Friday, April 29th 2005
Red Reminiscences
The SF Chronicle has an extended piece on Bob Avakian, a Berkeley native with quite a past. His new book is coming out: From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist.
Bob Avakian has devoted his life to the one ideology that he believes holds the promise of massively releasing human freedom and dignity. The ideology is communism.
Berkeley-bred Avakian’s new memoir, “From Ike to Mao and Beyond,” leaves a breathtaking impression. Having deepened and purified his convictions over 40 years of personal and political struggle, Avakian sounds a high, sustained cry for complete social transformation almost as if he were the trumpet of Lenin himself.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry while reading this article. It’s like a caricature of a communist come to life. Is it too good to be true? Does this man really exist? I was especially amused by his transformation from Young Republican to America Hater:
Young Avakian’s religious beliefs and patriotism were deeply felt. He tells of saying the Pledge of Allegiance as a 9- or 10-year-old and wanting to fall to his knees in gratitude for “not living in one of those awful countries that so many people seem to have had the misfortune of being born in.” Sticking with Eisenhower even though his parents went over to Adlai Stevenson, he was absorbed in TV coverage of the 1952 Republican presidential convention.
—
But devotion to mainstream values gave way to skepticism. A milestone on the way to Avakian’s transformation to radicalism was discovering that President Kennedy lied when he used the U.N. Charter to justify a naval blockade in response to the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962. Classmates at UC Berkeley wondered why he was so aloof the day the president was shot.
You have to read the entire article, it’s chock full of good stuff. The conclusion is classic communist comedy:
In the book, Avakian is at his most provocative when he assesses Stalin and Mao. He applauds Stalin for leading the first historical experience in building socialism, the Soviet Union, under difficult circumstances. Although he refers to Stalin’s mistakes, he makes no mention of the millions who died under the Soviet dictatorship and insists upon a balanced view.
“If the bourgeoisie and its political representatives can uphold people like Madison and Jefferson,” he writes, “then the proletariat and its vanguard forces can and should uphold Stalin, in an overall sense and with historical perspective.”
Stalin = Jefferson. I’ve never heard that one before… I wonder if “Uncle Joe” is a contender in this race?
“But devotion to mainstream values gave way to skepticism.”
…
“Bob Avakian has devoted his life to the one ideology that he believes holds the promise of massively releasing human freedom and dignity. The ideology is communism.”
Umm… I guess you’re not as skeptical as I am, eh, Bob?
Comment by B.A.D. — 4/29/2005 @ 7:25 am
Only in Berkeley would 100 million dead at the hands of communists go unrecognized. What a dumbshit.
Your commenting system sucks. Get rid of the e-mail and Goldwater encryption. No one is going to spam you, fer chrissake.
Comment by petty bourgeois — 5/1/2005 @ 2:21 am
The comment system is fine. Anyone can put a fake email if they want. I think the quotation test thing is neat and it does help fight against comment spam. But most of the spam nowadays is trackback spam, so it gets around my system. I still haven’t found a good way to block that stuff.
But yes, that communist guy is delusional. He’s so far out there that I almost feel sorry for him, not being able or unwilling to see the true nature of the ideology he espouses.
Comment by patr — 5/1/2005 @ 3:37 am
He’s actually a nice guy. I met him once and he was polite to me even though he knew my political leanings. True, he’s a bit nuts, but well-intentioned either way.
I wonder though, how he feels about not recognizing the deaths suffered in the Armenian genocide. I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t conveniently forget that.
Comment by cw — 5/2/2005 @ 9:50 am
Why don’t you read the book? That way, instead of dissing a review (by a non-communist, I believe) of a book you’ve never read, you can criticize/comment on one you’ve actually read? And since when (B.A.D) does skepticism = agnosticism or even cynicism? It doesn’t. Avakian has developed a method and approach that learns from both the errors and accomplishments of previous socialist countries, *as well as* the whole sweep of human history. No one can force feed this guy anything - whether it’s lies about communism, or a religious adherence to it. And you won’t hear him spout that shit either - whether it be exaggerations about the deaths, or it’s a whitewash of what happened. Quite the contrary. He’ll surprise you. If you’re not scared of surprises.
Comment by osage — 5/2/2005 @ 2:12 pm
osage, sorry that your comment got stuck in the moderation queue. I have a bunch of prescription drug names on a blacklist to prevent spam. Apparently you can’t spell socialist without Cialis.
Comment by patr — 5/3/2005 @ 12:44 am
He won’t spout that shit? Again:
“Bob Avakian has devoted his life to the one ideology that he believes holds the promise of massively releasing human freedom and dignity. The ideology is communism.”
Bad paraphrase?
Comment by B.A.D. — 5/3/2005 @ 8:46 am