On the Centenary of the Russian Revolution.
It's a hundred years since the Russian Revolution. Should we celebrate or weep?
Should we be glad the revolution happened?
I believe that we would have to be blind to historical fact to not want to lament that the Russian Revolution happened.
As is so often pointed out the October Revolution was a coup d'e'tat by the Bolsheviks, and not really a revolution. Revolutionary changes followed without doubt, but what actually happened in political terms was essentially a coup d'e'tat rather than a revolution.
I think Lenin did lead to Stalin and history's judgement on the revolution has to be a harsh one.
As has been pointed out, we must learn lessons from what happened.
What we urgently need at the moment in 2017 is revolutionary changes in what we are doing to our planet. We don't need an authoritarian non-democratic revolution. But we do need revolutionary change. Revolution is not necessarily the one solution, as the slogan goes.
I am a fan of the political views of Karl Popper, who insisted that an open society was a requirement for allowing changes to society. The Russian Revolution did not lead to an open society and it was not really intended to lead to one.
We need change but we need democratic, from the bottom up change. We do not need change that is imposed and dictatorial.
Democratic, non-violent revolutions are possible.
And I think that a lesson of the Russian Revolution must be that we should try to achieve democratic, non-violent revolutions, if and when a revolution is something that is necessary.
The revolutions that overthrew the Soviet Empire between 1989 and 1991 were mainly revolutions of this kind.
There is more to be said of course and I will write more when I get the chance.
It's a hundred years since the Russian Revolution. Should we celebrate or weep?
Should we be glad the revolution happened?
I believe that we would have to be blind to historical fact to not want to lament that the Russian Revolution happened.
As is so often pointed out the October Revolution was a coup d'e'tat by the Bolsheviks, and not really a revolution. Revolutionary changes followed without doubt, but what actually happened in political terms was essentially a coup d'e'tat rather than a revolution.
I think Lenin did lead to Stalin and history's judgement on the revolution has to be a harsh one.
As has been pointed out, we must learn lessons from what happened.
What we urgently need at the moment in 2017 is revolutionary changes in what we are doing to our planet. We don't need an authoritarian non-democratic revolution. But we do need revolutionary change. Revolution is not necessarily the one solution, as the slogan goes.
I am a fan of the political views of Karl Popper, who insisted that an open society was a requirement for allowing changes to society. The Russian Revolution did not lead to an open society and it was not really intended to lead to one.
We need change but we need democratic, from the bottom up change. We do not need change that is imposed and dictatorial.
Democratic, non-violent revolutions are possible.
And I think that a lesson of the Russian Revolution must be that we should try to achieve democratic, non-violent revolutions, if and when a revolution is something that is necessary.
The revolutions that overthrew the Soviet Empire between 1989 and 1991 were mainly revolutions of this kind.
There is more to be said of course and I will write more when I get the chance.