My Questions

[Das_ALoveStory]

Hey comrades. I got a few questions that have just been wandering around my head for a bit. So here we go:
1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?
2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?
3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?
4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.
5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?
6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?
7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?

[Lucretia]

Hey comrades. I got a few questions that have just been wandering around my head for a bit. So here we go:
1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?
Yes, it was, beginning around 1927-1930.


2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?I don't know how to answer this, because the transition to socialism/communism is really about qualitative transformation. It's hard to visualize qualitative change spatially as a distance (far from or near to something). How far away is wood from becoming ash?


3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?It's totally necessary to do anything of world-historical importance. The fact that is "good" hinges on this.


4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.As Marx pointed out, it has inherent contradictions built into itself which causes it to be unstable. One of these is that it entails large-scale social production and co-operation, but in a way that disproportionately benefits a select few at the same time that it brings out the anti-cooperative aspects of people's natures. It is quite literally both the most social and anti-social form of production in history.


5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?I have no idea, and don't think it's a particularly valuable pastime to guess.


6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?I think that the planet has about 50 or so years of capitalism left. Earth cannot sustain more than that. What comes after that is entirely up to the people who are alive between now and then.


7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?Scarcity relative to what? Communism requires reasonable abundance, not a utopia of limitless and boundless supply.

[Zulu]

1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?

Yes, since 1965 (Kosygin's reform). Trots don't have a clue.




2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?

Very far away. But closer than anybody else.




3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?

Yes. It's the only way.




4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.

It wasn't flawed for a long time. In the contrary, it was quite progressive since the Renaissance. But since 1913 (US Federal Reserve) it's a Frankenstein monster.




5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?
Argentina.




6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?

Mostly socialist, but the standards of living very low due to the damage capitalism will have made.




7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?
The issue of scarcity actually disproves capitalism and requires communism to be solved.

[blake 3:17]

So many questions! Good! Quickish answers to a few!


1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?

Only some Trotskyists subscribe to the `state capitalist`theory -- Orthodox Trotskyism maintains that it was a degenerated workers state. Ernest Mandel, a leader of the Trotskyist Fourth International, on State Capitalism: http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1969/08/statecapitalism.htm


2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?

Very very far.


6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?

Most likely a terrible polluted disaster. Just makes the necessity of socialist activism more urgent.

[daft punk]

Hey comrades. I got a few questions that have just been wandering around my head for a bit. So here we go:
1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?

No it was a degenerated workers state.




2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?

There are 2 kinds of revolution, political and social. To achieve communism the USSR would have needed a political revolution.




3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?

I think it's probably necessary during the actual revolution, but it was maybe more necessary in Russia than it would be in an advanced country. However as soon as the revolution is secure you need to start involving the masses in democratic planning.



4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.

Yes, very flawed. Millions die of hunger when there is no shortage of food, and if there is a shortage in a particular place, because of drought or whatever, the prices goes up at the same time people have less money.



5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?

Dunno, could be anywhere. It aint gonna happen tomorrow. First you need mass workers parties, mass organisation. It could have happened in Egypt but they need a mass workers party with a socialist programme. It is happening in Venezuela but is is going off course.



6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?

Impossible to say, could be either, could be something different.



7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?
Please explain

[Caj]

Hey comrades. I got a few questions that have just been wandering around my head for a bit. So here we go:
1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?
2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?
3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?
4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.
5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?
6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?
7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?

1) Workers' control only existed for a few months after the Bolshevik revolution. It was quickly crushed and replaced with state capitalism in the spring of 1918. Some will say that this was necessary and was in accordance with the material conditions that existed in Russia at the time.

2) Very far. There was potential before the German revolution failed.

3) Not in the Leninist sense of the word. The word "vanguard" used to not have Leninist connotations and simply meant the class conscious section of the proletariat.

4) The capitalist system is flawed in that it suffers from internal contradictions.

5) I don't really know. Greece?

6) I don't know, but if capitalism does exist in 100 years, our species will probably be on the brink of extinction.

7) Current levels of food production could theoretically ensure that everbody receives about 2,700 calories daily. Under communism, this would be even higher as production and technology would be focused upon the needs of humanity instead of profit accumulation.

[Das_ALoveStory]

Thanks everybody! I got a few more though (sorry for my lack of knowledge).
1. What is the common opinion about the Soviet Union from people who had lived there?
2. Is China completely capitalist, or just state capitalist?
3. Is there any chance that the Chinese Communist Party will adopt Socialism?
4. How does scarcity disprove capitalism?
5. What was this "red terror" and was it really that bad?

[Omsk]

1. What is the common opinion about the Soviet Union from people who had lived there?

Better than today's Russia.


2. Is China completely capitalist, or just state capitalist?

I am not well-read on China,but i think it is not socialist.

