>Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>>It makes it harder to describe Stalinism as tyranny, and if he
>>could have won an election, it makes it harder to criticze him on
>>democratic grounds at all, if your definition of democracy is that
>>the government should respond to popular will.
>
>This produces absurd implications e.g. Napoleon III's coup d'etat
>didn't produce tyranny because it was popular with many peasants.
>According to Marx, it more accurately expressed their "prejudice"
>and "superstition" than the preceding electoral victory.
Look, I'm no fan of Stalinism. But the standard western liberal critique of Stalinism - which in many sloppy versions covers not just 1930-50 (appx) but 1917-1986 - needs a lot more nuance.
Doug