dr.woooo writes:

"Dissonance and Mutations: Theorising Counter-Culture"

David Eden

Could there be a more telling example? The (International) Noise Conspiracy an apparently revolutionary rock band from Sweden, made up of punks-come-mods, steeped in Situationist esqu rhetoric dancing on mainstream music programs in uber-stylish clothes singing "Everything is up for sale"? Is it the ultimate subversion, the recapturing and repositioning of dominant structures of the culture industry and turning them into opposition voices? Or is it the ultimate recuperation, the transformation of expression of alienation and revolt into niche commodities for expanding youth markets, the conversion of dissent into a spectacle of harmless dissent? Counter-culture( especially that based around "youth") is now a fundamental part of the life of global cyber-industrial civilisation. Often critiqued as a past time for middle-class children in Western nations, young ( and not so young) people all over the world participate in counter-culture on deep personal levels. Anecdotal evidence suggests Malaysia has a larger "death metal" scene than Australia.

jim writes " "The Working Class or the Multitude?"

A Debate with Chris Harman and Michael Hardt

"Allies, Who Aren't"

RAMBL (Revolutionary Anarchist Mom and Baby League), April 09, 2003

The radical environmental movement in the US is losing the next generation
of families by labeling family issues as irrelevant and failing to see how
parenting is a part of the revolution and kids are the next revolutionaries.
We're frustrated when the movement for social justice steals our ability as
mothers to continue to work as organizers and artists, while whining that
not enough parents care about social reforms. We're tired of activists
wondering where all the parents are when we're sitting at home with no
money, no transportation and no childcare. That is why we have formed the
Revolutionary Anarchist Mom and Baby League (RAMBL) to address these issues.

nolympics writes
"A Note on the "Euro" Explanation of the War


by
George Caffentzis

The relationship between the euro, the dollar and (in distant third, the
yen) is an important issue for understanding the dynamics of world
capitalism, but it clearly cannot be used in a one-step explanation of the
US/Iraq war.

"The Secret War Machine:

The Missing Link between the Contras and al Qaeda"

Bruce Sterling

It may come as a shock that Vice Admiral John Poindexter has popped up as a
visionary cyberguru for Darpa. Until recently, the former national security
adviser was best known as a convicted conspirator in the late-'80s
Iran-Contra scandal. Poindexter's career move makes sense, though, when you
consider the astonishing prescience of his scheme to fund covert operations
in Central America. The visionary spirit of Iran-Contra never died, and
today it's alive and well and fueling the War on Terror.

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"The Ruling Class:

A Close-Up View From Davos"

Laurie Garrett Mon, 3 Mar 2003 09:19:11 EST




[Laurie Garrett of Newsday -- and author of a great work of contemporary

history, The Coming Plagues -- sent this email to a bunch of her

friends. It got around. Then it got loose. Reportedly she is quite

steamed about it, as well she might be. But it's been circulated to

thousands already...]

"Bush, Greed, God's Millionaires"

John Kenneth Galbraith, TomPaine.com

Unsettling times call for comfort from those experienced in coping with

challenges. Throughout World War II, John Kenneth Galbraith helped Franklin

D. Roosevelt run the economy. Now 95, this venerable veteran of troubled

times, former presidential advisor and speech-writer, ambassador and

longtime Harvard professor, shared his thoughts on the economy and more with

TomPaine.com's Sharon Basco.

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Punk and Autonomia"

[Please note that this is a "work in progress". The author's contact details are below.]

1. Introduction

In 1978 Crass produced a poster that said: "Germany got Bader-Meinhof, England got punk, but they can't kill it." I want to put forward the idea that it is far more analogous to punk to say Italy got Autonomia. 1977 was a year of explosions of creativity amongst sections of youth in England and Italy. In Germany it was a year of repression, of the closing of space. This contemporaneity triggers questions about potential similarities but also masks huge differences between the Italian movement of '77 and the emergence of punk rock in Britain. Punk's emergence at the heart of the Anglo-American music industry ensured the rapid dissemination of its innovations and a widespread and enduring influence. The Autonomia movement's roots however lay in a much more heated and sophisticated political environment. The Italian Communist Party (PCI) of the 1970's was the largest outside the Communist block and had a sphere of influence in the country way beyond the ranks of its members. Through the influence of the writings of Antonio Gramsci, it had developed a relatively sophisticated political culture. The development of autonomist thought out of and against this culture led to a "thorough rethinking of Marxist theory and the more systematic creation of new theoretical paradigms"(De Angelis, 1993). This highly theorised movement developed a far reaching analysis of the autonomous struggles that came to the fore in the cycle of struggles of the sixties. Also important to note is the foundational role that orthodox Italian Marxism had on the development of Cultural Studies as a discipline. Of particular note is the influence that Antonio Gramsci's ideas on the autonomy of the political had on the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. This legacy is still discernable today. A politics developed in and against this influential political culture has the potential to be of more than incidental interest. In section two I outline the main ideas of autonomist marxism in relation to the social struggles from which they developed. In section three I consider how these ideas can help us understand punk. I conclude in section four.

From the New Statesman, London, England:

"The Weird Men Behind George W Bush's War"
Michael Lind, New Statesman

America's allies and enemies alike are baffled. What is going on in the
United States? Who is making foreign policy? And what are they trying to
achieve? Quasi-Marxist explanations involving big oil or American capitalism
are mistaken. Yes, American oil companies and contractors will accept the
spoils of the kill in Iraq. But the oil business, with its Arabist bias, did
not push for this war any more than it supports the Bush administration's
close alliance with Ariel Sharon. Further, President Bush and Vice-President
Cheney are not genuine "Texas oil men" but career politicians who, in
between stints in public life, would have used their connections to enrich
themselves as figureheads in the wheat business, if they had been residents
of Kansas, or in tech companies, had they been Californians.

jim writes:

"The War That May End the Age of Superpower"

Henry C.K. Liu (05.04.2003)

The United States, like ancient Rome, is beginning to be
plagued by the limits of power. This fact is tactically
acknowledged by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard B Myers that the war
plan should not be criticized by the press because it has
been framed in a diplomatic and political context, not merely
pure military considerations in a vacuum. They say that it
is the best possible war plan politically, though it may be
far from full utilization of US military potential. America's
top soldier has criticized the uniformed officer corps for
expressing dissent that seriously undermines the war effort.
Such criticism is characterized by Myers as "bearing no
resemblance to the truth", counterproductive and harmful
to US troops in the field.