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    Lazy Llama

An open question to all SWP members on u75

No I didn't! You said you put the quote up in its in entirity, I said no you didn't I did first.....

Can't be fucked with this, you're just a wind up merchant, as many on here have said.....Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
 
cockneyrebel said:
No I didn't! You said you put the quote up in its in entirity, I said no you didn't I did first.....

Can't be fucked with this, you're just a wind up merchant, as many on here have said.....Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Yep, you got it - i did put the full quote up. You accused me of not doing so and of therefore being dishonest. You were wrong. Weren't you?
 
cockneyrebel said:
Can't be fucked with this, you're just a wind up merchant, as many on here have said.....Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
that's curious! there have been some points on this thread when i almost posted the same general comment at you.
 
cockneyrebel said:
Nope I accused you of not putting it up first. Which is correct.....as said....

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........
to flounce once is a brave and bold step: to flounce twice is a mistake. and to flounce thrice indicates yr a 'damned' fan.
 
Hahahahaha you're a classic butchers.....

First Charles gets the total wrong end of the stick from my sentence, then you start going on about juntas, even though it was irrelevant in the context, and then I'm a liar.....

And yeah I love getting the last post :cool: :p :D
 
Surprised anyone still bothers with CR- his utterly dishonest debating style and tortured mis-spelt prose makes the average Social Worker leading article seem positively Joycean by comparison.
 
cockneyrebel said:
Nope I accused you of not putting it up first. Which is correct.....as said....

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........
What? You accused me of not putting up a quote that you used a few days ago before you did? You really are going to some lengths to dissemble and try and casue confusion as you know you've been caught lying yet again.
 
Dr. Christmas said:
Surprised anyone still bothers with CR- his utterly dishonest debating style and tortured mis-spelt prose makes the average Social Worker leading article seem positively Joycean by comparison.
Yep bring back RW and Levien - at least they're just honest idiots.
 
cockneyrebel said:
Hahahahaha you're a classic butchers.....

First Charles gets the total wrong end of the stick from my sentence, then you start going on about juntas, even though it was irrelevant in the context, and then I'm a liar.....

And yeah I love getting the last post :cool: :p :D
damned%20lp.jpg
 
Dr. Christmas said:
Surprised anyone still bothers with CR- his utterly dishonest debating style and tortured mis-spelt prose makes the average Social Worker leading article seem positively Joycean by comparison.
i wouldn't say joycean; perhaps literate.
 
back at work, good to see the thread hasnt descended into one of those "you said this" "no i said that" numbers that go on for pages. anyways

maybe you should read a bit more closely G before you dash off a post. As stated earlier, "the FoD programme was remarkably similar to that of the Bolsheviks in the early days, which any account of the revolution will tell you was extremely workers-control and elected-officers based. As the situation got worse reality set in and they were forced to retreat. It was the working class - all parties took part in this - were forced to find some way of managing a national economy, and the factory committees ignored the small anarcho-syndicalists and added their voice to their demand for nationalisation and economic supervision."

Ignored what I said gurrier, once again the Bolsheviks began with many of those features – namely workers control, election of officers etc - and Lenin argued for this. As the reality of the economic crisis bit, they were forced to reverse this. The question at stake is whether they would lose the revolution of not. The point I was making was that this was a situation that the FoD never got to because they never went beyond being a faction in the CNT and the state was not overthrown in Spain. Therefore their programme was never put to the test of being implemented, they were never in overall charge of the economy (eg the banks). If there would have been a revolution then they might well have had to make compromises and retreats if the situation demanded it, or lose. The FoD was still developing so who knows. Nobody ever said it was Marxist, and from skimming the stupid tit for tat posts I don’t think CR said it was either.

The major difference as I understand it (besides the debate about the meaning of junta, which could mean either a commune state or not in spanish, I agree with CR's interpretation from what I've read of the FoD but that was a while ago) is that rather than calling for soviets they called for a bloc of parties in certain proportions, ie the workers did not have their own, directly democratic bodies that they could change the composition of quickly like In Russia. Willing to hear differently if thats wrong..

