M-L-M Mayhem!

I Shortly after Syriza's victory, leftists in Canada, the US, and other imperialist states became obsessed with a particular article about Yanis Varoufakis , this party's finance minister, regarding his claim about being an "erratic marxist."  The message was clear: here was a party in power that was unashamed to speak of marxism and so, because of this lack of shame, it must be marxist. For the mainstream left at the centres of imperialism Syriza represents a possibility, a way to make revolution through the ballot box, that confirms the revisionist thesis: communism is possible through reform, through the peaceful co-existence with capitalism, and a mass movement can be mobilized through free elections.  According to this argument only one factor is missing in these countries that are not Greece: an electoral party capable of representing the left––as Syriza supposedly does––and thus the solution is to build this party. And yet the manic sharing of the ...

[Yeah, still haven't written anything about Syriza.  Partisan had a small article about it , which would probably be a summary echo of whatever longer thing I would say, but the truth is I'm stuck between some gap of caring and not-caring, particularly since I know what I will say and the readers of my blog shouldn't be surprised by what I say, but that I probably would say it in way that has at least enough nuance to piss off a bunch of people on all sides of the debate and guarantee flaming.  Also, I enjoyed reading the response to Curtis Cole's terrible article about PPW that has recently been posted on the PCR-RCP website .  But instead of writing about either of those issues, I've got this rambling post instead…] As an ethos pacifism is compelling because it banks on the moralistic assumption that in any given war both sides are equally wrong.  Hence those committed to a pacifist politics are ethically superior to those embroiled in these wars because they ex...

I probably should have posted this promotion weeks ago, but I haven't been in an online/bloggy mindset for a while.  In any case, the Toronto branch of the PCR-RCP is holding an event to celebrate the organization's founding anniversary (belatedly, I believe) this Friday.  Being a supporter and member of one of the party's mass organizations, I am planning to attend. (I think holding this party [this "party-party"?] on Friday the 13th is the most appropriate thing a communist can do.  You know, intentionally saying "screw you" to superstition is the sort of things commies are supposed to be about, right?) If you are on facebook (unlike me who stubbornly resisted joining since its inception) then the event page is here .  Hope to see you out on Friday.

On most days of the week I am awakened by the alarm of my two year old daughter who, down the hall from our room, stands up in her bed and repeats incessantly: "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy…"  All until I crawl out of bed, throw on a shirt, and trudge over to her room so as to rescue her from the boredom of waiting for her parents to put her day in order.  I both love and resent this alarm, and its squeaky little voice: I love it because I love my child, and in turn feel loved by the fact that this little being is excited to see me in the morning (it's better than any alarm clock); I resent the fact that my sleep is disrupted because, well, I still want to sleep––who doesn't?––and not have to be awakened by the dictatorship of the toddlertariat. This love and resentment of my daughter's morning alarm encapsulates my mixed feelings about the general perspective on equitable fatherhood.  On the one hand I'm happy that fathers who are dividing parenting and domes...