Re: Stalinism And Standards of Intellectual Discourse

[Kelley Bevans <kbevans@xxxxxxxxx>]

                To whom.....


        I'm afraid I must enter the Stalinism debate (and afraid is the right
word).


        I hate to be naive, but I must ask the respondents whether they think
that Cuba, Viet Nam, North Korea, the USSR are (were) democratic
institutions.  By this I mean DIRECT democracy, not autocracy or bureaucracy
for a democratic end.  If not, or to the extent that they are not, i believe
tha we must reject them as socialist states.

        Democracy is one of the antithetical elements of capitalism.
Democratic ideals inform strikes and revolutions.  Theoretical adherence to
Marxist principles does not change the underlying social relations of a
system.  Workers must FEEL their power for it to really be "given" to them.
Furthermore, when vanguardism takes on the trappings and logic of
meritocracy, all is lost.  Socialism relies on the belief that the polis
knows best in both political and economic matters.  The job of the vanguard
is to REMOVE barriers to their exercise of power, not to controllingly
"facilitate" through bureaucratic mechanism, or cultist "leadership".



        peace in solidarity,


                boddhisatva





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