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![JabezZinabu
eightmonths.Once released,he continuedpublishinghisjournal, Le Tribundupeople,butwithintwo
months,he foundhimself againawantedmanbypolice.InNovember1793, the ParisCommune
orderedall the churchesinthe city shutdown. Afterthe fall of the Jacobins,the formerConstitutionof
1793 was supplantedbythe Constitutionof 1795. Two daysafterhisarrest he addresseda letterto the
five-memberDirectory. Fromhiscell he proposedtoopennegotiationswith them“asbetweenpower
and power.”Outside the prison,the Equalsretainedenoughof anorganizedfollowingtolaunchone last
desperate attemptatrevolt. InSeptember1796 several hundredradicalsmarchedonthe camp, hoping
to winthe defectionof majorunits.Buttheir approachwasanticipated,and theywere metwith steel.
Babeuf arguedthat itwasn’t“a trial of individuals,[but]of the Republicitself.”
Notonlywas there noconspiracy, “butthere couldn’thave been”he said, “Because there isno
such thingas a conspiracy againstillegitimate authority.”Notonlydid he associate his aimswith
Rousseau,Diderotandotherfiguresof the Enlightenment,buthe that“whenJesusspread Hismessage
of humanequality,he toowastreatedas the ringleaderof aconspiracy.” These tacticsproved
surprisinglyeffective. Regardless,afterathree-monthtrial,the juryreturnedamixedverdict:56 outof
the 65 defendantswere acquitted,7were ordereddeported, and2—Babeuf andDarthé,were
sentencedtodeath.Onthe announcementof the verdict,eachof the twoimmediatelypulleda
handmade andstabbedhimself.Neitherdiedof his self-inflictedwounds,however,andbothwere
deliveredtothe guillotinethe nextday.
RobertOwenwasa renowned Britishindustrialistandvisionary.Whereas“Babeuf’sdoctrine”
had no name, Owenandhisfollowers usedthe term“socialism.”Owen’s approacheswerelater
dismissed byMarx and Engelsas “utopian.”Nonetheless,Engels acknowledged Owen’s influence:“Every
social movement,everyreal advance inEnglandonbehalf of the workerslinksit- self ontothe name of
RobertOwen.”Of the “utopians,”Owenwasbyfar the most respected,he wasalsothe clearest.
Owenwasan advocate of democracyandcollective ownership.He wasalsovery determined toputhis](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/317e0650-741b-4784-80fd-be5f80a4f5bf-160205015151/85/Heaven-on-Earth-2-320.jpg)
Heaven on Earth
- 1. JabezZinabu Heaven on Earth The1789 declarationof the rightsof man andcitizenfollowedthe USdeclarationof independence’stheme of keepingsecure men’srights.Like the U.S.’s “life,liberty,andthe pursuitof happiness”the rightsof “liberty,property,security”were used,andasthe revolutionunfolded,the Frenchaddeda fourthright,“equality”.Inthe final daysof the Revolution,Francois-Noel Babeuf tooka standand arguedthat the revolutionaryagendawascontradictory. He proposedthattomove forward withthe planof equality,therewouldalsoneedtobe a new institutionof economiclife,where “individualownershipwouldcease,andeachcitizenwouldbe furnishedanidentical portionof nature’s bounty”.Althoughhe broughtthe socialist ideasforward,he wasquicktoconfesstheywere ideas quotedfromRousseauandMably,“In condemningme,gentlemenof the jury..youplace these great thinkers..inthe dock.” Thoughhisgoalswere takenfromthe earlierphilosophers,nobodyhadeverorganizedtoseize power,he tookthose ideas, andbroughtsocialismintopractice. Babeuf came fromahumble beginning, and washomeschooledbyhisfather. He workedasa “feudist”andhisbusinessgrew until the