Vijay Prashad: History Is A Series Of Experiments (Part 1)

Introduction

In this section, the host introduces the guest, Vijay Prashad, and his background.

Guest Introduction

• Vijay Prashad is the director of the Tri-Continental Institute for Social Research.

• He has authored several books including "The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World".

• The host welcomes him to the show.

Vijay Prashad's Books

In this section, the host talks about some of Vijay Prashad's recent books.

Recent Books

• Vijay Prashad co-authored a book with Noam Chomsky called "What Kind of Creatures Are We?".

• He also co-authored a book with French activist Frank Barat called "The Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism".

• Additionally, he edited a book called "Selected Ho Chi Minh" which is a collection of essays from former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.

History as Experiments

In this section, Vijay Prashad discusses his view on history as experiments.

History as Experiments

• Humans seek meaning in historical events and try to understand their purpose in the world.

• Hegel believed that history had a real purpose and sought to understand it through philosophy.

• People throughout history have sought meaning in time and attempted to keep it from being empty.

• By wanting to imprint our meaning on time we experiment and try to make things happen.

• Part of attempting to do things in the world is understanding that you must have the capacity to fail.

The Importance of Experimentation and Learning from Failure

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of not judging things negatively and being courageous enough to experiment with better things. He emphasizes that failure is not always a bad thing and can be a way to learn.

Trying to Change Things in the World

• Don't accept the world for what it is if things are not good right now.

• We have to be courageous enough to experiment with better things, not always in order to succeed but sometimes just in order to learn.

Failure as a Way of Learning

• Failure oftentimes is a way of ending a project or an experiment immediately, but we need to get out of that attitude.

• Failures on this path are merely milestones where we can enshrine lessons as we continue to return to some of those failures.

Socialism as a Project Against History and Human Frailty

In this section, the speaker talks about socialism as a project against history and human frailty. He explains how socialism makes an enormous demand on history because it asks us to go beyond our human frailties.

Compassion for Socialist Projects

• A socialist project is a project against history and against human frailty.

• One has to have compassion for these projects and not be so dismissive when they fail.

Lessons from Failures

• Failures on this path are merely milestones where we can enshrine lessons as we continue to return to some of those failures.

Socialism and History

In this section, the speaker discusses how socialism is a struggle against history, which has been characterized by nepotism, hierarchy, and inequality. The speaker uses the example of Buddhism to illustrate how even radical philosophies can struggle with historical corruptions.

Gautam Buddha's Life

• The speaker talks about Gautam Buddha's life as a prince who was heartbroken by the hunger and illiteracy he saw in his kingdom.

• He decided to enshrine a sangha of monks who would beg for their food and meditate on making the world better.

• Buddhism was a radical philosophy that opposed India's caste system and degradation of outcasts.

Struggling with History

• The speaker notes that all traditions struggle with history's frailties and corruptions.

• Acknowledging our own imperfections as individuals is necessary before attempting major experiments in social transformation.

• Friedrich Hayek condemned attempts to change the world, arguing that they would lead to tyranny. However, the speaker believes that something being difficult should not deter us from trying.

Human Spirit

• Despite difficulties, humans have persisted in pursuing challenging goals like space exploration because of the power of the human spirit.

• The speaker believes that hierarchies, poverty, and wretchedness are petty parts of human history.

Generation of Sensitive People

In this section, the speaker talks about how each generation produces sensitive people who want to change things. The speaker cites examples such as Black Lives Matter and protests against the Supreme Court decision on women's right to choose.

Impact of Soviet Union on Socialist Movements

• The fall of the Soviet Union has had a tremendous impact on socialist movements ever since.

• The speaker had the privilege of being alive when the Soviet Union was there and visited it in the 1980s.

• The Soviet Union was an extremely poor country in 1917, devastated by war and agricultural life imposed by the Tsar and nobility.

• Novels by Tolstoy and Targanyev depicted wretched agricultural life that reminded the speaker of contemporary India.

Inspiration from Soviet Union

• Despite mistakes made during collectivization, it was inspirational because they were trying to improve their situation without stealing wealth from somewhere else.

• Jawala Nehru wrote a book called "Soviet Russia Dissected" after visiting Russia in 1927 which inspired him to believe that if they can do it, India can do it too.

• In 1947, after almost 300 years of colonialism in India, only 13 out of 100 people could write their names. However, Nehru saw inspiration from what he witnessed in Russia.

Conclusion

The fall of the Soviet Union has had a lasting impact on socialist movements. Despite its mistakes during collectivization, it served as an inspiration for countries like India to improve their situations without relying on stolen wealth.

Soviet History and the Global Left

The failures of socialism, including the Gulag and collectivization, have been used to penalize socialism. The Soviet Union has had a significant impact on the global left. There is a tendency for the left to form circular firing squads, which can be traced back to historical events such as the French Revolution and Russian Revolution.

Impact of Soviet Union on Global Left

• The Soviet Union's internal failures have had an impact on how people view socialism.

• The collapse of the Soviet Union has been used to penalize socialism.

• The Soviet Union has had a significant impact on the global left since its inception.

Split within the Left

• There is a tendency for people who are intellectuals to enter into leftist movements.

• Fractiousness in the left is normal because movements that want to transcend present hierarchies produce different arguments about what strategy should be used for transformation.

• People from all kinds of backgrounds enter leftist movements because it does not maintain hierarchies.

Temperament Differences between Right and Left

This section discusses temperament differences between those on the right and those on the left. Those on the right want to maintain status quo while those on the left want transformation.

Historical Task

• Those on the right want to preserve status quo while those on the left seek transformation.

• Those who seek transformation require a dynamic map rather than a static one.

Tendency for Thought

• There is more intellectual tendency among those who seek transformation than among those who seek preservation of status quo.

• Debates are intense among those seeking transformation because they are trying to do something much different than just maintaining status quo.

Fractiousness in Leftist Movements

This section discusses why there is fractiousness in leftist movements.

Normal Tendency

• Fractiousness in the left is a normal tendency of movements that want to transcend present hierarchies.

• The left produces different arguments about what strategy should be used for transformation.

Backgrounds of Leftist Movements

• People from all kinds of backgrounds enter leftist movements because it does not maintain hierarchies.

• Many people on Stalin's side came from deprived backgrounds, including Stalin himself.

Class Backgrounds and Hierarchies in the Left

Vijay Prashad discusses how class backgrounds constrain the form of debate in the left, and how this creates its own confusions. He argues that while the left does not acknowledge hierarchies, this can lead to resentments and fractiousness.

Resentment in the Left

• The left does not acknowledge hierarchies, which can lead to resentment.

• In contrast, the right establishes hierarchies, with intellectuals from privileged classes defining projects.

• Fascist rights are different because people come out of the middle class and also resent oligarchy.

• Hitler disrespected old parents of finance to prevent flooding of German wealth with workers' movement.

Challenges of Breaking Hierarchies

• Breaking hierarchies creates its own confusions and challenges for the left.

• Fractiousness and resentments define the left, making it difficult to unite or elect leaders.

• Without established structures, charismatic people often take over movements, often from generations of privilege.

• There is no short circuit to building an egalitarian socialist world; we must go through our human frailties and resentments.

Conclusion

• Building a socialist world requires acknowledging historical penalties but avoiding reinscribing hierarchy for expediency.