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> On Mar 19, 2014, at 9:58 AM, Louis Proyect <l...@panix.com> wrote: > > I'm sorry but I find this formulation from Kagarlitsky deeply problematic: > > "Neither Maidan nor the demonstrations in the east have had the character of > a spontaneous popular revolution. In both cases, outside forces have been > involved." > > In fact the protests in Kiev have been marked largely by: > > 1. Their spontaneous character. > > 2. Their breach with the "official" leadership of people like Tymoshenko and > Klitchko. You may want to believe that the centre-right and far right parties did not bring large numbers of their supporters out to Maidan and other city centres. We clearly don't read the same press accounts. Demonstrations are rarely "spontaneous"; at best, they are semi-spontaneous with some protesters joining of their own volition and then typically following the lead of the most active organized political factions. In this case, the unorganized revolutionary left and left liberal demonstrators were far outnumbered by the supporters of the more disciplined conservative and pro-fascist political groups and parties. The hegemony of the dominant centre-right pro-Western faction is reflected in polling for the planned Ukrainian presidential elections, where the three contenders far outdistancing the rest of the field are Vitali Klitschko, Yulia Tymoshenko, and the oligarch Petro Poroshenko. All would feel comfortably at home in the US Republican, British Conservative, and German Christian Democratic parties. There is no evidence whatsoever of an alleged breach of the west Ukrainian masses with their official leaderships. That's more wishful thinking on your part. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