But this quote shows the difference between anarchists and the FoD:

"Our Group demands the immediate establishment of a revolutionary junta, the shooting of the guilty ones, the disarming of the armed corps, the socialization of the economy and the disbanding of all the political parties which turned on the working class"

sounds pretty authoritarian to me!! So how would they disband the parties that didn't want to be disbanded – and would they shoot people with sanctions G?? The FoD just like you lot on this web board constantly argue against authority but then smuggle it back in in the name of necessity. Marxism starts from necessity, and that was the direction the FoD was moving in. Certainly wasn't there yet.

Anyways lets look at the forces you said were wrong to be banned from the soviets:

The Mensheviks organised and hegemonised the oppositional movement based on one section of the workers, the more backward section remaining in the factories – the Bolsheviks did the same for the revolutionary section, many of whom joined the soviet administrative bodies, the grain requisitioning detachments, and the red army. The Mensheviks organised it deliberately to overthrow the power of the Bolsheviks in the soviet movement (you'd say fine, fair nuff) but more than that, the soviet movement themselves. They explicitly had the perspective, from day 1, repeated constantly in resolutions from their conference to local bodies, to reverse the revolution, restore the constituent assembly, ie parliament, stop the heavy indemnities on the rich and capitalists that the Bolsheviks were seizing, and ensure that the revolution soft-landed back in capitalism (of course it wouldn't have, it would have slipped out of their hands into a coup and dictatorship just as it was already doing before the revolution – "normal" democracy was just not on the cards in Russia). When in May and June there was a coup in Saratov that overthrew the soviets and set up a capitalist provisional government the Mensheviks backed it.

(Of course the Mensheviks had already played the role of the Stalinists in the Spanish civil war in Russia – before the revolution they had supported banning the Bolsheviks and their paper, supported the provisional government while it rounded up and killed militants etc – the Stalinists in spain were not Leninists, they were the Mensheviks. CR would obviously have been the Bolshevik-leninists which were trotskyist. Who doesn't know wtf they are talking about?)

The SR's had less influence in the workers movement but blocked any policies that meant taking the class struggle into the villages and any requisitioning of grain from any of the peasants rich or otherwise. Then they staged an armed revolt against the soviets. Whoops.

The anarchists were tiny and could in no way immediately challenge to lead the working class, they had no influence. The immediate perspective in spring 1918 was a Menshevik-led counterrevolution that destroyed the soviets or defending them and the Bolsheviks, critically or otherwise. To support the Mensheviks or participate in their "workers parliaments" or general strikes like in Tula June 1918 would have been a disaster. Now either your anti-Bolshevism is abstract ie not related to the particular needs of struggle at that particular time, or it is cynical and empty, not a solution for the working class at all. the only alternative was to critically support the bolshevik regime in the ongoing never-ending crisis of 1918 onwards, as many anarchists did. Just as trotskyists critically supported the CNT in the spanish civil war against the stalinists and capitalists and, as said agreed with many but not all of the tactics the FoD argued.

someone said "As has been pointed out on this thread by joe, Lenin and Trotsky made it quite clear that it was always their intention to introduce one man management and they civil war actually slowed down its introduction."

No it wasn't, what's your source? Most Marxists and bourgeous academics who aren't cold warrior nutters don’t agree. In some situations it may be necesasry. Sorry your wrong, the usual conspiracy crap.

another person wrote (sorry still dnot know how to use the quotes): "Nobody has said that they thought that the leninists in Spain should have been banned. I explained to you why the FoD's calling for their disbandment was qualititively different from the Bolshevik's banning of all opposition. If the mensheviks had been used primarily as a front for waging terror against the working class, I could see the case for banning them, but I still wouldn't agree with it as it happens."

Depends on which section of the working class you mean, the working class fell apart largely in the major political centres in January- March 1918, and was split elsewhere. As answered above the Mensheviks were already guilty of this long before the October Revolution.

