Posted On: Saturday - August 26th 2023 9:03AM MST
In Topics: Commies The Russians History Socialism/Communism
Note: There will be plenty of China road trip posts to come, for those who like that sort of thing. I do want to keep those up before memories get lost, as I also rely on the many pictures I took to jog them. However, there are likely lots of Peak Stupidity readers who couldn't give a Year of the Rat's ass what's going on in China. We'll intersperse other posts here about 1 for 1. You don't have to read about China. Nobody's got a gun to your head, yet, or even an ice axe, for that matter... Speaking of...
He's Leon Trotsky, famous Russian Communist of (most of) the 1st half of the 20th Century.* Born in 1879 to a well-off Jewish Russian family of 5 (kids), Lev Bronstein, aka, Leon Trotsky**, became an ideological radical, as did others in his family, at a young age. At 19 y/o, after a year or so flirtation with being a "Narodnikism" (revolutionary agrarian socialist populism, per wiki), Trotsky's began his love affair with Marxism. He and Lenin were co-conspirators in the massive Russian Revolution against the Czar of 1917, but they were later rivals, with competing brands of Communism. (Solidarity didn't take, I guess.)
Peak Stupidity isn't here to go over the history of Soviet Communism, though. A reply (I think, as it wasn't specifically directed) to my a question of mine about any attempts at implementing Communism in America during the Great Depression 1.0 linked me to the direct words of Leon Trotsky from a 1934 article of his.
Let me get to that question, which would be a good subject for another post. If there was any time before the recent unpleasantness of the last half century and Long March through the Institutions when Communism was considered in America, it was probably not until the desperate economic times of the 1930s. Regular Americans, fairly unified at this time - remember, wisely, immigration had been nearly cut completely off since 1921*** - likely wanted nothing to do with an ideology like Communism due to the great limited government/free-market roots of the country. Yet economic conditions were terrible, and you figure many people didn't know what to make of this. All I know of from the '30s is Woody Guthrie songs, John Steinbeck novels and, oh yeah, the 4-term President of the US, Franklin Roosevelt. He pushed Socialist programs to "cure" the depression, and if not a Communist at heart, he sure put up with a lot of them in high positions in the US Gov't. (Was that oversight, political expediency - during the war - or purposeful policy?)
Well, the reply commenter going by the handle "Cagey Beast" included a short excerpt from a Leon Trotsky article. Appearing appropriately on Marxists.org, from the Fourth International dated August '34 (Vol 12, #2, if you have the magazines in your attic), is Trotsky's article entitled If America Should Go Communist. The article title says "If", but it reads as encouragement and a how-to guide.
I spent over an hour reading about this man on Wikipedia, so I'll intersperse a few pertinent facts about Leon Trotsky, as I fisk**** his proposition to mid-1930s Americans to Go Marxist!
History is full of surprises, to me at least. I would have lost lots of money on the Jeopardy Daily Double if the question - under "Retarded Marxists in History" - had the answer "This stupid Commie spent 6 months in America 107 years ago." First off, I'd probably have forgotten to phrase my answer in the form of a question, "Who is Groucho?" No, that's not the
So, Leon Trotsky knew America, because, you know, he spent half a year in The Bronx There you go. In this post today, I'll just paste in this most stand-out piece - to me - of his long exhortation to Americans to join in the Internationale Communist merry-making. The historically famous Leon Trotsky, co-founder of the USSR, in his own words:
Here is where the American soviets can produce real miracles. "Technocracy" can come true only under communism, when the dead hands of private property rights and private profits are lifted from your industrial system. The most daring proposals of the Hoover commission on standardization and rationalization will seem childish compared to the new possibilities let loose by American communism.Actually, I don't think I need to write much on this. This stupidity speaks for itself. There's plenty more where that came from, which Peak Stupidity will make light of in posts to come.
National industry will be organized along the line of the conveyor belt in your modern continuous-production automotive factories. Scientific planning can be lifted out of the individual factory and applied to your entire economic system. The results will be stupendous.
Lev Bronstein, aka, Leon Trotsky, came from a well-to-do family and was sent to good schools. He was to be a mathematician in college until he went political. There's no excuse for this stupidity. He wrote this drivel when he was 55 years old! Suffice it to say, that with all that genetic smarts and education, Leon Trotsky could not have lost any IQ points even with an ice axe jammed into the top of his head.
