Fundamentals Of Marxism-Leninism...

[Lodestar]

So I'm looking for a book that essentially encompasses the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism...so naturally I came across "Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism" by Otto Wilhelm Kuusinen and Clemens Palme Dutt.
http://leninist.biz/en/1963/FML734/index.html

So far, it's a pretty good read, and it actually goes into a satisfying depth, in contrast to a lot of the other works I've read regarding theory. It's also translated from Russian into language that isn't too verbose, which is a plus.

The only problem I have is that it's rather dated...From 1963, to be exact. I'm wondering if anyone knows of some more contemporary works of this nature on Marxism-Leninism? As a Marxist-Leninist myself, I feel kind of embarrassed asking this..

[A.R.Amistad]

Well, Im a Trot so I probably wouldn't be of too much help, but I'll do my best. Ive read the Fundamentals and even though I don't agree with all of it, I found it a very enlightening read, and it answered some simple yet pressing questions for me. Recently, I've been doing some reading of a book called the "Lenin Reader." Its a really good book. Its not biased at all, as far as I can tell in the introduction, and its a collection of all his actual works. But the good thing is, they picked only the works of his that are universal and can be applied timelessly, so its easier to relate to and you get a firm grip on what the basics of Leninism are.

[Turinbaar]

Leninism's distinguishing features are a rejection of the democratic principle, and the popular worker's revolution, in favor of a revolution by vanguard elite, who would establish a "dictatorship of the proletariat." The interpretation of that phrase first employed by marx in the manifesto, was the splitting factor between democratic socialists and Leninists. The former did not believe that "dictatorship" really meant dictatorship, and the latter did not believe that "proletariat" really meant the real working proletarian population, but rather the vanguard elite would represent them via the party, and administer state affairs officially in their name, but without their real consent. The important factor in Lenin's ideology is the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche, on his view of morality, and human equality. According to Arthur Bullard, a journalist who lived with lenin while he was in exile in london, he was more likely to quote "Beyond Good and Evil" than he was any of marx's work.

[Kléber]

Leninism's distinguishing features are"Marxism-Leninism" is a phrase meant to trick you, it actually means "Stalinism." The principles of Marx and Lenin were in fact revised by Stalin: his clique abandoned international revolution, strangled the independence of the proletariat, and abolished democratic centralism. The written works of Marx, Engels and Lenin were even censored since parts of what they wrote contradicted with the new "Marxism-Leninism." Soviet Marxists who protested against these distortions were murdered by the state. Therefore, "Marxism-Leninism" is Stalinist revisionism. If you want Marx and Lenin's theories, most works are at www.marxists.org (http://www.marxists.org). Stalin's works are also available. Hopefully you will read Marx and Lenin for yourself before you accept Stalin's revisions as fact. It would also be nice if more people in general could read both Trotsky and Stalin instead of reading one and wishing they could go back in time and kill the other.

[Comrade_Stalin]

"Marxism-Leninism" is a phrase meant to trick you, it actually means "Stalinism." The principles of Marx and Lenin were in fact revised by Stalin: his clique abandoned international revolution, strangled the independence of the proletariat, and abolished democratic centralism. The written works of Marx, Engels and Lenin were even censored since parts of what they wrote contradicted with the new "Marxism-Leninism." Soviet Marxists who protested against these distortions were murdered by the state. Therefore, "Marxism-Leninism" is Stalinist revisionism. If you want Marx and Lenin's theories, most works are at www.marxists.org (http://www.marxists.org). Stalin's works are also available. Hopefully you will read Marx and Lenin for yourself before you accept Stalin's revisions as fact. It would also be nice if more people in general could read both Trotsky and Stalin instead of reading one and wishing they could go back in time and kill the other.

Communism is scientific theories, not religious dogmas, and Stalin has the right to question any of their works, just like we can question any of his. That is the differnce between scientific theories and religious dogmas.