Sorry to the those who felt insulted by the old professor anarchist remark, I thought it was pretty obvious that it was highlighting how ridiculous Gurriers remark about student trots was, next time I'll make it clearer. Gotta laugh about this "whose the most insulting" debate, the anarchos are always over the top in their insults in my experience including re-reading the board, though don't know anything about past debates on urban 75.

G said "Anarchists have argued, at great length and over and over again, that the logic of leninist politics leads inexorably towards dictatorships whenever they have the smallest smidgeon of success. The Leninists themselves could be jolly decent chaps, including Lenin or Stalin, but that is really irrelevant."

whatever! Richard Pipes, Orlando Figes, Leonard Schapiro, and now…Gurrier. But wait most anarchists I've read always say that the Bolsheviks are a petty bourgeous sect of middle class people who just want to be bureaucrats, and fool the working class into taking power for us. That's pretty "personal" isn’t it besides ridiculous.

Anyways, everyones' gone a bit silent on the grain question and banning the Mensheviks, those are clearly important questions nobodies got an answer to. no surprise there. well i guess lets turn it over to the slew of insults or "bored cant be bothered" comments now.
 
First of all, aw go on, coming back to the thread two days after the debate has ended, doesn't mean that you're going to get the last word in, no matter how pathethic that word may be.

It's fairly funny to see the assembled junior trots complimenting pretty much any old post that agrees with themselves, no matter how non-sensical the content may be.

It was the working class - all parties took part in this - were forced to find some way of managing a national economy, and the factory committees ignored the small anarcho-syndicalists and added their voice to their demand for nationalisation and economic supervision.
So, I suppose you think that "all parties" except the bolsehviks of course, took part in the decision to ban themselves! They just demanded that the bolsheviks supervised them out of existence? That is a tremendously plausible argument my dear fellow.

As the reality of the economic crisis bit, they were forced to reverse this.

Indeed, they were obviously forced to implement the policies and practice that they had been advocating since their inception. It was clearly a case of them trying desperately to not implement their stated policies of centralisation and control of the state while somebody just forced them to do so. Who was it that forced them to do so? Maybe it was the workers whose strikes they banned - "we demand that you impose your authority so that you can ban our strikes more effectively". Or maybe it was the soldiers - "we demand that you remove our elected officers and replace them with the hated tsarist generals" or maybe it was little green aliens?

junta...which could mean either a commune state or not in spanish

tu hablas buen la castellano? No! It could as much mean a little green alien as a commune state, you idiot.

is that rather than calling for soviets they called for a bloc of parties in certain proportions, ie the workers did not have their own, directly democratic bodies that they could change the composition of quickly like In Russia. Willing to hear differently if thats wrong..

Well, willing or not, you've done a pretty good job at stopping your ears and repeating your lies over and over. The FoD proposal was for directly delegated delegates of the unions, with no party involvement whatsoever. Unlike Russia, this would have been possible as, despite their best efforts, the Leninists still had not managed to shut down the mass workers organisations.

Then you descend into a classical leninist/stalinist denunciation of all the non-bolshevik political forces in russia which amounts to nothing more - on any count - than 'they didn't obey the bolsheviks therefore they were by definition counter-revolutionary and were demanding that they be executed' A scientific proof if ever I saw one.

But wait most anarchists I've read always say that the Bolsheviks are a petty bourgeous sect of middle class people who just want to be bureaucrats, and fool the working class into taking power for us. That's pretty "personal" isn’t it besides ridiculous.
Well the logic of bolshevik politics has been proved, better than almost any other theory in the social sciences, to lead to totalitarian dictatorships and you know this does attract a certain type of personality - arrogant managerial and completely disconnected from the reality of working in a capitalist world. There is nothing personal about this, just a scientific observation from the field of psycho-sociology. And it's one that has a tonne of evidence behind it. If you doubt it do a straw poll of non-party members about virtually any leader of a trot group, you will find that that you receive a remarkable uniformity in the adjectives that come back at you: "arrogant", "superior", "managerial", "dishonest", "bullying" and so on will crop up again and again.
Anyways, everyones' gone a bit silent on the grain question and banning the Mensheviks, those are clearly important questions nobodies got an answer to. no surprise there.
You dishonest little arrogant, managerial, superior toad. You know full well that a large portion of this thread (since it got derailed when you trots couldn't defend bolshevik brutality) has been precisely concerned with anarchists answering that question. Although, since you seem to think that murdering anybody who has a little too much grain with them in town is an acceptable answer, I don't really think that there's any point in continuing this 'debate', no more so than there would be with somebody who defends the holocaust - you are equally odious if a little more slimy.
 
