spartan
7th June 2008, 04:56
What is the difference between the modern far-left trying to disassociate themselves with Stalin era USSR and the modern far-right (BNP) trying to disassociate themselves with Hitler and the Nazis?
I suppose the obvious answer to that is that our attempts at disassociation from the Stalinist past is genuine whereas the far-right's attempts to disassociate themselves with Hitler and the Nazis is done out of fear of a negative public perception if they dont (As parties like the BNP are desperate to get into power via the ballot box and become a "respectable" far-right Nationalist party like the mainstream ones in mainland Europe), though is it really as simple as that?
But are we not also guilty of trying to disassociate ourselves with figures such as Stalin and Mao due to a fear of negative public perception?
The fact is when i post anti-BNP stuff showing their members openly Nazi past to BNP supporters who claim that they arent Nazis anymore, they just post stuff about Stalin, Mao and Pol-Pot and how many people they all killed and then they show images of all those little Stalinist parties here in the UK with their Stalin banners and saying that we also support mass murderers.
You try to explain to them that there are many branches of leftism and that you agree that all these figures were bad etc but they just dont listen!
What is a leftist to do in situations like this?
I suppose the obvious answer to that is that our attempts at disassociation from the Stalinist past is genuine whereas the far-right's attempts to disassociate themselves with Hitler and the Nazis is done out of fear of a negative public perception if they dont (As parties like the BNP are desperate to get into power via the ballot box and become a "respectable" far-right Nationalist party like the mainstream ones in mainland Europe), though is it really as simple as that?
But are we not also guilty of trying to disassociate ourselves with figures such as Stalin and Mao due to a fear of negative public perception?
The fact is when i post anti-BNP stuff showing their members openly Nazi past to BNP supporters who claim that they arent Nazis anymore, they just post stuff about Stalin, Mao and Pol-Pot and how many people they all killed and then they show images of all those little Stalinist parties here in the UK with their Stalin banners and saying that we also support mass murderers.
You try to explain to them that there are many branches of leftism and that you agree that all these figures were bad etc but they just dont listen!
What is a leftist to do in situations like this?