Comments on: Lars Lih online: Recent studies on Bolshevism, Lenin, and Kautsky

By: Pham Binh

Pham Binh — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:08:15 +0000

Here’s a link to a condensed version of the “Ironic Triumph of Old Bolshevism”:
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/843/the-ironic-triumph-of-old-bolshevism

By: Jacob Richter

Jacob Richter — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:34:55 +0000

Yes, but you refer here to “socialist revolution” and not “democratic revolution.” When Trotsky openly admitted his “civil war with the peasantry” stance, this was in the context of a worker-minority-led “democratic” permanent revolution.

Contemporarily, in countries where this rural and mainly petit-bourgeois force is the demographic majority, it and its urban counterparts should be in the lead, not the working class minority.

By: John Riddell

John Riddell — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:45:22 +0000

Jacob, I think Lars is making a broader point here. He contends that all wings of Russian Social Democracy held that the peasantry would necessarily oppose a socialist revolution. They had different answers as to how to deal with this obstacle. But the underlying prediction, in my view, did not prove to be accurate. The peasantry did support soviet power, even when it expropriated the capitalist class; the peasants gave the great land reform a distinctively collectivist and egalitarian twist. Consideration of the role of peasants in 20th century revolution should start with that reality, not with the mistaken prediction of the Russian social democrats.

By: Jacob Richter

Jacob Richter — Thu, 02 May 2013 05:25:57 +0000

And Trotskyist distortions of Marxism, too. Lars Lih wasn’t very kind when quoting Trotsky’s scandalous “civil war with the peasantry” statement regarding his take on “permanent revolution.”

By: lowi@sympatico.ca

lowi@sympatico.ca — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:17:19 +0000

Thanks, John. Lars Lih is making a major contribution to unscrambling the nonsense that we have all absorbed unwittingly from the Stalinist distortion of Marxism. Also, Daniel Gaido’s big anthology on “Permanent Revolution” adds valuable perspective on this maligned and misunderstood concept.Regards,Henry Lowi

Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:42:12 +0000 To: lowi@sympatico.ca

By: Dr Paul

Dr Paul — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:41:28 +0000

I’ve read Lars Lih’s articles with considerable interest, as I think he has written something very new and different to what I’ve read about Lenin and Bolshevism by left-wing activists and academics alike. His articles on the topic should be made up into a book.