[WS:] True, especially his distaste for populism. But then I like many flavors. Variety makes world interesting.
wojtek
On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 2011-02-07, at 12:15 PM, Wojtek S wrote:
>
> > I would also like to respond to Marv's comment about "action from below"
> -
> > it strikes me as an example of anti-institutionalism and "small is
> > beautiful" trope (which are widely spread on this side of the pond,) but
> it
> > is a matter of aesthetic preferences, I suppose. I like institutions -
> the
> > bigger the better (the same goes for the cities) and in my dream I would
> > like to see a global Communist Party organized like the Communist Party
> of
> > the Soviet Union :). The gemuetlichkeit of small groups, small
> > organizations, and small towns does not appeal to me, and my view on
> 'action
> > from below' is similar to that of Lenin (
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_to_Be_Done%3F). I like the
> vanguard
> > party idea better. Perhaps it is a cultural thing - after all my youth
> was
> > formed by a socialist state that embarked on a big project, where petit
> > bourgeois sensibilities and gemuetlichkeit were ridiculed as the thing of
> > the past. So let's leave it here and agree that we have different
> > preferences and visions for social action.
>
> You must be confusing me with someone else. I was variously active in the
> trade unions, the Trotskyist movement, and in Canada's social democratic
> party during most of my adult political life, and I've never written
> anything to suggest I have much in common with the small is beautiful
> school. I must say, Woj, you're quite unlike any partisan of Leninism, the
> vanguard party, and Communism I ever met, even these days when it's become
> safe and even somewhat fashionable in some leftish intellectual circles to
> adopt that pose. I always thought H.L. Mencken was more to your taste.
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