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The ‘Afternoon Play’ on Radio 4 proved quite intriguing, with a man pursuing the reasons that his uncle, some 60 years earlier, was buried amongst the fascists in a Spanish village when he had gone out there as an idealistic communist. Eventually, it transpired that he had resisted the brutal bludgeoning to death of villagers by a group of republicans, hence his being considered an agent for the fascists, for which he was summarily executed and buried in the wrong camp. His nephew pleaded that the local priest should avoid any Christian ritual over the re-interment of his remains, in keeping with his uncle’s ideological atheism.

In my younger days, I was privileged to meet with former International Brigaders, many of whom felt that they had been betrayed by their Stalinist comrades and yet, still maintained a strong belief in the ideals that had taken them out there.

Although I was at this time much drawn to a pacifist creed and, something of a utopian socialist, I found it impossible to dismiss these peoples humanitarian idealism. Perhaps it was these people’s faith that freed me to take up a class war stance and, enter into an engagement with Marxist (specifically Trotskyist) politics. Over the years, however, I seemed to spend far too much time bitching over ‘theological’ differences with other left wingers, attempting to find a ‘true’ fundamentalist understanding of the beloved Karl; it almost seemed as if the real enemy was to be found in the ‘socialist’ camp and, the real struggle was forgotten, apart from a ‘token’ presence on picket lines and demos.

My socialist ideals remain pretty well intact but, I’m afraid I underestimated capitalisms ability to re-invent itself and pander to the baser instincts of an apparently wider grouping of people.