Russia's Commie party

[Red Noob]

I don't really know much about Russia's modern Commie party. I know it exists, and I know it's the second most popular party in Russia, but I'm curious as to what their policies and ideas are. I would imagine they're openly wanting state capitalism or wanting to resurrect the Soviet empire, or they're a bunch of social democrats on steroids. I'm curious though, just heard that Putin's party is barley holding the majority anymore and thought it would be nice to know.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

It is, I think, quite unclear what their actual politics are, ideologically, because it is such a disjointed mess with untold different views combined. I imagine there are some genuine communists at lower levels of the hierarchy, but the top is social-democratic (at best) sprinkled with simple nostalgia for the past, and essentially forms a part of the ruling political elite by tacitly supporting the United Russia policies in a majority of cases, as well as various reactionary and otherwise reprehensible populist politics, including being very keen on nationalist fetishism.

[Искра]

United Russia’s politics is something which is quite “normal” in politics of ex-state capitalist regimes, especially those were there was conflict between fascists/ultra-right and Stalinists. Point is to unite all of them and their offspring on national basis. In Croatia you have HDZ which is similar to United Russia.

Regarding Communist Party I guess that they are similar to all similar organisations from ex-state capitalist regimes... Their “ideology” is nostalgia mixed with nationalism...

[mrmikhail]

I don't really know much about Russia's modern Commie party. I know it exists, and I know it's the second most popular party in Russia, but I'm curious as to what their policies and ideas are. I would imagine they're openly wanting state capitalism or wanting to resurrect the Soviet empire, or they're a bunch of social democrats on steroids. I'm curious though, just heard that Putin's party is barley holding the majority anymore and thought it would be nice to know.

The CPRF is a "national" communist party, that is it is communist (in the Soviet-Stalin ideal), but has a major focus on Russian nationalism. Politically they are Stalinists, as in they seriously praise Stalin and IIRC they are or were trying to have Stalin declared a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. They wish to restore Soviet style communism to Russia and so on, just like all of the parties currently in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union do.

[ColonelCossack]

trying to have Stalin declared a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.

That really made me laugh. :laugh:

[Rusty Shackleford]

The CPRF is a "national" communist party, that is it is communist (in the Soviet-Stalin ideal), but has a major focus on Russian nationalism. Politically they are Stalinists, as in they seriously praise Stalin and IIRC they are or were trying to have Stalin declared a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. They wish to restore Soviet style communism to Russia and so on, just like all of the parties currently in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union do.
How, in any way, was that 'stalin's ideal' communist party?
furthermore, how are they even close to stalinism.


CPRF seems like a bunch of jingo social-democratic nostalgists.

[mrmikhail]

How, in any way, was that 'stalin's ideal' communist party?
furthermore, how are they even close to stalinism.


CPRF seems like a bunch of jingo social-democratic nostalgists.

I, as a Trotskyist, consider Stalin's rule a DWS. But as I stated communism in the view of a Stalinist.

the CPRF is very Stalinist, they celebrate his birthday every year, sent an open letter to Medvedev calling for re-Stalinisation, denounce all revisionism of Stalin, and as I stated praise his rule and desire to return to it with them in command.

[mrmikhail]

That really made me laugh. :laugh:

Yeah no kidding, was really a crowning moment for the CPRF :laugh:

[Commissar Rykov]

I have found that the majority of the Russian "Left" are typically just nationalists with a strong case of nostalgia. The Russian "Left" has gone through some weird phases and ideologies and largely at this point support the Kremlin and United Russia. There are groups that seem kind of Leftist but they typically walk arm in arm with NazBols which just leaves me more confused as to their intentions. I think the Russian "Left" has an extremely bad case of Multiple Personality Disorder.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Russia is a fucked up place.

[eric922]

Russia is a fucked up place.
Capitalism tends to do that, especially the shock doctrine type Russia got stuck with after the fall of the USSR.

[Rafiq]

The CPRF are a petite bourgeois populists, with a nostalgia for 'good old times' (i.e. Stalin's industrialization of Russia, becoming a super power).

The basis for their 'ideology' is a complete historical position, NOT a modern application of 'Marxism-Leninism'

[sanpal]

Russia is a fucked up place.

In some sense - yes. While the west working class was fighting for theirs rights during 20-th century and getting of theirs political skills increased, the russian working class in the f.USSR was deprived of the right to struggle for theirs rights as it was considered (by soviet propaganda) that the CPSU does the work itself for the working people. I think the capitalist cold shower will help out the russian working class from political sleepiness but it will be IMO not tomorrow.

