Comment on Imperialism, authoritarianism and oppression is bad all around m'kay
Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 week agoIt’s not at all a trick question, it’s poking a giant hole in the notion that the Political Compass has any credibility. The answer is that it isn’t “left” or “right,” but a move towards Marxian economics. It can be considered leftist, yes, but in labeling it left or right in a specific context you ignore that there is a leftist reason to adopt market mechanics, something designated as right wing.
As for your sidenote, I don’t see why Marxism is “soft totalitarianism,” nor do I know what that means or why you argue “against transitional phases that rely on government action.” This is word salad to me and I’d like to know what you’re referring to here.
GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I never said Marxism is soft totalitarianism. I said state socialism is soft totalitarianism - a situation where all requirements for a dictatorship have been met; those are two different things. The reason is because if a situation is created where all property, institutions and means of production are government owned there is a non-zero chance of that government going rogue e.g Stalin.
I never explicitly said it was worse. I’m only saying that it could be a possible reason why your results weren’t congruent.
Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
Marxism is “state socialism,” so I am not sure what you are trying to say here. Marxism wants full government ownership of production and central planning. Additionally, as we already discussed, Stalin didn’t “go rogue,” he was elected and retirement was rejected. He was kept because he cracked down on opposition and opportunists within the party, and the central committee deemed this necessary. I provided the transcripts of his resignation speeches in my other comment that elaborate more on this. There was also a thread on Stalin over on Lemmy.ml with nuanced answers on him I recommend checking out.
Stalin was no saint, make no mistake, but he wasn’t a “rogue agent” either. He was deeply flawed, no doubt, but he was selected for by the party itself.
As for the left values test not aligning with the political compass, I recommend you reinvestigate that. Clearly it is highly flawed.
GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 1 week ago
What do you define as state socialism? What sort of Marxism do you practice?
The definitions I’m used to are state socialism - A type of socialism wherein some or many of the means of production are controlled by the state, the state in turn being operated by (or on behalf of) the workers.
Marxism - Based on the ideas of Karl Marx, envisions a classless, stateless society where the means of production are collectively owned and controlled by the people.
Also, why do you keep defending Stalin? I don’t think Marx would have condoned any of Stalin’s actions. I listed a bunch of atrocities committed by Stalin exercising his totalitarian whims. I guess if the nature of Marxism is to be genocidal, then we can say he didn’t go rogue. But if I’m not mistaken, that isn’t the case. By all standards, he went rogue.
Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
You are confusing several aspects of Marxism, particularly with respect to the State. The State, for Marx, is an element of class oppression. In a classless society, the “State” doesn’t exist, when property is fully collectivized there cease to be classes. What remains is a “state” in the modern linguistic sense, but for Marxists is just “government” or “the administration of things,” as Engels puts it. From Socialism: Utopian and Scientific:
Marxism is not Anarchistic, it advocates for a world Socialist republic of full Central Planning and Worker Ownership, complete with hierarchy for planning and whatnot. The “state” isn’t a separate thing from the workers, but the workers themselves. The concept of a State is important for the lower stage, when Private Property still exists. From Principles of Communism:
As per Stalin, I don’t “defend” him, and don’t appreciate your assertions that I do. I again want you to read “Tankies” by Roderic Day. Moreover, your confused understanding of Marx can be alleviated by reading my reading list.