[Kléber]

Stalin had every right to publish his own theories. His clique did not, however, have the authority to use their political power to censor the works of Marx and Lenin to make it look like there was no disagreement between Stalin and them, and then claim that he was the only true continuation of "Marxism-Leninism." It was also wrong to execute or assassinate other people for publishing their own theories. I can think of priests throughout history who have done things very similar to that, but I can't think of any such scientists.

[Comrade_Stalin]

Stalin had every right to publish his own theories. His clique did not, however, have the authority to use their political power to censor the works of Marx and Lenin to make it look like there was no disagreement between Stalin and them, and then claim that he was the only true continuation of "Marxism-Leninism." It was also wrong to execute or assassinate other people for publishing their own theories. I can think of priests throughout history who have done things very similar to that, but I can't think of any such scientists.

We as communist ask for revolution, which is an armed, take over. Capitalists are people with their own theories on how the world should run. Unless you know of bloodless revolution, then we communist are scientists that kill other people for having their own theories. Now we can debate all day, about where those theories pro-worker or not, but that not the question that Lodstar asked. He is asking is there any new works or up to date in Marxism-Leninism. The answer is yes, there is some up to date work with the Marxism-Leninism review, but there is no real new work in the field.


Marxism-Leninism review
http://www.iccr.gr/site/ (http://www.iccr.gr/site/)

[Kléber]

Capitalists are people with their own theories on how the world should runI wasn't talking about killing capitalists, I was talking about killing other communists.


we communist are scientists that kill other people for having their own theoriesWhen did Marx and Lenin say that communism is such a shitty philosophy that we have to kill our enemies to shut them up? If this was a real life conversation and you or me pulled out a gun and killed the other right now, that would be a cop-out, not a victory. When did Marx or Lenin end arguments by killing rival socialist thinkers? They won disputes with other socialists by writing books. The idea that murdering your opponents represents a theoretical victory since, they can't talk or write now that they're dead, is a disgusting Stalinist tradition with no place in the workers' movement.


He is asking is there any new works or up to date in Marxism-LeninismAnd I am clarifying for him the confusion, which some people seem intent on perpetuating, between Stalinism on the one hand, and Marxism and Leninism on the other.


Now we can debate all day, about where those theories pro-worker or notThe debate was not is Marxism, Leninism or Stalinism pro-worker or not. It was whether Stalinism is the same thing as Marxism and Leninism. You agree that they are not the same things, so "Marxist-Leninists" should stop calling themselves Marxist-Leninist and be more honest and call their philosophy Stalinism. Like Pablo Neruda said, "Stalinists ... bear this title with pride."

Trotsky was a Marxist and a Leninist so I would recommend www.wsws.org (http://www.wsws.org) and www.marxists.org (http://www.marxists.org)

[heiss93]

Can Capitalism Last? is meant as a modern update to FML, covering all the same topics

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8591/

PA: What inspired your new book, Can Capitalism Last?

DANIEL RUBIN: For years I have been leading study groups and teaching classes on Marxism, and the books that were used for that purpose became very, very dated, and they were not based on the US experience. For instance there was Emile Burns’ (a British Marxist) “What is Marxism?” and its revision. The Soviets put out a book of 600 pages in 1960 that covered all areas of Marxism. Most of their books after that were either on dialectical materialism, historical materialism, or political economy. We haven’t had, to my knowledge, a book of this kind written by a US Marxist in recent years. You would have to go back to the 1920s, maybe the early 30s.

I wanted to have something that would be useful in answering the question, “What is Marxism?,” a book that would be useful for classes, study groups and schools, and also for those who wanted to answer that question by reading on their own, and hopefully to some extent reaching those who might just be curious about Marxism. So this is the effort that I made, with quite a few revisions from what had been used before in sequence and in subject matter, along with some updating of a number of theoretical questions that, with the demise of Stalin and the Soviet Union, needed updating.

[Communist]

Indeed this thread will not be derailed. Recommend contemporary works to our new member, stay on topic please.

[Intelligitimate]

"The first edition of the Soviet-published Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism is certainly the best single-volume comprehensive textbook for the study of the science of revolution. The CP of the Philippines listed it among the major texts studied in the process of re-establishing their party.

