Yves Smith and Rob Urie: Biden Visits Hitler’s Bunker, Sends for a Decorator: Israel and Ukraine Edition

Yves Smith reposts Rob Urie: Biden Visits Hitler’s Bunker, Sends for a Decorator: Israel and Ukraine Edition.

In almost two years of attrition warfare, the Russians managed to keep the number of civilian deaths in Ukraine to 10,000. With upwards of 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed, the Russians are conspicuously engaged in a targeted state-vs-state battle. In the month since the Hamas attacks of October 7^th, the Israelis have killed 10,569 civilians, and possibly a few hundred Hamas soldiers. What the Israelis are doing in Gaza isn’t warfare, it is the extermination of a civilian population. This fits the exterminationist impulse of the Zionist-Right in Israel. If the Biden administration believes that what Israel is doing in Gaza is in any way constructive, the world has a problem.

The US is now reportedly telling (substantially destroyed) Ukraine that it is time to negotiate with Russia. This is 10,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths, 400,000 Ukrainian military deaths, and at least two negotiated settlements between Ukraine and Russia that were put on ice by the Americans, too late. The same adult infants who ‘managed’ this fiasco from the American side are now in charge of US-Israel policy. The only possible worse scenario would have been to have Hillary Clinton— the butcher of Libya, in the White House.

The idea that this is all going to work out because ‘fortress America’ misses that the US is rapidly, and deservedly, becoming a pariah state. Adult infant Blinken is now passing warm gas about a ‘two-state solution’ while Israel exterminates one of the two states he claims to be endorsing. And why would Israel care what Blinken has to say? Joe Biden just assured the Israelis that they can exterminate the entire Middle East and he ‘has their back.’ What a farce. And don’t forget those nuclear weapons.

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Urie has some bias here as he believes the West lured Russia into invading Urkraine. The number of Ukrainian deaths is speculative at this stage as the Ukranian government has kept these figures very secretive.

USA is not any danger of being irrelevant in the modern world with other 900 military bases worldwide and navies in every ocean. What is in danger is the absolute hegemony that teh USA has exercised since 1991. The USD is still the world reserve currency and there is no immediate possibility of it being replaced this decade.

The USA hegemony is being diluted by BRICS+. China continues to grow its economy, naval forces, presence in space, and diplomacy. Russia has survived twelve (12) sets of sanctions so far. India continues to go its own way. Brazil is back to developing its independence from US influence. The actions of the US government seems to be driving the growth of BRICS+.

The diplomatic isolation of the US and Israel does not faze them as they know that the US military force and economic power are unmatched currently. China is not a direct threat to the USA. China is creating enough military forces to deter the US from attacking.

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Jörn Schütrumpf and Rosa Luxemburg: The Breakdown of Unity in the RSDLP

Jörn Schütrumpf discusses Rosa Luxemburg: The Breakdown of Unity in the RSDLP.

Lenin, by the way, was not innovative at all in this work. He merely repeated positions advocated by Marx and Engels 60 years earlier. By contrast, in 1922, three years after Rosa Luxemburg’s death, Lenin became quite enterprising and joined the list of male authors (other genders have probably signed up since) who hide behind Rosa Luxemburg quotes that they themselves made up: “‘German Social-Democracy has been a stinking corpse since 4 August 1914’ — this statement will make Rosa Luxemburg’s name go down in the history of the international working-class movement.’”

Although it is obvious that a Polish intellectual would never allow herself to come across in such a “Russian” way, unfortunately we must acknowledge that Lenin’s forgery was a successful one. Rosa Luxemburg has in fact gone down in history with this mindless nonsense, and on a global scale at that. Poor Rosa.

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Schütrumpf obviously sides with Luxemburg against Lenin. Schütrumpf and Luxemburg accuses Leninism of promoting fractionalism. Schütrumpf argues that Lenin has defamed Luxemburg in order to deflect Luxemburg's accusation.

Rosa Luxemburg writes:

Experience had convinced the overwhelming majority of Bolsheviks that the Leninist policy of organizational withdrawal into a narrow circle was extremely conducive to opportunism and detrimental to the revolutionary wing of Social Democracy: instead of attaining commanding influence over the whole party and rally it behind them, the Bolsheviks erect a factional wall that cuts them off from the party, thus condemning themselves to impotence.

Lenin’s organizational views, which had been swept from the face of Russian Social Democracy by the revolution and by the restoration of party unity, could only thrive again in an atmosphere of party disintegration, generated by the counterrevolution in general and by the liquidators in the ranks of the party in particular. Leninism, in its narrowness and with its sectarian organizational views, knows no other means of combating opportunism than to expel from the party anyone who disagrees. This is why Leninism is by its nature a policy of perpetual splits.

