a

MARXISM TODAY:

slat

 Aweek with
Quebec students

ag Occasion of the inter-univer-
in April Osophy Week at Laval early
Ziket a. the student philosophy maga-

ergences. put out a special is-
Marxism. Contributors from
fe Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres,
ory and ity dealt with aspects of the-
Quebec with Marxist interpretation of
issy reality. The introduction to the

© follows:

“Tt
Unn Would be pretentious, not to say

as. to think that we could
enon ie the Marxist pheno-
ave soy me few reflections .. . We
aspects oo t rather to focus on some
ainly ee Marxist thought, dwelling
Preg in thie Marxist fact as it is ex-
Sed in Quebec.

presysection on Marxism in Quebec
Politica) ss reflection on our social,
ism in oe economic situation. Marx-
Of the act is coming forward as one
lems Peete solutions to real prob-
Ome “Sis we first of all must be-
laboratinn We await more developed
ees by Quebec economists,
UP to th, S and politicians. But it is
tion of €-philosopher to: pose the ques-
Protect Man and the Quebec man, to
Situation, Normative vision of our real
XDerien: in terms of aspirations and

Nces being lived through by all.

ST i
Dieses sense, Marxist thought and
Snotiens Quebec are not a passing
ieee that in a facile way can
a issed as a ‘fashion’ or ‘fad’ of
foryy Incorrigibles. Marxism comes
to bear witness of our social

Situatj
Probleme and its radicalization’ of
tion . US invites the lucid considera-

n :

ane a commitment of all. One doubt-

S0cialigt: not have to be a Marxist or
; let us advance other solutions

a
that ey answer the question
a xs Social commitment required by
Oph
volver Peper or scientist: it also in-
Cinema € artist. Does not a militant
ere it Open the way to other arts?
Ception | Se not a question of a con-
Vision 6f art only, but of a concrete
an Wha Society and of ‘socialized’
Make < Te everything contributes to
Omething more’ possible for all.

EO;
how 1 the other hand, we must know

WwW ‘
terme? Te-read’ a body of thought in

"AND SO ALSO. WILL HIS. WORK!"—F. ENGELS

Reflen te its whole impact on reality.
haps ae on Marxian ‘praxis’ will per-
ivory.to ake a new demand on our
their hea philosophers: to measure
;, “inking in its relation to action...

Bion Hee of, Marx’s critique of reli-
ection also very relevant for our re-
ctor oe Quebec where the religious
Breat S played and still plays such

Society role in the evolution of our

a line let us recall that Marxism is
Calls 2 thought whose very actuality
SoM transformation. There is talk
Yond | oe This invites us to go
future oe els and reckon with life. The
More al} Marxism in Quebec implies a
“embracing prospective, which

ot a matter only for the philo-

is that of the future of Quebec, and of
man in Quebec and the world.”

Stanley B. Ryerson, editor of Hori- -

zons and director of Centre de Re-
cherches Marxistes de Montreal parti-
cipated in the philosophy week with a
paper on Marxist interpretation of con-
temporary problems. The following are
extracts from this address.

“A Marxist interpretation of Quebec
reality allows us to think through
afresh the over-all situation of French
Canada: in terms,. not of a mere, ‘lin-
guistic group’ (Mr. Trudeau’s favorite
expression) nor of a juggling with pro-
vincial (and. provincialist) jurisdic-
tions, but in terms of social structure,
of class and nation... ;

“At a Laval seminar of 1966 on
‘Power in French Canadian Society’ re-
ference was made to ‘two conflicting
trends’ in the industrial economy: tow-
ards political democratization on the
one hand, and to concentration of eco-
nomic power, of industrial-commercial.
property on the other... the case be-
ing cited of the International Paper
Company, possessing ‘the structure of
a political empire’. In the pulp and
paper industry some 21,000 workers
account annually for a- newly-created
value of $334 million; after deducting
$116 million in wages and salaries one
is left with a surplus of $218 million
as the annual gift of the workers to
the Company. All the mystification
about out ‘technological’ and ‘post-in-
dustrial’ society cannot change the
fact of its exploitive character — the

‘source of both social and national op-

pression.
“Mr, Trudeau’s so-called theory of

‘functional politics’ is dedicated to

. making the big business system func-

tion ‘as smoothly as possible’. Despite
his proclaimed principles of ‘going
against the stream’, the stream he
seems not to go against is that of
Anglo-Canadian dominance and the
rule of the capitalist monopolies ...

“The real current of democratization
of our society (80 percent of whose
members are employees and wage
workers) is that which combines the
demands for national rights and social
economic advance. It points in the
direction of a radical restructuring of
the sociak order. ‘Maitres chez nous,’
in Quebec means these two things,
historically speaking:

e “The ultimate take-over by the
working community of hand and brain,
in town and countryside, of the means
of large-scale production: and

e “Fulfillment of the principle of
national self-determination through es-

tablishment of a sovereign Quebec —

state, free of the stranglehold of U.S.
and Anglo-Canadian monopoly: a state
whose relations with English Canada
will be decided freely (for the first
time in history) by the Quebec nation
itself. The latter, in order to be able
to negotiate on a fully equal footing,
must enjoy a sovereignty that is the
precondition alike of national dignity
and socio-economic emancipation.”

MARX
150th Anniversary Week
HORIZONS Research presents:

Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m. at St. Lawrence Hall

"The Young Marx and the Young Generation"

Professor Howard L. Parsons, University of
Bridgeport, Conn.,
panelists:
Stanley Gray (McGill)
D. Goldstick (Carleton)
Peggy Morton (New Left Committee)
C. Boylan (editor, SCAN), chairman

Tuesday, May 7, 8 p.m. Lord Simcoe Hotel
"Marxism and Democracy"—a symposium

: with Brewster Kneen, journalist and broadcaster

‘A. Dhrlik, Ist secretary, Embassy of Czechoslovakia

S. B. Ryerson, editor of HORIZONS, author of just
published sunequel Union"

Rae Murphy, editor, Canadian Tribune, chairman

Friday, May 10, 8 p.m., King Edward Hotel
"U.S. Economy and World Economy"

Victor Perlo, N.Y. economist

"U.S. Monopoly and Canada”
T. Buck, chairman of the Communist Party
E. Bjarnason, Vancouver economist, chairman

Admission Tuesday and Friday: $1.00
Sunday: voluntary donation

APRIL 26, 1968—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7

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