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If you haven't read it, pick up a copy of George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia".
It's about how chaotic political situations lead to idealistic people getting screwed over by power politics.
amazon.com/Homage-Catalon…
It's about how chaotic political situations lead to idealistic people getting screwed over by power politics.
amazon.com/Homage-Catalon…
Basically, Orwell wants to fight for the workers. He goes to Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War and joins a small Marxist (but not Stalin-affiliated) militia. He fights fascists bravely and gets shot in the throat, but recovers.
Then it all goes to hell...
Then it all goes to hell...
Things go to hell when the Communists - who are officially affiliated with (and funded by) Stalin - violently suppress Orwell's militia and throw all of its members in jail, killing many. The Communists also attack many anarchists and trade unionists.
Orwell calls the Communists "right-wing" because they want to prevent a real workers' revolution. The Communists say they do this in the name of defeating fascism - they say they're the only ones who can win the war - but really they just serve Soviet geopolitical interests.
It seems to me that we can take several lessons from this.
First, it seems like we can see an echo of those Spanish Communists in the people we now call "tankies"...
First, it seems like we can see an echo of those Spanish Communists in the people we now call "tankies"...
The tankies simply support the geopolitical interests of the most powerful country that calls itself "communist" - China now, the USSR in Orwell's day - even if that country is in practice very right-wing, and even if it requires supporting cops over protesters, etc.
Second, "Homage to Catalonia" seems to have lessons for modern America. Whether or not Orwell has accurately assigned blame for the leftist infighting in the Spanish Civil War, it seems clear that this infighting cost the left badly in resources and attention.
Orwell notes that while the Communists keep significant forces behind the lines to suppress their anarchist and Marxist rivals, Franco and the fascists don't have to keep any troops back. The left is disunited; the right, united.
This may have helped Franco win the war.
This may have helped Franco win the war.
The left in the U.S. should consider carefully the lessons of the Spanish Civil War, including the eventual outcome.
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