[Ian] Imposing tyranny is your spin... [Arlo] Sure it is. Again, a spin that derives from reading Marx from the perspective that "property = freedom".
[Ian quoting Platt] "... if it results in millions murdered?" [Arlo] As I said from the get-go, although Marx anticipated a violent struggle (the same way the American Revolution was a violent struggle, those in power do not yield it gladly), the trajectory from Marx to "millions murdered" had everything to do with Lenin, who laid the groundwork by, like Strauss and the neocons, believing that the people needed a strong Glorious State myth. By the time Stalin took power, the adherence to this singular "manifest destiny" myth was all that remained, and any real Marxist ideology was buried under the weight of a state that promoted unyielding patriotism and state nationalism. Interestingly, you could make the same case for ideology espoused by Jesus, which became secondary (and in many cases hollow rhetoric) under the weight of the Church, which in Jesus' name launched the Crusades, the Inquisition, the extermination of the Americas indigenous populations, burnt people alive, used torture and execution to fend of threats to its power from "infidels" and "barbarians". moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
