>>> Hugh Rodwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 01/12 7:56 a completely false wedge driven between Engels the primitive simpleton (Marx's dupe, fall-guy and bankroller all in one) _______ Charles: On this thread, sometimes it seems to be the reverse: Marx as genius but dupe of Engels. Engels is usually portrayed as vulgar materialist along with Lenin, but here they are calling him an idealist and theologian. I think a root of this is anti-Leninism. It is hard to get Lenin out of it without throwing out Engels too, as they did most of the work on the philosophical issues in dispute on this thread. The bourgeois universities will tolerate "Marxism" as long as it is not Leninism. In fact, they like to have "Marxism" in a cage to study it to oppose it more effectively. Charles I ________ _____ What's more all our worthies forgot that Marx and Engels frequently point out that revolutionary materialism smuggles its own concept of matter into the Hegelian concept of God. Or in reality, don't smuggle it in but declare openly that this concept of matter stands Hegel's idealism on its feet, transforming it into a powerful combatant in the revolutionary struggle. I think also that a lot of all this confusion springs from the failure to come to terms with Stalinism as a consistently and comprehensively reactionary and treacherous leadership and mass political tendency and set of social institutions. Any attempt to define dialectical materialism that considers Stalinist products as prima facie Marxist contributions is hoping to grow pineapples outdoors at the south pole. It may well be the case that people working in Stalinist institutions have produced useful stuff -- Lukacs himself is a case in point if you use the right radiation tongs and protective clothing -- but this must be judged in the light of the genuine Marxist-Leninist tradition and not the Stalinist perversion of it. Cheers, Hugh
>>> Hugh Rodwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 01/12 7:56 a completely false wedge driven between Engels the primitive simpleton (Marx's dupe, fall-guy and bankroller all in one) _______ Charles: On this thread, sometimes it seems to be the reverse: Marx as genius but dupe of Engels. Engels is usually portrayed as vulgar materialist along with Lenin, but here they are calling him an idealist and theologian. I think a root of this is anti-Leninism. It is hard to get Lenin out of it without throwing out Engels too, as they did most of the work on the philosophical issues in dispute on this thread. The bourgeois universities will tolerate "Marxism" as long as it is not Leninism. In fact, they like to have "Marxism" in a cage to study it to oppose it more effectively. Charles I ________ _____ What's more all our worthies forgot that Marx and Engels frequently point out that revolutionary materialism smuggles its own concept of matter into the Hegelian concept of God. Or in reality, don't smuggle it in but declare openly that this concept of matter stands Hegel's idealism on its feet, transforming it into a powerful combatant in the revolutionary struggle. I think also that a lot of all this confusion springs from the failure to come to terms with Stalinism as a consistently and comprehensively reactionary and treacherous leadership and mass political tendency and set of social institutions. Any attempt to define dialectical materialism that considers Stalinist products as prima facie Marxist contributions is hoping to grow pineapples outdoors at the south pole. It may well be the case that people working in Stalinist institutions have produced useful stuff -- Lukacs himself is a case in point if you use the right radiation tongs and protective clothing -- but this must be judged in the light of the genuine Marxist-Leninist tradition and not the Stalinist perversion of it. Cheers, Hugh --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