Revolutioneventuallyforceditsclosing. Hisfirstarrestwasin Picardy,where he wasdevelopingintoa leader. Aftercontributingfromjail,he wasreleasedandreturnedtoPicardyasan advocate forthe peasantsinpetitions,he called himself “the Marat of the Somme”. Aftermakingenemies,Babeuf fledto Paris,inhopesof escapingarrest,where he joinedthe nationalrevolutionarymovement.Babeuf found a place in the revolutionaryadministrationbehindRobespierre,but hisforgerychargeswere brought back up in1793 whenhe foundhimself inprisonforeightmonths. Once released,he joinedthe “thermidorians”, whooverthrew Robespierre,butwithinthree months,he turned againstthe Thermidorians. In1795, he foundhimself inprisonagainforanother
- 2. JabezZinabu eightmonths.Once released,he continuedpublishinghisjournal,Le Tribundupeople,butwithintwo months,he foundhimself againawantedmanbypolice.InNovember1793, the ParisCommune orderedall the churchesinthe city shutdown. Afterthe fall of the Jacobins,the formerConstitutionof 1793 was supplantedbythe Constitutionof 1795. Two daysafterhisarrest he addresseda letterto the five-memberDirectory. Fromhiscell he proposedtoopennegotiationswith them“asbetweenpower and power.”Outside the prison,the Equalsretainedenoughof anorganizedfollowingtolaunchone last desperate attemptatrevolt. InSeptember1796 several hundredradicalsmarchedonthe camp, hoping to winthe defectionof majorunits.Buttheir approachwasanticipated,and theywere metwith steel. Babeuf arguedthat itwasn’t“a trial of individuals,[but]of the Republicitself.” Notonlywas there noconspiracy, “butthere couldn’thave been”he said, “Because there isno such thingas a conspiracy againstillegitimate authority.”Notonlydid he associate his aimswith Rousseau,Diderotandotherfiguresof the Enlightenment,buthe that“whenJesusspread Hismessage of humanequality,he toowastreatedas the ringleaderof aconspiracy.” These tacticsproved surprisinglyeffective. Regardless,afterathree-monthtrial,the juryreturnedamixedverdict:56 outof the 65 defendantswere acquitted,7were ordereddeported, and2—Babeuf andDarthé,were sentencedtodeath.Onthe announcementof the verdict,eachof the twoimmediatelypulleda handmade andstabbedhimself.Neitherdiedof his self-inflictedwounds,however,andbothwere deliveredtothe guillotinethe nextday. RobertOwenwasa renowned Britishindustrialistandvisionary.Whereas“Babeuf’sdoctrine” had no name, Owenandhisfollowers usedthe term“socialism.”Owen’s approacheswerelater dismissed byMarx and Engelsas “utopian.”Nonetheless,Engels acknowledged Owen’s influence:“Every social movement,everyreal advance inEnglandonbehalf of the workerslinksit- self ontothe name of RobertOwen.”Of the “utopians,”Owenwasbyfar the most respected,he wasalsothe clearest. Owenwasan advocate of democracyandcollective ownership.He wasalsovery determined toputhis
- 3. JabezZinabu ideasintopractice. Afterjusttwoyears ofeducation,fromage five toseven,followedbytwoyears spentassistingwiththe instructionof youngerstudents,he decidedtostrike outonhisown.But his parentsmade himwaituntil he turnedten and puthimon board a coach for Londonwiththe forty schillingsinhispocket. Owen’ssocialistphilosophywasderivedfromtwo fundamentalpillarsof histhought.The first was thatno human“is responsible for hiswill andhisownactions.”The second wasa fierce opposition to religion. Owenfoundinspirationin developingaplanfor “villagesof unityandcooperation.”Owen designedthe villagesdowntothe lastdetail,andevenhada