Cult of Personality

[Invincible Summer]

So, as we all know, there have been prominent cults of personality in the history of the communist movement.

- What are the contexts in which these cults of personality developed?
- Did the leaders themselves (esp Stalin, Mao... Avakian? :lol:) encourage these things, or was it more started and perpetuated by party members?
- How would these things be avoided?
- How can we defend against people who accuse communism as inevitably ending up as a huge cult of personality for some charismatic leader, with people unwaveringly following said leader?

[Tablo]

- What are the contexts in which these cults of personality developed?
I think they may have developed largely out of appreciation for the individuals, but it may be people focusing so much on the individual in order to counter the inevitable personal attacks the right makes that they grow attached and obsessed.


- Did the leaders themselves (esp Stalin, Mao... Avakian? http://www.revleft.com/vb/../revleft/smilies2/laugh.gif) encourage these things, or was it more started and perpetuated by party members?
I would say it is a combination of both. I think the party likes to raise figures to a godly status so that they have common ground with the common people of appreciating the figure.


- How would these things be avoided?
I don't think this is possible. The world is filled with so much idol worship that I don't think it would be possible to cleanse our movement of such things.


- How can we defend against people who accuse communism as inevitably ending up as a huge cult of personality for some charismatic leader, with people unwaveringly following said leader?
Teach them the basics I suppose. Communist ideologies don't promote idol worship so an understanding of them should make them understand every movement has a couple crazies.

[Die Neue Zeit]

I won't address the personality cults of living leaders, but I will address the personality cults of dead ones.

Those who created the Lenin cult had two different audiences in mind: workers and peasants.

For the peasants, who were steeped in Orthodoxy, secular sainthood was a means for the party to communicate its message to them.

For the workers, however, the party was inspired by the posthumous cult of Ferdinand Lassalle by what would become today's SPD.