9 March 2011
[Terrible machine translation but I think you can get the drift. This article looks at how Gaddafi attempted to overcome tribalism and ultimately failed largely because he failed to industrialize the country sufficiently to create a sizable industrial, organized working class to counter the force of the tribes. Patrimony, where power radiates out from the centre via direct links to the separate tribal heads, each with its own sectarian interests to protect. Gaddafi tried to buy them all off with oil and then his ‘direct democracy’ model which also failed. Worse still, the fool banned trade unions! What a contradiction.
The point is, the media have done a hatchet job on Gaddafi and his accomplishments, so now it’s impossible to have a serious conversation on the subject, he’s been demonized and dismissed by the Empire and in the process the real Libya has been replaced by the Empire’s Disneyfied version of the country.
I’m trying to get hold of a better translation but even so I think it’s worth checking out. Here’s the link to the original Russian edition. The Ed]
A book recommendation: ‘The Return of the Public’ By Dan Hind. Verso Books, London 2010.
The New Dark Age 