David Horowitz, Bob Avakian wrangle over copyright?
(monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com)
David Horowitz is a scumbag and should be vigorously opposed. He’s been hounding various academics for some time now in an attempt to stifle dissent on campuses across the country. His idiotic book, The Professors, attacks Ward Churchill, Sami al-Arian, Norman Finkelstein, Bill Ayers, Bruce Franklin, Grover Furr, Amiri Baraka, Kathleen Cleaver, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and many others.
Horowitz’s latest effort is “Islamo-fascism awareness week” lasting from October 22nd to the 26th. Horowitz plans to rile up campuses across the U$ to support imperialist wars. It is also a stunt designed to cause controversy for those who fancy themselves as Amerika’s conservative warriors against an academic culture that they perceive as anti-Amerikan. Of course, the idea that Amerika’s university culture is anti-imperialist is pure fantasy. If only.
Part of Horowitz’s plan is to protest women’s studies departments for their supposed silence on the treatment of females by so-called Islamo-fascism. Horowitz and his ilk seek to rally White and first world feminists to oppose the Islamic anti-imperialist struggles in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Bob Afakean’s cult of fake-Maoists are now yapping about opposing David Horowitz’s “Islamo-fascism awareness week.” Why? Perhaps, Afakean is upset that Horowitz has stolen his thunder. Or, perhaps, all this noise is over a copyright dispute? After all, long before Horowitz’s latest stunt, every week was “Islamo-fascism awareness week” in the so-called RIM. Heck, Afakean and his zombies have been agitating alongside the neo-cons against the Islamic resistance for many years now, even leading rallies against the Iranian state. Afakean’s lackeys led an International Women’s Day march against the Islamic Republic of Iran not long ago. Afakean should consider seeking a court injunction against Horowitz.
Real Maoists support the broad united front against imperialism, especially U$ imperialism. Maoists and anti-imperialists should oppose those who align with U$ imperialism against Iran, the Islamic upsurge or other anti-imperialist struggles. Maoists oppose the attacks on Third World resistance, whether those attacks are by avowed neo-cons like Horowitz or fake-Maoist White nationalist cult leaders like Afakean.
Here’s a Shubel Morgan video opposing Bob Afakean’s attacks on the Iran:
Background reading:
Yeah I’m an ex-RCPer. One of the disagreements I had with the RCP was the fact that it joined in with the imperialist demonization campaigns against anti-imperialist forces like Iran. No doubt Iran is a capitalist state with reactionary views towards woman and homosexuality but it is standing up to imperialism while the RCP joins in the effort to make it sit down
That said though I don’t think that type of sectarianism does the movement much good. If the MIM spent less time slandering the RCP and more time actually focusing on struggle, well then I guess it wouldn’t be MIM, but it wouldn’t be looked at as such whackos by most of the Revolutionary Left
The principal contradiction in the world is between imperialism and the oppressed nations of the Third World.
It is important to support the broad united front against the principal enemy imperialism, especially U$ imperialism. At present, the broad united front includes Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, northern Korea and so on. This does not mean that proletarian forces should agree with every policy of these states nor consider them socialist. They are oppressed nations facing imperialist attack, so we support them against the imperialists.
However, you are wrong in referring to our post as sectarian. Sectarianism is putting a particular sect ahead of the interests of the revolution. To allow Afakean’s new age cult to get away with riling up liberals against Iran is as wrong as letting Hillary Clinton or David Horowitz off the hook. Would you say that it is sectarian to criticize Clinton or Horowitz too? Was Lenin sectarian to criticize the revisionists? Only social democrats think criticism in itself is sectarianism.
If we put ourselves first, then we would pipe down and allow Afakean to get away with attacking oppressed nations. Certainly, piping down would win us more popularity with Amerikans. However, we don’t put ourselves first, we are putting the concerns of the global proletariat first. And, putting their concerns first means calling out imperialists like Horowitz and crypto-imperialists like Afakean. Get it?
MSH is not connected to the group calling itself “MIM.” Whatever criticisms you have of them should be addressed to them, not MSH.
One party that is very clear that the principal contradiction in the world is between imperialism, principally US imperialism, and the oppressed peoples of the world is the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), yet Monkey Smashes Heaven negates them just as much as they negate RCP-USA. Why? After all, the CPN (M) has summarised that they cannot fight all their enemies at once and they are concentrating on overthrowing the monarchy, at this stage. A bit like not taking on imperialists and local fundamentalist reactionaries all at once but forming a United Front against imperialists instead-and fighting the local reactionaries later.
This thread is not for debating the situation in Nepal, please stay on topic in the comment spaces.
