>do. This was the point of my saying that Thomas S and
>Michael P's criticism of the Bolshies was merely
>moral.
That may be their point, though I think you are putting words into their mouths. In any event moral objections aren't the only reason to condemn totalitarianism as a strategy.
The most important reason to condemn it is strategic. Millions of potential supporters of a possible socialist society are alienated by totalitarianism, driving them to side with the capitalist class, as the lesser of two evils. Socialism can never be achieved by a political coup, only by purposeful class conscious struggle by the majority of the working class. So from a strategic standpoint, it is counter-productive to alienate the majority of the working class, to put it mildly.
So you and Doug are dead wrong. It isn't mere moral squeamishness, but mainly for pragmatic reasons, that thinking socialists eschew any sort of dictatorial imposition of socialism.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas