Firestone article sparks ruckus over leadership, accountability 
under socialism

The article in the last MIM Notes on Firestone tires was so 
outrageous, it even caused some controversy inside MIM.(1) As of 
October 4, 101 deaths and over 400 injuries have been attributed 
to defective Firestone tires.(2) The original version of the 
article continued:

"This is the kind of situation that Joseph Stalin (leader of the 
Soviet Union 1924-1953) was perfect for. Had any factory managers 
claimed not to know about such problems or allowed them to happen, 
Stalin would have had them shot. It mattered little whether the 
cause was incompetence or intentional downgrading of consumer 
safety...

"[S]ome incompetent or energy-less people wormed their way into 
leadership roles in life-and-death matters and Stalin was right to 
shoot such opportunists when the chance arose. Shooting one such 
persyn can easily save hundreds or thousands of people who would 
have been killed by faulty products."

A comrade changed part of this to say "Stalin would have severely 
disciplined [the managers] -- under some circumstances he would 
have justifiably had them shot." 

The comrade defended this change:

Mao discouraged killing for real errors and even incompetence, as 
it would make honest self-criticism and error assessment 
difficult. You have to be pretty hard core to make a self-
criticism knowing it will cost you your life. Of course, in the 
middle of WWII, or if you're a real conniving bourgeois shit who 
killed thousands through laziness or duplicity, shooting is 
justified.

The author replied: 

These are standard Liberal criticisms of communism, that 
executions make the flow of information impossible instead of 
better. Obviously the dictatorship of the proletariat is not going 
to depend on the information of one persyn or one bureau on 
anything.

Average Amerikans will denounce incompetence and try to cover up 
for it in this case in Firestone, when in fact, these types should 
be shot and we should not be hedging.

Comrade:

There are all kinds of sanctions available to the dictatorship of 
the proletariat, from demotion (arguably too soft) to prisons to 
execution.

Incompetence -- to say nothing of careerism -- which leads to 
regular death is a blood crime. Blood demands blood. Where I have 
a hard time is differentiating between incompetence and 
indifference and bad honest mistakes. Let's not be idealists -- 
it's not like there will be no industrial accidents under 
socialism.

Pack managers involved in industrial accidents off to labor reform 
-- incompetent boobs and careerists and unlucky stiffs as well. 
While you're at it pack off the cadres who approved the 
incompetent managers. Shoot the careerists and indifferent boobs. 
But shoot "any" manager who "allowed an accident to happen"?

Author:

Did I say there would be no industrial accidents? That's not what 
my article is about. My article is about something more than 10 
times worse at one plant than at normal plants. I didn't say 
there'd be no defective tires ever produced again.

Your response does not respond to my article, but sidetracks the 
conversation to something else, to lesser cases. This, however, is 
not a lesser case. Granted, it's one of the lesser bourgeois blood 
crimes, because the bourgeoisie is on a rampage of blood all the 
time, but it is still worthy of executions of plant managers and 
people in charge of stats. (Obviously things like smoking and air 
pollution kill 6 and 7 digit figures in the United $tates every 
year. World hunger kills 7 or 8 digits a year.)

The message is simple: if you don't want to be shot for 
incompetence, don't take the leadership job! We will emphasize 
that in the dictatorship of the proletariat. And don't let your 
managers get themselves in trouble! They are public servants who 
could be shot, so have a heart and keep them out of trouble! It's 
not unlike the military services, taking a risk for one's country!

Fucking anarchists think of leaders as scum at this time in 
history, but that's because by their informal leadership 
principles, where people are not accountable, leaders really ITAL 
are END scum. They would let the careerists off the hook in a 
Liberal way. We communists are not Liberals or anarchists. We 
believe that unfortunately the leadership principle is ITAL 
necessary END until communism.

Demotion is no punishment for killing people. "All I have to lose 
is the possibility of demotion" reasons the careerist.

True, prison has some real bite to it and there are lesser 
incompetences and crimes for that. The Firestone thing is not one 
of them.

Notes:

1. MIM Notes 220, 15 Oct 2000

2. Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct 2000