I was pleased to see this article on the reaction among African Americans to the attack on Ethiopia. https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/3421
I think it sheds light on the discussion we had about Ethiopia and how revolutionaries should have responded to that struggle. This was the thread at the time, August 12 - 15 https://groups.io/g/marxmail/topic/76151064#346 If you scroll down to message 4 you get a link to an article by Joseph Green http://www.communistvoice.org/30cTrotsky.html Nothing to say about class relation in undeveloped countries . * At one point Trotsky admitted that "permanent revolution" had nothing to say about what to do in very undeveloped countries, and seemed to suggest that, in those places, the working masses had little stake in the anti-colonial struggle. He wrote in 1930: "Does this [permanent revolution] at least mean that every country, including the most backward colonial country, is ripe, if not for socialism, then for the dictatorship of the proletariat? No, this is not what it means. Then what is to happen with the democratic revolution in general--and in the colonies in particular? . . . Then the struggle for national liberation will produce only very partial results, results directed entirely against the working masses. "(13) <http://www.communistvoice.org/30cTrotsky.html#N_13_> <> He had no suggestion whatsoever as to what the working masses in these countries could do. . Ethiopia was presumably one of these countries. So, during the Italian fascist invasion of Ethiopia in the mid-30s, the most that Trotsky could do was call for support for Emperor Haile Selassie. The theory of "permanent revolution" had nothing to say about the class relations in Ethiopia, so Trotsky compared Haile Selassie to Cromwell and Robespierre, who he described as "dictators" who have played a "very progressive role in history". He put forward the perspective of Selassie striking "a mighty blow not only at Italian imperialism but at imperialism as a whole". Just over a week later, Selassie fled Ethiopia, leaving the Ethiopian people to resist Italy by themselves. Far from Selassie striking a blow at imperialism as a whole, discontent with his absolute monarchy simmered among the Ethiopian fighters, called "patriots", who continued the fight against Italian occupation from inside Ethiopia. (14) <http://www.communistvoice.org/30cTrotsky.html#N_14_> <> ken h -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#3450): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/3450 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78217453/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
