last days?

its unusual in my experience that an event like marxism 2011 should end on a monday but it did with essentially a short day.its a pity we cant yet celebrate the end of capitalism with something better,but events like m2011 are envigorating.

i did not want it to end not just because of the enregising impact of its formal cotent but also because of its genuine atmosphere of festival,which i hope we will carry into making revolution as a festival of the oppressed to open the door to making the better world we deserve.

i also particularly miss the general atmosphere of comtadeship and that everyone even strangers could open a conversation with the greeting of "comrade".i ahd a number of interesting discussions and in the particular discussions i found myself in discovered lots of commonalities and a great deal of personal support.i made a number of new friends and comrades.

yet i run ahead of myself a little.

i made myself get up early to attend the session on rosa luxemburg.although this did not cover new material for me,the speaker was impressive although no matter how hard she tried sjhhe was unable to pack it all in to such a limited time.the discussion took off covering a lot of the relevance of luxemburg to today,downplaying difference with lenin but also reclaiming her from many of the distortions elsewhere in the commuynity interested in luxemburg.i was abkle to contribute to the discussion,to which i might return later in another posting.billed as a booklaunch,i was only dissappointed that the book was not available until the eraly autumn when i hope to write more about it.

i then attended a lecture on walter benjamin.his work is so complex and abstruse that any presentation would be difficult.i took notes from a dense but fine presentation,that in some respects stressed that benjamin was working during a very dark time of defeat yet still able to be optimistic about a workers revolutionary future.

this makes it particularly stark that as a german jew escaping fascism he committed suicide at the border of spain or portugal when the border was closed just at the time of his arrival.

i will be rediscovering benjamin when i can.there is swoc much to do.

i did not attend the final rally or closing party,so i regret i cannot comment.i spent the last few moments of my M2011 experience talkimng with a new friend and comrade with whom i am now regularly in contact

that takes me to where i opened this contribution i thinl.i want to go on to talk a little more about the more informal aspects of the event.

i look forward to next year.i only hope there will be no clash with the olympics that would "hold up"this event.to heel with the olympics