Left supposing

Doris Lessing:

Years later, in New York, when the Soviet Union was no more, I asked William if he had ever thought like this: Suppose the Left everywhere had never paid allegiance to the Soviet Union, had said, "That struggle has nothing to do with us" - then certain things could not have happened. The Left's support of the Soviet Union meant concentration - that above all - on failure, on lying, on the defense of mass murder, meant, inevitably the corruption of itself, because of always having to swear that bad was good, lies the truth, failure success. A left wing independent of all that would have meant a healthy Left, instead of one mortally wounded and corrupted. Yes, said William, he had indeed pursued these ideas, but surely I must agree with him that this was unhistorical thinking? Yes, yes, I admitted, true, but just suppose...

And yet. Even then there was a section of the left that did not defend mass murder and lying; and even now there is a section of the left that 'understands' it. (Thanks: IT.)