[lbo-talk] Meditations on Trotsky and Occupy

[c b]

3) Lenin and Trotsky were, as Chuck says, journalists (among other
things). But they did not pursue normal journalistic careers, or
normal bourgeois careers of any kind. (As far as I know, Trotsky only
worked once for the bourgeois press, when he covered the Balkan Wars).
Their activity took place almost exclusively within the socialist
movement. It's true that Occupy and related movements have produced
some seat-of-the-pants journalists and activists. But the elite of
this intelligentsia are journalists and professors who make a
sometimes comfortable living in established media and universities.
Very few of them will be found trying to win support among workers

^^^^
CB: I don't totally disagree with the direction of your comments.

 Lenin was a lawyer. He practiced law for a short period of time.
Drafted factory legislation at one point. He also gave legal services
to peasants in Siberia when he was in exile there.  His training no
doubt was important in building the Soviet state. See the Soviet
Constitution for example. It also probably informed his writing about
the state, as in _The State and Revolution_

I am a lawyer. I can tell you I can tell Lenin is a lawyer in a lot of
his writing.  He's very strong in formal logic and reasoning.