> Many years ago a friend of mine showed up at a party wearing a fabulous
silk blouse
> that her then lover (a committed CP'er) bought her. When I expressed some
(envious)
> surprise that the comrade had sprung for such a delicious piece of
frippery, she
> replied that he did not "confuse communism with Christianity." Hence the
silk
> blouse.
>
> The notion that communism is dedicated to a depressing levelling down,
creating the
> grayest of grays and the dullest of dulls has its source in many partial
truths: 1)
> the material circumstances within which most "communist" countries are
born: poor,
> war-torn countries that cannot afford universal health care AND consumer
goods. (For
> a picture of the wonders of Russia before communism, see Chekhov's
"Peasants," or
> Tolstoy's last, perfectly imperfect novel "The Resurrection.) 2) the
invidious
> comparison with the glittering capitalist achievements (from which we must
subtract
> the actual misery of much of the capitalist world -- say, Haiti -- and of
most of
> the population living under capitalism.) 3) the regretable pathology of
some
> leftists who need to assuage their guilt by passing out the hair shirts.
So, yes,
> everyone takes a pretty dim view of what a socialist future might look
like: drab,
> drab, drab. Especially if it has been drummed into you, every fifteen
minutes from
> birth on, that the highest human happiness is to be achieved through
shopping and
> CHOICE.
Well, there's also the fact that being a leftist implies a certain degree of concern for the downtrodden (whereas many on the right are quite forthright in expressing the view that the misery of others is none of their concern)--such concern is why one becomes a leftist. I don't think living the life of a fat cat is an offense against some sort of left aesthetic--but it may breach the ethic we claim to share.
-- Luke