scale model built.Eachvillage wasto accommodate twelve hundred people. Withintwomonthsof greeting hisnew followers,Owen left, givingcommandtohissonWilliam.The village hadabout 160 buildings, rangingfromlogcabins, to large frame and brickstructuresincludingdwellings,barns, granaries,factories,workshops, atavernand an immense church. Before returningtoNew Harmony,OwentraveledtoPhiladelphiatolinkupwith WilliamMaclure,aScotsmanwho hadsettledin Philadelphia. He had agreedtojoinOweninthe New Harmony ideaand finance it. The projectwas ina downfall,but Owen’sarrival atNewHarmonyinJanuary1826 broughtgreat rejoicing.However,the final blowtoNewHarmonywasan angry fallingout betweenOwenandMaclure.The failure of New Harmonycost RobertOwenmuch of his fortune,butitdid notshake hisfaithinhisideas. For the next thirtyyearshe continuedhisactivism,serving asthe pioneerorinspirationof numerousprogressive causes, includingleaderof the earlylabormovement. Owen’sreputationasabusinessmanof the first orderendured, butdecadesof visionaryactivismseparatedhimfromhisdaysas a prosperous businessman. Aroundthe time he turnedeighty, he begantoembrace “spiritualism,”thatis,the practice of communicatingwiththe deadthroughthe assistance of mediums. Owenpassedfromthe worldunderthe lovingattentionof hisson, RobertDale Owen,whohadcome downfromNaples.
- 4. JabezZinabu Friedrich Engelshadgrownupin Barmenina Germanevangelical movement.The Engelsfamily owneda textilebusinessthathadbeenpasseddown. Friedrichleftgymnasium atseventeen,ayear short of completinghisdiploma,butthere isno recordof paternal alarmoverthis.Instead,the father arrangeda kind of unpaidinternshipforhiminthe officesof abusinessfriend.Engelsrentedaroomand tookfull advantage of the metropolistoexplore hiscultural andpolitical interests. The youngsoldier pursuedhisjournalism,attendedclassesatthe Universityof Berlin,and joined of anti-establishment intellectualsof hisgenerationwhowerecalledthe “YoungHegelians.”The group’sfirst interestwas philosophy,especiallythe critique of religion.Marx,whodidn’tlike the others,likedEngels, andthe encountergave noclue of the singularpartnershipthatwastodevelopbetweenthe two.More than Marx, Engelshadalreadymade a name for himself, andhisstatusgrowing. Notonlywas the youngEngelsmore accomplishedthanMarx,but he originatedasmanyor more of the keyideasthatcame to be called “Marxism.”WhenKarl was at university,hisfatherand thenhisremaining brotherdied, leavinghismotherwithfourdaughters.Karl,thentwenty-four,had receivedhisdoctorate ayearbefore andlaunchedhiscareerinradical journalism. EngelsandMarx joinedthe “CommunistLeague”in1847 and At the Novemberconference,he andMarx wonrecognition as the group’sleadingtheoreticiansandwere authorizedtoprepare afinal versionof the statementby earlythe nextyear. Atthe endof the year,EngelsreturnedtoParis,while Marx usedJanuary to complete the Manifesto, whichwaspublished the following month. The Manifesto waseventually tobecome one of the mostinfluentialpamphletseverwritten. Marx managedto getnamedto the committee chargedwithdraftingaconstitutionforthe International Workingman’sAssociation, andhe soonemergedasitsleader. Marx thensecureda positiononthe group’sgoverningbody,the General Council,whichwasbasedinLondon,andhe quickly came to dominate thattoo. Althoughhisbrilliance andself-confidence broughtnatural attributesof leadership,Marx’spoliticalworksufferedfromhissocial insecurity.EduardBernstein,the forty-five-
