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1970s social and political issues
Important events of the sixties and seventies
1970s social and political issues
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In his 1974 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Yasser Arafat said: “The difference between the revolutionary and the terrorist lies in the reason for which he fights…for the justice of the cause determines the right to struggle.” In this same speech, Arafat addresses the international community and provides commentary on a multitude of different subjects. He traces what he believes to be the positive and increasingly popular growth of the United Nations, mentioning the inclusion of three new member states: Guinea-Bissau, Bangladesh, and Grenada. This diversification of the UN membership, according to him, is an indicator of the general trend in the world at that time towards “freedom.” In this bit of tendentious logic, as one has license to expect, Arafat takes this-the erosion of colonial power and the upending trends of international finance, for instance-to mean that the world, through the focal point of the UN, is at a threshold. This threshold, of course, straddles the nadir of Old-World injustice and subjugation and the zenith of universal liberty and co-prosperity. The world therefore “aspires to peace, justice, equality and freedom” and that “it hopes to place the relations between nations on a basis of equality, peaceful coexistence, mutual respect for each other’s internal affairs, secure national sovereignty, independence and territorial unity on the basis of justice and mutual benefit (emphasis added).” Arafat explicitly acknowledges then that this universalizing trend in the premier international forum signals a trend; of new composition, new identity, and consequently new aims. He argues that this newfound dedication, deftly grafted onto the original aims and purposes of the UN, carries with it not merely proced...
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...riolic anti-communism.’ So, while the American patriots, whose ostensible nation did not yet exist, or was properly the nation of Great Britain, and the Resistance in the Second World War, a sizeable part of which was Communist and ready to drown the land in blood for their ideals, is being reified for upsetting the order of the day (with sometimes happy and fortuitous outcomes), the status-quo ante (which oftentimes happens to be the lesser of two evils, in absolute terms) must be rejected on articles of blind faith, and lofty ideology, on the untenable premise that change is always good if only a better future awaits a ways. The problem is, as can be observed today, that one can always imagine a better future-thus insurrection is covered by the flimsy fig leaf of one’s whims (I am facetiously excluding the real substance and nature required of insurrection.)
Tucker, Robert C. "Stalinism as Revolution from Above". Stalinism. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999.
Career History and Education: Avram Hornik is the owner of Four Corners Management, which owns and operates a number of bars, restaurants and entertainment venues in Philadelphia, PA. Avram began his career as a restaurateur in 1994. He opened his first eating spot, the Quarry Street Café in 1996, followed by the Custom House Cafe in 1998. Today, Four Corners owns and operates
“The Sources of Soviet Conduct” Foreign Affairs, 1947, explains the difficulty of summarizing Soviet ideology. For more than 50 years, the Soviet concept held the Russian nations hypnotized, discontented, unhappy, and despondent confined to a very limited Czarist political order. Hence, the rebel support of a bloody Revolution, as a means to “social betterment” (Kennan, 567). Bolshevism was conceptualized as “ideological and moral, not geopolitical or strategic”. Hoover declares that… “five or six great social philosophies were struggling for ascendancy” (Leffler, The Specter of Communism, 20).
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may
For many people, the 1917 revolution heralded a new age, much as the French revolution had. But instead of bringing on an age of secular republics, and liberalism, it brought on an age of oppressive states based on the Soviet Union’s model of government. To the untrained 20th century eye, the 1917 revolution’s model of state organization was something truly new, bizarre and intriguing. Yet, a brief synopsis of Russian history would quickly reveal that there were more similarities between the Soviet and Tsarist governments than Stalin or any other Soviet official would have cared to admit; the revolution was not as revolutionary as it seemed. This paper will use Hannah Arendt’s definition of revolution to demonstrate that the 1917 Bolshevik
Part II of this chapter mainly focuses on how the Bolsheviks moved forward, obtained and revolutionised the way in which the world was in the times of revolution. For some the times of revolution was a time of grave concern, however the Bolsheviks had not this issue. As proven by Hobsbawm, stating that the Bolsheviks ‘grew from a small troop of a few thousand in March 1917 to a quarter of a million members by the early summer of that year’ (Hobsbawm, 1995, p. 61). The way they thrived in such a time was that they were not only efficient at recognising what the people wanted, but they were convincing in how they would give it to them, this is a main reason tha...
