From: "Harald Beyer-Arnesen" <haraldba-AT-online.no>
Subject: AUT: Re: Goldner
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 18:06:51 +0100



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tahir Wood" <twood-AT-uwc.ac.za>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: 27. november 2002 09.24
Subject: AUT: Goldner




Tahir writes: "His open mindedness is indeed reflected in
his appraisal of Lenin, which is sober and reasoned [...]
But none of this means that he has not dissociated
himself from the statist project," while Edmond Caldwell
says that Goldner "thinks quite highly of Lenin ... and he wouldn't
have a lot of patience for the lazy stuff that passes for
criticism of Lenin on this list.  Goldner has expressed to me
in the past his support for the suppression of Kronstadt--
heresy on this list!"

"Antistatist" higly respect for Lenin and support for the
suppression of Kronstadt, to say nothing about years
of oppression of the workers and peasants leading up
to and following it.  How schizophrenic can one get?
How are anybody gonna believe in such opportunistic
"antistatism"? The most remarkable is the tolerance
or "open mindedness" among leftist for such
irrational idiocy
        It reminds of the strong supporters of Stalin, Mao
and Pol Pot who could talk about the most minimal
expression of oppression within the social democracy
of the late 60ies to the 80ies -- as for instance a
reduction in the state subsidizing of their paper -- as
the most ruthless capitalist barbarism.
        It is not possible to seriously talk about any
social revolutionary perspective without first ridding
oneself of the ghost of Lenin. Leninst antistatism
makes as much sense as Lutheran atheism. But then
Martin Luther and Lenin probably also had much
in common.
        None of this makes the historical Lenin,
Dzerzhinsky and other puritanical Jacobins I might
think of, into less Godlike idealists. That was precisely
the greatest part of the problem. If they did not sing
the hymn "with God on our side" as they slaughtered,
they sure had found the line "with History on our side".
I am not sure if the later is any less religious
than the former.

Sometimes a little less open mindedness is to
prefer, if not for anything else so as not to loose
one's sanity in the middle of all instrumental
apologies for capitalist madness.

Harald













  



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