I knew quite a lot of people from that tradition, and suspect there are at least several on Mudcat. My impression of McColl was that he was extremely loyal to beliefs he was born with. Notwithstanding that, he could discuss those beliefs intelligently and without screaming. I think all the above criticisms of Stalinists, including Pete Seeger, are true and correct, and those things bother me a whole lot. It bothers me that Pete Seeger's ideas would have got my father, ane others like him, killed in the War. On the other hand, those were often also the most aggressive and practical critics of racism and oppression of labor, here and in the UK.