Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

A Preview

Here's a paragraph from my paper that I'm particularly proud of:

For Trotsky, socialism was the end, rather than a means for serving humanity. The end goal of Marxism was to have a society that “administer[ed] things without governing people”(1). A problem arose in trying to create such a society: humanity. A labor force (This is where the ‘things that are administered’ come from) can be managed by three different instruments: material incentives, moral motivations, and physical coercion. (1) The first instrument is hardly compatible with Marxist doctrine, and the second is completely unreliable. In his infamous attack on Kautsky, Trotsky solves this problem:

The principle itself of compulsory labour service has just as radically and permanently replaced the principle of free hiring as the socialization of the means of production has replaced capitalist property…. For we have no way to socialism except by the authoritative regulation of the economic forces and resources of the country. [emphasis added]

So for Trotsky, dehumanizing concentration camps are o.k. as long as they serve the cause of socialism.

3 Comments:

At 6:55 PM, Blogger Jillian Staci said...

So for Trotsky, dehumanizing concentration camps are o.k. as long as they serve the cause of socialism.

Huh? I don't get that.

I think you’re being a bit hard on ol’ Trotsky.

I’ve no doubt that I could paste together a cohesive argument that for Mother Teresa, Catholicism was an end, rather than a means for serving humanity. Among my points would be that strict adherence to Catholic dogma precludes a genuine interest in another’s emotional and physical well being.

It’s always about the ‘ends’, and that’s especially true for political figures.

 
At 8:20 AM, Blogger Dallas said...

Maybe 'concentration camps' is a little harsh. How about 'forced labor camps'?

I’ve no doubt that I could paste together a cohesive argument that for Mother Teresa, Catholicism was an end, rather than a means for serving humanity.

Say, that gives me an idea. I'd follow through with it, but I believe Hitchens has already put forward just that argument. And he's a better writer than me.

http://www.slate.com/id/2090083/

 
At 12:34 AM, Blogger Jillian Staci said...

Maybe '[dehumanizing] concentration camps' is a little harsh. How about 'forced labor camps'?

Okay. Just so you realize that there is a (huge?) difference between 'dehumanizing concentration camps' and 'forced labor camps', in light of Trotsky's intepretation of the latter and given his experience of the former.

BTW, thanks for the link to Hitchen's analysis of Mother Teresa. He is right on the money and I certainly couldn't have said it better myself.

 

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