this is progressive?

Rob Schaap rws at comedu.canberra.edu.au
Tue Apr 18 08:34:36 PDT 2000


Sigh, we're back to disagreeing again, Charles ...


>Only a very tiny, tiny group of people criticize China as being an
>aggressively >capitalizing nation. This is an sectarian and not widely
>held idea about China. >Only a few, I mean tiny number of Americans think
>this. The vast majority of >people in the U.S. have been thoroughly
>convinced that China is a Communist >nation.

We can wear 'not widely held', but 'sectarian'? Since when is the demonstrable truth sectarian? Sure, don't make a point of it in the publicity - but ain't it just a tad sectarian to accuse us of sectarianism?

And I also think it is quite okay to criticise revolutions of which one approves on balance. I don't know what Carrol means when he says (because 'argues' ain't the word) it is anticommunist (or empirically and theoretically false) to criticise things happening today in terms of what happened in the past. They are related, are they not? Mao was demonstrably a military strategist of great standing and the sort of leader you need to win necessarily violent revolutions against a powerful, aggressive, corrupt, tyrannical and desperate ruling class. Good on him. 'Twould have been nice if he actually had let some of those flowers bloom later on, though ...

Idly making mischief, Rob



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