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It seems that San Francisco is changing the name of a street. The street is currently named after a racist former mayor. Henceforth it will be named after a Stalinist artist:
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted yesterday to change the name of Phelan Avenue to Frida Kahlo Way, citing racist policies of the city’s former leader, Mayor James Duval Phelan, the Chronicle reported.
I am reminded of an interesting diagram produced by Mark Perry:
A similar diagram might portray those who think the 1950s blacklist was unjust, and those who currently favor blacklisting Hollywood figures who make non-PC statements. How big would the overlap be?
READER COMMENTS
Miguel Madeira
Jul 20 2018 at 10:43am
Frida Kahlo was not a Trotskyite (including being his mistress)?
RPLong
Jul 20 2018 at 10:44am
In a just world, Stalinists would be viewed in just the same manner that racists are. Both ideologies are, in my view, “harbingers of irreconcilable hatred and war to the death,” to steal a phrase from Ludwig von Mises.
gmm
Jul 20 2018 at 11:53am
Wow, I did not know about that painting. Some context on it:
http://www.fridakahlofans.com/c0670.html
Miguel, you wrote:
Not sure if this is well sourced, but: “I realized the error of trotsky since he arrived in Mexico. I was never a trotskyite.”
From https://www.facebook.com/notes/international-marxist/frida-kahlo-on-stalin-and-the-traitor-trotsky-/990637711013905/
Hazel Meade
Jul 20 2018 at 12:54pm
It’s not inconsistent if you don’t think blacklisting per se is bad, just disagree about who should be blacklisted.
EB
Jul 21 2018 at 6:59am
Blacklisting has nothing to do with intellectual consistency. It’s just one of the many tools that politicians use to deal with their enemies as one can see in countries where not long ago a conflict between opposing parties degenerated in a civil war (for those that need entertainment look at what is going on in Spain these days with Franco’s body).
I don’t think one should ask for intellectual consistency, that is, for people that call themselves intellectuals always think clearly about their principles. Yes, at some high level of abstraction, consistency may be easy to achieve, but as soon as you attempt to apply your consistent principles to any case, you struggle to find exactly what your principles imply. Just look at the hundreds of law professors that have been writing papers on how principles were applied to adjudicate cases by high courts.
Economists like to assume that any individual’s preferences are consistent. Yes, more than 50 years ago, as a student I liked very much to learn how we could build theories relying on that assumption (and I have always remembered my mentor Leo Hurwicz as a master of that trade). Since then, I have learned how often economists in the business of advocating public policies are willing to rely on any argument –many assuming that individuals don’t have an idea about what they want, except that they want some protection from themselves and are ready to call 911 for help. I’d like to offer the case of monetary policy as an example of that behavior by fellow economists, but it will take too long.
Alan Goldhammer
Jul 21 2018 at 9:24am
Scott – I’m perplexed by your use of the descriptor “Stalinist Artist.” The link you cite does not mention this term at all. Additionally, the lengthy Wikipedia entry on Frida Kahlo does not either only noting that the painting you whose image you have posted was done in the last year of her life when she was quite ill and taking heavy doses of pain killers. What is unclear to me is how much of her involvement in the PCM and various other Communist activities came about from her relationship with Diego Rivera. I am not an expert on Kahlo but are there other works besides the painting you cite that are exemplary of “Stalinist Art?”
Ben Kennedy
Jul 21 2018 at 1:30pm
The Venn diagram stuff is obnoxious. Really, how hard is it to conceptualize the motives of people you disagree with? Going off on them as “Those who do not have a strong need to intellectual consistency” is just a pointless, derailing insult
Thaomas
Jul 21 2018 at 1:59pm
My question would be in what ways did Khalo’s supposed “Stalinism” affect her work and the mayor’s supposed “racism” affect his work.
Scott Sumner
Jul 21 2018 at 9:46pm
Alan, Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant she was a strong supporter of Stalin, and she was also an artist. I did not mean to imply her artistic style was Stalinist.
Comments are closed.