Those of us who joined the old CPGB up to the late seventies were joining a worldwide movement which still seemed to be advancing. Its greatest days, we imagined, lay ahead of it. Its past may have been littered with embarrassing episodes, but its triumphant future would more than make up for that. But what inspires a youngster to join the YCL these days? The glory days of the movement are definitely behind it - the heroic struggles against fascism, colonialism and all that - and I suspect that it is that past, those traditions, which provide the inspiration for the young people who join it. If that's the case, well, Stalin - or a mythologised version of Stalin - would have to be a big part of the traditions they want to celebrate.