The first reason Americans began fearing the Communist party, is due to the party’s association with Russia and Stalinism. Russia was the most widely known Communist state in the world and the American Communist party’s adoration of it was the best-known thing about them . This became a large problem for the American Communist party when Stalin became a terrifying figure to the average American as knowledge of his atrocities and betrayals began to leak past the Iron Curtain. While most of the American Communists “just didn’t believe” these rumours, the average person did, and they did not see a difference between the American C...
" The Son of Revolution" indicates the bounds and paradox of the communist government, which quarantined many individuals, regardless of the fact that its main focus was on equality and the betterment of the community. Works Cited: Liang, Heng, and Judith Shapiro. 1984. Son of the revolution. New York: Vintage Books.
... possibility of passing, one being an Internet censorship bill, that would make illegal the social networking sites of which have been instrumental in organizing revolutions across the globe, as well as the occupy movement. The second being the National Defense Authorization Act of which passed the senate by a vote of ninety-three to seven that would allow the indefinite military detention of any American citizen believed to have engaged in terrorist activities and Americans know how loosely defined the word terrorist has become. It seems the very near feature that may very well hold the cause for a proletariat a revolution with revolutionaries that are not hungry for power, but starving for equality. The type of revolution that may ensue is unknown but it is possible for Marx and Rousseau’s dream to come true, if adopted by the majority and entered into willingly.
The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, a period of political turmoil in Europe. Its meaning in today’s capitalistic world is a very controversial issue. Some people, such as the American government, consider socialism taboo and thus disregard the manifesto. They believe that capitalism, and the world itself, has changed greatly from the one Marx was describing in the Manifesto and, therefore, that Marx’s ideas cannot be used to comprehend today’s economy. Others find that the Manifesto highlights issues that are still problematic today. Marx’s predicative notions in the Communist Manifesto are the key to understanding modern day capitalism.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto explores class struggles and their resulting revolutions. They first present their theory of class struggle by explaining that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx 14), meaning that history is a repeated class struggle that only ends with a revolution. Marx and Engels’ message in The Communist Manifesto is that it is inevitable for class struggles to result in revolutions, ultimately these revolutions will result in society’s transition to communism.
Inspired by the works of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin nonetheless drew his ideology from many other great 19th century philosophers. However, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” was immensely important to the success of Russia under Leninist rule as it started a new era in history. Viewed as taboo in a capitalist society, Karl Marx started a movement that would permanently change the history of the entire world. Also, around this time, the Populist promoted a doctrine of social and economic equality, although weak in its ideology and method, overall. Lenin was also inspired by the anarchists who sought revolution as an ultimate means to the end of old regimes, in the hope of a new, better society. To his core, a revolutionary, V.I. Lenin was driven to evoke the class struggle that would ultimately transform Russia into a Socialist powerhouse. Through following primarily in the footsteps of Karl Marx, Lenin was to a lesser extent inspired by the Populists, the Anarchists, and the Social Democrats.
According to most historians, “history is told by the victors”, which would explain why most people equate communism with Vladimir Lenin. He was the backbone of Russia’s communist revolution, and the first leader of history’s largest communist government. It is not known, or discussed by most, that Lenin made many reforms to the original ideals possessed by many communists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He revised Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles’ theories to fit the so-called ‘backwardness’ of the Russian Empire. Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it was not for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization.
middle of paper ... ... Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past of Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964) An unrelenting series of war’s, unnecessary hunger and famine and the selfish greed of the ruling elite.
Russett, B., Oneal, John. (2001). "Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations." New York: Norton.