Bill Haller,
I am afraid that my argument has been misconstrued. Perhaps I am wrong
about this, but allow me for a moment to proceed on that assumption and
clarify what I believe to be the misunderstood part of my argument: the
part expressing my support for a mass democratic movement propelled by
the collective power of the world proletariat.
So let me respond to your post by first noting that the term "utopia" means
(to me) an ideal world (or social arrangement) that one or more persons has
envisioned based on their ethical and value systems. It remains an ideal,
and as such a goal to strive for. It is the answer to an *ought* question,
that is "What ought the world be like?" Perhaps a utopia is never realized
(certainly if you subscribe the mystical view of the imperfectability of
man), but a utopia can a signpost to guide us on our path to whatever
social order we envision. And this is my point. I recognized that when I
used the term "utopia" (it was the term that came with the post to which I
was responding) that I would hear back the usual arguments concerning
utopian thinking, arguments born in the believed reification of men and
women's strivings for justice and peace in the ideal. "A world without
war is utopia." "A world without hunger is utopia." "A world without
exploitation is utopia." Can we have these worlds? I don't know. Certainly
we can't have them by sitting around and attacking these utopian visions
simply based upon their utopian character. And arguing that working
towards these utopias is a sign of either naive strivings or destructive
thinking is neither fair nor true nor productive. Should we strive for
these utopias? Yes, of course we should (this is a moral argument; I have
revealed my values). And this is where I stand, always have and always
will. Theory is rather pointless unless it is acted upon--theory is
validated in practice. I subscribe to Marx's charge: "Philosophers have
only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to
change it." I can tell you that there is no inevitability that the attempt
at human freedom will find us living in a totalitarian society (on what
theoretical or empirical grounds is this eschatology argued, anyway? On the
failure of the Soviet Union to be what it was supposed to become?). But
it *is* inevitable, if we sit on our hands for fear that some supposed evil
lurking in all of humankind will deform our attempts at democracy into
iron cages, that we will continue to be ruled by the power elite who
exploit us for their own benefit. Either we rule ourselves (the promise
of democracy advanced by the libertarian), or we are ruled by others
(the capitalist or the bureaucrats). I find a certain detestable elitism
in all this -- the belief that the worker cannot make decisions for
themselves, that the worker is not capable of self-governance, that all
worker attempts at freedom will wind up in dictatorships. I do not
believe this. When we transform society, we transform ourselves. But
if we allow an elite few, pursuing their own interests at the expense of
others, to transform society, then we will allow unaccountable and unchosen
others to transform us. And they will do so in a fashion congruent with
their interests, needs, and desires. As C. Wright Mills noted, "Although we
are all of us within history we do not all possess equal powers to make
history." My advocation is to return the productive means, the land
and resources, back to the producers of society, so that we can all
equally make history together in a context of free and creative
self-development. Utopia? Perhaps. But as a member of the "Western left"
I feel as capable as you or any other human being in striving
for democracy and freedom. I do not believe in a monolithic "Western
left," and I furthermore do not believe this "Western left" possesses
some special ignorance (or perhaps ideological inoculation?) when it
comes to the horrors of Stalinism. Western Marxists, the neomarxist
out of the Frankfurt School for example, have provided some of the most
insightful criticisms of Soviet-style Marxism existing in the vast body of
thinking about the deformation of worker's states in hyperrational
contexts. I also do not believe that living in a former Soviet or state
socialist country, or having parents who lived in a former Soviet or
state social country gives anybody a special insight as to the validity
of libertarian thought and strivings. Your subjective insights are
important to historians. But as to the future? History is made by humans,
and that is not by any means necessarily humans doomed to repeat the
mistakes of former revolutionary vanguards.
Andy
On Tue, 5 Mar 1996, Bill Haller wrote:
> Andrew,
>
> Having lived for a time in a post-revolutionary state which, at the time,
> came nowhere near the totalitarianism of Russia under Stalin I remain
> unconvinced by your reply to Nikolai Rozov. I don't think it's at all
> possible for anyone to be "fully aware" of the excesses of Stalinism, and
> the tendency among the Western left to discount the significance of such
> excesses by thinking that we're necessarily somehow better than the
> revolutionary experimenters of the past sends a chill down my spine. It
> seems rather likely that there are very real trade-offs involved between the
> various systems of production and distribution which have been manifest
> in all human societies and that Utopia is Illusion. Societies will
> always require systems of production and distribution, so we're left with
> the question of whether the principle of "from each according to ability to
> each according to need" is even viable for a human population under any
> circumstances whatsoever (short of infinite prosperity, perhaps). At the
> same time, there isn't a system of production and distribution which
> can't be improved upon. Recognizing that paves the way for pragmatic
> reformism. Gotta run, I'm late for work!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bill Haller
>
> -------------------------------- ------------------------------
> Bill Haller ^ University Center for
> Department of Sociology ^ Social and Urban Research
> University of Pittsburgh ^ 121 University Place
> Pittsburgh, PA 15260 ^ Pittsburgh, PA 15260
> --------------------------------^------------------------------
>
>