- 5. JabezZinabu year-oldGermanexilewasthe leadingapostle ofthe new science of Marxism.He was of such high standingthatEngels askedhimto produce volume fourof CapitalfromMarx’s notes.Unlike mostother majorfiguresinthe historyof socialism, Bernstein wasactuallyraisedinpoverty.Bornin1850, he was the seventhof fifteenchildren,tenof whichsurvived. His parents senthimtogymnasium, orhighschool, until the age of sixteen,whichiswhen he was called, andtookan apprenticeshipasabank clerk,afterwhich he bothsupportedand educated himself. Ashe begantodevelopideasaboutthe political world,young Bernstein andsome friends formeda drinkingand discussionclub whichtheycalled“Utopia,”aname inspiredmore bythe beer than by the subjectmatter. Bythe time he was twenty-five, Bernstein waswell enoughknown inthe socialistmovementtobe chosena delegate tothe historic1875 Gotha conference.Bernsteinbeganin 1896 to publishaseriesof articlesinDie NeueZeit titled“Problems of Socialism”which scrutinized certainMarxistbeliefs. More thanfiftyyearshadpassed since Marx and Engelsformulatedtheir sociological forecastthatthe richwouldbecome fewer,the poorpoorerandthe middle classesnegligible,butBernsteinobservedthatsomethingnearlyopposite had occurred. By repeatedlycitingMarx or Engels,Bernsteindemonstratedthat he wasfar fromwishingto rejecttheirteachings wholesale.Buthe wantedtotreattheirworkslike those of anyotherwriter,rather than as scripture. “Lenin”came from the Ulyanovs.Vladimir,hisreal name,wasbornin1870, the third of sevenchildren,six of whomsurvivedinfancy.In1886 whenVladimirwasfifteen.Hisfather diedsuddenly,and ayear laterhe foundout thatAnna andAlexander(Sasha),the twooldestchildren, were beingheldinSt. Petersburg,where theyattendeduniversity,onchargesof plottingto assassinate the tsar. Despite that,he graduatedwith hisdegree.Soon,powerfulstrikesshookSt.Petersburg. Althoughitisnot clearhowmuch theycontributedtothisdevelopment,the police undertookasweep of the Marxists,andin 1895 LeninandMartov were arrested.Leninwasheld inprisonformore thana yearuntil beingsentencedtothree yearsof internal exile. He continuedtogainanunderstandingof
- 6. JabezZinabu Marx, and thisunderstandingofMarxismseparatedLeninnotonlyfrom Bernsteinbutalsofrommany otherfollowersof Marx. Leninbelieved,ashe wrote inhisprivate notes,that “not a single Marxist hasunderstood Marx!” He was the firstto do so,withhissingle-mindedemphasisonrevolution. Leninwasnot interestedintheoryforitsownsake.He wasabove all a practitioner, andhiswritingwasalmostalways inthe service of practice. WhenWhatIsto Be Done? waspublished in1902, he was alreadyat workon a draft programfor the RussianSocial Democratic Workers’Party. Beginningaround1906, Lenin’s followers carriedoutarmedrobberiesof banksandarmored cars, sometimeskillingthe guards.They made off withlarge haulsof cash. It was throughhisskill atsuch workthat StalinfirstwonLenin’s admiration. Lenin’spathtopowerwasclearedwhenKerenskyfell outwith hismilitarycommander. In May 1922, lessthantwo yearsafterthe adoptionof the statutesof the Comintern,he sufferedastroke.Aftersome months,he wasable to returnto work,butin Decemberasecondstroke followed.InMarch 1923 came the third,whichlefthimlargelyincapacitateduntil hisdeathtenmonths later. A closerdiscipletoLenin, wasItaly’sMussolini,whosestarwas risingin1922 justas Lenin’sbegan to decline. Mussolini hadbynow abandonedsocialismandwasforginganew