What are we reading lately

[umberto rossi]

In data 29 May 2004, verso le 17:34, Paul Mackin si trovò a scrivere 
su Re: What are we reading lately:

> Of course those folks were much tougher than we
> 21st Century softies. The Anabaptists are the 24fps Collective? Or any any
> other Left in disarray? 

Muntzer's theology was strongly anti-authoritarian. There is a 
wonderful philosophical essay about it by a heretic Marxist 
philosopher, whose surname is Bloch but whose name I can't remember 
(Marc comes to my mind, but that's the French historian, not the 
German philosopher). The title of the essay is Das Prinzip Hoffnung 
or something like that. Or was it Thomas Muntzer &c.? My god, what a 
Dickian memory!

> Wonder if it was (like Pynchon sez) a case of the Anabaptists and the
> peasants not being able to get together. But unlike the modern parallel
> the peasants DID stage a revolt.

There were widespread peasant revolts in the 1520s... Luther opposed 
them, Muntzer supported them. Luther was loved by many German 
princes, Muntzer was hated by both Catholics and Lutherans... go 
tell.

> Maybe the Anabaptists could be the Environmental Movement. They tended to
> believe that the end of the world was nigh.

I don't know how strong could be the eschatological component in 
Muntzer's theology. But what happened is that his followers didn't 
simply wait for the end of the world, but tried to stage the End of 
Oppression. As for the Environmental Movement, being an 
Environmentalist of sorts myself, I might tell you Environmentalism 
doesn't like the idea that the end of the world is nigh, but would 
like to avoid it.

umberto rossi
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