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When Luxemburg wrote this (1912), Lenin and the Bolsheviks were indeed swept from the vanguard of the revolutionary movement. It was only after the July days in 1917 that Lenin was able to lead the Bolsheviks to the forefront of the revolutionary movement. Between July and October 1917, the Bolsheviks emerged as the face of the revolution. The other revolutionary factions had faded or merged them selves into the Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP (especially Trotsky).

Luxemburg concludes (in July 1912):

The reunification of Social Democracy into one single party at the Stockholm Party Congress was the product and achievement of the 1905–6 revolution. Like many other accomplishments of the proletariat, this fruit of the revolution was wrested from us by the triumph of counterrevolution. The liquidationist tendency emerged and grew stronger under the impact of counterrevolution; mindless Leninism also thrived again, and the two tendencies have together brought about the collapse of party unity.

But now, a revolutionary movement has arisen among the working masses. And this movement is the surest guarantor of the imminent resurrection of the RSDLP under the banner of revolutionary Marxism.

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Luxemburg's hope were dashed by the events of 1917. Factions and persons that seemed revolutionary prior to 1917 faded or failed to maintain or adjust their revolutionary positions in reaction to the progress of the Russian Revolution.

Because of her murder during the German Revolution of 1918–1919, we don't know if Luxemburg would have reconsidered her position on Leninism in the aftermath of the October Revolution. If the German Revolution had succeeded, and a German Soviet Republic managed to survived, it is more likely the focus of the worldwide Communism would be in Berlin rather than in Moscow. Luxemburg's opinions would then have more weight than Lenin's.

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Seth Godin: The paradigm flip

Seth Godin discusses The paradigm flip.

Not all paradigms flip. Often, humanity is stuck with a culturally-entrenched system that’s difficult to change. But when we see an opportunity to contribute, the hard work is being willing to walk away from our reliance on how things were instead of simply trying to make a small shift happen.

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One can see Capitalism as a paradigm. It permeates everywhere: economics, politics, religion, philosophy, culture, etc. So extensive is this paradigm, many people can not see the influence of Capitalism in how they act and think about the world. Capitalism dominates the objective and subjective reality for many people.

This is why the consciousness of the working class is the paramount arena for the struggle for a better world. It is up to us to patiently explain that the discontent and suffering that workers feel is due to Capitalism. We offer an alternative in Socialim.

Change is scary. Revolution is especially so. There is comfort in the status quo despite the personal costs. The Capitalist ideologues reinforce this inertia by continually asserting that 'Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried". This assertion is difficult to counteract given the collapse of the USSR and the ongoing poverty and underdevelopment of current Socialist states (Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, and Laos).

The case against 'Socialism with Chinese Characteristics' is not mentioned by Capitalism ideologues. They prefer to attribute the success of China to authoritarism, possibly bolstering their arguments for authoritarian regimes in their own countries.

The Chinese Party of China (CPC) is trying to use state capitalism to develop their economy while maintaining the facade of a Socialist state. The local communities have direct democracy while higher levels are filled by what the CPC maintains is a meritocracy. The CPC calls this 'participatory democracy'. I do not know enough to further comment on this.

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Cara Ocobock and Sarah Lacy: The Theory That Men Evolved to Hunt and Women Evolved to Gather Is Wrong

Cara Ocobock and Sarah Lacy contend that The Theory That Men Evolved to Hunt and Women Evolved to Gather Is Wrong.

Males living in the Upper Paleolithic—the cultural period between roughly 45,000 and 10,000 years ago, when early modern humans entered Europe—do show higher rates of a set of injuries to the right elbow region known as thrower's elbow, which could mean they were more likely than females to throw spears. But it does not mean women were not hunting, because this period is also when people invented the bow and arrow, hunting nets and fishing hooks. These more sophisticated tools enabled humans to catch a wider variety of animals; they were also easier on hunters' bodies. Women may have favored hunting tactics that took advantage of these new technologies.

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I am confused here: are women equal to men in hunting because of physiology or technology? The authors do not appear to understand the spectrum of hunting. Hunting is far more than killing animals. There are several strategies for hunting:

• Laying traps (passive or active): anyone, including children, can lay a passive trap in which an animal traps itself. An active trap involves driving animals into a killing zone like over a cliff or to where other hunters are waiting to strike. Both of these can involve both genders. However, an active trap increases the risk of severe injury or death for the hunters and would not be suitable for women with children in tow.
• Tracking and killing herbivorves: these animals graze in packs and will usually run if spooked. I doubt hunting with young children in tow would be wise as a screaming match could erupt at any moment. Some of these animals can defend themselves by charging at predators. Again, hunting these kinds of animals puts children and mothers at risk.
• Tracking and killing carnivorves: these animals tend to solitary or live in small packs. Humans were more prey to these animals before the acquisition of more sophisticated tools. Even with these tools, the risk of serious injury or death remains high.

Overall, hunting involves high risk of serious risk or death in most activities. Even though physiology and technology allows women to hunt, these risks to hunters can reduce the survivability of the group by removing women from reproduction.

