Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 09:17:13 -0500
Subject: Re: M-G: Lenin, "Left-Wing" Communism


Jerry Downing:
>I have a query on the above quote. Why does Lenin say that 'their
>(Kautsky and Otto Bauer) fate is not more **enviable** than that of
>Hyhdman, Guesde and Plekhanov'? 

Plekhanov, Hyhdman and Guesde had OPENLY disavowed revolution, but Kautsky
and Bauer had not. It is important to remind ourselves that the 2nd
International, at the time of this article, still gave lip-service to the
idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat and other classic Marxist
formulations. 

 >And what is 'the same mistake, though the other way around'? Were not
>the ultra-lefts of 1920 (German, Dutch, Italian and British) making the
>same mistake, **the same way around**, as Hyndman at least?

The reason that it is important for Lenin to draw a parallel between the
Kautskyites and the ultralefts is that they represent right and left
mistakes. Furthermore, the roots of the deviation are closely related: a
failure to perceive the class struggle correctly. In one case, it leads to
an overemphasis on the stability of the system. In the other case, it leads
to a belief that the system is on its last legs.

Louis Proyect



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