I always got the impression that once you were willing to swallow Berlin 1953, Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia 1968 that was all that was required. Oh, and not make too much of a fuss about Stalin i.e. stay within the lines of criticism set out by Krushchev. At least for the high profile intellectual members. For the rank and file there may well have been some truth to Cohen’s point.
If you want to see a perfect example of unforced ‘absolute intellectual conformity’ then look no further than the Irish mainstream media. And an excellent example of that in action was the Technical Group press conference in Buswell’s Hotel in November on the bond motion discussed recently in the Dáil. Not ONE single journalist turned up for it, despite at least half a dozen TDs at the top table.