• C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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    8 months ago

    @Gigan @Grayox
    No one died under communism because communism has never been achieved in the modern world. People died under state capitalist and state socialist authoritarian governments that people mislabel as communist because they don’t know what communism is.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      AES countries were and are legitimate attempts at building Communism. People have died in these countries, but at the same time many saw drastic increases in quality of life and industrialization. Dismissing AES is usually a sign of not understanding Marxism.

      • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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        8 months ago

        @Cowbee
        I understand Marxism and reject AES countries because they not only abandoned many of the core principles of communism but weren’t even successful at achieving communism.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          8 months ago

          What “core principles of Communism” were abandoned?

          Why do you believe a country can achieve a global, worker owned republic without class, money, or a state while Capitalist states exist?

          • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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            8 months ago

            @Cowbee
            Countries like the Soviet Union deviated from some core principles of communism, including classlessness by introducing a new bureaucratic class, statelessness (the withering away of the state as envisioned by Marx never happened), and a moneyless economy by retaining wage labor and currency.

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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              8 months ago
              1. There was not a new “beaurocratic class.” Government ownership of the Means of Production is Socialist, as profits are controlled collectively, rather than by Capitalists. Beaurocrats and state planners were not a “new class” but an extension of the workers.

              2. The whithering away of the state is IMPOSSIBLE until global Socialism has been achieved. The USSR could not possibly have gotten rid of the military while hostile Capitalist countries existed. Additionally, Statelessness in the Marxian sense doesn’t mean no government, but a lack of instruments by which one class oppresses another.

              3. Wage Labor did not persist for the sake of Capitalist profit, but to be used via the government, which paid for generous safety nets. To eliminate money in a Socialist state takes a long time, and cannot simply be done overnight.

              I really think you need to revisit Marx. I suggest Critique of the Gotha Programme.

              • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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                8 months ago

                @Cowbee

                1. There was a Bureaucratic class in the Soviet Union that was above everyone else. Bureaucrats held significant power and privileges distinct from the working class, which led to a stratified society rather than the classless society envisioned by socialism.
                • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                  8 months ago

                  Bureaucrats existing, with additional powers entrusted via the rest of the workers, is not in conflict with the goals of Socialism. The government is not distinct from workers in Socialist society.

                  How do you believe Marx envisaged administration?

                  • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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                    8 months ago

                    @Cowbee
                    While it’s true that in a socialist society, bureaucrats could theoretically be accountable to the rest of the workers, the reality in many socialist states, including the Soviet Union, was that bureaucrats held significant power and privileges distinct from the rest of the working class which resulted in a hierarchical society rather than the classless society envisioned by socialism. Additionally,…

                • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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                  8 months ago

                  @Cowbee
                  2. The concept of the “withering away of the state” in Marxism refers to the gradual dissolution of state institutions as class distinctions disappear and society transitions to communism. It does not necessarily require global socialism to be achieved first, and the expansion of state power and repression under regimes like the Soviet Union contradicted this principle.

                  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                    8 months ago

                    It necessitates global Socialism to be achieved, as Capitalism stands against Socialism. The military cannot be done away with as long as there is Capitalism. Moving into Comminism without completing the negation of the negation, in dialectical-speak, is a mechanical transition that leaves the Socialist state open to invasion and plundering.

                  • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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                    8 months ago

                    @Cowbee
                    3. While it may be true that the Soviet government provided safety nets and controlled wages, the persistence of wage labor and currency contradicted the goal of achieving a moneyless and classless society under socialism. The gradual elimination of money and wage labor was indeed a complex process, but the Soviet Union did not achieve this goal.

            • C Ⓐ T@mastodon.social
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              8 months ago

              @Cowbee
              Achieving a global, worker-owned republic without class, money, or a state while capitalist states exist presents significant challenges. It would require widespread international cooperation, grassroots movements, and a shift in global consciousness toward socialist ideals. International solidarity, mass education and organization, and an immediate introduction of a communist economic model would make it much easier.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                8 months ago

                Yes, so I am not sure why you are criticizing AES countries for leading the effort but not achieving them yet. This is anti-dialectical reasoning, which goes directly against the philosophical aspects of Marxism.