A typically stupid response from a typically stupid Stalinist like James
Tait. Listen idiot:
(1) I am well aware that revolutionaries are being slaughtered by the
Turkish regime. But despite this which should strengthen a more than healthy
desire for revolutionary justice amongst us all, we must, at all costs, keep
a cool head and maintain a calm analysis. Otherwise we let ourselves become
inflamed by emotions and abandon Marxism for hysterical moralism. Perhaps,
James, you might see Trotsky as an example. Whilst hundreds of thousands of
communists were slaughtered in the USSR, the revolution he devoted his whole
life to and in which he led such a prominent role was smashed to pieces, his
colleagues and half his family were murdered, he was thrown out of his
country halfway across the world, he maintained a strict scientific analysis
which led him to the conclusion that, despite the rule of a tyrannous
bureaucratic caste which was busy usurping the October revolution, the
fundamental conquests of October remained intact and this led to his defence
of the Soviet Union. Many of his leftwing critics who had abandoned support
of the USSR for "state capitalism" and the like often accused him of having
emotional reasons for maintaining defence of the USSR, for seeing the
October Revolution as his child and refusing to accept its death. Perhaps
even a hard-core Stalinist such as yourself can at least find some
admiration for Trotsky in this respect. I for one doubt very much that under
such horrific personal circumstances I could have maintained such a
remarkable scientific analysis.
(2) Fascist regimes have indeed murdered hundreds of thousands of
Communists in the process of brutally dismantling the workers' movements in
the countries over which they ruled. But fascists have not been the only
killers of Communists, despite certainly being the worst. Fascists were the
hirelings of the bourgeoisie and did the dirty work on their behalf, but the
bourgeoisie has found others in their place. If we take the Suharto regime,
it murdered hundreds of thousands of Communists but was still certainly not
fascist, but rather a reactionary bourgeois regime. Another example is that
of the Pinochet regime. When a revolutionary movement has become a
sufficient threat to the rule of capital, they will do all they can to
destroy it. The most "democratic" bourgeois would personally sanction every
Communist having their brains blown out were their property at stake.
(3) I never said that Stalinists were "worse than Hitler". Quote me on
that, arsehole. I said that the regimes of Hitler and Stalin were in fact
identical, and that the only reason I advocated defence of the USSR was
because of the social relations that existed under this regime. Actually I
regard Stalinists - yes, even pretty venomous Stalinists like yourself - as
comrades, albeit misguided comrades with illusions that need to be fought
and exposed. I do not hold you responsible for the Stalinist
counterrevolution, although clearly you are a deluded apologist for its
crimes. Indeed the irony is that Stalin's regime was one of the biggest
murderers of Stalinists of the 20th Century, and you certainly would have
found yourself shot, even if you reassured yourself to the very end that it
was a case of mistaken identity and you would be released soon when they
realised their awful mistake.
I hold the bureaucratic caste that held power in the USSR responsible for
the crimes of the counterrevolution that brought them to power, and during
the consolidation of their rule. I have no idea what affection that people
in the year 2000 could find for the regime of Josef Stalin, but whatever
turns you on and all that, as long as you don't intend to include a
whole-scale massacre of the entire non-Stalinist Left as part of your
programme.
(4) And here really is the outrageous, vile provocation; to suggest that I
support revolutionaries being murdered by the bourgeois state is the worst
possible accusation, one I demand an apology for. I see these people as my
comrades in struggle, even if I disagree with certain parts of their
beliefs. They have nothing to do with the crimes of the Soviet bureaucracy.
(5) You, not I, are an apologist for the murder of hundreds of thousands of
Communists by the Soviet bureaucracy. Of course you are, because you regard
these comrades as fascist collaborators and imperialist spies who were
breaking factory machinery and conspiring to bring the Socialist Motherland
under the control of fascism and imperialism. Which gets you into all sorts
of humorous twists of course. Like practically the entire Bolshevik
leadership, the military leadership which beat the White
counterrevolutionaries and in the post-Civil War period, thousands of
revolutionary workers who fought in battle for October, Stalin's political
allies etc... as imperialist and fascist spies. How unfortunate that the
Bolshevik leadership which overthrew the Provisional Government were in fact
fascists. Indeed you should regard the whole of October as a fraud given the
majority of its leadership were fascists.
I realise that part of the Stalinist tradition is labelling any and all of
its opponents as fascists. So be it. But anyhow, I would appreciate it you
could not imply that I support revolutionaries being slaughtered by the
police. That is rather insulting. But then you certainly are a bloke who
plays dirty in every debate, and I expect your response to be in line with
this.
Cheers
Owen
_______________________________________________
Leninist-International mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
