Russia Today Interviews Raymond Lotta
Posted by Mike E on January 6, 2010
Raymond Lotta is on a national speaking tour promoting the RCP‘s view of revolution and communism. The online newspaper Russia Today conducted the following interview. (Thanks to Richard Stark for pointing this out.)
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Radical-Eyes said
In terms of substance this is good. He covers a lot in these eleven minutes.
We need more break-throughs like this.
What kind of a venue is Russia Today, anyway? And what does it tell us about the state of the discussion in Russia today that a revolutionary communist is able to get an in-depth and relatively friendly interview like this?
In terms of style, though: Lotta needs to work on literally keeping his head more steady in these talking head contexts.
Mike E said
let’s examine and unravel the content of Lotta’s interview.
On one level, this interview is obviously positive — someone is arguing passionately and unapologetically for and communism. Who can argue with that?!
That is rare, and it is positive.
Both Lotta and Sunsara are rather good at this kind of thing (articulate, animated, engaging, rational but provocative, not terribly awkward etc.)
* * * * * * *
One of the things that makes this interview bearable is that the Bob-o-meter is dialed down.
Notice: In answer to various questions Ray doesn’t say “We have a leader and this might well make revolution possible in our lifetime, everyone including your listeners in Russia need to know him.”
There is a natural drift away from the cultishness, and then a constant yanking back by Avakian.
(“Enough of me talking about me. What are other people saying about me?”)
Lotta’s recent talks have generally had a tactful proforma nod toward Avakian, seeming to keep it as brief as possible.
* * * * * * *
The RCP is a political trend that doesn’t think anyone in the world but them is doing anything truly revolutionary — and so they don’t even mention the struggles of the people of the world (or struggles in general). The talk is about general oppression and a timeless need for revolution — but the broad oppressed sections of the people (specifically as conscious actors in events) and the conscious forces from the rest of the world (who are actually making revolution) are missing.
In answer to “Is such revolution possible?” Lotta specifically did not say that there are remarkable movements in the world actually seeking to carry through such communist revolution — that are often unknown in the mass media and that are in some cases reaching and speaking for millions. (I.e. India and Nepal etc.)
It makes a case for revolution and communism — almost as detached ideas and ideals. It has an impoverished sense mass line — because there is such an impoverished awareness of how the people are the makers of history.
In other words, while i think it is a positive, coherent, articulate talk… that may reach some people, as a method (or model) I would have to say it betrays a style that is “a message from a bubble” — ideologically disconnected from the people and the times.
Mike E said
RE says above:
I feel more contradictory about it.
For decades, the RCP has seen their media strategies as their weekly printed party newspaper plus some occasional attempts to “break into” the mainstream mass media.
I don’t think that is right. And I don’t think that is a way to eventually reach millions with communist ideas.
It is an approach that really doesn’t comprehend something new in our times — the “new media” transformations that are erupting around us.
“Breaking in” can be done (and has been done in individual moments). But “breaking into” Russia Today is not much of a break into that mainstream media that reaches millions. The fact that we are even talking about this marginal interview betrays how paltry the method has been.
Even when Sunsara appears on Fox’s O’Reilly, (which was always fun) it was a one or two or three time thing… and not much of a strategic road to reach millions.
And this is true even when Sunsara and Ray are obviously much more skilled and engaging than other RCP spokespeople.
It is a worthwhile question: How DO we reach millions?
Certainly I’m not against getting onto the existing mainstream media (and there are more opening than are currently exploited).
But in a strategic way, reaching millions will not happen by a combo of “our own newspaper plus a few media break ins.”
We are part of a communist movement that has not even taken radio seriously in the U.S. (plus little experimentation with DVDs, film documentary work, cable channels, etc.) The RCP in particular has been virtually non-media — just the printed linear newspaper (and some occasional creative exceptions: public service announcements, radical art, MIchael Slate’s radio show in LA…)
But in the main, the RCP has been conceptually stuck in the 19th century. Its exploration of mass media (like TV interviews) have been like all of that party’s other “forays” — periodic, largely amateurish, uncommitted, not particularly strategic, a bit gimmicky and so on.
I believe much of the Left (and the RCP in particular) have not understood the major strategic openings of the new media — digital media, the internet, social networking, alternative information distribution etc. And really, those quite new and strategic openings are where our focus should be. The new media give us (and many other currents) ways to make an end-run around the grim censors of the mainstream media — news shows, record distribution, etc.. (Even as the ruling class scrambles to invent new ways of profit-making, censorship and marginalization in this new world.)
The fact that the RCP shut down any use of youtube for the explosive first years of youtube (and had Avakian’s materials removed, over and over and over from youtube and bit torrent) is just a sign of how hide-bound and uncomprehending they have been.
Even now, after they have posted Avakian’s videos and gotten embarrassingly few hits (typically under a thousand views), they don’t know how to deal with that.
So they have just announced a typical “campaign” promoting Avakian’s online videos “during the week of January 18-25″) Their main leg is to go leaflet for a youbube video — saturating a few neighborhoods with the urls to Avakian’s videos. (They mention “mass campaigns on Facebook,” in passing.)
