Leninism 2003

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>>I'm with you on this. Someone at Zizek's Lenin conference said the 
>>essence of L'ism was "concrete analysis of the concrete situation." 
>>Which is fine, but instead I hear/see a lot of L'ists quoting the 
>>guy as if he were scripture. And - given Ulhas' observation that a 
>>vanguard party only makes sense in a revolutionary situation - we 
>>even see a L'ist practice taken completely out of context. So it 
>>seems to me that "Leninism" today is a floating signifier that can 
>>mean anything people want it to mean. He does make a pretty cool 
>>looking icon, a sinister counterpart to the sexy Che.
>>
>>Doug
>
>Charles: Well, "Leninism" today might mean a couple of different 
>things. I don't know if it could quite mean just anything. Most 
>importantly, Lenin can't mean bourgeois. Even Marx has been 
>subverted by some bourgeois academics, but they could never do that 
>with Lenin, well, not anytime soon.  _The Communist Manifesto_ could 
>become a coffee table book around Wallsteet. _The State and 
>Revolution_ ? I don't think so. Lenin is not so much sinister, as 
>scary _to the bourgeoisie_.
>
>Yes, I think he does stand as an icon of "revolutionary success", 
>and so to many he represents hope for the next big revolutionary 
>success. Also, I think his writing is pretty timelessly 
>inspirational for those who dedicate themselves to the struggle on 
>behalf of  la damne de la terre. He's always good for a very plain 
>and trenchant turn of phrase against the rich and powerful. And then 
>as I say, he wasn't just shootin' the breeze. Everybody knows he was 
>able to back up his words like nobody' s business. He was a real 
>life exemplar of unity of theory and practice.

Anyone who has succeeded in leading some kind of revolution -- the 
American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, 
the Chinese Revolution, the Vietnamese Revolution, the Cuban 
Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, the Bolivarian Revolution through 
Evolution, etc. -- have something practical to teach us.
-- 
Yoshie

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