ideology thathe called“fascism,”yethe still feltabondwithLenin. Atage nine Benitowassenttoa strict boardingschool runby Silesianpriests,but he wasunhappythere andeventuallygotexpelledfortaking a knife toa fellow student.Hisparents senthimnexttoa secularboardingschool atForlimpopoli,where he completedhisprimaryandsecondaryeducation. Despite Benito’scheckeredcareerasa student,hisfirstjob,at eighteen,wasasa schoolteacher inthe village of Gualtieri,whichhad a socialistadministration. Soon,however,withamilitarycall- up approaching,he leftItalyforSwitzerland,InSwitzerland,Mussolini begantopublisharticlesand poemsin socialistpublications,includingasonnetaboutBabeuf. In1905, at age twenty-two,he took advantage of a general amnesty fordraftdodgersandreturnedto Italytodo hisservice. Mussolini and
- 7. JabezZinabu Balabanoff were bothelectedtothenew executive, andfourmonthslaterhe wasnamededitorof the party’snational. A month afterhisresignationfromAvanti!,ata meetinginMilan,Mussolini was expelledfromthe SocialistPartyfor“political andmoral unworthiness.”InMay 1915 Italywenttowar, and withinafewmonths,Mussolini wascalledtoservice. OnOctober30, Mussolini wasappointed prime minister. The NationalSocialistGerman Workers’Party wasfoundedin1919 by the Munich locksmithand toolmakerAntonDrexler. Hitlerjoinedthe partysome monthslater.He insistedinchangingitsname byaddingthe words “National Socialist”to emphasize the blendingof nationalismwithsocialism. Notonlythe party’s symbols,butalsoits“eternal”program,drawn up byDrexlerandHitlerin1920, wassocialistic. When the Nazistookpower,theydid notcarry outall of the provisionsof their1920 program. The final trigger of worldwarwas the Stalin-Hitlerpact.InJune 1943, AlliedwarplanesbombedRome forthe first time. Mussolini proposedtoHitlerthattheyseekaseparate peace with Moscow,butHitlerwasnot interested,anditisinconceivable thatStalinwouldhave relentednow thathe waswinning. Mussolini was seenbya bandof Partisansinan attemptto cross the border,disguisedasa Germansoldier,and was takenintocustody. He and hiswife Claratawere heldovernight,andinan attemptto save himfrombeing shot, Clarata jumpedinfrontof him,andtheywere bothshot. Two daysafter Mussolini wasexecuted,Hitler committedsuicide. ClementAttlee,the seventhof eightchildren,wasbornin1883, the same yearas Mussolini. AfterPublicSchool he spentthree yearsstudyinghistoryatOxford.Clementandhisbrother Tom examinedmany issuetogether. Attlee joinedthe IndependentLabourPartyin 1908, the same year of hisfather’sdeath. Withinafewweeksof joininghe wasaskedtoserve as secretaryof the local branch. ClementMetVioletin1921, and marriedherthe followingyear,thatsame yearhe ran for Parliament,thistime winningthe ballot.In1937, two yearsafterbecomingparty leader, he wrote TheLabourParty in Perspective.Attlee wasneveraCommunist,buthe wrote thatthe
- 8. JabezZinabu difference betweensocialistslike himselfandthe Communistswasone of “method”not“end,”referring to the conflictbetweenthe Socialist International andthe Cominternas“internecine strife. Attlee composedhisgovernmentof those whomhaddevotedtheirlivestosocialism, theytruly believedtheywerecreatinganewworld. Attlee’sbelief thatsocialismandindependenceshouldgo handin handin the formercoloniesmetwithfew demurralsinthe Socialist International. Julius Kambarage Nyerere,wasAfrica’soutstandingtheoreticianof socialism.ArrivingatEdinburghin1949 witha fellowshiptopursue