Saturday Q&A Part 1 - 19/08/23
Added 2023-08-21 20:53:47 +0000 UTCThis is the first part of what turned out to be a rather epic Q&A livestream.
Comments
The question about Stalin's words to Poland about the dictatorship of the proletariat reminded me of Vijay Singh's argument that, based on the Soviet archives, Stalin had some degree of input into the first 'British Road to Socialism' document in 1951. Singh goes onto argue that a significant distinction must be made between this first document and the second revised document (1957) which was much more revisionist. The first document, Singh emphasises, maintained a commitment to armed conflict with the bourgeoisie and only envisaged Parliament as a vehicle for establishing proletarian control *alongside* an armed proletariat--and the BRtS only became a reformist social-democratic programme with significant revisions made in light of the ascent of Krushchev. I think the implication is that a turn in the direction of revisionism began with the Soviet support. It does make one wonder how much the sacrifice of the Soviet Union (some 34m people dead, including many of its most revolutionary cadre) contributed to a revolutionary exhaustion in the post War era, including with such dedicated revolutionaries such as Stalin. Very understandable if true, and suggests that the Nazis and the West weren't entirely unsuccessful in their project of destroying Revolutionary socialism.
Sam
2023-08-22 10:31:15 +0000 UTC
