Date: 17 Sep 96 15:22:53 EDT
Subject: The state (authoritarianism)


In my opinion (though I haven't read all the posts) noone thinks that
differences of opinion will disappear in communist society. To suggest they do
is a reductio ad absurdum (ie cheating in the argument). The article quoted from
some bizarre "left" group is wholly irrelevant, because it wasn't written by
people who have lived through a socialist  revolution and are building a new
society. The use of it shows that someone has not understood
a) That psychological chracateristics or programmatic desires do not and can not
in themselves create a class society or an authoritarian regime.
b) Such bizarre 'left' groups in fact reflect the psychology imposed by
CAPITALISM.

	And this is what it comes down to. Justin says that not everything Marx
says is holy truth. This is trivially obvious on this list. The use of the
trivially obvious is an old oratorical tradition I will admit.
	But the real answer to Justin's worries is around what creates classes.
because a bureaucracy that defends its own interests against the people and
forms an economic structure that helps it to do so is a class. And classes do
not come from complexity in itself or from bureaucrats in themselves. In no
important way did Stalinism come from Stalin. You have to start with how do
people produce and reproduce everyday life, and who controls this. When people
collectively decide how to produce and reproduce everyday life, becoming a
bureaucrat defending in an authoritarian manner one's own interests against the
rest of the population will be about as attractive as becoming a wizard or
voodooman is to the majority of people today. In my opinion, people will have
problems even understanding the idea of a minority of society controlling
production for their own interests, in the way that only in Science fiction
books do rulers make peoplepay to breathe air.
	I would like Justin to explain in some detail whu complexity should lead
to domination automatically. It ain't necessarily so. 
	John Mullen 
	SI France



     --- from list marxism2-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---