adegree in biology,he wasthe firstTanganyikantostudyinthe country. Whenhe receivedhisdegree in1945, JuliusreturnedtoTaboraand tooka jobteachingbiology and historyat St.Mary’s College,a Catholicsecondaryschool. In1952 Nyerere completedhisdegree and returnedtoTanzania. Nowthirty,he marriedMaria, the fiancée he hadleftbehind,and tooka teachingpositionat St.FrancisCollege,aschool in Pugu. Aftera yearNyerere returnedtogovernment,winningTanzania’s firstpresidential electionwith more than 98 percentof the vote. Amonghisfirstacts as presidentwastoappointa commission to studythe transitiontoa one-partysystem. Nyerere’sstrategyforwinningthe “war” againstpoverty, ignorance,anddisease, wassocialism. NyererefirstvisitedChinain1965 and believedhe hadfound a model more suitable forTanzaniathanthatof the West. Onlya yearafter Nyerere’sfirstvisit,the Great ProletarianCultural RevolutionwasunleashedbyMaoZedong.For most Chinese,itwas a time of great horrors,when gangsmurderedmillionsandmuchof society’sconstructive activitygroundto ahalt. In 1967, Nyerere announced ata mass meeting,hisplansof the nationalizationof all banks.The nationalizationswereimmenselypopular,especiallybecause mostof the ownerswhosepropertywas takenwere white orAsian. Nationalizationscontinuedoverthe nextfew years,resultinginthe creationof more thanfour hundredgovernmentcorporations,called “parastatals.”Intermsof influence,itwasthe Chinese model
- 9. JabezZinabu that Tanzaniaseemedmostoftentotryto resemble.In1971a national militiawasformed.Itspurpose, writesFreyhold, was“ostensiblytoguardthe country’ssocialistachievementsagainst outside interventionandlocal reaction.Inpractice the militiawasan enforcingagentforgovernment directives.”Aftercompletinghistenure as chairman,Nyerere retiredto hisbirthplace,Butiama. In1999, at age seventy-seven,he diedof leukemiainaLondonhospital. Onthe whole,Nyerere succeededin avertingthe rise of a middle class,thoughthe consequence of repressingeconomicactivitywasnot sharedprogress,butsharedstagnation.Accordingtoone WorldBank studyissuedin1990, the year Nyerere steppeddownas party leader, Tanzania’s economy hadshrunk atan average rate of half a percenta yearfrom 1965 to 1988. Samuel Gompers,founderof the AFL, was bornin East Londonin1850. His parents, Solomon andSara, were DutchJewishimmigrants. Samuel attendedthe JewishFree School fromthe age of six until ten,whenhisfamilyneededhimtogoto work. His familymovedtothe US in1863. Gompers,Laurrell andAdolphStrasser,a Hungarianimmigrantandveteranof the IWA,beganto builda new local unionof cigar makers.Gomperswaschosenas itsunpaidpresident,and by1876 it wasthe largestone of its kind inthe country. The Knightsof Laborwas a secretive,ritualisticfraternal organizationwithoutaclearpurpose. Gomperssaidthatthe Knightsof Laborthoughtof itself as something“higherandgranderthana trade union.” Gompersbelievedthatthe workers of anygiventrade oughtall to belongtoa single union. Upon his 1912 presidential nominationnamedGompersasone of sevenprominentcitizensconstituting an advisorycommissiononnational defense.Gompers, ataroundseventyhadhishealthbegintofail, forcinghimto reduce hiscigar consumptiontotwenty-five aday!In1924, the same year Lenindied,he collapsedinMexico.Althoughhe hungonlongenoughto be carried back acrossthe borderto die onhis home soil, ina San Antoniohotel room.Hislastwordswere:“Godblessour Americaninstitutions.May theygrowbetterday byday.”
