Re: Marxism and the Militias

[dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx (Doug Henwood)]

At 9:00 AM 9/1/95, TimW333521@xxxxxxx wrote:

>On Doug's remarks in defense of the Cold War.   Really now.  It was my hope
>(proved to be a misplaced one) that the Left, including those like C of C who
>passed through the Communist experience, realized that the regime in the
>USSR, which called itself "socialist" was in actuality dictatorial,
>anti-democratic, suppressed working class rights, etc.  Its essential nature
>existed right up into the Grobachev period.
>
>While I would agree with Doug that the free market regime now being imposed
>on the former parts of the USSR is reactionary and a disaster for the working
>class, I'll be damned if I'll weep over the loss of the Old , yes Stalinist,
>Order!

I said Cold War, that is, the confrontation between the US & USSR and their
associates. I wasn't talking about domestic Soviet life, though I'll bet if
you asked most Russians if they'd rather have 1979 back, they'd say yes,
overwhelmingly. This is not an apology for one-party dictatorship by any
means; I'm no fan of censored newspapers and secret police. But I get a
more nuanced picture of life in the USSR by reading a bourgeois liberal
like Stephen Cohen than I can out of putative socialists like TW.

Point of fact: I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the C of C or
the CPUSA.



Doug

--

Doug Henwood
[dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx]
Left Business Observer
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New York NY 10024-3217
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