Letters
Turkish fascism
I think comrade Conrad’s article on fascism fails to achieve all the sixfold intention he states (‘Misusing the F-word’, May 27). He’s certainly right to insist upon clear and historically rooted definitions and also on his remarks against broadening the scope of the term in an inflationary and only pejorative manner. However, he bends the stick too much on to the other side.
The main problem is that he’s too stuck in history and the ‘classical’ cases of fascism, to the extent that this leads him to ignore the obvious fascistic sides of current phenomena he investigates. He intends to evaluate it globally, but only touches on his own native British case. He seems to be right to assume that fascism is not a current threat in the UK. I’ll leave aside the internal strategic debates of the country’s leftist organisations and continue on Conrad’s passing remarks about Turkish leftists’ evaluations of the nature of Turkish regime.
Practical Socialism: Its Principles and Methods
The concluding chapter of “Practical Socialism Its Principles and Methods” (2006) by
Pieter Lawrence
It has been said that the Capitalist system digs its own grave; it does not! The only way it will be consigned to history is when a majority of people take political action to end it. But what the capitalist system does do, and has no choice about it, is develop a material basis for what could be a new socialist society. These developments are in the global fields of production, distribution, administration and communications. They bring with them the possibility of a different world system with a good life for all people in conditions of peace, cooperation and well being. Paradoxically, these possibilities are driven by the economic forces of the world market system.