Re: More on the Sixties and anti-Communism

EDWARD P. MORGAN (epm2@lehigh.edu)
Thu, 25 Apr 1996 11:31:19 -0400

Re: the Tony Williams - Grover Furr exchange:

>>Tony:

>> But the defence of Stalinism in terms of human freedom? How does one
>>reconcile this with the millions who died in the pourges (far more
>>than under the Nazis), the perversion of the original Bolshevik ideals, and
>>the brutal elimination of figures such as Bukharin now "rehabilitated."

>Grover:

> Here we have anti-communism at its finest: unintentional, taken
>for granted not as "ideology" but simply as FACT.

Grover's argument lies so far outside not only conventional wisdom &
mainstream historical debate (which would be to its credit) but outside even
as document-grounded a radical critic as Noam Chomsky (to the best of my
knowledge), that I tend to suspect that "ideology" rather than fact are
shaping Grover's sources. This will no doubt be seen by Grover as more
"anti-communism at its finest," one more instance of how pervasive
anti-communism has shaped intellectual debate. But the claims re. Stalin
don't just rest on mainstream writers like Conquest, do they? What ARE your
sources (specifically --not just the journals that have not in my impression
simply thrown out all claims of horrible repression under Stalin), Grover?

Ted Morgan