[lbo-talk] 8.8 EQ in Chile

[Bhaskar Sunkara]

Joanna's paroxysm brought to my attention that perhaps I didn't articulate
myself clearly enough, though I think what I said makes perfect sense in
context.  To begin with I was responding to the assertion that if Allende
wasn't overthrown Chile would've been as wealthy as it is now and
more egalitarian.  Two scenarios come to mind: 1) the country shifts towards
a Cuban-model and isn't as wealthy as it is now and suffers greatly after
the collapse of the greater socialist bloc  2) the country follows the
trajectory of the rest of the center-left and is forced to shift towards
neoliberal austerity and the politics of the Third Way.

To question leftist common-sense on the third option of workers' paradise in
Chile is apparently "real asshole stuff," but I guess the real non-asshole
revolutionists are still holding out faith in the
emanicaptory possibilities of a mass break with capitalism in
the periphery.

On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Somebody Somebody <philos_case at yahoo.com>wrote:


> Joanna: Maybe it makes you think you've got real balls to talk about "the
> course of world history" as something independent of Portugal, Chile,
> Haiti, etc. But in my book it's real asshole stuff.
>
>
>
> Somebody: I can't speak for Bhaskar, but it seems to me the implication is
> that, regardless of whether a few more small countries had socialist
> revolutions in the 70's, it's highly likely to the point of being a near
> certainty that they would have faced the same difficulties as the other
> socialist nations at the time. Who cares if it's "asshole stuff" if it's
> true?
>
>
>
>
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