[lbo-talk] Liberalism vs socialism

[andie nachgeborenen]

Probably it's not worth talking about. Charles is a
Marxist Leninist. I'm not. I believe in the rule of
law, representative democracy, civil and political
liberties for people whose views I hate. I think that
makes me a liberal, but some people seem to think that
that word has been coopted by pro-capitalists. (My
merely political, non-economical usage in perfectly
standard in the small subculture of Anglo-American
analytical political philosophy where I was trained.)
I'm a socialist by the world's standards, but a
sell-out right winger by local standards, I guess, so
you might as well call me a liberal, and you can take
that to mean what you like. Why bother to pay
attention to anything I say when you can talk about
labels? And so long as you remember that when you
appeal to the common understanding of terms, most
people think "Marxism Leninism" is a form of Satan
worship and "Communism" is a combination of Stalin's
terror at its lowest depths of cruel depravity along
with enforced privation and endless waiting in lines. 

--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:


> Charles Brown wrote:
> 
> >Carrol's right - you're fighting over a word, not
> the underlying
> >concepts. You & Justin mean different things by
> "liberalism."
> >
> >Doug
> >
> >^^^^^
> >CB: Any thoughts on what the underlying concepts
> are ?
> 
> That's between the two of you.
> 
> Doug
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> 

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