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NEWS & LETTERS, October-November 2006YouthA space for self-developmentby Brown Douglas Let’s begin with something concrete: we have a Marxist-Humanist Youth Committee, an autonomous group of youth that has no membership requirements to News and Letters Committees for those who want to be involved. The potential for a group like this is expansive; we are very much in control of its direction and goals. We also have the opportunity to create a whole page in the Marxist-Humanist paper NEWS & LETTERS and have full say over its design, organization, and content. Any friends of ours or contacts in the movement are free to contribute their ideas and time to make the page a reflection of what we want it to be. We haven’t yet made this page the space that can be used for our self-development and have not had the discussion with ourselves about what it even means to undergo self-development. It’s crucial to keep in mind that for Marxist-Humanists, self-development of the individual is never seen as separate from an engagement with larger movements, philosophies, and organizations. The self-development we are interested in is one that is individual and subjective and at the same time seeks to universalize itself and bring itself to bear on objective reality. The reason that youth have a page to ourselves in the first place is based in the recognition, seen in the News and Letters Committees Constitution, that "even though the youth are not directly involved in production, they are the ones whose idealism in the finest sense of the word combines with opposition to existing adult society in so unique a way that it literally brings them alongside the workers as builders of the new society" (CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS OF NEWS & LETTERS COMMITTEESS, page 4). It is this very idealism that can make us "thought-divers" who are unafraid to dig deeply into ideas as we try to work out ways to create that new human society we are for. The many debates, tendencies, and groups that youth take part in show not only a thirst for expression, but a thirst for philosophy. Not necessarily philosophy as it’s taught in a classroom, but philosophy as a total view, a way to view the world that is at the same time the ground for changing it. The creation of non-hierarchal, non-sexist, and radically democratic forms of organization and activism is a beginning and example of this searching for philosophy. As a way of developing this beginning so that it does not stop at forms of organization, we need to include debates and contentious ideas on our page, if it is to be a space for development in preparation for revolution. I want to note Raya Dunayevskaya’s most prevalent critique of the 1960s youth movements. Historically, radical youth activism during the 60s was at a point never before achieved, starting with the Civil Rights Movement and moving to the Free Speech and anti-Vietnam War movements. Dunayevskaya’s critique was that most youth believed that theory could be encountered "en route," that is that just by taking part in protests and radical action would they be able to draw sufficient conclusions and concepts from their direct experience. While activism is crucial, shortcuts based on activity alone cut off the reaching for philosophy that takes place when we oppose the present order. Seeking out theory and philosophy is a way to complete our development so as to present something total instead of a partial opposition or negation to oppressive reality. It indicates a view in which human capacities—mental and manual—cannot be separate as they are pushed to be under capitalism. In order to successfully work towards overthrowing this alienating, sexist, racist, homophobic, capitalist society, we in the News and Letters Youth Committee feel it is crucial to heed Marx’s advice by engaging in "ruthless criticism of all that exists, ruthless both in the sense of not being afraid of the results it arrives at and in the sense of being just as little afraid of conflict with the powers that be" (letter from Karl Marx to Arnold Ruge, September 1843). We invite participation from all those who feel this need to critique all that exists—including the shortcomings within our movements and thought, and the oppressive society we live in—as we oppose this society with the view of building a new, truly human society that we are for. |
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