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> Fred Feldman comments > And while I have no desire to rehash these questions, I do not like being > sort of backed into pretending, for the sake of politeness or to avoid > unnecessary debates, that the question of the Moscow Trials and whether > Trotsky was a spy for Japan is really just a big question mark that has in > no way been resolved in the last 75 years. > I also believe it is foolish and counter-productive to declare such debates, or any others that divide Trotskyites and Stalinists (surely still the most vivid faultline within Marxist thought) or other factions. In terms of specific issues and events which occurred between the 1920s and 1950s, they may seem of purely historical interest, but I believe them to be of massive relevance to all Marxists today. Anti-Stalinism (and for that matter anti-Maoism) is as fundamental to my own politics (and whole outlook on everything) as is anti-capitalism; so (as a cultural historian of fascist Europe as well as a musician) are the issues of popular fronts or united fronts, which affect my contemporary allegiances. If it is seen as acceptable that Stalinists can post to this group (and somehow that is seen as a lesser evil than pro-Zionism, which I remember being declared off-limits), then I can't see how this can be avoided without putting huge constraints on areas of debate. Solidarity, Ian ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
