[Blunderov] Hmm. I’m not keen on relativism. By this standard one can say of the Nazis that they were better than the Communists because the Nazi body count was lower.   

 

And what is one to say of China? That it is a triumph of Capitalism or a triumph of Communism?  If the Chinese have any relativists amongst their number they might well argue that the sacrifices of the Cultural Revolution were “worth it” considered against the prosperity and cultural/economic dominance that now prevails.

 

Taxonomy is a tricky thing. And anyone who performed such an accounting would be likely to discover nothing more useful than their own historical preconceptions it seems to me.

 

Best Regards.

 

 


From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com] On Behalf Of Kharin
Sent: 08 March 2006 15:33
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: Oscar contenders take a left turn

 


"Communism" is a very big word. To large for the generalization you offer
IMO; perhaps Marxist-Leninism is the flavour to which you most object? How many people has Capitalism killed I wonder?



I believe Jonathan's statement was correct in this regard. The  death toll under Stalin was larger than that within Nazi Germany before one has added in Mao's cultural revolution or Pol Pot. A generalisation it may have been, but Marxist-Leninism did seem to produce remarkably consistent results. The spectrum from Yugoslavia at one end to Russia at the other does offer some variety, but probably not enough to afford much in the way of rehabilitation.

The comparison with capitalism is valid in so far said economic structure has often had devastating effects (though the economic fall-out of communism was probably the least of its crimes). Nonetheless, it's probably not very helpful for a number of reasons, most obviously that fascism and communism were both mass movements, which capitalism has certainly not been since the nineteenth century. Equally, the spectrum of what can be counted as capitalism from Sweden to Hong Kong does seem to afford rather more diversity than can be said for communism.