Sorry, Hari. Did I just repost my last message? I didn't see it on the list nor yours and Michael's latest comments..
Alarmed, I have just started moving my toes together and unclenching them. :) I apologize for not recalling our previous conversation. As to what I would have done, I believe I've also addressed the issue before. Though no one. can predict for certain how they would react in a crisis, I like to think that I would have been with the Bolsheviks because there was every reason then to expect that it was the opening shot of the world revolution Marxists had been expecting since the publication of the Communist Manifesto, and also of course to stop the slaughter at the front, and sanction the land siezures and factory occupations. In that context, Lenin's April Theses would have had great appeal to me as to his fellow Bolsheviks, especially those below the leadership who sought to take power prematurely during the July Days. The Bolsheviks at that time could not have anticipated that the revolution would not spread and that it would finally collapse some seven decades later. So I'm in 100% agreement with you about the arrogance of retroactive quarterbacking. I've also said that if you could transplant the Bolsheviks to Brooklyn in 2024 and have them look at the intervening decades culminating in the collapse of the state they founded, they might well have arrived at the same conclusion as you and I, also with the wisdom of hindsight. And again to repeat, though Kautsky had telling foresight about the risks of taking power in a predominantly peasant society, the social democratic alternative of a peaceful, gradual socialist takeover of the capitalist political system he offered was no more successful. I still am a bigger fan of Lenin than of Tony Blair. Hope this clarifies, comrade. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29562): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29562 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/105034294/21656 -=-=- 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. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
