You wrote, “There IS a difference, you know, between dopey, naive liberals and some of these hardcore revolutinary-left types. We really need to understand that.”
In revolutions, only a minority percentage is active. The others tend to passively follow along and drift toward whichever side happens to be winning. This was famously established by Festinger in about 1957 who found that people will change attitudes more readily than changing behaviors. Changing the physical world is harder than changing one’s attitude toward the physical world—if the physical world is forcefully leaning one way, you adjust your attitude to agree with them and save the trouble and risk of disagreeing in the physical world.
The dopey, naive liberals will shuffle right in behind the hardcore revolutionary-left types. I guarantee that will happen. Don’t think I am criticizing your post. I am adding to it by suggesting that the difference between the two flavors of leftists will melt away if the hardcore types take action. Dopey, naive liberals will simply melt into line behind the harcore.
Here is a question for everyone on the list. Do socialist movements inevitably lead to violence to crush people with opposing views. Despite the facade of peace-loving anti-war attitudes tauted (often in a shriek), socialist movements tend to lead to wholesale, ruthless murdering on a large scale. Can anyone explain why this is so? Is it inevitable if the lefties and their wealthy backers take over the government of the U.S.?
Here is a question for everyone on the list. Do socialist movements inevitably lead to violence to crush people with opposing views. Looks to me like Communist Party USA thinks Obama is a man who can deliver the bloodless revolution...
Dynamic Magazine Spring 2008 Double Issue!
Spring 2008, Issue 18
by Dynamic Committee, 30.04.2008 14:57
Author: YCLUSA [Young Communist League USA]
First published 04/30/2008 16:09 by (article_topic_desc)
Dynamic is the magazine of the Young Communist League USA. It includes art, politics, and culture written by youth, for youth.
The 2008 Spring Double issues includes articles about the youth impact on the 2008 elections, youth participation in unions, the writer's strike and its impact on a family that struggled through it, and much more!
Once on the site, click "youth impact" for article:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/941/1/36/
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Obama-file 20: Young Communist League Backs Barack Obama-Again
The Young Communist League USA is the youth wing of the Communist Party USA.
http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/02/obama-file-20-young-communist-league.html
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See: MichaelMoore.com-->Links-->PoliticalAction (bottom of the page)
The Communist Party USA (CPUSA):
"We are a party of unity in action. We are an integral part of every struggle and movement for change to eliminate poverty and joblessness, against racism and for full equality. We are participants, initiators and leaders of every movement to make life better now and much better in a socialist future." Yeah, so they supported an oppressive dictator, like the Repubs and Democrats haven't? The CP is still around, has apologized for that whole Stalin thing, and has a quickly growing youth section.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/links/index.php?linkType=Political%20Action
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"MoveOn.org's nationwide network of more than 1,700,000 online activists is one of the most effective and responsive outlets for democratic participation available today."
--Communist Party USA (Unity and Coalitions):
http://cpusa.org/link/category/21/
Do socialist movements inevitably lead to violence to crush people with opposing views. Utopian movements tend to go totalitarian because utopia is unnatural and impossible. Utopian movements embrace dictatorship and a police state because that is needed to enforce their ideal of perfection. To create utopia, you have to have every aspect of life controlled to the most minute detail. When utopians rant about how they will create a new human nature, this inevitably involves exterminating the majority of people.
The followers of utopianism subconciously understand that utopia is impossible -- the nearest thing they can get to it is a constant state of "revolution." From the French Revolution to the Nazi and various communist states, there is a constant war against this or that group of people. There are "enemies" everywhere who must be exterminated. So while leftist utopians dream of creating a "new communist man," in practical terms all they talk about is creating a perpetual state of "revolution."
Liberal (in the European sense of the word) revolutionaries advocate revolution reluctantly. They see revolution as a temporary measure to remove a bad government. The idea is to end the revolution as quickly as possible so life can get back to normal. Totalitarian revolutionaries see revolution as the goal rather than a means. That is why diverse revolutionary groups like communists and Islamists often work together. I think the communists in particular realize that the "new communist man" is a myth and will remain so. They see themselves as leaders of a perpetual revolution. There are millions of pseudo-intellectuals who are indoctrinated in a strange mixture of fanaticism and nihilism. The less ambitious ones long for the day when they will be executioners for the totalitarian state. Give them a gun and make them members of a death squad and they will be happy. The more ambitious ones dream of writing edicts about which group is to be exterminated next. They dream of being the next Stalin or Pol Pot.