Make sure you read the 1st edition (1961). The second edition from 1963 incorporates a lot of the revisionism that was institutionalized in the 22nd Congress of the CPSU. Even the first edition has problems, but overall it is very good.

Study it along with the 1939 edition of the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) - Short Course and Ho Kan-Chih's A History of the Modern Chinese Revolution"

[commyrebel]

if you like Lenin-Marxist works and theory then start to read lenin and Marx's works. For other stuff i don"t know i am not big on reading other works on this type of theory besides Lenin's and Marx's work but that is because it is sometime not as true and falls away from the actual theory

[Uncle Rob]

You might find this website interesting. It links you to all the fundamental works of Marxist-Leninism.


I can't link stuff, so go to Google, type "the marxist leninist" click the first link, and scroll down a little bit, on the right side of the page you should see a link that says "Marxist Leninist Study Guide" and from there it'll have all the links you'd ever need.

[Communist]

You might find this website interesting. It links you to all the fundamental works of Marxist-Leninism.
I can't link stuff, so go to Google, type "the marxist leninist" click the first link, and scroll down a little bit, on the right side of the page you should see a link that says "Marxist Leninist Study Guide" and from there it'll have all the links you'd ever need.

The link is here (http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/study-guide/).

[Uppercut]

Here are some good reads:

Marxism after Marx
The Marx-Engels Reader
The Soviet State
Journey beyond the Iron Curtain

The Last one is somewhat biased. It's about a student that travels through Poland, the USSR, and Czechslovakia (sp?). It's an interesting read, nontheless.

[heiss93]

If your interested in more recent editions of the same topics covered in FML, (diamat,histomat, poliecon, scicom, etc) you might want to look through some of the other works on leninist.biz that go as far as the late 80s. They are less dated although they still reference the glorious USSR lasting forever.

Wengewang.org ebooks have some textbooks that cover the same issues from a Maoist POV.

The CPUSA, PSL, and WWP all have a few online study guides covering most of the basics.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Lodestar:


So I'm looking for a book that essentially encompasses the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism...so naturally I came across "Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism" by Otto Wilhelm Kuusinen and Clemens Palme Dutt.
http://leninist.biz/en/1963/FML734/index.html

So far, it's a pretty good read, and it actually goes into a satisfying depth, in contrast to a lot of the other works I've read regarding theory. It's also translated from Russian into language that isn't too verbose, which is a plus

Unfortunately, this book makes all the usual mistakes, which have repeatedly been exposed at RevLeft, and in detail at my site:

http://anti-dialectics.co.uk/RevLeft.htm

http://anti-dialectics.co.uk/page%2007.htm

[LeninistKing]

You are right. and even Marx said that he was not a Marxist. I think that being fundamentalist is anti-scientific. There are many people who take leftist literature like a religion and dogma, and not like a guide toward socialism.

.



Communism is scientific theories, not religious dogmas, and Stalin has the right to question any of their works, just like we can question any of his. That is the differnce between scientific theories and religious dogmas.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

LeninistKing:


Communism is scientific theories, not religious dogmas, and Stalin has the right to question any of their works, just like we can question any of his. That is the differnce between scientific theories and religious dogmas.

And yet, just like the theologians, Stalin (and every other dialectician) is quite happy to impose dialectics dogmatically onto nature and society. Proof here:

http://anti-dialectics.co.uk/page%2002.htm

So, it's not a science, and not even nearly a science. It's far too confused to be classified as anything other than a metaphysical dogma.

[Communist]

Verbal warnings will be issued to anyone who doesn't talk about contemporary works. I've said it once and this is the last time, do not derail this thread it is NOT about Stalin.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

And yet, Kuusinen's book, in the OP, is 50 years old!

[Communist]

Thats not the focus of the thread, not what the OP was asking about.
You know what I mean and what I was getting at.
Certain members want to turn everything into that crapfest, but not here.