> > successful when it reaches the economically most advanced countries, where
> > capital is concentrated.
>
> Considering that the vast majority of real-life socialist societies have
> been pre-industrial I think it's pretty absurd to claim that you must
> have industrialization before you can have socialism.
I'm in agreement with you. "The material conditions must be right..." before revolution.
Also:
When the stars are right, dead Cthulhu will rise from his house in R'lyeh to walk the earth again. (HP Lovecraft)
The horrible determinist ideas of some(but certianly not all) Marxists, who insist non-capitalist societies must "pass through" capitalism en route to socialism, would seem to logically include a support for corporate globalization. If "less developed" societies must become capitalist first, in order to become socialist, then surely we should support exporting the free market model of production to them, instead of opposing it?
In this issue I agree completely with Sam Mbah of the Nigerian Awareness League:
"I also do not think that human history is predictable or can be tied to sequences developed by historians and writers. I believe that the capacity of ordinary people in a given society is so great that it can almost propel them to take destiny into their own hands at any point in time. It does not have to wait until capitalist development has taken root or the working class has been formed. The peasantry, for example, can also take destiny in their own hands if their consciousness is raised to a certain level. I do not believe in the compartmentalization of history into stages: I believe in the capacity of the ordinary people to struggle on their own and free themselves at any point in time." (1998)
Brian Oliver Sheppard
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"Shouting from trucks / Spitting on, beating down those who strayed / Shitting on, beating in those who strayed / Who would not be crushed by the offensive line's weight / Jock Gestapo and applie pie ignorance." - Born Against, "Jock Gestapo"
"And Mr. Block thinks he may / Be President some day." - Joe Hill, "Mr. Block"