713-681-6267, or nicholspat123 (at) gmail.com, or Eric Ribellarsi at ericribellarsi (at) gmail.com

Houston Peace Forum, 7:15PM, Thursday, Feb 11th, Room 302, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5200 Fannin at Southmore. Parking directly behind the church or on surrounding streets. Open to the public, no charge.