tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post114777577938617840..comments2023-10-25T12:49:50.074+01:00Comments on The Old Socialist Unity Blog - we have moved: Happy Birthday to the Cultural RevolutionANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147947053735066282006-05-18T11:10:00.000+01:002006-05-18T11:10:00.000+01:00The Great Leap Forward was certainly bizarre, part...The Great Leap Forward was certainly bizarre, particularly things like killing all the birds, and trying to make backyard blast furnaces. Criminally negligent would seem a fair description. I think it all derived from the CCP seeing the peasants and workers as objects to be manipulated.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147935801154495132006-05-18T08:03:00.000+01:002006-05-18T08:03:00.000+01:00The CCP might have started the Leap Forward with '...The CCP might have started the Leap Forward with 'good intentions', although that terminology is a rather soupy way of approaching the policy choices of state managers; but the conduct of policies in the Great Leap Forward was bizarre, counter-productive and criminally negligent of the welfare of the people of China.But I've got to disagree about the Cultural Revolution: it wasn't about the preservation of Mao's power, but its restoration after the early '60s in which Mao complained about being treated as a household god, suitably revered, but essentially put in the corner and ignored!badmatthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16655688008055817617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147826028842482392006-05-17T01:33:00.000+01:002006-05-17T01:33:00.000+01:00"I'm surprised there still are Maoist groups in 20..."I'm surprised there still are Maoist groups in 2006.<BR/><BR/>Look at Napel. They didn't go too much farther than call for the end of the monarchy."<BR/><BR/>Very interestingly, Communist Party of Nepal (maoists) have once again reminded the socialist movement about the importance of the tenants of "United Front".<BR/><BR/>Please take some time to read the [internal party] letter to the CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao from a groups of veteran military personnels and intellectuals.<BR/><BR/>The letter is present at:<BR/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cmkp_pk/message/5035Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07047775595630580078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147818348783924472006-05-16T23:25:00.000+01:002006-05-16T23:25:00.000+01:00Well I am clearly no fan of Mao, but the catastrop...Well I am clearly no fan of Mao, but the catastrophic nature of the Great Leap Forward thingie - isn't that the benefit of hindsight?<BR/>The CCP entered the Great Leap Forward with good intentions.<BR/>I think the argument that the Cultural Revolution was a cynical manipulation to preserve Mao's power is correct though.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147812562929402372006-05-16T21:49:00.000+01:002006-05-16T21:49:00.000+01:00I'd be more critical of Mao.The Great Leap Forward...I'd be more critical of Mao.<BR/>The Great Leap Forward wasn't just a failure, it was a catastrophe in which millions died of famine. One of the consequences was that Mao was sidelined politically. The Cultural Revolution, commencing half a decade after the Great Leap, was much more Mao's way back to power using the Red Guards than a rational strategy of economic development. Politics was in command.badmatthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16655688008055817617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147803445895087382006-05-16T19:17:00.000+01:002006-05-16T19:17:00.000+01:00I'm surprised there still are Maoist groups in 200...I'm surprised there still are Maoist groups in 2006.<BR/><BR/>Look at Napel. They didn't go too much farther than call for the end of the monarchy.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147794608852989332006-05-16T16:50:00.000+01:002006-05-16T16:50:00.000+01:00And there is an interetsing discussion of Mao-Tse ...And there is an interetsing discussion of Mao-Tse Tung's infleunce on the left outside China in Harris's book: <BR/>http://www.marxists.de/china/harris/16-abroad.htm<BR/><BR/>Having given this some more thought, I would take issue with Martin's comment that Maoist influence was "entirely reactionary" - as for example the Black Panther Party were influenced by Maoism, as more of a soft inspiration rather than hard ideology.<BR/><BR/>But it never did anything for me.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147787737410003462006-05-16T14:55:00.000+01:002006-05-16T14:55:00.000+01:00Indeed.And one of the intereting conclusions of ha...Indeed.And one of the intereting conclusions of harris's book is his comparison of the peoples republic with taiwan under the KMT, to show that once you took away the professed ideologies, the structure of the two Chinas was (and is) exactly the same.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1147782591684616502006-05-16T13:29:00.000+01:002006-05-16T13:29:00.000+01:00A lot of the 'revolutionary' rhetoric about 'strug...A lot of the 'revolutionary' rhetoric about 'struggle against bureaucracy' was taken at face value by some on the left at the time. However, what was an intra-bureaucratic struggle utilised the most disgusting 'cult of Mao' which made the 'cult of the personality' in Russia look modest by comparison.<BR/><BR/>Madame Mao was given charge of culture. She managed to ban all but 7 'revolutionary' Peking operas, sacked all the orchestras, the operas being accompanied by a single paino!<BR/><BR/>The transformation of Mao's works into 'the little red book' - a collection of quotes without context - created a quasi-religious movement. Mao was treated like a God-Emperor. The 'revolutionary' students used to repeat by rote that Mao was more important to them than their parents and life itself. A completely reactionary movement.Martin Wickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00535669267733060225noreply@blogger.com