4) A little later in the interview MS said: "I think that Marx, Engels, and Trotsky can't be ignored. But many in the United States have a very limited knowledge of who these people are and what they stand for. We have a responsibility to present those historical examples in a way that's palatable and practical for the daily life of the working class. With an educated and empowered working class, I think we'll see something a bit different from the sorts of Socialism practiced in the rest of the world. Â We can maintain an identity, while still adhering to Socialist principles. I think the goal is to experience what a Socialist United States might look and feel like."
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I disagree again; most educated Americans, especially social scientists, do know who these three leaders were. They also know about Lenin, Stalin, Mao, etc. They probably want to know what leaders of the SPUSA think about the writings and activities of these leaders. Which of their recommendations should be rejected and which are still valid? I am not a social scientist but I would like to know what the SPUSA leaders think about the idea of proletarian dictatorship. The above mentioned social engineers--who also called themselves socialists--believed that proletarian dictatorship was the only path toward social equality and justice. Do the SPUSA leaders share this belief?
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5) Referring to Socialist United States, MS.said: "Now, we can and should look to other Socialist countries in Europe with an open mind. Evidence shows that they enjoy a quality of life that we don't experience here." Which European Socialist countires did he have in mind? Which parts of their programs should be implemented in the US, and how can this be accomplished? Hints are not substitutes for an outline of the proposed American economic system. What should be done with fat cats? Are they all parasitic, as we were told in Socialist Poland? Was Henry Ford parasitic? Is Bill Gates parasitic? Why was the Soviet agricultural sysytem, based on collective farms, much less productive than our own system?  What should be done with American agricultural capitalists? Should they be treated as kulaks were in the Soviet Union? Who will run our airline companies? Who will own our TV stations, restaurants and barber shops? That is what most of us want to hear from the SPUSA leadrs. The Soviet experience should not be ignored in answering such questions. The blueprints of new structures should be made public.
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Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
Professor Emeritus
Montclair State University
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