-----Mensagem original-----
De: lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org]Em nome de andie nachgeborenen
Enviada em: domingo, 20 de abril de 2003 23:18
Para: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Assunto: RE: [lbo-talk] Gulag query
See also Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts. However, recognize here (and in response to Carrol also) that it will be argued that it makes a big difference that the deaths, if foreseeable, were not intended; it was not the purpose of British laissaez faire capitalism to kill millions of people. That was merely a byproduct.
-The majority of Stalimist deaths weren´t intentional too. There is evidence enough against the statement that the
-famine deaths in Ukarine were not planned, insted they were a result of a crop failure coupled with poor information.
-The fact that the state procurement for grains in Ukraine by 1932 were the lowest in the 30´s is a strong evidence
-against "provoked famine". If we consider only the intentional deaths, it is estimated that the overall killings for
-1921-53 are in the range of 3 million (still very high, but far from right wing estimates).
There are responses to this, of course, one could deny the distinction betweena cting and ommitting to act, one might say that lack of ill intent makes British imperialists better people than Stalinist apparatchiks, but does not redeem the system of British imperialism as opposed to Stalinist terror, etc. But the point is that the body count doesn't tell the whole story. And anyway, who said that British imperialism was OK? Except for . . . Karl Marx, who viewed it as progressive.
-Good points. At least Stalinism resulted in economic growth and a dramatic increase in the educational level of
-Soviet people. British imperialism in India not only killed more people, but also resulted only in exploitation and
-economic stagnation for Indian people.
-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20030421/b6917276/attachment.htm>