Letter: Right-wing socialists
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.IN REPLY to my critics last week (Letters, 29 November): I wrote The Lost Literature of Socialism (Lutterworth Press) to show that socialism favours the rich and that it was meant to. It was not always thought left- wing, and the first history of socialism, which was honoured by the French Academy, thought it conservative through and through and explained why. No wonder some conservatives backed it. But then if, by nationalising, you make the biggest monopoly capitalist bigger still, backed by an army and a police force, you would expect to create a privileged caste or nomenklatura. Predictably enough, socialism created an elite.
Lenin, like Hitler, accepted funds from big business, and it is not usually doubted that he was a socialist. As for genocide, everyone in Europe who advocated it in the last century and this called himself a socialist. Genocide was an exclusively socialist idea. As for my own politics, which Edmond McMonnies asks after, I am an active member of the Liberal Democrats. I hope he will read my book and surprise himself.
GEORGE WATSON
St John's College, Cambridge
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments