Originally Posted By: tsuwm
I think we'd have to take the TARDIS back to ask Lenin (or his translators) why the word became de rigueur amongst the Marxists; but I will try to find a latter-day leftist to ask.


having found no joy in scaring up my own leftist, I did the next best thing and fired off an email to a Prof. who penned a book on the Essentials of Terrorism, ostensibly for use in his class, TERRORISM AND EXTREMISM(!), in which he quotes (and I quote) "... the opportunists, as fair-weather "revolutionaries," are reveling in despondency and renegacy, ..."

here then is a copy of that, and his quick reply:

 Quote:
Dr Martin,

Here's a curious thing: the word 'renegacy' is splattered far and wide in Marxist writings, other leftist tracts, your own book on Terrorism, and so forth. Broadly used, I would expect it to refer to the acts of a renegade; but it seems to be applied in most specific instances to former leftists who have reneged their Marxist(?) views. Well, the curious thing is that I can find it defined in no dictionary; neither paper & ink, nor online. Can you shed any light on this matter? Or put me in touch with a knowledgeable leftist?


 Quote:
Now, that is interesting -- good work on this. It is likely a term of art used by the far left. Very often, extremists develop their own language to talk to each other. The far right does the same thing. I will give some thought to finding an older seasoned leftist to refer you to. Introduce yourself tonight. See you then.

Prof. Gus Martin


[Dr Martin evidently takes me for a student in his class, which meets on Tuesday evenings. one could assume from this that he gets little external email, although I had little trouble finding his address.]


-joe (at least I didn't start a new topic, this time) friday