Jim Devine:
Louis, if you want to set yourself up as a villain, you may do so. But I was not. I try to aim my discussion at the list as a whole.But when you use some far-fetched pretext for opening up such a discussion--like a review of Steven Pinker--it only can be seen as an attempt to bait me into a discussion we've had countless times--to the point that I've announced that I am dropping out. I suppose that I am really quite unusual in terms of mailing lists that I look for new information or insights to keep me interested. So far, I've seen none from you that I haven't heard before. You won, Jim. You are a true socialist. I am the avatar of Vishinsky trying to drag the workers' escutcheon through the mud.
It is a total misrepresentation to say that I said that "socialism from below" [was] "the road to salvation and theOf course you did. What else could be the purpose of dropping Stalin's name numerous times in a post about whether women's brains are different than men's?
opposite side taking you straight to hell." That's a "black-white presentation of the two sides," as you say, but I didn't do it.
The fact is that the Russian Revolution failed, leading to the rise of a powerful new stratum, a self-selecting elite (the CPSU). There were lots of things that happened that were out of socialists' control (imperialist invasion, the division between the peasantry and the workers, the poverty of the country, the civil war, etc.) that encouraged that result. However, we can learn from this experience to fight and/or delay the development of the new elite; history isn't totally out of the left's control. One thing is to NOT focus on "building the party" (as the Maoists and Trotskyists do, for example) but instead use any organization as means to build up the workers' power and the power of other dominated group. The latter kinds of power are the main bulwarks not only against the restoration of capitalism but against the creation of a new stratum running the country "in the workers' name" (and taking advantage of their powers).I have no idea what use a socialist activist could make of the advice that they should " use any organization as means to build up the workers' power and the power of other dominated group." One might as well advise them to pursue the good and shun evil.
The real questions being thrashed out by the left in Australia, for example, revolve around what attitude to take
toward the Labor Party. Whether it is a capitalist party or not. Whether there is such a thing as a labor aristocracy. Whether or not to join the same caucus as the Labor Party youth on campus, etc. Your musings about true socialism hover over all this like Platonic Ideas and have about as much value.
The basic principle is that power corrupts, i.e., that if we rely on wise leaders to make decisions for working people, we're bound to be disappointed. So the wise leaders must be held responsible in a democratic way.Power corrupts? But don't forget that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now I know I am back in high school when I hear echoes of Lord Acton.
Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