* Honestly, till reading what' I'll discuss here, I'd though he'd died well before he actually did - August of 1940, but he wasn't a big factor in Soviet Communism after the end of the 1920s.
** He lifted his alias from a guard at the prison he inhabited for a couple of years, with exile to Siberia, with his wife, and then 2 daughters there to follow. He escaped in the back of a hay cart. It was no Washington FS J6 dungeon.***** "Trotsky" got married again and had 2 sons by that wife.
*** The Immigration Act of 1924, as signed by Calvin Coolidge, did it, but from what I've read, the clamp-down started in '21.
**** We explained that term 5 years back - see 3rd paragraph there.
***** In fact, Trotsky escaped multiple times from punishment. Except during his time as a military leader - akin to Commander-in-Chief, part of the time - of the Red Army during the ~ 5 year-long Russian Civil war and leader of the Red Terror, he spent a lot of his life in self- and State- imposed exile.
Comments:
Moderator
Monday - August 28th 2023 3:41PM MST
PS: Commenting is getting heavy now, 8 minutes apart! Yes, "historic" is not the correct word. "Epic"? Still sounds like overkill, but It's kind of cool.
Moderator
Monday - August 28th 2023 3:39PM MST
PS:
"an heir to the throne
an honorable mention
an honest man
an hour or two"
Right, because in all the "h" words the "h" is silent. "An herbal medicine". but, A hard row to hoe."
OK, but to each their (I HATE THAT) HIS own - this is not Pedantry Central here, haha.
Thanks for the info from George, not the only, but a Harrison.
"an heir to the throne
an honorable mention
an honest man
an hour or two"
Right, because in all the "h" words the "h" is silent. "An herbal medicine". but, A hard row to hoe."
OK, but to each their (I HATE THAT) HIS own - this is not Pedantry Central here, haha.
Thanks for the info from George, not the only, but a Harrison.
Adam Smith
Monday - August 28th 2023 3:31PM MST
PS: Me again...
Here's an example of a local newspaper treating a sporting event as if it's historic. This example comes to us from Strafford, Missouri instead of Dahlonega, Georgia, but it's a pretty good example of how the local newspaper covers high school sports...
https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/25/lady-indians-historic-win-streak-unleashed-community-celebration/2678168002/
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for the girls. I'm glad they feel accomplished and all that. I'm really happy that a small town can come together and support each other while having fun. This kind of camaraderie is a good thing. But winning a high school sporting event just isn't historic.
[/rant]
Cheers! ☮
Here's an example of a local newspaper treating a sporting event as if it's historic. This example comes to us from Strafford, Missouri instead of Dahlonega, Georgia, but it's a pretty good example of how the local newspaper covers high school sports...
https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/01/25/lady-indians-historic-win-streak-unleashed-community-celebration/2678168002/
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for the girls. I'm glad they feel accomplished and all that. I'm really happy that a small town can come together and support each other while having fun. This kind of camaraderie is a good thing. But winning a high school sporting event just isn't historic.
[/rant]
Cheers! ☮
Adam Smith
Monday - August 28th 2023 3:14PM MST
PS: Greetings, Achmed and Friends,
I use an as the indefinite article before historical because I'm snooty like that. 🙃
(Pet peeve... I hate it when people pronounce the T in often.)
(Another pet peeve... I hate it when the sports writers at the Dahlonega Nugget describe last night's win for some high school athletes as an historic event. For example: “The Lady Indians Historic win over Dawson county.” Sorry, nothing ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑐 about that.)
A few other examples of when to use “an” before the letter H...
an heir to the throne
an honorable mention
an honest man
an hour or two
But technically, in modern English, they say “a historical” is more appropriate. I think it sounds clumsy, so I agree with Ricardo.
“I don't know, maybe I took this song wrong, and John and George actually supported 95% tax rates...”
No, you heard it right the first time. The Beatles were rather unhappy about how high their tax rate was.
Coinciding with the song's creation, Harrison learned that the band members' tax obligations were likely to lead to their bankruptcy, and he was outspoken in his opposition to the government using their income to help fund the manufacture of military weapons.
In his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says:
“'Taxman' was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes; it was and still is typical.” As their earnings placed them in the top tax bracket in the United Kingdom, the Beatles were liable to a 95% supertax introduced by Harold Wilson's Labour government; hence the lyric “There's one for you, nineteen for me”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxman
Cheers! ☮
I use an as the indefinite article before historical because I'm snooty like that. 🙃
(Pet peeve... I hate it when people pronounce the T in often.)
