Apart from the fact that Lou, in his haste, failed to notice that I was gently criticising the idea of large unemployment benefits as idealist, he also failed to notice that I pointed out the even more difficult thing is to destroy a chunk of capital, whereas Keynesians seem to imagine that value is infinitely expandable.
Charles however grasps the nettle and supports Lou against an alliance with muddle headed, or, even worse, treacherous, Keynesians.
But only those who are not sure of themselves can fear to enter into temporary alliances even with unreliable people;
not a single political party could exist without such alliances.
The combination with the 'legal Marxists' was in its way the first really political alliance entered into by Russian Social-Democrats. Thanks to this alliance, an astonishingly rapid victory was obtained over Narodism, and Marxist ideas (even though in a vulgarized form) became very widespread.
After all, Communists do not set up any sectarian principles of their own.
The theoretical conclusions of communists are in no way based on ideas or principles that have been invented, or discovered by this or that would-be universal reformer.
They merely express, in general terms, actual relations springing from an existing class struggle, from a historical movement going on under our very eyes.
Chris Burford
London
PS no names invoked.