What is more, females and males were buried in the same way in the Upper Paleolithic. Their bodies were interred with the same kinds of artifacts, or grave goods, suggesting that the groups they lived in did not have social hierarchies based on sex.

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This does not indicate a gender differentiation between hunting and gathering. It just means that genders were seen as equal in status.

Ancient DNA provides additional clues about social structure and potential gender roles in ancestral human communities. Patterns of variation in the Y chromosome, which is paternally inherited, and in mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited, can reveal differences in how males and females dispersed after reaching maturity. Thanks to analyses of DNA extracted from fossils, we now know of three Neandertal groups that engaged in patrilocality—wherein males were more likely to stay in the group they were born into and females moved to other groups—although we do not know how widespread this practice was.

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This data is very limited (three (3) groups) and applies to Neanderthals. Whether this can be extended to Homo Sapiens is speculation at this stage. As all research papers conclude, more study is needed. If these results do hold for Homo Sapiens, patrilocality increases the likelihood of a patriarchy. Thus, the idea that hunter gathers were predominately matriarchical would have to die. And then we can no longer blame agriculture for the introduction of patriarchy. Something else must have caused the migration from matriarchy to patriarchy.

Patrilocality is believed to have been an attempt to avoid incest by trading potential mates with other groups. Nevertheless, many Neandertals show both genetic and anatomical evidence of repeated inbreeding in their ancestry. They lived in small, nomadic groups with low population densities and endured frequent local extinctions, which produced much lower levels of genetic diversity than we see in living humans. This is probably why we don't see any evidence in their skeletons of sex-based differences in behavior. For those practicing a foraging subsistence strategy in small family groups, flexibility and adaptability are much more important than rigid roles, gendered or otherwise. Individuals get injured or die, and the availability of animal and plant foods changes with the seasons. All group members need to be able to step into any role depending on the situation, whether that role is hunter or breeding partner.

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A higher population density increases the likelihood of human survivability through increased genetic diversity. This is the reason that the adoption of agriculture was so successful.

Later on, the authors write:

So much about female exercise physiology and the lives of prehistoric women remains to be discovered. But the idea that in the past men were hunters and women were not is absolutely unsupported by the limited evidence we have. Female physiology is optimized for exactly the kinds of endurance activities involved in procuring game animals for food. And ancient women and men appear to have engaged in the same foraging activities rather than upholding a sex-based division of labor. It was the arrival some 10,000 years ago of agriculture, with its intensive investment in land, population growth and resultant clumped resources, that led to rigid gendered roles and economic inequality.

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The authors repeat the theory that agriculture gave rise to class society, and, by implication, patriarchy. However, as I wrote above, the existence of patrilocality prior to agriculture may break the causality chain of agriculture to patriarchy.

References

• Ocobock, Cara, and Lacy, Sarah (2023). The Theory That Men Evolved to Hunt and Women Evolved to Gather Is Wrong, Scientific American 329, 4, 22-29 (November 2023) doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1123-22

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Jim McIlroy: Unionists for Palestine get organised, endorse call to boycott ZIM

Jim McIlroy reports that Unionists for Palestine get organised, endorse call to boycott ZIM.

Joe Deakin, a veteran leader of the MUA, said: “We are dealing with a ruthless capitalist system in this war. The MUA has always stood up to our rulers against war and oppression. We need to stand up for Palestine together. International solidarity is crucial right now.”

Delegates and activists during discussion elaborated on how they were building solidarity with the people of Gaza in their unions.

The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and a coalition of all major Palestinian unions and professional associations have called on unions and workers worldwide to boycott Israel and businesses that are complicit with its apartheid regime.

The international effort is called #BlockTheBoat. ZIM, the Israeli shipping line, in the development of the Israeli war machine has been relentless. It is a major transporter of weapons of mass destruction.

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We should support the BDS Movement as a non-violent way to stop the genocide of the Palestinians by the Israeli state.

An even better way is to replace Capitalism with Communism. But this is not possible at present.

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Daniel Little: Brecht on Galileo on science

Daniel Little discusses Brecht on Galileo on science.

In this section of the play, then, Brecht breaks with a common narrative about the Galileo story: the pure and rational scientist who is forced to change his beliefs by an unthinking and authoritarian Church. In that story the scientist is the isolated individual courageously pursuing the truth for its own sake, and the Church is an authoritarian structure which is the antithesis of intellectual freedom. Instead, Brecht tells a more complicated story. It is not just the question of recanting "unacceptable" beliefs; it is the question of devoting one's scientific talents in service to the rich and powerful. Galileo's [Brecht's] fundamental critique is that "science" is allied with "the ruling class".

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Science is part of the Ideological State Appartus (ISA) just as religion and mass media are. These are used by the ruling class to justify the status quo.

When the Capitalist class splits as in the Climate Change Crisis, science then becomes the battleground. This is why scientists are being attacked for their conclusions about Climate Change. Their conclusions threaten the existing status quo.

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