(Another pet peeve... I hate it when the sports writers at the Dahlonega Nugget describe last night's win for some high school athletes as an historic event. For example: “The Lady Indians Historic win over Dawson county.” Sorry, nothing ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑐 about that.)
A few other examples of when to use “an” before the letter H...
an heir to the throne
an honorable mention
an honest man
an hour or two
But technically, in modern English, they say “a historical” is more appropriate. I think it sounds clumsy, so I agree with Ricardo.
“I don't know, maybe I took this song wrong, and John and George actually supported 95% tax rates...”
No, you heard it right the first time. The Beatles were rather unhappy about how high their tax rate was.
Coinciding with the song's creation, Harrison learned that the band members' tax obligations were likely to lead to their bankruptcy, and he was outspoken in his opposition to the government using their income to help fund the manufacture of military weapons.
In his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says:
“'Taxman' was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes; it was and still is typical.” As their earnings placed them in the top tax bracket in the United Kingdom, the Beatles were liable to a 95% supertax introduced by Harold Wilson's Labour government; hence the lyric “There's one for you, nineteen for me”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxman
Cheers! ☮
Moderator
Sunday - August 27th 2023 6:24AM MST
PS: That sounds right, M.
"There are still people who call themselves Trotskyites. As if this is something to be proud of, rather than brain-dead." Indeed!
"There are still people who call themselves Trotskyites. As if this is something to be proud of, rather than brain-dead." Indeed!
M
Sunday - August 27th 2023 3:51AM MST
PS
Yeah my theory on Stalin's thinking (at least from what happened) is that if Trotsky died, then non-Russian communists could call themselves Trotskyists and still support the movement.
If Trotsky was still alive, he could then threaten to tell them not to support Stalin's latest atrocity. But if he was dead, then Stalin had control.
There are still people who call themselves Trotskyites. As if this is something to be proud of, rather than brain-dead.
Yeah my theory on Stalin's thinking (at least from what happened) is that if Trotsky died, then non-Russian communists could call themselves Trotskyists and still support the movement.
If Trotsky was still alive, he could then threaten to tell them not to support Stalin's latest atrocity. But if he was dead, then Stalin had control.
There are still people who call themselves Trotskyites. As if this is something to be proud of, rather than brain-dead.
Moderator
Saturday - August 26th 2023 5:09PM MST
PS: Mr. Attlee, first off I had to look up Arthur Russell. All I came up with is a cellist, so, I don't know - maybe an ELO appreciation blog - that's the best I can do.
About that historical grammar, I see it this way: If one pronounces the "h", then the word should have an "a" before it. If one doesn't pronounce the "h", then it should have "an". Should that be left up to the writer? I don't know, but I'm not from gay, jihaid Paris, so I DO pronounce the "h" in "historical". Is that technically wrong - I will look into this.
As for Messrs Brimelow and Derbyshire, I don't know if you want them deported because they speak in foreign tongues. Mr. Darb-ish-er (that's how you say it) is pretty clear. Mr. Brimelow is clear if you listen closely and don't miss a couple of words in a sentence. He's been known to lose me for a spell when that happens. Both are immigration patriots.
---------------------
Mr. Marks, Trotsky's glasses remind me of a different Lennon. Maybe that's who John was thinking of. I go back and forth on whether I like the ideas of John Lennon, in his music or elsewhere. Moving to the US to save big-time on taxes doesn't show that one is a dedicated Commie, but then, it was REAL money! John Lennon assisted George Harrison in the writing of "Taxman":
"Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
Should five per cent appear too small,
be thankful I don't take it all.
Cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman.
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street.
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat.
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.
I don't know, maybe I took this song wrong, and John and George actually supported 95% tax rates ...
Trotsky, now there's a guy you were bound to see at the coffee shops, Vienna, Paris, probably Zurich, New York City, talking radical politics while pounding his fist on the table. Good thing they didn't have fancy-assed coffee at $4 a pop back then...
Yes, we covered this:
"Starbucks vs. the Viennese Kaffeehaus"
https://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=612
About that historical grammar, I see it this way: If one pronounces the "h", then the word should have an "a" before it. If one doesn't pronounce the "h", then it should have "an". Should that be left up to the writer? I don't know, but I'm not from gay, jihaid Paris, so I DO pronounce the "h" in "historical". Is that technically wrong - I will look into this.
