Milo Jones wrote this:
the question of scale &
intentionality: the two largest self-styled
socialist regimes (the
USSR and the PRC) appear to have contributed directly
to the deaths of at
least 40 million people between 1925 and 1965 (via
collectivisation of
agriculture and the Great Leap Forward, respectively).
Capitalism
probably contributed to a large number of deaths during the same
period (some of which you name below), but often deaths from capitalism
are
the result of neglect rather than intentional, large-scale attempts to
alter
the human condition/world
system.
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Comment:
What do you mean "Intentional?" That Stalin woke up
every morning and said "How many children can I kill today? I just LOVE
killing children?" Surely the deaths during the socialist regimes were
the result of attempts to construct societies that would be able to feed their
populations and industrialize their countries, presumably in the minds of many
of the leaders, "for the good of the people." In any case, the use of
the word "intentionality" as does the use of the phrase "second degree
murder" versus "manslaughter" is an attempt to imply that the socialist
regimes actively did want to harm/injure, if not kill those who died, while
capitalism just does it unknowingly, and by accident. Yeah, like the
Vietnam War was just an accident. It's like saying: "The U.S. government
really didn't know any civilians would die. It was just kind of like drunk
driving, ya' know." Once you KNOW that actions are causing deaths, it moves
from "neglectful manslaughter" to "second degree murder" by the way.
And as to "scale", there is no question that the scale of deaths CAUSED
by capitalist neglect, abuse, outright fascism, and war far exceeds the
inflated numbers we often get about the USSR and China. And by the way, Red
dictatorships usually make more of an effort to avoid killing children than
Capitalist dictatorships. Not absolutely, but in general. Just ask
"Congressional Medal of Honor War Hero" ex-Senator Kerry.
Yes, there were needless deaths of many, many people in the USSR and
China. But, for example, during the famine in the 1930's Socialist USSR,
how many millions died of malnutrition and disease in capitalist India, China,
central Africa, and even the USA? And why attribute the USSR deaths to
intentionality? There was close to a Civil War in the Ukraine and the
leadership feared an invasion from the West (which did happen and kill 20
million, by the way) and therefore felt a need for massive collectivization as
part of the industrialization process to defend the revolution. As others have
pointed out, the process of capital accumulation has been a bloody mess
everywhere for the past number of centuries. No, I am certainly not defending
every action in the USSR/China and of course there were needless deaths.
But Milo Jones' well-intentioned explanation is just another version of the
standard ideology that somehow wants to hang onto the idea that imbedded in
capitalism itself is more "freedom" than Marxism could provide. But that is a
late 1800's "Little House on the Prairie" fantasy about capitalism, not
the realities of monopoly capitalism, fascism, imperialism and war.
Alan Spector
P.S. -- Even peaceful "Little House" was built on the corpses many, many
Native American (Indian) people