[lbo-talk] Noam 1, Israelo-apartheid 0

Somebody Somebody philos_case at yahoo.com
Tue May 18 20:46:56 PDT 2010


shag: ...so that, if the proles take power merely to "win" and not sanctioned in The Name of Justice that is bigger and beyond mere human nature, etc., then this is a troubling possiblity indeed.

Somebody: How can you say things like this *now* after all the bloody events of the 20th century? It isn't the case that it's only the bourgeoisie that has blood on it's hands anymore. Let's be real. The Great Purges and Cultural Revolution weren't just capitalist propaganda.

I just can't understand this lack of reflectiveness on the part of the left. Do you really think it doesn't matter if the "proles" have any code of ethic when they seize power? Really? Is it all just the unfolding of the dialectic? Does human agency not matter?

And frankly, even as a practical matter, you're never going to convince the workers and soldiers councils to seize power if you're oblivious to repeating the same brutalities as the last go around. There's a reason why the Thai masses aren't battling right now for socialism, but are fighting and risking their lives instead for good old fashioned bourgeois democracy. Or why the Nepalese Maoists only succeeded in establishing a capitalist republic. It's in part because people are scared of bloody minded would-be apparatchiks who argue all that matters is "winning".



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