[PEN-L:32443] Re: Stalin's fascination.

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 11/21/02 7:17:58 AM Pacific Standard Time, jdevine@xxxxxxx writes:

> [was: RE: Re: Rx6: Joanne- re 2WW - I almost forgot] 
>
> Michael asks why we should give a sh*t about Stalin. It's simple. One way to figure out how to arrange for socialist success in the future is to try to understand the failures of the broadly-defined socialist movement in the past. In addition to such debacles as German social democrats voting to support a war against French workers in 1914, there are lots of examples of socialist failure, but Stalin stands out as one of the major ones. (As I've noted, however, he can be seen as successful from the nationalist perspective.)
>
>  Jim 




For those interested - and almost everyone remotely concerned with the ideas of Socialism, Marx theory and doctrine are interested, I am about 20 minutes away from sending a three part article on the fascination with Stalin. For me the issue is the question of the evolution of the value form, the definition of industrial society and the Marxist economic theory of transition from one mode of production to another. 

I know that I have written this too fast and would probably want to edit and rewrite the piece. My standpoint is fundamentally different from 99% of everything written on Soviet socialism. 

Melvin P.