If you denounce Bolshies in moral terms, you duck all the issues of how to approach power. I've never been able to get a good answer on how else Cuba could have defended itself against the U.S. Everything seems to turn on purity of intent and program.
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My study of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries - before and since - has led me to a similar conclusion.
Profound moral dilemmas arise from the pursuit and achievement of power. In the 20th century, most elites *solved* these by acting in their own interests while claiming to serve the *masses* with selfless devotion.
A plausible enough line for appearances - hypocrisies and contradictions aside - so long as, in the West, material prosperity and relative freedom of action are enjoyed by most and, in the departed USSR and its EE bloc, as well as China et. al., development and modernization (along with a feeling of being respected by the world) were seen. And, it must be said that sometimes the line was true. For a while at least.
The pattern - power accruing to a small elite who use it mostly for their own advantage - is reliably seen around the globe and has been for time beyond living memory. The endurance of the pattern suggests an important aspect of human character is on display or, at least, a persistent phenomena which cannot be dismissed.
For many on the left, the answer to this hard reality is the following: we would do it all better. History suggests it will not be so easy to avoid ancient habits.
...
At the end of the 1952 film *Viva Zapata* - starring Brando, at the height of his skill, in the title role - Zapata, having achieved power after a long, revolutionary struggle, begins to write the name of a peasant who is challenging his rule down on a list of *questionables*.
He pauses in mid-scribble, remembering that it was the placement of his name on just such a list by the former governor which started him on the path of revolution.
Dropping the paper, he leaves the government palace and disappears.
He avoids *corruption* by walking away from power.
..
Perhaps if the state/corporate inter-lock we face were efficient and equitable, we could seriously consider this option leaving governence to the experts while enjoying our Playstations, porn and super-sized drinks among other pleasures.
But, as everyone knows, the stakes are quite high - perhaps the highest in the species' history. So, questions of how to obtain power and how to wield it democratically and intelligently once acheived are non-trivial.
DRM
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