[lbo-talk] Bad Times and the Left

[// ravi]

On Jul 12, 2011, at 2:33 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote:
> From: "Wojtek S" <wsoko52 at gmail.com> 
> 
>> [WS:] The last time I checked, radical leftists aiming to wipe out 
>> the capitalist state got themselves wiped out by the fascist reaction 
>> (cf. Spain and Italy), whereas moderate socialists and social 
>> democrats aiming to gain concessions from capitalists achieved a 
>> remarkably long lasting, if moderate, institutional successes (e.g. 
>> the Scandinavian welfare state - which certainly is not chopped 
>> liver.) I understand that bread and butter for the proles are beneath 
>> the concern of academic purists or self-styled radicals who do not 
>> have to earn their own living - but at least let's be honest about the 
>> outcomes, whatever their ideological value. 
> 
> This is disingenuous at best. The welfare state rose in the shadow of the Soviet Union and upon the rubble of (temporarily) defeated fascism, and now that the threat of communism is gone, they are dismantling it as fast as they can, everywhere.
> 

But wait, what of all the talk about Eugene Debs and his 1 million votes? It seems like all over the white world, the workers were in a bit of an angry mood. After WW2, the Soviet Union appears to have been effectively not a threat to capitalists but the perfect example for them to illustrate the “dangers of communism”, setting the stage for witch hunts at a “golden age” in the USA.

All of which, if right (very arguable, I admit), suggests that the guy who argued against a very simple, algorithmic view of these things is not off base. Bad shit went down in the 30s due to capitalist excess in the previous decade, but that led to regulations, safety nets, good stuff. Yes?

	—ravi