From: "Tom Condit" <tomcondit-AT-igc.apc.org>
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
Date:          Mon, 29 Apr 1996 18:52:55 +0000
Subject:       Counter-revolution in China


I think Michael Luftmensch has put his finger squarely on the
problem of "counter revolution in China" when he points out the
totally top-down nature of the regime.

The problem that apologists for these bureaucracies have is to
explain what happened when things go wrong. Most (but not all) of
our "maoists", for example, hold that the Soviet Union suddenly
became state capitalist when Stalin died *with no visible change
in the institutions of the society*. Clearly, had there been
genuine organs of workers' democracy in place, no tiny conspiracy
at the top could have altered the entire nature of the society.

Those who maintain that the counter-revolution took place in the
1920s don't have the same problem. It's easy to trace the process
of exhaustion and isolation of the revolution through the early
1920s, even if there is intense debate about exactly how things
changed and when.

This all the more points to the necessity of taking seriously the
lines of "The Internationale":

"We want no condescending saviors
to rule us from a judgement hall;
We workers ask not for their favors--
Let each consult for all.

To make the thief disgorge his booty,
to free the spirit from its cell,
We must ourselves decide our duty --
We must decide and do it well!"

I have noticed that those who belong to groups and tendencies
associated with the memory of Joseph Stalin seldom sing this
verse.

Tom


     --- from list marxism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---