In form, concept, content and promotion, their political work seems designed NOT to go viral.
Radical-Eyes said
I said, -break THROUGH_ not “break into.”
Certainly I did not mean to suggest that getting ourselves a regularly place on the news-talk show circuit should be a centerpiece of our strategy for reaching millions! :0
Yes, I agree, all in all it would be better to spend our time putting together a series of really excellent–creative, lively, pithy, provocative, but substantive– YouTube videos to circulate, than it would be spend our time “knocking on doors” to get interviewed by Democracy Now! let alone CrossFire…
Mike E said
Sorry, RE, I didn’t intend to put those words in your mouth.
I was responding to the RCP’s various media strategies, not mainly your post. And “break into” is a characterization of THEIR view, not a mangling of your views. (I.e. for the RCP things are so constantly “out there” — unattained but always the target of future imagined leaps.)
In other words: In response to a defacto strategy is “newspaper plus media spots” — I want to argue for a critical summation and radical updating (and not a cheerleading of media appearances by Ray or Sunsara however positive they have sometimes been in themselves).
somewhat anonymous said
it’s a good video overall but it’s odd coming off the “everything you’ve been told about communism is wrong” project that there would be no mention of the reversals in the ussr or china. Also, with the foray into building outside Internet social sites, is there a new summation of http://revcom.us/a/cyber/interpig.htm? It seems all communication devices can monitored (more so now than ever it seems).
somewhat anonymous said
It should be stated that although there was mention of the reversals, I was incorrect, a more than passing mention was needed, especially for the Russian audience.
Timo said
The RCP article to me was bringing up important information but coming to the wrong conclusions. The article basically said that the government can track what you do online, watch your ass. I do think we need to be careful, but the article seemed to have a real lack of support for using these new technologies when possible. It fits into their justification for remaining in the past with the newspaper focus. One must note that if things got really bad with “Cyber-Cointelpro” there are ways around all that. There are inherent risks around doing anything revolutionary on what ever level, but there are always things to do to lessen those risks, and just because something has many very real and serious risks does not mean it shouldn’t be done.
jfsp said
I thought the appearance was quite good. As was written earlier he got a lot in in the time allowed and is a good speaker. Sunsara also speaks well but lets face it who is she going to get interested in Communism while appearing on Fox and his appearance on Russian TV won’t do much but his college tour may produce some results. Lets face it Socialists, Communists and Anarchists get no play in what I might call “Traditional Media”. Alternative Media must be used to introduce people to different political ideas. As for the RCP I will not go into the RCP’s problems as there are to many to discuss here and it would be repetative.
land said
I saw this by accident. It was on something called RIT on a public TV station. Sometimes Democracy Now gets shown. Anyway.
I thought Lotta had a huge opportunity to talk about alot and he just didn’t. It was very dry and he kept talking about communism but he didn’t really answer the questions the woman was asking. He didn’t mention Avakian. I might have missed it I didn’t hear the beginning. He just didn’t say much about what is going on with the people and the world. It was dry. Didn’t talk about the particularities of anything. The woman looked very bored who was interviewing him.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Well, Lotta won’t win any awards for charisma, and what the hell is Russia Today?
But he did make one important point. American capitalism will eventually collapse under its own contradictions. The rest of the world simply won’t sit by while a tiny minority of Americans use a vast majority of the world’s resources. They won’t necessarily become terrorists or even revolutionaries. But they will simply get away with what they can get away with while the authorities aren’t looking. You’ll have black markets. People sneaking the borders. People working under the table without paying taxes. This “passive resistence” in turn will require a level of authoritarian government and brainwashing so absurd as to be unworkable.
And that brings me to my new hero.
Haisong Jiang. Who is he? He’s the man who brought down civil aviation for a whole afternoon because he wanted to kiss his girlfriend goodby at the airport.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/home_of_haisong_jiang_arrested.html
The breach unfolded Sunday evening, when the man slipped under a security ribbon inside Terminal C after a guard briefly left his post. He then entered an area where passengers had been screened. The woman, already in the secure area, greeted him at the ribbon, and after the two shared a kiss, they walked together past the guard’s desk. Authorities have said the man left the terminal about 20 minutes later, after the woman boarded her flight.
In other words, the guy’s a geek (a science grad student). He was “getting some.” He didn’t want to piss of his girlfriend, so he slipped under the security rope. Ha. Ha. Tell me any normal human being wouldn’t have done the same thing.
And what does America look like to the rest of the world, a bit like Dean Wormer yelling “no more fun ever”.
Noa Rodman said
“The woman looked very bored who was interviewing him.”
She always looks like that. She does interviews with people like Immanuel Wallerstein and Bill Ayers (wasn’t that interview posted here somewhere). Her job is to try to make them say how Russia is suffering from American imperialism. So the positive thing in this Lotta interview is found in the absence of such a nod to Russian chauvinism.
Mike E said
Carl Dix interviewed by Russia Today — on relief in Haiti