2.2. To what extent was Bolshevist Marxism adapted for the age of imperialism? I think Bolshevism was fairly adapted to the conditions of imperialism and specifically to the conditions of Imperial Russia. The underlying assumption of the need for a party vanguard, as expressed by Lenin in What Is to Be Done?, is that a …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Road to October
Do you think that the October Revolution would have happened with or without the Bolsheviks? I think a revolution of some kind would have occurred without the Bolsheviks but probably not a coup on the level of what the Bolsheviks actually pulled off. Because Kerensky’s government refused to end the war and it was fairly …
Late Tsarism in Russia
I’m back in school, after having completed my Bachelor’s degree on September 1 (below). Not much time off, but I’ve started a Master’s program in history at the University of Edinburgh, which has an online program. The first class — Ideology and Politics in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Space — is a hybrid course taught …
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book
Here’s the whole series, nine parts linked to individually (12,000 words total): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7Part 8Part 9
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 4.2 (concluded)
Click here for the previous part of this series. Franklin the Fascist Much of D’Souza’s treatment of the FDR administration and the New Deal is dedicated to comparing it to fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This is to be expected in a book dedicated to proving that the roots of the American left lie in …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 4.2 (concluded)”
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 4.1
Click here for the previous part of this series. The Main Event In his seventh chapter, D’Souza finally gets to brass tacks. He sets out to draw a straight line between the fascist and National Socialist experiments in Italy and Germany, respectively, and the American left. Notably, he will not be able to triangulate this …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 4.1”
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 3.2
Click here for the previous part of this series. Racism vs Anti-Semitism In continuing his characterization of American racism as the source of Nazi anti-Semitism, D’Souza writes, “I have to say in its outset that, in its sheer volume and vehemence, the racism of the Democrats and progressives outdistances not only Italian fascist racism, which …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 3.2”
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 3.1
Click here for the previous part of this series. Same Biscuits, Different Tin As I noted in the first blog post in the current series, D’Souza has been peddling his nonsense about the current-day Democratic Party bearing responsibility for the sins of its past iterations. In the fourth chapter of The Big Lie, all D’Souza …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 3.1”
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 2.2
Click here for the previous part of this series. The Heart of the Matter It’s really when D’Souza gets down to the history of early fascism that he gets to the heart of the argument about the origins of American left in fascism. It’s notable that much of D’Souza’s account here is correct, and even …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 2.2”
Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 2.1
Click here for the previous part of this series. Benny the Moose D’Souza’s next chapter is entitled “Mussolini’s Journey” and is largely concerned with tracking Mussolini’s transformation from a socialist in the years leading up to World War I to a fascist once the war had ended. It’s true that Mussolini was a committed socialist …
Continue reading “Convicted Felon Publishes "History" Book, Part 2.1”
Inevitable Historicity 