Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 00:16:23 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: M-G: More unprincipled behaviour ...


Adolfo wrote:

> For that "rule" to work - if what is alleged is the need of a high minded
> atmosphere - then ALL attacks against revolutionary leaders - who are our
> comrades - should likewise be banned, as well as all derogatory references
> to Lenin, Stalin or Mao Tse-tung.

Adolfo proposes censorship of a far "grander" scale than has ever existed
  on a marxism list.

Why ... if anyone makes "derogatory" references to Lenin, Stalin, and Mao,
then they should be expelled forthwith. On the other hand, slavish and
uncritical statements of praise for the dearly departed are to be
commended.

To begin with, this is an insult to the memory of Lenin -- who
*encouraged* Bolsheviks to be critical of everyone within the leadership
-- including himself.  Can anyone seriously imagine that Lenin would have
supported the immediate expulsion of comrades for making "derogatory"
(i.e. critical) comments about him? Actually, there are many bourgeois
historians who hold that belief about Lenin ... but for a "Leninist" to
believe that ... well, it boggles the imagination.

It is also a insult to the memory of Marx -- whose favorite slogan was
(translated from the Latin): "Doubt everything".  Somehow, many "Marxists"
have rejected Marx's anti-authoritarianism ... and now hold to the slogan:
"Accept the word of the great revolutionaries as gospel." In so doing, they
depart from Marx and become religious fanatics.

As for Stalin ... well, I think he'd like your idea. Expel all insolent
Marxist critics immediately and either shoot them in the head or ship them
off to slave labor camps in Siberia. Doesn't it make you want to bring
back the good old days?

With Mao, it would be a different matter. After expulsion, the Marxist
critics would most likely be "reeducated" in the countryside (assuming
they didn't fall foul of cannibals or Pol Pots).

Now, if anyone *dares* to make "derogatory remarks" about the Shining
Path, well ... the Stalin Society will take care of those
"counter-revolutionaries", right?  What *really* amazes me is the price
that the Fujimora government put on your head. I would have thought that a
1 pound note would have been overly generous.

Jerry



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