tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post4426674335305579071..comments2024-01-19T04:00:42.885-05:00Comments on Permanent Revolution: North and Service on Trotsky's attitude to PlekhanovAlex Steinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09128453587484101609noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-49059906061348509982020-11-01T21:52:28.115-05:002020-11-01T21:52:28.115-05:00Here is the passage you say doesn't even parse...Here is the passage you say doesn't even parse as English:<br /><br />"And while immediately around Plekhanov in his surrounding retinue of nobodies there is no one who could make him understand that his public actions are not only destroying him; but also hopelessly darken the image which now forms the property of party history, we are left not only the duty but the right to be contemptuous."<br /><br />The English is admittedly awkward but I think Trotsky's meaning is clear enough. The contempt is reserved for Plekhanov not only because his recent actions supporting an imperialist war have destroyed his personal reputation but they have also blacked the legacy he left behind which affects us, the members of the party he once pioneered. Alex Steinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09128453587484101609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-82117117922885119302020-11-01T19:37:02.336-05:002020-11-01T19:37:02.336-05:00You could be right, but the passage in question is...You could be right, but the passage in question is more than a little confusing. It doesn't even parse as an English sentence so that one doesn't know for sure whether "contempt" is to be felt for Plekhanov, his hangers-on, or both. It would probably require an analysis of the original to settle this for sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com