Doug Henwood:
>CB: More precisely right here you are merely redbaiting me.
I'm more sympathetic to the USSR than a lot of other American leftists, but really Charles, this isn't fair. Stalin(ism) is not the same as Marxism or socialism or the left broadly defined. One can be an anti-Stalinist and a red. Nothing pleases a real anti-communist more than treating Stalinism and socialism as synonyms.
^^^^ CB: Fair enough, but it _is_ fair and accurate to characterize what Justin said as redbaiting me. Talking to someone else, he said "Charles will call this anti-Sovietism." I wasn't even in the conversation. It's quite fair to call that redbaiting me.
No matter. I'm fairly good at dealing with redbaiting.
I mean fair is fair , isn't it :>) ?
Doug: That's not fair either. Real Stalinism happened in one country over about 10-15 years (that means that the USSR from the mid-1950s onward wasn't Stalinist). Capitalism has happened all over the world for about seven centuries. You're not excusing the crimes of capital by admitting that Stalin & Co. killed many many people and did a lot to discredit socialism, both great crimes.
^^^^^ CB: You are right. I agree real Stalinism happened in one country, etc. I am not excusing the crimes of capital, nor denying the crimes of Stalin and Co. , nor denying that Stalinism did a lot to discredit socialism. That all seems fair enough.
What you say here means what Justin said was unfair, not what I said. Perhaps you've stayed too long at the fair :>)