It isn’t clear at all to MSH that the “CPN(Maoist)” ever really upheld such a view about the principal contradiction. They claim to be Maoist, we all know that. However, claiming to be Maoist and actually upholding Maoism are two different things. Talk is cheap. Their practice is to affiliate internationally with anti-Maoist forces who clearly do not uphold such a view. The parties that constitute the leading body of their Fourth International, the “RIM,” openly rejected the idea that the principal contradiction is between imperialism and oppressed nations (or oppressed peoples, for that matter). Their affiliated parties in the first world are social fascist and White nationalist parties. They are fraternal with an unsavory organization that believes that the main enemy is the Islamic Republic of Iran, not U$ imperialism. This is their practice. All the opportunists and pigs who populate the so-called internationalist communist movement enabled and encouraged fake-Maoism and social fascism of all varieties. And, for what? Now, their house of cards falls. Look where things are now. Now, the rats scurry from ship to ship. Lesson?
IRTR articulated its position the situation in Nepal many times. MSH continues to uphold IRTR’s overall analysis on the Nepal situation. I, this editor, do not believe that the “CPN(Maoist)” was ever a real Maoist party. Yet it was progressive force during the people’s war.
Semi-feudalism is a mode of production. Focusing exclusively on the question of the monarchy misses the real issues of removing imperialism and semi-feudalism as a mode of production. It is not just MSH that has articulated this kind of criticism, as you know.
Through people’s war, dual power was established and new democratic revolution was being carried out in the countryside. The “CPN(Maoist)” was playing the vanguard role in this process up to the point where it became an agent in reversing the situation in the countryside: allowing the police to re-establish themselves across the country, marching the PLA into camps, disarming, dissolving the people’s institutions, returning land as per SPA and so on. In addition, you are aware of the numerous deals Prachanda was working on with the imperialists that were reported all over the media, and the statements that he put out courting the Indian compradors and undermining people’s war in India. Prachanda clutched defeat from the jaws of victory. It is not clear to MSH that the “CPN(Maoist)” under Prachanda’s leadership is part of the patriotic forces in Nepal. They themselves are the ones liquidating the people’s struggle. The lesson: People’s war must be carried through to the end.
MSH’s predecessor group supported the “CPN(Maoist)” up to a certain point, regardless of their disgusting affiliations and wrecking activity internationally. This should tell you something about our own sectarianism or lack thereof.
The “CPN(M)” appears to have an incorrect position on the principal contradiction. We should not become a cheerleading section for the “CPN(M)” just because it is a nominally “Maoist” organization with some semblance of partial state power.
That said, I also refuse to take a position on whether the “CPN(M)” was ever Maoist. I simply do not know enough to weigh in on that subject. I believe that some sincere Maoists have been associated with the “CPN(M),” but the comprador leadership clearly cannot be called Maoist at this time. I hope that the Maoist forces in Nepal will set up a genuine Maoist party and resume the people’s war.
Self-criticism: I have edited my last comment regarding whether the “CPN(Maoist)” was ever truly Maoist. I was speaking as the editor for MSH, not for MSH or its contributors. I have edited my last comment to reflect that.
My position is that Maoism is revolutionary science in this era. Revolutionary science has advanced since the 1960s and 1970s. A party can’t be considered scientific today if it fails to recognize the basic facts about the global class structure. If a party lacks scientific ability to discern the basic outline of global class structure, even in the most remedial way, then in what sense can it be Maoist? Thinking that the imperialist labor aristocracy is an ally of the oppressed nations is as scientifically wrong as thinking that the imperialist bourgeoisie is. A party that thought the imperialist bourgeoisie to be an ally of the proletariat is not Maoist. A party with such a view of the imperialist labor aristocracy is not.
There are plenty of Mao influenced forces and fans of Mao. Some of them might evolve into Maoist organizations. Perhaps, there was a point at which the “CPN(Maoist)” was on its way to becoming Maoist, but got derailed by revisionists. Maybe, there are Maoists in Nepal. Maoism is more than this just being influenced by Mao. Maoism is revolutionary science and that entails knowing something about global class structure.
LeftyHenry you must be careful.The struggle against revisionism and fake maoism is of great importance nowdays.They are the enemy from within.Remember that the communist movement of the previous century was defeated from them and not from the force of imperialist weapons.To fight against them is to seek the correct strategy for the communist movement and this is fundamental.To have correct ideological and political line theres nothing more important than that.There are many parties that identify themselves as marxist leninist and yet under the pressure of low numbers they start to think that they are sectarist that insist “on matters that are not of the most importance at the time” and begin to abandon the antirevisionist struggle.In reality they bend under the pressure imperialism and its lackey revisionism put on them.The end of this path is usually asimmilation in revisionist parties or even social democracy.i dont mean to offend you as a cryforevisionist but you have to always have in mind that revisionism in many cases is the greatest obstacle for real communist parties to develop.
Sry for spamming.Joseph Ball disarming the people is not to concetrate on defeating monarchy.It is to concetrate on giving a kiss of life to monarchy.There are examples that prove this.