Enver Hoxha was a Jedi knight

[Crux]

No, really. (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Enver_Hoxha)

[Sasha]

Some stalinoid nerd intern must have slipped that in :lol:

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Maybe this will make me read Ismail's irrelevant walls of text.....


Nah.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

What color was his lightsaber? Was it gray? That would match his personality: dull and uninteresting.

[Ismail]

What color was his lightsaber? Was it gray? That would match his personality: dull and uninteresting.I've read some of Hoxha's memoirs (Laying the Foundations of the New Albania and The Khrushchevites), both are well-written and have amusing anecdotes.

A random example (not necessarily amusing, just an example of his descriptive value) can be seen in the former work, pp. 533-536:

I remember that during the period when the trial of quisling traitors and war criminals was going on, I was returning to Tirana one day from Berat where I had been on business. At that time I wore a general's blue uniform with red stripes and top boots. When we were approaching the village of Karbunara I saw the Sheh with his priest's hat and robe, who was standing in the middle of the road with his hand raised signalling to the car to stop. I told my driver to stop the car and allowed the Sheh to approach. I did not get out of the car because I deliberately wanted to humiliate him and to make this enemy understand that we, the Party and the people who had fought and triumphed, were in power. The Sheh, dragging his feet, opened the door of the car, bowed, wished me good day and held out his hand. I shook hands with him without moving.

"What do you want? Why did you stop me?" I asked him.

"First of all, to congratulate you," he said.

"I have no need for your congratulations," I told him. "Have you anything else?"

"I stopped you to beg you to pardon some of those who are on trial," he said.

"I'll see to it myself," I told him shortly. "The lives of traitors and quisling ministers in the service of the Germans, of the chiefs of the Balli Kombëtar and anyone else who turned the rifle against us, have been placed in the hands of the people's justice. Your friends and associates, Sheh Karbunara, have stained their hands with the blood of the people and our comrades, therefore don't worry at all because I am certain that the people's justice will give them what they deserve."

"It's very bad, Enver..."

"Listen, Sheh Karbunara," I told him, "when I told you, indeed begged you, to abandon the road, of betrayal, you thought that the Italians and Germans were stronger than our people and our Party which you derided and fought. However, things turned out quite differently from what you thought and this was not a miracle of the fate and god in which you believe, but was a result of the mind, ability and bravery of the Party, the communists and our people.

"I know very well, that you, Sheh, were together with Kolë Tromara and company, but you tricked them cleverly, you threw the stone and hid your hand. We did not arrest you, not for the sake of your beautiful eyes, but because we did not have so many concrete facts about you, because otherwise you would be together with the traitors in the dock today. The communists, whom you abused, are the world's most just men, the kindest with the people and ready to sacrifice themselves from the people's greatest causes. Hence, you escaped once, but you will not escape a second time, therefore I advise you to keep your mouth shut and not conspire against the people, because if you do, we shall put you in your place. That is all I have to say to you."

The officer shut the door of the car, I left Sheh Karbunara in the dust of the road and never again set eyes on him. The enemy did not give up his activity against the people's state power. He became a participant in the plot hatched up by the Anglo-American agency of Shefqet Beja, Gjergj Kokoshi, Riza Dani and others. So, Sheh Karbunara, too, was condemned by the people's court.

[Pirate Utopian]

He'd be more of a Sith lord.

[Comrade Samuel]

Some stalinoid nerd intern must have slipped that in :lol:

Either that or George Lucas was a true champion of the proletariat.:laugh:

This is either the lamest or coolest thing I've ever seen- I'm still making up my mind.

[LOLseph Stalin]

That can't be real, hahaha.

[Sasha]

Either that or George Lucas was a true champion of the proletariat.:laugh:


Maybe im not the only person who always reads George Lucas instead of Georg Lukacs...
Imagine Lukacs getting a starwars directing job by accident..

[Paul Pott]

Hoxha should restore the Galactic Empire.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

I love how he's listed under the category 'individuals of unidentified species' :laugh:

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Maybe im not the only person who always reads George Lucas instead of Georg Lukacs...
Imagine Lukacs getting a starwars directing job by accident..

I actually just read it the other way around. :blushing:
Though, also, yes, that would rule.

[bcbm]

I've read some of Hoxha's memoirs (Laying the Foundations of the New Albania and The Khrushchevites), both are well-written and have amusing anecdotes.

A random example (not necessarily amusing, just an example of his descriptive value) can be seen in the former work, pp. 533-536:

what a fantastic story.

[The Intransigent Faction]

Yep, I saw this ages ago when I read Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. I always wondered if that was some weird coincidence, or what!