[Renegade Saint]

How, in any way, was that 'stalin's ideal' communist party?
furthermore, how are they even close to stalinism.

CPSU official doctrine was very heavy on the nationalism during late Stalinism (post purges-1953).

[CommieTroll]

Aren't they homophobic? I think I read somewhere that they prevent LGBT members from joining their rallies? Please correct me if I'm wrong

[Arlekino]

Russian communist calling to step out Zuganov, they acused of doing nothing for communist party as well there are blames on him as drunkenness, loyal to capitalism.
http://krasnoe.tv/node/12448
The link is in Russian and is not English subtitles.

[Nox]

They are mainstream Nazbols/Soviet Nostalgics

[Ocean Seal]

Aren't they homophobic? I think I read somewhere that they prevent LGBT members from joining their rallies? Please correct me if I'm wrong

Yes they are homophobic populist nationalists.

[FSL]

They are libertarians, also very active in the animal liberation movement (about as good as most of the comments, no?).




More seriously now, the CPRF is "pro-Stalin" because its supporters (and much of Russia) are pro-Stalin. It's not "pro-Stalin" in the political sense, ie it's not in favour of the policies the communist party supported at that time.
Member-wise, organization-wise it is made up by "honest communists" of the late Soviet Union era, people who didn't want the country, the economy and their party to dissolve and who didn't just try to find a way to get rich through connections or what not in capitalist Russia.

But "honest" doesn't equal "good". They do still support the 20th congress resolutions for example and have apologised for the "mistakes" of the previous period. The party thinks that the USSR was mostly healthy until Gorbachev came who acted as an agent or a traitor or just as a very stupid man and ruined everything.
That is a good example of not applying marxism to explain something. But still this is the dominant opinion, not everyone's, there are theoretically sound communists to be found there as well.


In more practical terms, their main flaw now is in their programme. They suggest a string of nationalizations, (of natural resources and of the basic industries that were privatized in the 90s) along with free education and healthcare and increased social spending.
Of course I'm sure that people who are very impressed when Chavez or Morales fail to even promise as much because they're-latin-american-and-that's-always-a-plus or something, will be pretty quick to discard any communist who does so as a worthless social democrat.

They aren't social democrats. But the programme they are putting forward to the people *now* is social-democratic, even if it's a radical one. They don't propagate for a revolution, for a change in the rulling class, they seem to think that they can use the present state mechanism to serve the workers interests etc
Of course it's not a bad thing they gain votes. Especially since they were the only not bourgeois party allowed to contest the elections. I'm guessing that in the eyes of many russians who are even less informed on marxism than CPRF is, they are the modern version of the CPSU and voting for them is like saying you want that back, or that at least you'd prefer it to what you have. On the other hand there are many apathetic russians who would want socialism back (in polls there always seems to be a majority that thinks its living standards have declined due to the market economy, see here for example: http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/12/05/confidence-in-democracy-and-capitalism-wanes-in-former-soviet-union/?src=prc-headline) but who don't vote for them because they make little effort to organize people in workplaces and build a genuine movement that could challenge the regime. They seem to only be focused on protests and electoral battles, that some might see as a dead end in a managed democracy like Russia's.



People saying it's nationalist must have some weird understanding of nationalism or some weird understanding of the party. People saying the Soviet Union was nationalist, have a weird understanding of many things. This seems to be people having a "western" approach to "russians" and their "evil schemes". In Cuba people waved their flag in parades, will someone call Che a cuban nationalist? Soviet Union was multinational, it had many races and religions. Its flag was the red flag. If there is a "soviet nationalism" then it's a nationalism of that nation, a nation that has these traits. It's not bourgeois nationalism, nor is it reactionary.

From the manifesto:

The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.
In the Soviet Union, the proletariat was the nation. Bourgeois nationalism is pursuing your exploiters' interest because he was born in the same country as you.


Someone said they wanted to make Stalin a saint. No, that was some local "communist" group in St petersburg I think, whose job seems to be to troll everyone. They have anti-Avatar and anti-James Bond protests under their belt too, I think.



All in all, they aren't the greatest class traitors out there as some people suggest, they are however a communist party whose theory is stuck in the late 70s (bad thing) and whose current programme can cause delusions that it is possible to leave the current state intact and solve the people's problems at the same time (worse thing).
And it's not just them who aren't quite in the right place. They're certainly in much better position than the french or the spanish CP, they do reflect problems very common in the communist movement in general.