[OPE] Marx criticizing the left

I don't know if you do it with your right hand or your left hand, but I got my sources from Hal Draper, KMTR Vol 2 and Vol. 4 which you could easily consult.

Compare also this quote:

... proletarian revolutions, like those of the nineteenth century, constantly criticize themselves, constantly interrupt themselves in their own course, return to the apparently accomplished, in order to begin anew; they deride with cruel thoroughness the half-measures, weaknesses, and paltriness of their first attempts, seem to throw down their opponents only so the latter may draw new strength from the earth and rise before them again more gigantic than ever, recoil constantly from the indefinite colossalness of their own goals - until a situation is created which makes all turning back impossible, and the conditions themselves call out: Hic Rhodus, hic salta! http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch01.htm

(Or, in German:

Proletarische Revolutionen dagegen, wie die des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, kritisieren beständig sich selbst, unterbrechen sich fortwährend in ihrem eignen Lauf, kommen auf das scheinbar Vollbrachte zurück, um es wieder von neuem anzufangen, verhöhnen grausam-gründlich die Halbheiten, Schwächen und Erbärmlichkeiten ihrer ersten Versuche, scheinen ihren Gegner nur niederzuwerfen, damit er neue Kräfte aus der Erde sauge und sich riesenhafter ihnen gegenüber wieder aufrichte, schrecken stets von neuem zurück vor der unbestimmten Ungeheuerlichkeit ihrer eigenen Zwecke, bis die Situation geschaffen ist, die jede Umkehr unmöglich macht, und die Verhältnisse selbst rufen Hic Rhodus, hic salta! http://www.marxists.org/deutsch/archiv/marx-engels/1852/brumaire/kapitel1.htm )

Soviet Marxists and their heirs popularised the stance that there was only one kind of "true socialism", and that they represented it, but that was only the ideology of the New Marxist Exploiting Classes. According to these classes, socialism is about collectively owning/controlling the means of production, and once they control them and set up in business, they think socialism has been achieved. That is an idea which I think Marx would have fought tooth and nail.

J.

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Received on Wed Sep 24 08:17:08 2008