Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 20:31:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Kevin Cabral <kcabral-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Trotsky etc. (was fascism and the LPA)
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu


On Thu, 14 Mar 1996, Louis R. Godena wrote:

> >This is another way of saying that fascism comes in many forms.

> Well said, Shawgi.  Certainly the presence of "democratic" or "pluralistic" 
> institutions in the west does not determine the degree to which democracy is 
> present; "democratic" institutions existed even in Hitler's Germany.  The 
> fact that England has a Queen does not, in fact, make Great Britain a 
> monarchy.  It is the class purpose which these institutions serve that is 
> the key.
 
	A very true analysis..

> Nor does it need the crude nationalism of the twenties and thirties.  Such 
> an extreme xenophobia would most likely be a hindrance in a globalized 
> fascist economy.  There is something anachronistic about Buchanan's call for 
> "re-industrializing" the upper midwest, as well as his chanpioning of Father 
> Coughlin-style racial stereotyping.  He is not a fascist, but an expositor 
> of old time catholic anti-communist populism, the kind you used to get in 
> the AF of L.   His positions on gun control and "fair trade" are certainly 
> better than Clintons.  At any rate, let us give the devil his due.

	Are you still planning to cast a vote for Buchanan as you said you
would? 

> I have missed your presence on the list.  The Erudites have taken over while 
> we were gone.  In some ways, I almost miss Trotsky.  He borrowed heavily 
> from others and was wrong most of the time, but he always was provocative 
> and perversely entertaining.  His disciples repeat the nonsense but fail to 
> make it attractive.

	What I want to engage here is a discussion of Trotsky's Marxism,
and specifically what Trotsky had problems with, especially in the opinion
of those like Adolfo, Shawgi, and others who probable make dirty jokes about
Lev Trotsky with their chums at the local bar for sport. 

	Why does Trotsky qualify as a "revisionist," or more specifically
what did Uncle Joe Stalin offer that a million clones of Trotsky, Gramsci,
and Lenin could'nt? 

	I don't want to take this into languishing about show trials,
anti-semitism, Nazi conspiracy, or any of the like. Let's stick to
Trotsky's theory. While I'm the first to admit the failure of the Fourth
International, I also maintain the failure of Stalinism, and the crude
application of Marxism-Leninism that followed it. 
								
	"Please tell my friends that I am sure of the victory of the Fourth 
International, Go Forward!" Trotsky proclaimed in his final words. So tell
us Adolfo and friends, what is your way of going forward in countries like
Britain or America; and why should Trotsky languish in his own dustbin of
history?				

Kevin
Cols, Oh
	




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