[Flying Purple People Eater]

I've read some of Hoxha's memoirs (Laying the Foundations of the New Albania and The Khrushchevites), both are well-written and have amusing anecdotes.

A random example (not necessarily amusing, just an example of his descriptive value) can be seen in the former work, pp. 533-536:

Reads like a novel.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Maybe this will make me read Ismail's irrelevant walls of text.....


Nah.

I love how this is stated and then Ismail posts a wall of text :lol:

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

I've read some of Hoxha's memoirs (Laying the Foundations of the New Albania and The Khrushchevites), both are well-written and have amusing anecdotes.

A random example (not necessarily amusing, just an example of his descriptive value) can be seen in the former work, pp. 533-536:

That was actually well written. I've read much worse from literary magazines. Mao Zedong himself was also quite the story teller. Here he describes how a simple ad in the newspaper was pivotal in his long path to becoming a Communist:




I began to read advertisements in the papers. Many schools were then being opened and used this medium to attract new students. I had no special standard for judging schools; I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. An advertisement for a police school caught my eye and I registered for entrance to it. Before I was examined, however, I read an advertisement for a soap-making ‘school’. No tuition was required, board was furnished and a small salary was promised. It was an attractive and inspiring advertisement. It told of the great social benefits of soap making, how it would enrich the country and enrich the people. I changed my mind about the police school and decided to become a soap maker. I paid my dollar registration fee here also.

Meanwhile a friend of mine had become a law student and he urged me to enter his school. I also read an alluring advertisement of this law school, which promised many wonderful things … Fate intervened again in the form of an advertisement for a commercial school. Another friend counselled me that the country was in economic war, and that what was most needed were economists who could build up the nation’s economy. His argument prevailed and I spent another dollar to register in this commercial school … Meanwhile, however, I continued to read advertisements, and one day I read one describing the charms of a higher commercial school. It was operated by the government, it offered a wide curriculum, and I heard that its instructors were very able men … The trouble with my new school, I discovered, was that most of the courses were taught in English, and, in common with other students, I knew little English … Disgusted with this situation, I withdrew from the institution at the end of the month and continued my perusal of advertisements.

My next scholastic adventure was in the First Provincial Middle School … I did not like this school. Its curriculum was limited and its regulations were objectionable … I had come to the conclusion that it would be better for me to read and study alone … I managed to resist the appeals of all future advertising.

Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China, pp. 143-45.

[Ismail]

Mao Zedong himself was also quite the story teller. Here he describes how a simple ad in the newspaper was pivotal in his long path to becoming a Communist:There's a memoir of Hoxha that's only available in Albanian and French, which details among orther things how he became a Communist. If you know French you can read it here: http://www.enverhoxha.ru/Archive_of_books/French/enver_hoxha_annees_de_jeunesse_souvenirs_fr.pdf

In short, he went to France to continue his studies and there used to be a PCF kiosk handing out abridged/study versions of Marxist texts. He read about the Paris Commune, about Marx's critiques of the Utopian Socialists and bourgeois political economy, and when he asked questions to his Professors about Marxism they just slandered it and its founder rather than actually answering anything. Eventually he contributed articles to the PCF newspaper L'Humanité under a pseudonym, denouncing the regime of Albania's King Zog.

[L.A.P.]

Yep, I saw this ages ago when I read Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. I always wondered if that was some weird coincidence, or what!

I saw that on the page, that must mean the author of that book must have been some super-nerd. what kind of person slips Enver Hoxha in an obscure Star Wars book, as a padawan for that matter?

[Sea]

He's also a "Post-Ruusan Jedi trainee". I guess Khruushchev is responsible for that.

[Brutus]

He's also a "Post-Ruusan Jedi trainee". I guess Khruushchev is responsible for that.

Hahahahaha

[Karlorax]

What is funny about this is that LLCO, Leading Light Communist Organization, actually has an article about Jedi Knights. Only lefty organization I know of that does:



Yoda’s Lessons
(llco.org)
In the Star Wars movies, the force is a bunch of hocus pocus combined with cheesy mysticism. However, in that fictional world, it was the force that gave the jedi his power. Revolutionary science is a real life version of the force for those seeking to destroy imperialism and fight for total liberation. In The Empire Strikes Back (directed by George Lucas), Yoda, again and again, stopped the impetuous and unprepared Luke from going against the Empire too early. He stressed to Luke that he had to learn the force and train before going off to battle the dark side. This is an important lesson that Leading Lights appreciate. Before we go out and try to confront the system head-on, we have to have a good grasp of revolutionary science.
Practicing revolutionary science means that we have to analyze our situation, the objective conditions, so as to not charge headstrong into a battle that can’t be won at present. There are those who, like Luke, desire to rush into battle no matter what. They think anything is possible, if they give their all. This is a hallmark of the politics of emotionalism. Then, when they lose, they get discouraged and give up altogether. These forces make the error of setting their sights too high or too low because they don’t have a good grasp of what is possible nor do they have scientific patience. They think in terms of all or nothing. Focoism, the politics associated with Che Guevara, tends to downplay the role of analysis and theory. Rather than having a protracted view of struggle based on a scientific assessment of possibilities, focoists tend to throw themselves into battle and hope things will somehow work out. Launching armed struggle in the First World in the near future is a catastrophic error; it is absolutely suicidal and only brings repression.
Another error is “movementarianism.” These people have a narrow view that does not see beyond what is in front of them at the moment. They throw themselves into whatever struggles happen to be before their eyes. Rather than understanding any broader picture, they just think that if everyone just threw themselves into issue organizing, then everything will work out. Because they don’t have revolutionary science, these people can’t see the possibility of anything like real revolutionary work. They tend to end up in reformism and working for social-fascism on behalf of the labor aristocracy. Even if their “heart is in the right place,” they can’t see how their organizing is reactionary or whether they are working cross-purposes.
Think of the confused Trotskyist who says that we ought support “our” troops one day. Then, the next day, he says we ought support the Iraqis. And, when Muddlehead is confronted about the contradiction of his two assertions, what is the poor Trotskyist to do? Flip a coin? “Heads – I support America, tails, Iraq?“ Read tea leaves? This is a real world problem about not having class analysis and revolutionary science. Another example, Muddlehead goes around spouting that the Americans deserve a bigger piece of the pie without realizing that he is fanning the same fascist fire as Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs. Because Leading Lights have revolutionary science, we know that we clearly stand with those fighting the America as a whole, including the American so-called working class. Because Leading Lights have revolutionary science and political courage, we don’t sit on the fence. Leading Lights can clearly answer: who are our enemies and who are our friends?
As Yoda told Luke, before we rush into battle, we have to educate ourselves and make sure we have a grip on revolutionary science. Narrow empiricism and narrow pragmatism, going off unprepared, all lead to despair and pessimism. Without a scientific understanding, the enemy can seem invincible. Do not presume the enemy to be invincible. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Seeing only the power of the enemy’s military machine, for example, but not its weakness goes against revolutionary science. Revolutionaries, as Mao said, are optimists.
Suggested readings: Combat Liberalism by Mao Zedong, On Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party by Mao Zedong

[Ismail]

I think that's because:
A. They're nerds;
B. MIM, which the LLCO is trying to copy, did actually have interesting movie and even game reviews.

[Karlorax]

B. MIM, which the LLCO is trying to copy, did actually have interesting movie and even game reviews.

I disagree. Leading Light Communist Organization (LLCO) has been highly critical of MIM. Even from a superficial viewpoint, they seem very different. Even the fragments of MIM, their prison branch, criticizes LLCO for its distance from MIM.

[Omsk]

Those LLCO folks are simply horrible. I think the great Youtube Maoist revolutionary also made a video where used class analysis to explain a children's cartoon or something.

[Ismail]

I disagree. Leading Light Communist Organization (LLCO) has been highly critical of MIM. Even from a superficial viewpoint, they seem very different. Even the fragments of MIM, their prison branch, criticizes LLCO for its distance from MIM.Yes but the LLCO, at least when it was known as Monkeysmashesheaven, does/did regard the MIM as an important forerunner of its own efforts, just one that became increasingly unhinged in its politics ("all sex is rape" etc.) owing in part to the literal mental illness of Henry Parks, who was a Harvard graduate and actually did write interesting materials on Soviet state-capitalism and whatnot in the 80's and 90's.

[Karlorax]

Yes but the LLCO, at least when it was known as Monkeysmashesheaven, does/did regard the MIM as an important forerunner of its own efforts, just one that became increasingly unhinged in its politics ("all sex is rape" etc.) owing in part to the literal mental illness of Henry Parks, who was a Harvard graduate and actually did write interesting materials on Soviet state-capitalism and whatnot in the 80's and 90's.

I am pretty sure that "all sex is rape" was part of MIM since their very beginning (or at least since the 80s). It was not something that MIM adopted later, but was part of their line from pretty early on. Remember that MIM's paper had what appeared to be a lesbian symbol on the top alongside the hammer and sickle from as long as I remember. Those aspects of MIM predate what you are referring to as Park's problems.

I don't doubt LLCO sees them as a forerunner in a loose intellectual sense, but there is hardly an area, be it political line to style, that LLCO has not moved in its own direction, away from MIM. I am told that LLCO doesn't really come from MIM, but had its own evolution.