Teachers and gangsters

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, Andrew Collier explains why the ideas of revolutionary thinkers, such as Jesus, Marx and Nietzsche, often degrade into violent ‘gangsterism’ in the hands of revolutionary leaders, such as Torquemada, Stalin and Hitler. In his explanation, Collier corrects a misunderstanding about communism: namely that it aims to achieve certain administrative goals, such as state ownership of the means of production. To the contrary, Marx merely predicted that securing better conditions for the workers might require the socialization the means of production. Communism is therefore not defined by its administrative goals, but by its membership (the working class) and its internal organization (democracy). Gangster implementers tend to focus on the means to achieve certain goals, for instance, they use legislation and violence to achieve state ownership, rather than admitting that ‘there is no way to communism; communism is the way’. The Bennite left programme (followed by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn) potentially avoids gangsterism because of its commitment to democracy.