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64
MA.RXISM TODAY, I-EBRUARY 19 6 2
at him, to cover up our own fears and
inadequacies by asser t ing our own vir i l ity a
phon ey co mm ercial sales gimmick ; we grow to
value him as a pers on. All this further challenges
Victorianism and big business sex.
True, there are many quest ions unanswered
this is no t a Marx ist fi lm. Wh y do these problem s
arise? Wh y do corrupt ion , ugl iness, and
disto rted personalit ies exist? The film does not
say ; yet thou gh it does not reve al those who are
responsible, i t does cherish those who are the
vic t ims. Tru e , the homo sexual goes away,
pro bab ly bacic to his twilight wo rld. Tr ue , the
first lover never returns . Yet never is there a
hint of cynicism . Even the weak and co rrup t
mother has lovable traits and some love left in
her. Ne ver is there a con tem pt for these victims
of capitalism . In this the film is at one with g reat
humanist wri ters l ike Arnold Bennet t or Chekhov.
No intelligence is insulted, nor are commercial
values exploited (the hoardings belong to the
distributors, not the artists).
True, the film finds its values amongst squalor
and ignoranc e. But wh ere shou ld it go? To cosy
suburban drawing-rooms, or the board meet ings
of a city ban k? Can we accept the assertion of
life only in the context of trades union branch
meetings or a rent struggle? Is anyth ing else
em pty ? No , the film reasserts a faith in
humanity, a belief that man can be brother to
man. deriving it from those very people whose
faith has been systematically assaulted by all the
attendant evils of capitalism for over a century.
This is not an em pty film it is eloqu ent,
beautiful, shou ting out for life. We should
honour and respect Shelagh Delaney and a l l
those associated with her, for producing the most
consistent , warmest , humanist work so far shown
in British cinema.
S t a g e s o f S o c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t
F. Gannaw ay
O M R A D E S I D D O U G L A S ' S c on t ri b u ti o n
to this discussion (December Marxism
Today)
seems to clarify some of the issues
ra ised by Co mra de Robin Jard ine; yet in a t temp
ting to sort out definitions he seems to have added
confusion.
Ho quotes Ma rx 's four modes of product ion
(1) Primit ive Communism (Asia t ic)
(2) Slavery (Ancient)
(3) Feudalism
(4) Capitalism.
Yet he is able immediately to call these eth-
r.ological stages by the mere act of dividing (I)
above into two stages of social development.
Surely the differences between savagery and bar
barism, or say, socialism and communism (to
give a comparable phase at the opposite end of
histor ica l development) are not determined by
differences of racial, ethnological development.
His own point in reply to R. Jardine is that
different races have passed through the same
stages. He says in reply to R. J. It is incon
ceivable that the Chinese having reached the
Syndyasmian Family and last stages of primitive
communism then jumped a complete e thnological
stage (slavery) . He has a l ready quoted Ma rx 's
epochs based upon the mode of product ion, so
why confuse the issue by again calling slavery an
ethnological stage?
If we add socialism to the above four stages
we have five economic stages based upon changing
modes and re la t ions of prod uct ion which have
occurred during the three great epochs of
savagery, barbarism and c ivi l isa t ion .
Another point of similar nature: he (correctly
I think) says in answer to Robin Jardine that
slave society brok e down n ot throug h sheer in
efficiency but because the social relationships act
as fetters upon social production. Nevertheless,
later he says that slave economy almost inevitably
occurs w here a com mu nity has a low level of
development in the forces and means of produc
tion which, however, is in adva nce of barba rian
levels,
and where such a country is isolated from
more advanced economies. Again he is correct the
first t ime with regard to the significance of change
in the forces and means of production, but surely
it is not which, however. but because they are in
advance of what he calls the barbarian stage, but
which for the sake of clarity would be more cor
rectly called primitive communism.
I think that Comrade Douglas has advanced
the discussion along co rrect l ines, but th at he
will be able to make further progress in the sub
ject and help in the study of this fascinating and
valuable s ubject to the extent tha t he clarifies
and adheres to his definitions.
Published by the Commu nist Party, 16 King Street, London,
Aldenham
W C 2 and printed by Farleigh Press Ltd. (T.U. all depls.)
Herts.
8/11/2019 Marxim Today III
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