Is it only a coincidence that Cuba and Venezuela simultaneously offered Russia military access to their homelands? Or did they?
There have been a few news articles recently concerning the possible use of Cuban and Venezuelan territory for the construction of Russian military bases. The New York Times noted:President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said his country would be willing to host Russian bases there, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. “Russia has enough resources to secure its presence in different parts of the world. If Russian armed forces would like to be present in Venezuela, they will be welcomed warmly,” Mr. Chávez told reporters on Tuesday, in response to a question about whether Russia could put bases in Venezuela. “We will raise flags, beat drums and sing songs, because our allies will come, with whom we have a common worldview,” said Mr. Chávez, who was in Moscow for talks with President Dmitri A. Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin.According to an article by the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, which cites Reuters: the offer of a "warm welcome" was made in response to a question from a journalist at a press conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.…
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126 - troll
my (hardly original) definition is based on my reading of Mussolini and Sternhell...(and - obliquely - Strauss)
127 - Clavos
You read Strauss obliquely? How did you do that, put the book over to one side? :>)
128 - troll
with one eye closed through a mirror...it's the only way
(actually Strauss' notions about fascism entered in through weird discussions with some of his students)
129 - Dave Nalle
Is it possible to have any other kind of discussion with Strauss' students?
But better that than a discussion with one of Rand's disciples, I suppose.
Dave
130 - troll
...yup - another strange tribe inhabiting the caves of academia
131 - Joaquin
“fascism - the political system under which capitalist production relations and class structure are guaranteed by the State which 'reigns in' the excesses of capitalists and suppresses the excesses of workers - won the world wars in the West”
As un-original as this definition you say this is, I must say it’s quite fascinating, if not amusing in several respects. But first, I must point out that in the lexicon of professional and reputable historians and political scientists from across the political spectrum, and myself included, fascism is generally defined as a far-right political tendency and practical phenomenon in which the state dispenses with the vestiges of democracy, representative or otherwise, and rules autocratically in defense an as a bulwark first and foremost of private capital, and also for other privileged and traditionalist forces in reaction against secularist and socio-politically progressive trends and forces.
The phrase in which you say that fascism, “… won the world wars in the West” was a most brilliant double-entendre. At one level, you obviously, if in a somewhat puerile manner lump the Allied forces on both sides of the capitalist/socialist divide as “fascist.” But I suppose this is just the political de rigueur part of the new orthodoxy imposed by the latter-day punk/burlesque-anarchist chic currently in vogue. In other words, the very Stalinism you purport to condemn in Marxist Leninists is oozing from you, as it also does from the latter day punk/anarchist crowd which you seem to come from. The great irony of “punk” is that for a movement that so purports to ditch all forms of “conformisms” it adopted its own obnoxious brand of conformism far more rigorous, fundamentalist, and exclusionary than even the most suburban middle class or “stalinist” ones. The milieu also seems to be one in which the greatest sin a punk artist or musician can be guilty of is success: actually accomplishing something constructive and genuinely impactful beyond the already-converted. But I suppose this is but an accurate reflection of the punk/anarchist ontological dilemma. By the same token, I am a keen defender of the punk scene and its anarchist weltanschauung because though I am fully cognizant of the indispensability of the state in the project of social change, at least at this historical stage in the development of the productive forces, not to mention the capacity for world destruction through our advanced war making capacities, I also recognize that as the instrument of imperfect humans the state and its agents are very prone to abusing the powers invested in them (to gross understatement!), and as such must be reined in and kept in healthy check by popular rebellion. I am a great believer in the view of Thomas Jefferson that, “the tree of liberty needs to be periodically watered with the blood of tyrants.”
Next phase.
The other instructive dimension of your phrase that fascism, “… won the world wars in the West” is in its perhaps unwitting truthfulness. As it turns out, After the 1942-1943 Stalingrad-Kursk battles which turned the war in favor of the Allies, the Alliance began to divide between the US/Britain vs. the USSR. From this point on, as relations between the two camps deteriorated, and as the Nazi-Fascist forces increasingly recognized that their gig was up, the latter looked to make deals with the US/British side for more leniency. Finding that the vanquished Nazis and fascists could be useful in the new Cold War against the Soviet commies and their allies, the US/British side eagerly took the bait. If you can, Google “Operation Paperclip.” And if you can, read Christopher Simpson’s “Blowback.” Thus, in the end, the Nazis/Fascists, with US/British sponsorship, “won” many of their objectives in Europe and beyond. This pattern, I might add, was not new to the US: the same sort of post-war deal was made by the victorious Union with the defeated South after the Civil War in the 1870’s.
Finally, to your, “if you would like to come up with some other word to denote this production for profit under an 'all powerful' State that doesn't carry emotional baggage I'm for it,” I ask the same thing when you refer to governments outside the Nazi-fascist, Somocista, Pinochet ambit.
J.
132 - Clavos
Wow, I've never seen so many eight cylinder words in my life!
Wish I'd paid attention in college instead of chasing pussy...
133 - Pablo
Well he obviously writes better than you Clavy. hehehe :). a whole lot better bubba.
134 - Pablo
I would like to remind Joaquin however that Marxism, and in particular the Russian Revolution was financed by Wall Street, and has been in their back pocket ever since.
135 - Clavos
Well he obviously writes better than you Clavy. hehehe :). a whole lot better bubba.
Says the man who gives illiteracy a bad name.
136 - Ruvy
Wish I'd paid attention in college instead of chasing pussy...
I chased plenty of pussy in school, Clavos. I rites purty good. Haven't herd from them cute thangs I been chasin' around in a long time. Cud't be cuz i'm mareyed?
137 - troll
the 'Puerile Punk'...not bad - thanks for sharing J.
and I'm pleased to have fascinated and amused you with the notion that fascism and democracy are not necessarily incompatible
do rock on with your reputable and genuinely impactful self...and when you go to satisfy your bloodlust and water that tree be sure to set some of the blood of tyrants aside - I'll put it in those little crystal vials and market it to your minions for you
138 - Joaquin
Admittedly, in the chasing pussy dept. I was something of a late bloomer. But having command of the language, and more age than the average lad, gave me advantages in these areas the latter tend to lack. It's no joke that "youth is [sometimes] wasted on the young."
Cheers! ;-)
139 - Joaquin
Touché Troll!
140 - Julian
If russia develope a base in venezuela and cuba the the US should develope a base in Guyana. im sure the Guyanese govt. wouldnt mine. and then venezuela would be more in treat than ever before, easier for the US to attack and to spy on them, this is a game that anyone can take part in.