I believe it is stated this way, Jostein:
"The new way" does not become "the way" until the last person who knew "the old way" dies.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Jostein wrote:
Thanks, Frank. As you say, the enemy of the cold war era was dismantled in the eighties. IIRC, Gorbatchev rose to power and started the glasnost exactly 20 years ago. That's why I would call it an anachronism.
One science philosopher (his name escapes me at the moment) claim that scientific paradigmas do not shift because a better theory comes along, but because the proponents of the old theory die out. :-)
If that is transferrable to this discussion it's probably too early to call it an anachronism yet. It's just that it feels that way. :-)
Cheers, Jostein
Quoting frank theriault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Okay, I know I shouldn't, but I'll wade in on this discussion (I've been resisting so far...).
What one has to remember, is that the Red Scare in the 50's and 60's was a fear of Russia and it's satellite states ("The Soviet Block", the "Iron Curtain", whatever you want to call it). I guess one could throw the People's Republic of China in there, but realistically, they weren't a threat.
Soviet Russia called itself Communist. It called itself Marxist and
Marxist-Leninist. It was none of those things. There was a Marxist
or Communist revolution there in 1917, but it didn't take long before
it stalled. I don't remember much about Marxism, but I seem to recall
that it's only workable if it's a world-wide phenomenon. Once Lenin
died and Trotsky was ousted by Stalin, the counter-revolution was
complete. With Trotsky out of the picture, Stalin turned inward, and
decided to build Russia's economy rather than export the revolution. Russia was a centralist state-capitalist dictatorship. It remained so
until dismantled in the late 1980's.
The cold war had little to do with political ideologies, it had to do with military domination and spheres of influence and keeping the military-industrial machine in high-gear after WWII. What better way than to continue with an arms race? The US also knew that the Russian economy wasn't nearly as strong as it seemed, and that by engaging in an arms race it would bankrupt Russia.
But, after years and years of equating Marxism and Communism with the Russian system, and after years of being told it was evil, many in the West have come to loathe the words, without really knowing much about the political philosophy.
Old habits die hard. I disagree with Paul WRT to the Red Scare being
over in the US. We've seen some of it here in this discussion. Words like Marxist and Socialist and even Liberal are currently used
as epithets in the current political climate on the US.
Anyway, I'm not espousing any views here (or trying not to), but rather provide a brief history lesson WRT Jostein's question. Hope I haven't trampled on anyone's feathers.
cheers, frank
-- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
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