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Huibin Amelia Chew wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mide60106410510080012m3db14772oc24ad30389f49cf4@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">on following my train of thoughts to the end, one idea for a 4th
demand/slogan is:
"MILITARISM REINFORCES RACISM, SEXISM, & HOMOPHOBIA"
the purpose of this slogan, while not concrete, would be to set the
stage for the job of the event's speakers, who would then elaborate
and help explain this theme. it would serve to set the tone and point
direction of thought for the audience, while appealing to those who
'get it.' it would not be an outright "demand" and perhaps not such a
cause of division or turning people away. the last bit is
particularly appropriate given the queer rights protest we're allying
with.
unless it's so vague it's incomprehensible -- and if so, I invite
creative suggestions for revision ("militarism reinforces racism,
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, & homophobia")
the other option of handling these dimensions of analysis is a small
grouping of more specific demands.
really... must... sleep.
-Amee
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">An action coalition does not present an analysis through its demands.
O29 is so diverse, to take one example, that it seems unlikely that it
can present a coherent analysis of anything. It exists simply to
organize an action. Its job is not analysis.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
this is hypocrisy. why do we bother to put out "statements" and
"calls to action" then? why did we include an allusion linking
Katrina to the war in a demand? I guess this is somehow not
analytical, but empirical??!? all that for positivist "objectivity."
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">For the action it needs a limited set of demands. The more demands
there are and the wider their scope, the less focus the action will
have.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
not necessarily. it depends how well the additional demands reinforce
the central focus.
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">To seek for the action coalition to develop an analysis of sexism and
racism, for example, goes against its purpose as an action coalition.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
hypocrisy! and why do we bother to have any analysis at all then, for
instance that the troops must be brought home now, that funds for war
come at the expense of human needs?
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I have told you that I admire the clarity of your thinking. What I
forgot to say was that no person's thinking can be perfectly clear all
the time.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
I never asked you to judge my intellect. have I judged yours?
it is true real demands are concrete not abstract, but how "concrete"
is funding human needs? there are different levels of concreteness
that can apply in different situations. I sense a lack of effort and
experience in creatively thinking on how to grapple with minority
experiences.
-Amee
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Neither the O29 coalition, nor groups of people reading emails, nor a
repro rights coalition, can develop an analysis as clear as can be
developed by one clear-thinking person. That is the task of
clear-thinking people. The result of a clear analysis will not be just
some coalition or group of email readers, but a new political party.
That party will have a program to eliminate institutional racism and
sexism, imperialist war, every kind of oppression, and the material
foundations of these things. That party will pose its demands in
relation to the state and the ruling class. It will laugh at
pseudo-demands like, "Stop racism."
"Stop racism"? How? What kind of racism, institutional or attitudinal?
Anyone can talk loosely about racism and oppose it in the abstract.
Such a "demand" exposes nothing about the racism that pervades the
society. It offers itself as a medal to anyone ready to wear it. It
hardly presents an analysis.
A real demand against racism is concrete, not abstract. Fund the
schools. Restrain the police. Community control. Enforce affirmative
action. Stop the profiling. Stop the threats to wiretap mosques. Stop
the war. End the death penalty. End language discrimination. Open the
books of the corporations to see how racist they are in their daily
behavior. Expropriate corporations guilty of racist crimes.
I have no problem adopting a muddled demand Monday, if the majority
wants it. I will vote no. I hope you will be there to argue for
whatever position you support.
David
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
"Se eu dou comida aos pobres, eles me chamam de santo. Se eu pergunto porque os pobres não têm comida, eles me chamam de comunista."
"If I give food to the poor they call me a saint. If I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist."
-Dom Hélder Câmara</pre>
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