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| Intramuros, Manila, Philippines (Source) |
OK. I give up. On June 28th (my last post on this blog) I wrote--in entirety--as follows:
The Militant (published by the Socialist Workers Party) printed a brief summary of the annual Oberlin Conference held June 12th--14th. Billed as an "International Conference," the agenda reads more like a convention, including a "political report" presented by Jack Barnes.
I assume a longer account of the proceedings is forthcoming--I certainly hope so since the banner looks more interesting than usual. I will get to it, but I'm going to be in the Philippines for the next two weeks so there may be a delay.
I did go to the Philippines (rather idealized stock photo above). I got back from the Philippines. I had a whole slew of medical appointments (that in the end determined that my cancer is now in remission! Hope it stays that way). I've endured treatments for non-cancer ailments that will accompany me on my slow march toward oblivion. I've read every copy of The Militant since, along with checking Left Voice almost daily, along with visits to other blogs on my beat.
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| Jack Barnes at the podium |
For all that, no "longer account of the proceedings" has come forth. It appears that Terry Evans and Steve Clark--even with indispensable aid from the ever-reliable John Studer--can manage in over two months to write a couple thousand words describing their "international conference." I'm tired of waiting.
They're either a bunch of lazy, incompetent bums, or something else is going on, or some combination of the above. Lazy and/or incompetent could arise from the advanced age of said authors. Comrade Clark could easily be incapacitated--he hasn't looked healthy in recent photos. I don't know how old Comrades Evans and Studer are, but they're surely both over 70. If I'm gonna blame health on my failure to produce a blog post, then surely the same problems must afflict those who are even older.
More consequential would be Comrade Barnes' decrepitude. Here Kremlinology skills come in handy--unfortunately mine don't rise to the challenge. But if Jack is sick, then the future of the whole enterprise is called into question. Jack has been "national secretary" (don't you just love the Stalinist terminology!) since 1972, or 53 years. I think that's at least 43 years too long.
"The graveyards are full of indispensable men" is what some French politician allegedly said, suggesting that nobody is indispensable. But for a small Party with a leadership so entrenched and dependent on the wisdom of one guy, then perhaps said Party can't survive the illness of its leader?
Alternative explanations are possible. Perhaps the Party never intended to write anything more. Why? On the one hand they teasingly claim that "2025 is not 2024!", yet on the other their brief recap is boringly predictable. They make three points:
- Capitalist rulers are building up their militaries.
- "Jew hatred and deepening imperialist rivalries."
- “Why the Fight for Women’s Emancipation Is Inseparable from the Class Struggle.”
It's what they don't mention that is noteworthy. Last year the talk of the town was the latest book, entitled The low point of labor resistance is behind us (my review here). It appears that the "low point" is making a comeback. The book is not mentioned at all in the short article.
The second unmentionable was the expression "women's emancipation," which did not occur in last year's report. Yes, they did mention women, but an explicit connection with the so-called "class struggle" was not made. The Party's position on women's issues has changed over the past few years, and it remains very unclear (see, eg, here and here). Perhaps some clarity is forthcoming?
Regards capitalists and their militaries, the brief account is ever so slightly more specific than last year, writing that "[c]apitalist rulers in the U.S. and elsewhere are building up their militaries and looking for allies as they fight to defend and expand their economic and political reach, pushing inexorably toward World War III." So what else is new? Capitalist and non-capitalist countries are always rebuilding their militaries. The Militant's observation is a truism, and does not auger World War III.
The current issue of The Militant sheds rather little light on the matter, except that the paper is declaring yet another week-long holiday next week, presumably to let our comrades recover from their laziness/incompetence and get their heads in gear long enough to produce an article. Or perhaps Comrade Jack is writing a new book!? Who knows.
Otherwise the issue is just boilerplate all over again:
- The lead headline is about the 3-day long Air Canada strike. Here today and gone tomorrow.
- The second headline is the evergreen ‘As crisis of capitalism grows, workers need to take power’. This is the hopelessly unrealistic demand that The Militant has put forth since its founding in 1928--in almost every issue.
- The "Book of the Month" is a piece from the long forgotten leader of the Burkina Faso "revolution" (1983 - 1987) commemorating Che Guevara. Che--a murderous psychopath--had the good sense to get himself killed while he was still handsome enough to decorate dorm rooms. Both revolutions (Burkina Faso's and Cuba's) are/were miserable failures, with the Cubans now mostly living without electricity.
- They still support open borders, championing a mass demonstration back in 2006.
They continue to get some things right. They understand that Hamas wants to kill all the Jews, in an article entitled Support Israel’s fight to stop a new Holocaust! Hamas must be defeated. Far from being "pro-Palestinian," Hamas is just pro-murder.
There's nothing new here. If 2025 really is different from 2024, then The Militant produces no evidence.
Further Reading:
