Re: Young Liberal Fascist (XII)

[Godenas@xxxxxxx]

I, for one, hopes that Shawgi continues his ruminations well into the 21st
Century; I find him one of the most knowledgeable and provocative posters on
the list.  While I have been on the list myself all of about two months, I
have yet to see an argument of Shawgi's that a reasonable, left-leaning
person could not hold.  This is true of his assertion that Stalin made
important theoretical contributions to revolutionary marxist thought.  For
nearly thirty years, and for literally hundreds of millions of people, the
writings of Stalin were their first and, in many cases, most impressionable
introdction to Marxism-Leninism.  That Stalin influenced generations of
revolutionaries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America, is beyond
question.  His writings dealt at length not only with the Leninist concepts
of the Party and the dictatorship of the proletariat, but on such disparate
topics as the nature of social democracy, trade unions and the united front,
and the family, among many, many others.  That Stalin's reputation should be
at its nadir in the west is not surprising, given the intensely retrograde
nature of our political life.  What is more disturbing is the suggestion, by
certain "leftists" to silence the defense of a man who was (and still is) a
leader of  great masses of humanity, presumably in favor of those whose base
of support can charitably be called "wanting."


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