I hate that “Marxism-Leninism” refers to the brand of communism and socialism that Stalin practiced. It should be called “Stalinism”. From the little I know about Marx and Lenin is that Marx had some good ideas and while Lenin had some bad policies, he also had a genuine interest in trying to do what was best for Russia. Meanwhile Stalin let millions starve.
Also Marxist-Leninism is doomed to fail imo. I believe that in order for socialism to truly succeed, you must ensure that the world’s leading countries practice socialism; or at least ensure that your country is capable of fulfilling every step in the supply chain for any given good for now and the future, either by itself or via allies. Attempting to do it on your own like Marxist-Leninism suggests, is a road to failure because capitalism will attempt to starve you (and likely succeed at doing so).
Capitalism is inherently opposed to socialism because the true end game of capitalism is for an individual, or group of individuals, to own everything. However, they can’t own everything if a country’s culture is opposed to that form of selfishness. Additionally, the capitalist’s peasants might get funny ideas if they see a country based on mutual goodwill succeeding. Stalin played right into the hands of capitalists. He deserves to have the inherently flawed and doomed-to-fail ideology named after him.
Fuck, I barely got any sleep last night and I can’t tell if I’m being coherent or not. Additionally, now I have a conspiracy theory that this was all intentional. Tying a form of socialism that was oppressive and doomed to fail to Marx and Lenin was an intentional move by capitalists to conflate Stalin’s garbage with a legitimate desire and attempt to create a better world. By doing so, you create the belief that even Lenin and Marx supported oppression and that oppression is therefore inherently a part of socialism and communism. As such, by calling themselves Marxist-Leninists, they are falling into a trap created by capitalists to defame such ideologies like communism and socialism.
Also I wanted to make a comment about how capitalism is like economic heroin or something: extremely enticing and addictive; but I’ve got no clue where to put it.
It’s fair to call it stalinism / maoism etc. And I also dislike associating Marx that closely with them. The Marx parts of Marxism are pretty tough to have issue with. Engles, Lenin, Stalin, Mao etc are where a lot of the backward reductive and damaging stuff comes from. But it’s about hitting them where they live. And these days they identify as ML.
And yeah I agree. Despite making wildly flawed ideology I absolutely believe Engels and Lenin had good intentions. And despite all of them, including Stalin. Russia absolutely had successes. I can’t say it was enough to out weigh the failures. Similar things can be said about China too. Though xi jinping will mark the end of all that.
The last bit, I don’t think I can go in for. If it was capitalists calling them ML and them calling themselves something else then perhaps. But it’s what they largely self identify as. The thing to remember however, is that it’s the ideas that are important. Not necessarily the names. Would Marx want to be associated with future systems based on his concepts? Sure. Would he not want it implemented without his name. That I doubt.
I hate that “Marxism-Leninism” refers to the brand of communism and socialism that Stalin practiced. It should be called “Stalinism”. From the little I know about Marx and Lenin is that Marx had some good ideas and while Lenin had some bad policies, he also had a genuine interest in trying to do what was best for Russia. Meanwhile Stalin let millions starve.
Also Marxist-Leninism is doomed to fail imo. I believe that in order for socialism to truly succeed, you must ensure that the world’s leading countries practice socialism; or at least ensure that your country is capable of fulfilling every step in the supply chain for any given good for now and the future, either by itself or via allies. Attempting to do it on your own like Marxist-Leninism suggests, is a road to failure because capitalism will attempt to starve you (and likely succeed at doing so).
Capitalism is inherently opposed to socialism because the true end game of capitalism is for an individual, or group of individuals, to own everything. However, they can’t own everything if a country’s culture is opposed to that form of selfishness. Additionally, the capitalist’s peasants might get funny ideas if they see a country based on mutual goodwill succeeding. Stalin played right into the hands of capitalists. He deserves to have the inherently flawed and doomed-to-fail ideology named after him.
Fuck, I barely got any sleep last night and I can’t tell if I’m being coherent or not. Additionally, now I have a conspiracy theory that this was all intentional. Tying a form of socialism that was oppressive and doomed to fail to Marx and Lenin was an intentional move by capitalists to conflate Stalin’s garbage with a legitimate desire and attempt to create a better world. By doing so, you create the belief that even Lenin and Marx supported oppression and that oppression is therefore inherently a part of socialism and communism. As such, by calling themselves Marxist-Leninists, they are falling into a trap created by capitalists to defame such ideologies like communism and socialism.
Also I wanted to make a comment about how capitalism is like economic heroin or something: extremely enticing and addictive; but I’ve got no clue where to put it.
It’s fair to call it stalinism / maoism etc. And I also dislike associating Marx that closely with them. The Marx parts of Marxism are pretty tough to have issue with. Engles, Lenin, Stalin, Mao etc are where a lot of the backward reductive and damaging stuff comes from. But it’s about hitting them where they live. And these days they identify as ML.
And yeah I agree. Despite making wildly flawed ideology I absolutely believe Engels and Lenin had good intentions. And despite all of them, including Stalin. Russia absolutely had successes. I can’t say it was enough to out weigh the failures. Similar things can be said about China too. Though xi jinping will mark the end of all that.
The last bit, I don’t think I can go in for. If it was capitalists calling them ML and them calling themselves something else then perhaps. But it’s what they largely self identify as. The thing to remember however, is that it’s the ideas that are important. Not necessarily the names. Would Marx want to be associated with future systems based on his concepts? Sure. Would he not want it implemented without his name. That I doubt.