Awhile back, there was one of those pointless discussions on the P-news discussion list (is it still around?), one that was echoed on the Marxism list: I used the word "stalinism" to refer to the general phenomenon of the authoritarian kind of socialism from above that had held ideological sway in the USSR and its allies & puppets, and in similar places like China and Albania. The other person in the discussion denied that there was any contemporary stalinism, since Stalin was dead and nobody followed him ot his ideas anymore: the leaders and thus the party line had changed. For the sake of getting the argument onto more substantial matters, I decided to accept his definition of stalinism and agreed that there was no true stalinism today. Now S. Tell convinces me that I was wrong to make this concession. Stalinism clearly lives. Happy May Day. But remember that May Day was originally a holiday of the international effort by workers to liberate themselves. This should be widened to include all other oppressed groups rather than by being dirtied by an association with Stalin and other advocates of bureaucratic socialism. This may seem sectarian, but the fact is that one of the reasons why the socialist movement is doing so poorly nowadays is that we made some major mistakes, like those who saw (or see!) the old USSR or the old Albania as models of the way the world should be. Frankly facing such mistakes would help rebuild the movement. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
