[lbo-talk] World War as Class War

[c b]

Chris Doss ---
The thing about this whole Trotsky-derived idea of "Stalinism" is
that, well, I'm amazed it still exists, out of inertia I suppose, in
the light of current historical knowledge. Trotsky was basically a
kind of Berezovsky-in-exile of the 30s, saying things that he thought
would gain him foreign support in his struggle (which is probably why
he morphed into a libertarian socialist. He sure as hell wasn't when
he was in the USSR.).

^^^^^
CB:   In _Reminiscences_, Krupskya sort of says that Lenin's main
criticism of Trotsky was that the latter vacillated a lot.

^^^^^^

Hence the emphasis on the person of Stalin, his rival. We know now
however that Stalin, far from being some kind of omnipresent Big
Brother, barely controlled a damn thing. Corruption in the provinces
during Stalin was unbelievable, which is one reason why he resorted to
terror. Note also the emphasis on "the bureaucracy," which was a dodge
to avoid dealing with Stalin's enormous popularity in both the Party
and the masses, as well as the support for Stalin and the Terror among
young Komsomol activists, who were pissed off
because they were too young for the Revolution and Civil War, as well
as disillusioned with Communism because the humdrum existence in the
USSR in the 20s and 30s was a far cry from the promised utopia ("where
is my robot car?!?!?!?"), and so wanted to push things forward and
have a Revolution of their own.