Hi, I am just joining this group, but I have been following marxmail for probably maybe last 10 years, more all less, I was sometimes commenting on https://louisproyect.org/, sometimes not agree with Louis when he is writing about my former country Yugoslavia or Bosnia, which I think he does not know a lot. I used to live in that so call socialist country for 40 years and from my 18 I was critical of that system from the left positions, similar from that Praxis group. I worked in that country, as an engineer, and I have direct experience with self-management ( aware of all weaknesses of that system, the main one was the Communist party was trying to have control about everything ( similar to Cuba), not allowing workers to have full control and have and take full responsibility for their decisions and Cuba could learn a lot from that if they are not afraid to give real freedom to the workers do make decision by themselves. Regarding creating a new party in USA or trying to modernize ( modernize in sense to adjust itself to be capable to attract people to be a massive leftist party , as some of which exist in US before WWII ) existing party I do not believe that Castro or Lenin can teach now in any developed country anything.. I was Leninist till my 18 but learn a lot in meantime. A lot of members at this group are bossed with Lenin but for me Octobar revolution was a failure. Yes he and his party won power but workers of Russia or later Soviet Union never had any power there. I was repeating at Louis site statement regarding October Revolution letter of Plekhanov Letter to the Petrograd Worker and you can think about Plekhanov what you want bu8t in that letter he was right and predict properly what should happen after Octobar revolutin. Maybe some of you do not know it but i think it is good to read it again : "
> > > > The reason the events of the last few days pain me so much is not because > I do not wish to see the cause of the working class triumph, but, on the > contrary, because with all the fibres of my being I wish for the triumph > of the workers. The class-conscious elements of our proletariat must ask > themselves the question: Is our proletariat ready to proclaim a > dictatorship? Everyone who has even a partial understanding as to what > economic conditions are necessary for the dictatorship of the proletariat > will unhesitatingly answer no to this question. > > > > No, our working class is far from ready to grasp political power with any > advantage to itself and the country at large. To foist such a power upon > it means to push it towards a great historical calamity which will prove > the greatest tragedy for all Russia. > > > > It is said that what the Russian worker will begin the German worker will > finish. But it is a great mistake to think so. There is no doubt that in > an economic sense Germany is much further developed than Russia. The > social revolution is nearer in Germany than it is in Russia. But even > among the Germans it is not yet a question of the day. > > > > That means that the Germans will not finish what the Russians have > started, nor can it be done by the French, the British, or the Americans. > By seizing power at this moment, the Russian proletariat will not achieve > a social revolution. It will only bring on civil war, which will in the > end force a retreat from the positions won in February and March of this > year." > > Only what we can learn from Lenin is creating some massive media where all interested in progressive change can participate toward a new society where "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all" , and the Association of Free and Equal Producers is possible. Now this corona crises was shown that now in US and all most developed countries is possible to create different society and "after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly – only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!" The present development of productive forces is so high there is no need for capitalism which now become the destructive force of all planet, and we should talk about communism in Marx sense, no connection to Cuba or Soviet Union. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6739): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6739 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80900386/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
