[lbo-talk] A Day When Mahdi Army Showed Its Other Side

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Tue Nov 28 09:49:03 PST 2006


Yoshie:

If anything, the history of Marxism-Leninism has seen greater bloodsheds -- e.g., Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot -- and more massive

[WS:] This is a gross mischaracterization - the Khmer Rouge were the antithesis of Marxism Leninism. The latter was about power of the urban industrial proletariat, while the former was probably the most anti-urban movement in modern history - which deliberately destroyed anything urban (including the money system) and killed or "evacuated" urban population in a botched attempt to build a rural utopia. I think there was a far greater contradiction between Marxism and Khmer Rouge and between Marxism and capitalism.

The Khmer Rouge is yet another example of what third world nationalism wrapped in left-wing populist ideology is capable of accomplishing, if given free reign. Cambodia would have scored infinitely better had it been semi-colonized by Vietnam prior to the Pol Pot interlude.

Wojtek



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