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tbh haven't read any of his stuff; i know he's an ML and pretty big stalinist. other than that, it seems that his work on caesar and shit was a bit flawed, but i'm not sure. just seems like a dork though impo
"Face the world like a roaring blaze, before all the tears begin to turn silent. Burn down everything that stands in our way. Bang the drum."
Then you have obviously never read any of his works. He is not a "Stalinist" (Marxist-Leninist), not even a small one. Just because he doesn't start crying whenever Stalin and Marxism-Leninism are addressed, that does not make him a Marxist-Leninist. I always thought he was just an authoritarian social democrat. But his politics is not really what I am worried about. All I know is that he is a pretty good alternative historian.
an "authoritarian social democrat"? so a stalinist basically
Until now, the left has only managed capital in various ways; the point, however, is to destroy it.
When talking about a writer who addresses politics, history or economics it seems to me that we should address ourselves to principles rather than persons.
In Parenti's case, what particular text is written from a Stalinist view? Or a specifically Marxist-Leninist view?
I've read several of his books and all I can see is that he writes from an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist position. When he gets around to offering alternatives or solutions they sound vaguely social democratic to me.
Last edited by x359594; 12th April 2012 at 20:54. Reason: dropped word
This is what happened to me:
1. I wrote the post.
2. I looked it over.
3. I saw that phrase.
4. "Oh shit!"
5. "Fuck it. I'll leave it like that and see who will be the first one to point it out."
6. I come back to this thread.
7. I see your post.
8. "SHIT!"
Somewhere I heard or read him described as an unrepentant Stalinist. I can't remember where and I don't know if that is an accurate assessment of his politics.
He defends the Soviet Union.
During its existence, almost everyone on the left at some time or another defended the USSR.
That cannot possibly be a valid cause for indicting anyone.
Yes, I see Stalin's tradition in Russia and the social institutions he sought over as completely and utterly anti-socialist and detrimental to socialist ends. That being said, many Stalinists now, whether you want to admit it or not, agree with instituting worker democracy, worker control, etc. I do not agree with their defense of that butcher Stalin, but that is their problem, not mine. I have a co-worker who is Stalinist and after much discussion I realized, whether he agrees with "Socialism in One Country", defends the Moscow show trials, etc. he still supports workers control, community control, abolition of private property, etc. I will debate Stalinists (M-L, whatever) to the end over "Socialism in One Country", the use of the vanguard party structure, etc. etc. but overall my enemy is capitalism and Stalinist states, not Stalinist activists, leftists, etc.
Maybe I just like to look past sectarian divides sometimes.
"The exploited are not carriers of any positive project, be it even the classless society (which all too closely resembles the productive set up). Capital is their only community. They can only escape by destroying everything that makes them exploited...Capitalism has not created the conditions of its overcoming in communism-the famous bourgeoisie forging the arms of its own extinction-but of a world of horrors." -At Daggers Drawn
"Our strategy is therefore the following: to establish and maintain a series of centers of desertion, or poles of secession, of rallying points. For runaways. For those who leave. A series of places where we can escape from the influence of a civilization that is headed for the abyss." -Tiqqun, Call
BTW that quote wasn't a response to you, it was to show Parenti is not a Stalinist
"The exploited are not carriers of any positive project, be it even the classless society (which all too closely resembles the productive set up). Capital is their only community. They can only escape by destroying everything that makes them exploited...Capitalism has not created the conditions of its overcoming in communism-the famous bourgeoisie forging the arms of its own extinction-but of a world of horrors." -At Daggers Drawn
"Our strategy is therefore the following: to establish and maintain a series of centers of desertion, or poles of secession, of rallying points. For runaways. For those who leave. A series of places where we can escape from the influence of a civilization that is headed for the abyss." -Tiqqun, Call
From Michael Parenti's 'Left-Anticommunism':
"All this is not to say that everything Stalin did was of historical necessity. The exigencies of revolutionary survival did not “make inevitable” the heartless execution of hundreds of Old Bolshevik leaders, the personality cult of a supreme leader who claimed every revolutionary gain as his own achievement, the suppression of party political life through terror, the eventual silencing of debate regarding the pace of industrialization and collectivization, the ideological regulation of all intellectual and cultural life, and the mass deportations of “suspect” nationalities."
Ohh yeah, what a baby-eating Stalinist...
"Machinery in itself is a victory of man over the forces of nature, but in the hands of capital it makes man the slave of those forces" - Uncle Karl
Thank you, and this is also from his book Blackshirts and Reds (if you can't tell, I am a fan of the book).
"The exploited are not carriers of any positive project, be it even the classless society (which all too closely resembles the productive set up). Capital is their only community. They can only escape by destroying everything that makes them exploited...Capitalism has not created the conditions of its overcoming in communism-the famous bourgeoisie forging the arms of its own extinction-but of a world of horrors." -At Daggers Drawn
"Our strategy is therefore the following: to establish and maintain a series of centers of desertion, or poles of secession, of rallying points. For runaways. For those who leave. A series of places where we can escape from the influence of a civilization that is headed for the abyss." -Tiqqun, Call
I love Michael Parenti, he always has his facts straight and always has shit to back them up, he makes alot of sense and really inspires me in ways
Huh? His work on Julius Caesar is so underrated.
"A new centrist project does not have to repeat these mistakes. Nobody in this topic is advocating a carbon copy of the Second International (which again was only partly centrist)." (Tjis, class-struggle anarchist)
"A centrist strategy is based on patience, and building a movement or party or party-movement through deploying various instruments, which I think should include: workplace organising, housing struggles [...] and social services [...] and a range of other activities such as sports and culture. These are recruitment and retention tools that allow for a platform for political education." (Tim Cornelis, left-communist)
Choking Victim is the shitThe selection above about Vaclav Havel is from Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism. It's a pretty good book in terms of combating some anti-Communist arguments by the Left.
I actually just appealed to the book yesterday in an argument over at PoFo about the nature of the "failure" of East German industry.
Also, the band Choking Victim used excerpts from speeches of his throughout their album so you would think Marxism-Leninism would be more popular amongst punks at this point
I like Parenti except for when he talks about the assassination of JFK.
But now we must pick up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on
Agreed, I think it is very interesting.
"The exploited are not carriers of any positive project, be it even the classless society (which all too closely resembles the productive set up). Capital is their only community. They can only escape by destroying everything that makes them exploited...Capitalism has not created the conditions of its overcoming in communism-the famous bourgeoisie forging the arms of its own extinction-but of a world of horrors." -At Daggers Drawn
"Our strategy is therefore the following: to establish and maintain a series of centers of desertion, or poles of secession, of rallying points. For runaways. For those who leave. A series of places where we can escape from the influence of a civilization that is headed for the abyss." -Tiqqun, Call
brah, calling someone a 'stalinist' has nothing to do with 'baby-eating' stereotypes or whatever. you can be anti-stalin and a stalinist. parenti is an authoritarian social democrat with a hard-on for 'strong men' making history; don't matter if he's willing to criticise stalin or not: he's a stalinist.
Until now, the left has only managed capital in various ways; the point, however, is to destroy it.