- 10. JabezZinabu WilliamGeorge wasborninEast Harlemin1894. At sixteen, afterayearanda half of high school,he droppedoutand secretly askedone of hisfather’sfriendsforajobplumbing.Once hisfather foundout,he made it a conditionthatGeorge take nightclasses,whichhe didandalsoplayedsemi pro baseball. In1916 hisfather,barelypastfifty, diedandtwoyearslaterhisolderbrotherwaskilledinthe Great War. Thislefttwenty-four-year-oldGeorgethe role of supporterof hismotherandsix surviving youngersiblings. In1919, he married EugeniaMacMahon, He alsobecame active inhisunion.Ina last inheritance fromhis father,he gotelectedtothe local executiveboard andin1922 he waselected businessagent,andin1934 he waschosenNew York laborchief.In1944, the AFLvotedto establisha Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC) asa vehicle forlabor’sinternational operations. Meany despisedthe communists.Toheadthe FTUC and the anticipatedbattle againstinternational communism,Meanyturnedto JayLovestone.Lovestone wasof Jewishheritage, and moved toeastNewYork withhisfamilywhenhe turned10.Jay joinedthe socialistpartyin1915, the same year he enrolledatCityCollegeNew York. Bythe endof the war, the AFL became the first majorAmericanorganizationtodenounce “Sovietsubjugation”of nationsoccupiedbythe RedArmy. However,whilethe AFLwasfightingthe Communistsoverseas,abacklashwasbuildingathome against the role of Communistsinside Americanunions. Meanyservedasthe laborfederation’spresidentfor twenty-sevenyears,havingmore impactthanGreenduringhistime,andhecombinedthe bodiesinto one name,AFL-CIO. NotonlydidAmericanlaborcontribute more thanitsshare tothe downfall of communism,italsoprovedtobe one of the great obstaclestothe global movementtosocialism.Some socialistshave believedthatthe distinctiveabsenceof socialismfromthe Americanscene wasbecause the doctrine had neverbeenpresentedaccurately. Like Mao Zedongand manyof the othertop Communists,Denghad beenachildof privilege.He was born on August22, 1904, in the village of PaifanginSichuanprovince. A Buddhist,Deng’sfather wishedforhissonto become a manof learning.The name Xianshengmeans“sage,”andwhenthe boy
- 11. JabezZinabu was five,hisfirstteacherconvincedthe fatherthatitwasnotan appropriate name fora child,soit was changedto Xixian,which meansone aspiringtobe a sage. In 1918, at age fourteen,Dengtookoff witha seventeen-year-olduncle forthe bigcity,Chongqing, whichwasthree hundredkilometersaway. There theyenrolledinhighschool forafewmonthsbefore learningof aprogram combiningworkandstudy for Chinese studentsinFrance. Dengspentayearand a half at a special preparatoryschool andthenleft fromShanghai justafterhissixteenthbirthday. DengbrieflyjourneyedtoBeijingtojoinMao andthe sevenotherprincipal Communistleadersinproclaimingthe birthof the People’s Republic. Dengwas namedgovernorof Chongqingandrulerof all of south-westernChina,one of the six administrative regionsintowhich the Communistsinitiallydividedthe country. Havingacquittedhimself well asregional chief,Dengwasin1952, nameddeputypremierof the state administrativecouncil. Between1954 and 1956, he was promotedtoa seriesof highoffices. The purpose of the “Great Leap Forward”was to gatherall of China’shundredsof millionsof peasantsinto vast “people’scommunes,”whichcouldcombineindustry withfarming.Afteraspeech that inadvertentlycame inconflictwithZedong,Dengbeganshowingsignsof leavingthe “Mao’sgoldenboy” stigmabehind. He wasarrestedlate in1966 and keptinprison, mostof the time insolitaryconfinement, until October1969. Releasedfromprison,DengXiaopingwasbanishedtoaremote village inJiangxi province. Asthe Cultural Revolutionloststeam,Dengwrote twoletterstoMao apologizing, andbegging to be allowedtoreturnto official work.OnMao’sdecision,a Central Committee resolutioninMarch 1973 restoredDengto the leadership,almostasif nothinghadhappened. The nightof October6, 1976, exactlyfourweeksafter Mao’spassing,Huaconvenedameeting of the topleadersinZhongnanhai,the meetingwasatrap where the leaderswere takenintocustody, and the countryrejoicedincelebrationof the endof the terror of the Cultural Revolution. Bythe mid- 1980s, the focusof economicreformsturnedfromagriculture toindustry.As peasants prospered farmingtheirownplots, manyof themsaved enoughcapital tolaunchsmall businesses. Mikhail