As for Messrs Brimelow and Derbyshire, I don't know if you want them deported because they speak in foreign tongues. Mr. Darb-ish-er (that's how you say it) is pretty clear. Mr. Brimelow is clear if you listen closely and don't miss a couple of words in a sentence. He's been known to lose me for a spell when that happens. Both are immigration patriots.
---------------------
Mr. Marks, Trotsky's glasses remind me of a different Lennon. Maybe that's who John was thinking of. I go back and forth on whether I like the ideas of John Lennon, in his music or elsewhere. Moving to the US to save big-time on taxes doesn't show that one is a dedicated Commie, but then, it was REAL money! John Lennon assisted George Harrison in the writing of "Taxman":
"Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
Should five per cent appear too small,
be thankful I don't take it all.
Cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman.
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street.
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat.
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.
I don't know, maybe I took this song wrong, and John and George actually supported 95% tax rates ...
Trotsky, now there's a guy you were bound to see at the coffee shops, Vienna, Paris, probably Zurich, New York City, talking radical politics while pounding his fist on the table. Good thing they didn't have fancy-assed coffee at $4 a pop back then...
Yes, we covered this:
"Starbucks vs. the Viennese Kaffeehaus"
https://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=612
Moderator
Saturday - August 26th 2023 4:47PM MST
PS: I was just reading about some of that, Alarmist. It's not like I knew nothing about the beginnings of Communism in Russia, to become the USSR, but I have found I've been wrong on some things. In the early stages, there were disagreements between he and Lenin, but I'd thought that was his big stgruggle.
The big struggle was Stalin and 2 other guys (the "Troika") against Trotsky at some point. I had in my head the Lenin had Trotsky offed, and that's why I guess I'd though he'd be "axed to retire" (haha) years earlier. Yeah, that 1st para. makes sense.
I'll write some more about Trotsky's idea of the Communist future vs. Stalin's in one of the next posts on this.
Thanks.
The big struggle was Stalin and 2 other guys (the "Troika") against Trotsky at some point. I had in my head the Lenin had Trotsky offed, and that's why I guess I'd though he'd be "axed to retire" (haha) years earlier. Yeah, that 1st para. makes sense.
I'll write some more about Trotsky's idea of the Communist future vs. Stalin's in one of the next posts on this.
Thanks.
Phil 'full' Marks
Saturday - August 26th 2023 4:33PM MST
PS
But Lev looks so serious posed like that. With his serious glasses, facial hair and jacket. Also tiny. He could be a grad student symposium double, pondering that next stipend. His futilities live on, and will undoubtedly work next time when really, truly implemented.
But Lev looks so serious posed like that. With his serious glasses, facial hair and jacket. Also tiny. He could be a grad student symposium double, pondering that next stipend. His futilities live on, and will undoubtedly work next time when really, truly implemented.
ricardo clement attlee
Saturday - August 26th 2023 3:12PM MST
PS
"an historical" NOT "a historical"
this blog needs to be turned into an arthur russell appreciation blog.
derb and brim must be deported.
sad.
"an historical" NOT "a historical"
this blog needs to be turned into an arthur russell appreciation blog.
derb and brim must be deported.
sad.
The Alarmist
Saturday - August 26th 2023 12:54PM MST
PS
Trotsky was always a rival and threat to Stalin. He became a bigger threat to Stalin while Trotsky was in exile precisely because remained a strong influencer of communist movements outside the USSR.
Stalin justified Trotsky’s assassination, saying “Without eliminating Trotsky, as the Spanish experience shows, we cannot be sure of the support of our allies in the international communist movement in the case of an imperialist attack on the Soviet Union.”
Trotsky was always a rival and threat to Stalin. He became a bigger threat to Stalin while Trotsky was in exile precisely because remained a strong influencer of communist movements outside the USSR.
Stalin justified Trotsky’s assassination, saying “Without eliminating Trotsky, as the Spanish experience shows, we cannot be sure of the support of our allies in the international communist movement in the case of an imperialist attack on the Soviet Union.”
You're correct about using a as the indefinite article before an aspirated h. I just use an before historic because I think it sounds less clumsy that way. I would never say an hat, an hotel, an hammer, etc.
a historic event
an historic event
I don't mind being wrong about this.
And Hate is a pretty strong word to describe my pet peeves. Dislike is still too strong a word for it. But I do notice when people pronounce the T in often.
Epic would be better but still sounds like overkill. I don't know. Maybe they really love their high school sports?
Happy Monday!
☮