IMGpapers 1980–83

Newspapers of the International Marxist Group and its forerunners, 1980–83

Fatalism

Socialist Challenge No. 128, 3 January 1980 · pp. 11-12 of the scan · 507 words

The scan: sc-n128-jan-03-1980.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 3-3 of 7; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 11 of the scan

countries, we must show revolutionaries and cannot act as a brake on history.' I challenge him on some of the more controversial aspects of his insistence, for example, that there should be a one-party system. In reply, Bahro maintains his View that and that there was no justification therefore for à multitude of parties once private ownership of the means of production and thus bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie had abolished.

But there is, as it turns out, more to it than that: "If one acknowledges the reactions of the masses, in the GDR for example, who are still condemned to an unreflective life by the nature of their work processes, then it is unavoidable that there should still be a justification for saying: Here the party, there the masses.? Enlightened In other words, Bahro freely admits that he does not see the masses as capable of exercisingli power yet, and that he historical period during which an 'enlightened' elite, ourselves be book his parties represent class differences, the been cause for still there, foresees an entire 'League of LICW Hence his hope for a "guided' process, 'guided' by enlightened sectors of the bureaucracy: If the hour strikes, as in Prague 1968, if. they drop their guard for a single moment..., that opens up other possibilities. In such a situallon the emancipatory would make themselves felt right up as far as the high ranks of the apparatus.

Until that happens, fire.. out of revolutionary subjectivism and voluntarism'.

There is definitely a contrast between the revolutionary fire of The Alternative in Eastern Europe and the cautious fatalism of the author now that he has been released. ambiguities were, of course, already contained in the book - but they frequently contradicted by bold statements of tans cente disappointment: product of his background.

The enthusiastic communist and Marxist is the belief in the alternative "socialism or barbarism' unbroken. Marxism has been shaped in an environment in which the masses cannot be trusted, in which Western capitalism remains the yardstick of

page 12 of the scan

Socialist Challenge THE DECISION of the Soviet Union to send troops to remove Hufizullab General Secretary Democratic Afghanistan (PDPA), replace him pith of the muntry scape parts country condemned on every count.

It disregarde the rights of the people of Alghanistan to determine their own future. it tramples foot the rights of the PDPA (limited though these were to choose its own leaders: and it wi ad the reactionary and backward-looking forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ever since the overthrow of the. Daoud dictatorship in April 1978 in a military. coup, struggled to establish its rule. It was a antly dif country in which to make 2. sociat factories îm the whole country and the size of the working class is extremely smalt.

Shopkeepers of the Party of.

thust MILOS 1 has only Soviet troops al Miles USS R

SOUTHALL SATURDAY

SUPPORT LOCAL ACTIVITIES NATIONWIDE DAYOFACTIVITYTO RAISE £10,000 FORTHE SOUTHALL DEFENCE FUND *MABCH TO PENTINVILI 19 JAN FREE THE SOUTHALL PRISONERS PICKET ASSEMBLE Den LUSTONSTAT WEST SIDE

← Rudolf Bahro interviewed We must not play with fire'SOVIET TROOPSOUT OF AFGHANISTAN! SPENTOO VIRLE PRISON →

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