FAQs of Communism

[kasama]

I'm very excited that the RW is publishing the works of a project called "Setting the Record" Straight.

Apparently this crew is writing a broadsheet called:

"Everything You've Been Told About Communism Is Wrong: Frequently Asked Questions About Socialism, Communism, and the Cultural Revolution"[/i]

Which will be a very very good thing to see.

For now they are publishing short pieces from that work.

Here is their excerpt that deals with the Cultural REvolution:

rwor.org/a/1251/communism_socialism_mao_china_facts.htm

[RedZeppelin]

Sounds pretty interseting.

What exactly is the connection of this work to the RCP, because at the very end of the text, you guys try to sell Avakian. What's that all about?

I'd like to hear from someone in opposition to all this rhetoric.

Not that I'm rejecting it, I just want some input, eh, comrades?

[flyby]

i read that last post, i looked over the words.
and i have no idea what it means.

what exactly are you saying/asking/thinking?

[RedZeppelin]

Oh, I'm just saying that it's obviously RCP-biased and I want some input from non-RCPists.

[naxalite]

wassup, i haven't been on here in a while (shits been busy like always ), but im glad someone opened this thread, and i find this project very exciting as well. It's realy amazing just how facile people's denunciations of the history of the dictatorship of the proletariat are. taking out revolutionary communism you get a lot of bullshit (Mao butchered 10s of millions, Mao killed all the sparrows, they made people melt their spoons to make sparrows, not to mention what people say about my uncle Joe ). One thing to throw open, is that this is clearly not like a two page faq like you i've seen on some other websites and shit, it's more like, well, a project to actually promote and defend what the proletariat has accomplished in power. So one thing that strikes me is that to take on a project like this, you do have to get into the particularity of contradiction about a lot of stuff. The other thing very challenging is this concept that Chairman Avakian puts forward in his new talk: Dictatorship, Democracy and the Socialist transition to Communism (http://www.rwor.org/chair_e.htm#democracyspeech) that we (i cant find the exact quote) have to be bold in two sences, one- firmly upholding the great achievments of the proletariat in power, and two in criticising and seeking to learn as much as possible from the errors and shortcomings of those experiances. So... i guess thats it, i thought i'd throw in my two cent on this project.

-Naxalite

[Andrei_X]

I hope to see some extensive work done on Stalin through this project, especially with his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, the Winter War, and the annexation of the Baltic States (three things that many leftists criticize Stalin and the CPSU under his leadership for).

[kasama]

there is a major article on the Spanish Civil War -- that is based on the theoretical/historical work the main man did in "Conquer the World"

it is in the famous Revolution magazine issue that has (on the cover) two hands wringing the dirt out of the red flag.

It is not online. It would be a great thing if someone posted it (spent an evening typing it and proofreading it, and just fucking posted the article).

[Burningman]

This is exciting, long over do and still right on time. We need materials and analysis about not just the accomplishments of 20th Century socialism, but the real problems any attempt to change the world will inevitably face.

And that article from Revolution Magazine on the Spanish Civil War was great.

It was one of the few articles I recall (it's been many years) that dealt with the "heart" of socialism. In dealing with the rise of revisionism in the international communist movement, Spain is something of a dividing line. That was where the Spanish CP decided to make common cause with the bourgeoisie against a workers uprising. The cover graphic was correct.

Someone really should post that. It's the only revolutionary communist writing on Spain I'm aware of.

[iskra]

Here is an AWTW article with some information on the Spanish Civil War:

"The Spanish Civil War and The War Today"
www.awtw.org/back_issues/the_Spanish_Civil_War_and_the_War_Today.htm

It pales in comparison to the Revolution article which I also would love to see posted.

[Deleted]

To Remember Spain: The Anarchist and Syndicalist Revolution of 1936

[RandomCommunist]

I hope to see some extensive work done on Stalin through this project, especially with his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, the Winter War, and the annexation of the Baltic States (three things that many leftists criticize Stalin and the CPSU under his leadership for).

Comrade, are you saying Stalin played a progressive role in Spain?

It's the only revolutionary communist writing on Spain I'm aware of.

Comrade Burningman, there are many communist texts on the Spanish Civil War. I can post a few if you like. But by revolutionary communist writings are you refering to the RCP or maoism in any way?

Most of my literature I would give you links to do heavily criticise Stalin. In fact I think SonOfRage and I would draw many of the same conclusions though we may differ alittle on our opinions of the CNT and POUM.

[1949]

I posted the AWTW article on the Spanish Civil War at E-G, as it is no longer online owing to the fact that the AWTW website is down.

www.ernesto-guevara.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2528

Che y Marijuana had a most interesting reaction:

The article's alright, but it denies historical facts. It attemptes to lessen the importance of the Anarchist movement in Spain, as well as the Trotskyist POUM. It also condemns them for being "utopian", then it goes on to take the very same positions they took!

The Anarchist and Trotskyist complaints against the Communist party in Spain are taken almost exactly word for word.

1. The return of a regular army using conventional warfare.
2. The loss of soldiers' right to recall their officers.
3. The Communist party's confused stance with the bourgeoisie.
4. The Communist party's betrayal in joining with the bourgeoisie to attack collectivized cities.
5. The framing of the war as an either/or situation between revolution and war, rather than a revolutionary war.

It is these reasons that kept the POUM and the Anarchists from being able to join with the Republicans early on. The Anarchists did join eventually, but, as this article does, took the position that the revolution and the war are inseperable. They, unfortunately, eventually softened that position and joined a provisional government with the Communist party and the bourgeoisie. They began shutting down some collectives, on the pressing of the Communist party and the bourgeoisie, in the name of a "popular front".

We all know where that ended.

He says a little later on:

Yeah, the main force were the Anarcho-Syndicalists and their union, the CNT-FAI.

You wouldn't know that from reading the article lol.gif

Someone should go refute him.

[RedWinter]

Anarchists and POUM supporters should remember that if it wasn't for Stalin, their people in Spain 1936-1939 would have had NO GUNS AT ALL, since the USSR was the only country that supplied the antifascist forces with guns.