Ian blurps out!
Reminding everybody that he defends this utopian bullshit of Mezaro which is
completely outside of history and class struggle that appears to be trendy in certain
parts of the left today. And I agree with Hugh that this is not new but based in early
Russian anarchism. Allbut I tend to lean towards them being followers of Rasputin!
Just a modern supermarket presentation...
> The past is valuable regardless of allegiances. Mistakes are valuable if we
> learn from them. What I was referring to is some of the more totemistic,
> charismatic styles of thinking and writing that socialist movements have
> been plagued with, which Meszaros' article is blissfully free of.
> Trotskyist groups, for example (and only an example), are a source of lots
> of ideas and experiences (I don't know whether you could speak of great
> "successes" -eg, Mandel's writings, value-form school) but some of them
> (here Sparticists come quickly to mind) operate as though they were some
> sort of secular religion. We can do without worship (or vilification) of
> Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao, etc.
Well the problem is that people have not learned from history and that is why we are
in the position we find ourselves today. And there is a bit of the "totemistic" in all
of us note we all claim to subscribe to Marx and his thinking. But the real problem
comes when we come to those who put Marxism to work in living reality. And the ICL
certainly is not religous but defends the politics and program of Trotsky which they
believe is the only way out of the mire. You my friend will sooner or later have to
produce a program, tactics, history and ideology that can be proved supierior.
Wailing about changing the human brain just won't do it..
I also note that many of our intellectuals today want to drag Marx Lenin and Trotsky
down with the same boat as Stalin. Well, Stalin and Stalinism are responsible for what
has happened and it hardly has anything to do with the first three.And unlike our
petty bourgeos intellectuals who have arrived at what we call in Sweden the "du" stage
we and workers should be proud of our past leaders...
By the way it is interesting that Stalin worshipping seems to be coming back in
certain parts of the ex SU and east block countries. But hardly as in the past. Today
the cry is "It was better in the old days" and they are absolutely correct despite the
Stalinists! Just replace the picture of Stalin with a hotdog...And a whole lot of
social gains that held up thie bureaucracy and you got it..
I see not only the utopian petty bourgois frenxy of "hope" (almost religous by the
way) as they head into outer space but deep down inside their despair and woe is me
crap..In fact many intellectuals whom followed Stalin had the same position that the
dirty working class ain't shit compared to the Stalinist bureaucracy. Meaning
concretely that the basic fundamentals of the working class being the only social
force capable of doing the job is left behind for all kinds of utopian garbage and
even more important multi class formations!
Revolutions dn't just happen they are made by classes and not intellecxtuals doing a
seperating the mind from the body circle jerk! Maybe Hugh's makes the wrong
comparison. How bout Rasputin Hugh? He was in to a lot of heady stuff.
Buy the way the school principle yesterday announced at a mass gathering of students
that Bob will be employed another year at school. This only after being confronted
with all the students threatening a strike or riot in school on Friday which would
have been my last day.. Two minutes later in my office she screamed at me. "Bob, we
don't like having a gun pointed at our heads!"
Now this is not "communism" ala Mezaro. But the kids did take a great step showing
there social power against a horde of bureaucrats and politicians who are constantly
trying to screw them. But this is only one small battle and not winning the war.
And it will take a vanguard party at the head of the working class to win the war.
This is also linked to a wave of mass student strikes that have broken out this week
up here in the north with the attempts to fire all kurators, school nurses and school
phycologists. Interestingly enough it happens to be people claiming to be
"Trotskyists" that are being blamed for all this stuff. However not the ICL
unfortunately.
Bob
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