I was wondering why Marxism was still a thing and this placed seemed to be filled with Marxists. So, why? Didn’t the fall of USSR teach us anything? Do today’s Marxists think that USSR did something wrong? In other words, will they do anything different than the dictators of the soviet union? Also, some here seem to admire Stalin. I would really have to try hard to find a community that would admire Hitler but apparently admiring Stalin, another mass murder seems to be perfectly fine!
Very good question! It’s important to understand that materialist analysis (although it’s evolved over time since being formalized by Marx) is still very important for social struggles: marxian economy is what’s being taught to economists for them to understand how to maximize “surplus value” (i.e. better exploit workers). There’s also been serious analysis of non-reproductive work (house chores, conversational work, etc) from feminist circles.
Also, marxism is not a unified doctrine. Marxism-leninism, maoism and stalinism (among others) are authoritarian ideologies which don’t accept dissent. But Marx himself had some anti-authoritarian critiques later in his life, and many people who identify as marxists don’t side (especially not uncritically) with authoritarian regimes.
hell yes. especially since the collapse of the USSR, anti-authoritarian marxism (libertarian communism) is on the rise, and except on niche internet forums like Lemmy it’s hard to find Lenin/Stalin apologists in real-world struggles.
Don’t hesitate if you have more detailed questions. I could also ask some marxist comrades for some good resources if you like.
“authoritarian” please. Can you read Engels “About authoritarianism”?
oh i’ve read it. it just makes very bad points, if only because most of life has nothing to do with a ship on the high seas and you’re not gonna die if you don’t have a single direction guiding everyone. also because it conflates power and authority: in specific situations, i may wish to delegate some power to a trusted 3rd party for accomplishing a task (such as a boat captain to guide us across an ocean and coordinate the rest of us). This does not mean that the ship captain holds power over me (authority), as exemplified by historical pirates who practiced horizontal decision-making (contrary to Hollywood/Disney portrayal of pirates).
marxism-leninism and all forms of Nation State are based on authority: power imposed over others by force. there is no consent involved in Nation States.
Literally all major communist movements in the third world are marxist leninist and are positive about stalin
I’ve never met a single african/asian communist who was a fan of Stalin: they were respectively fan of other figures (such as Lumumba) and very afraid of purges such as initiated by Pol Pot / Stalin. As for south america, the only communists i’ve met from there were libertarians (anarchists), not marxist-leninists.
But to be fair, i’ve never traveled to those places and met people from THE PARTY. there’s a selective bias at play where those people i’ve met were mostly political refugees. Still, being a communist has nothing to do with supporting Lenin/Stalin.