Nice one Gurrier!

As an ex SWP'er (please don't hold it against me) I've been following this thread with some interest.
Gurriers observations are spot on, I feel to add to them would only degrade their value.
 
How can you say gurriers posts are spot on? He has now gone has low as to sugget trotskyists are as bad as someone who defends the holocausts and this isn't just an insult at aw go on but every person here in the SP, SWP, WP and any other independent who defends the Bolshevik tradition.

And look at the replies their just insults and waffle, and you feel you can't add anything?!

Well the logic of bolshevik politics has been proved, better than almost any other theory in the social sciences

here is nothing personal about this, just a scientific observation from the field of psycho-sociology.

If you say so. What statements to make! A scientifc observation!!! Hahaha, you couldn't make it up, but you do.....

And how would the FOD close down other organisations and execute people using non-authoritarian measures?
 
cockneyrebel said:
How can you say gurriers posts are spot on? He has now gone has low as to sugget trotskyists are as bad as someone who defends the holocausts and this isn't just an insult at aw go on but every person here in the SP, SWP, WP and any other independent who defends the Bolshevik tradition.

And look at the replies their just insults and waffle, and you feel you can't add anything?!





If you say so. What statements to make! A scientifc observation!!! Hahaha, you couldn't make it up, but you do.....

And how would the FOD close down other organisations and execute people using non-authoritarian measures?

OK, tell us about a case where Leninism in power hasn't led to the creation of a brutal tyranny.

And while Gurrier's rhetoric in comparing his opponents to holocaust deniers may be slightly overblown, it's not entirely a false comparison.
 
Throughout the last ten pages or so of this thread, I have been reading "The Guillotine At Work- The Leninist Counter-revolution" by Maximoff.

The comparison of trots to holocaust-deniers is not so far-fetched.

What they did was utterly base and despicable,and todeny it in the way they are doing on this thread puts them in the same camp as Irving et al. Scum, moveover scum wishing to bring about the same horrors again.
 
OK, tell us about a case where Leninism in power hasn't led to the creation of a brutal tyranny.

And while Gurrier's rhetoric in comparing his opponents to holocaust deniers may be slightly overblown, it's not entirely a false comparison.

Well you could say the same about anarchism. It has always led to failure. Does that mean it's wrong? Bolshevism has only come to power once!

What they did was utterly base and despicable,and todeny it in the way they are doing on this thread puts them in the same camp as Irving et al. Scum, moveover scum wishing to bring about the same horrors again.

Well even if you believe what you do about Bolshevism there is obviously a difference. Trotskyists want to create a better world. Fascists and holocaust deniers believe in an ideology based on hatred. I think there is a world of difference even from your point of view in terms of how you look at the people involved. I think anarchism will always lead to failure and will betray the working class and lead to disaster. That doesn't mean I think anarchists are scum!

Do you really think that BNP activists are the same as people in the SP, WP, SWP etc?

And as said if you look at gurrier's last post it actually says, between the insults, almost nothing.

Would be good to have an answer to:

And how would the FOD close down other organisations and execute people using non-authoritarian measures?

Because at the beginning of the anarchist FAQ it says "Thus "anarchy" means more than just "no government," it means opposition to all forms of authoritarian organisation and hierarchy." So if the FOD were using authoritarian measures surely this is a fairly big difference from anarchists on here?
 
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