- 12. JabezZinabu Gorbachevwas bornin thetinyvillage of Privolnoye,inthe districtof Stavropol inthe northern Caucasus.At age fourteen,almostassoonas he was eligible,he joinedthe Komsomol,the partyyouth organization. GorbachevattendedMoscow State University, andwasthrilledbyhisintellectual surroundings.The lecturesof famous scientistsandacademicians,he said, “revealedanew world,entire strata of humanknowledgehithertoun- knowntome.”In1962, Gorbachevgot hisfirstjobinthe adult party,as agriculture chief inthe Stavropol region. WhileGorbachevsucceededatdemocratizingthe SovietUnion,hiseconomicreformsfell flat. “Gorbachev and Dengwere the yin and yang of communism’s demise. Eachwashonestenough to confrontthe fact that the systemhe had come to rule wasnot working,andeachwas patriotic enoughtofindthisintolerable.”The mostsuccessfulof all the new socialistpoliticians,andthe model for manyof the others,wasBritain’sTonyBlair.In1997, afterthe Labour Party had fell inoppositionfor eighteenyears,he ledittoa landslidevictorythatsurpassedevenAttlee’striumphin1945. Like Attlee, Blairhad come from a comfortable background.He,too,wasthe sonof a lawyer,hadstudiedthe law himself butfoundlittle interestin it,andhe too, came to politicsandto socialismonlyin full adulthood. BlairwentontoSt. John’sCollege atOxfordtostudylaw.In contrast to hisfather,whohad beensopolitical soyoung,Tonyhad shownno interestinpoliticsthroughouthighschool,andthisdid not change at St. John’s. Whathelda much“firmergrip” onBlair’sattentionwasrock’n’ roll. It was notuntil he had leftcollege thathe fell inlove.Cherie Boothwasnot as beautiful assome of hisgirls,butshe wonhimwithherbrainsand personality.In1988 Blairmade hismark as an man of change by engineeringareversal of Labour’straditionaloppositiontothe openshop.InMay 1994, John Smithdiedsuddenlyof a heart attack.Blair immediatelydecidedtorunforleader. Blairproposed replacingthe term“socialism”with“social-ism,”meant“tosuggestageneral spiritof humanempathy rather thana rigideconomicdoctrine.”Asthe 1997 electioncampaigndeveloped, Blairkeptmovingin
- 13. JabezZinabu the right direction,andwasvictorious.Inoffice,Blairshowedthathe hadlearnedfromClinton’s mistakesaswell as hissuccesses. Blairattemptata theoretical frameworkare in“The Third Way.” I foundthe Bookto be a great lookat the historybehindthe socialist regimes,andhow they evolvedsince the daysof Babeuf andRobertOwen.Itwasinterestingseeingthe earlyhintsof asocialist ideal changingintothe collaborative school we learnedfromMarx andEngels.Itwas alsointeresting readinghowmuchinfluence Engelshadonthe Marxist idea,despitethe name.The political socialismof Mussolini andLenin’srevolutionshowedyetanothernew applicationtothe idea,andmovinginto Nyerere andthe Africanversionshowedyetanotherwaytochange a societythroughthe system. The lookintothe moderndaysocialistsociety,namelyTonyBlair’s,wasyetanotherperspective on the Socialistsociety.If the booklackedinanything,itwouldhave tobe the slightlybiasedview of the system,whichmayhave beendescribeddifferentlybyamore neutral author.His descriptiondoesn’t give a gooddescriptionof howcapitalism, individualsandotherforceslessenedthe popularityof Socialism,orthe impactof the U.S. onits growth.Overall Ifoundthe bookto be a good readon the historyof the system,givingmanydifferentperspectivesandusesof it.