Wez
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I would be interested to know if any of the membership of the Party were aware of the nature of the holocaust during the war or did knowledge of this horror only emerge after the war? Is it still a matter of debate as to when the ruling classes of the Allied side knew of the death camps?
‘And yes we did take a stand in WW2 against fighting Nazis, as did the Communist Party, at least up to 1941 and Barbarossa. We, however, remained consistent in opposing the war’
Alan – If we had known about the barbarities of the holocaust would we still have opposed the war against the Nazis?
Unfortunately the time of independent war journalists is a thing of the past. We only have ’embedded’ journalists who only get to see what their respective militaries want them to see. Many of them are merely cowards who are holed up in the bars of Kiev hotels being fed propaganda by the pentagon – I’m sure much the same can be said of Russian journalists.
‘I am the elitist, you expect socialism to come about thanks to historians (academics).’
Historians (academics) are not an alien race but a part of our class and, as I said, can contribute to the struggle. There are countless examples of historians debunking the ideological claims used as explanations for events. In fact that seems to be their main contribution. Being ridiculed by a student union paper is a badge of pride – I know this because, living in Cambridge, I am only too painfully aware of their political ignorance. The intelligentsia are just as vulnerable to the 24/7 propaganda of our culture as is any other member of our class. There are, in my experience, very few people who are not interested in some area of ‘academic’ knowledge. However, in our culture, you have to catch them outside of their peer groups. I don’t think that this is the main reason we don’t appeal to many though as the reason for that has been recognized and understood for many years by the Frankfurt school. What they couldn’t answer is what to do about it.So the historians are going to make socialism, are they?
Most people have no idea of the English Civil War or Age of Enlightenment, and don’t know what a bourgeois is. “Something foreign?”
Of course historians will help make socialism. History is our greatest ally – it is the foremost political/intellectual arena for debate. Without the talents of this part of the working class it has no chance of class consciousness. Your designation of ‘most people’ makes you sound very elitist. I know many who take a lively interest in history.
‘The chance was lost the moment Lenin & Co. decided to steal the words socialism and communism.’
TM – But the English Revolution was made in the name of Christianity and the bourgeois dictatorship was called a ‘Commonwealth’ by Cromwell. Similarly the French Revolution was made in the name of the Enlightenment as was Robespierre’s ‘terror’. My point is that most historians and others don’t believe that anymore and it’s the same with the Russian coup of 1917 – fewer and fewer serious historians consider it to have been socialist.Black spidery type on a white background has too much glare for me – plus I have floaters in my eyes and it looks like insects crawling around. Not pleasant.
Perhaps the elite of the USA need some foreign enemies to demonize to distract from the way their own country seems to be falling apart?
Having done a little more research on Grayzone I found this interview with an ex US diplomat who is very critical of Putin. This would seem to counter the accusation that they do not give a platform to those who criticize Russia and that they ‘practice deceit by omission’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxufUeqnuc&t=2024s
‘Yes, they offer an alternative narrative to the mainstream media.’
They don’t just offer an alternative – they are contemptuous of US mainstream media for the same reason we are! Their critique of the Ukrainian war maybe biased but their critique of mainstream media is spot on.Alan – Are you saying that they’re pro Putin? Certainly there was nothing in the clip that I gave the link for that any socialist could disagree with. That the Ukraine war is a US proxy war is just a fact and that doesn’t make them ‘anti-American’. I’ll continue to research them but if you can link me with any pro Putin content of theirs please do so.
What are we to make of the ‘Grayzone’ journalists in the USA? Do they represent a little light in this ‘dark future’? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCgI3C7te5w
‘Wez, I am aware of the battle for dominance between capitalist super powers. But does that mean that one has to say that any non-socialist should view Russia’s invasion as reasonable?’
‘Reason’ and morality do not enter into the calculations of ruling class actions. Our case is that war is the inevitable result of capitalism for reasons I’m sure you know Sympo. Justifiable feelings of moral outrage and the comprehension of the madness of war has never stopped them and never will. The justification of capitalism (from the right or left) is a justification of war.