3. Is there any chance that the Chinese Communist Party will adopt Socialism?
I doubt that.

5. What was this "red terror" and was it really that bad?
It was a policy during the Revolutionary period in Russia [leter USSR] which was a reaction to the White-Terror,the mass slaughter campaignes against socialists/communists/non-Tzarists.
The White-Terror was global,it happened in Germany,Spain,Russia,Bulgaria,etc etc.
　
[This is from an old post of mine]

In fact,we should remember the White Terror,that started about 1866.
We should remember the words of Lavr Kornilov (http://www.anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavr_Kornilov), who during the Ice Campaign in the south of Russia said: "I give you a very cruel order: do not take prisoners! I accept responsibility for this order before God and the Russian people." He promised, "the greater the terror, the greater our victories." He vowed that the goals of his forces must be fulfilled even if it was needed "to set fire to half the country and shed the blood of three-fourths of all Russians."

However,people usually forget things like this,especially westerners.



Quote:
In 1918 when the Whites controlled the Northern Territory with a population of about 400 thousand people, more than 38,000 were sent to prisons, of which about 8000 were executed while thousands more died from torture and disease

There are many casses.

An excerpt from the order of the government of Yenisei county in Irkutsk province, General. S. Rozanov said:



Quote:
“Those villages whose population meets troops with arms, burn down the villages and shoot the adult males without exception. If hostages are taken in cases of resistance to government troops, shoot the hostages without mercy



Quote:
In Ekaterinburg region alone, more than 25,000 people were shot or tortured to death by Kolchak's forces



Quote:
On May 9, 1918, after Ataman Dutov captured Alekasandrov-Gai village, nearly 2000 men of the Red Army were buried alive



Quote:
The Semenov regime in Transbaikalia was characterized by mass terror and executions. At the Adrianovki station in summer of 1919, more than 1600 people were shot

.


Quote:
In Chelyabinsk, Dutov’s men executed or deported Siberian prisons over 9000 people



Quote:
There was a continuation of terror in Samara and its environs in the summer of 1918. On July 6, 1918, after the dispersal of a meeting by railway workers, more than 20 executed. Of the 75 people in Samara union leaders, 54 were shot. Near Samara the suppression of peasant uprisings in 3 districts of Buguruslan county, more than 500 were executed. After the Czechs seized Simbirsk on 22 July, more than 400 were shot. In Kazan, seized by the Czechs in August, more than 1000 people were executed in less than a month. In one incident, out of 37 women arrested, they were shot and had their corpses thrown on the Volga bank. Overall, it is estimated that more than 5000 were murdered by the Czechs



Quote:
One prison in Orenburg contained over 6000 people, of whom 500 were killed just during interrogations



Quote:
Kolchak issued orders to raze to the ground whole villages. In a few Siberian provinces, 20,000 farms were destroyed and over 10,000 peasant houses burned down. Kolchak's regime destroyed bridges and blew up water stations



Quote:
a proclamation by one of Denikin's generals incited people to "arm themselves" in order to extirpate "the evil force which lives in the hearts of Jew-communists (http://www.anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Bolshevism)." In the small town of Fastov alone, Denikin's Volunteer Army murdered over 1500 Jews, mostly elderly, women, and children. An estimated 100-150 thousand Jews in Ukraine and southern Russia were killed in pogroms perpetrated by Denikin's forces- Hundreds of thousands of Jews were left homeless and tens of thousands became victims of serious illness

　

[Das_ALoveStory]

So, in your opinion, was the Red Terror just as bad or worse than the White Terror? Better?

[Zulu]

1. What is the common opinion about the Soviet Union from people who had lived there?

Generally favorable. Even as it was going down in shambles, there was a referendum if the people wanted it remain, and most people said they did (except in the Baltic states).





2. Is China completely capitalist, or just state capitalist?

China is state capitalist.





3. Is there any chance that the Chinese Communist Party will adopt Socialism?

There is always a chance. The official ideology is that they are going to (or, more exactly, that they are currently at a low stage of socialism, and are going to get to higher stages, once the productive forces develop sufficiently).





4. How does scarcity disprove capitalism?

Since the capitalist reject any limitation to their "right" to pursue profit, the only logical outcome of capitalism is total exhaustion of Earth's natural resources.




5. What was this "red terror" and was it really that bad?
There was not only the Red Terror but also the White Terror. They were both result of the situation of the Civil War (the Red Terror was formally announced as a policy after the assassination attempt on Lenin) and they were both pretty bad, in terms of human lives they claimed. And arguably the White terror was more horrible, since the Reds mostly just shot people, while the Whites (especially the Cossacks) tortured them quite a lot. One of the successes of the White terror was in Finland where Marshall Mannerheim drowned the Red Finns in blood in 1918.

[CommunityBeliever]

1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?Yes. The 1965 Soviet economic reform made the USSR state capitalist completing a processing degeneration that started much earlier. This economic reform was introduced by Alexei Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev's chief economic official and it introduced capitalist methods of organisation.


2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?It was pretty far from achieving communism. One thing comrade Mao Zedong critiqued Stalin for was underestimating the level of class struggle that can continue to occur after the socialist revolution and overestimating the external threat of capitalist invasion. This inaccurate perspective allowed a capitalist faction to exist in the USSR with less opposition then it should have had.

This capitalist faction was always working to subvert and overturn Soviet socialism, and eventually they succeeded, as I mentioned before the USSR had capitalist relations by 1965. You cannot come close to achieving communism with a lingering capitalist faction actively working to subvert, sabotage, and overturn socialist development.


3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?The vanguard party has played an important role in the revolutions that have occurred so far but I am open to alternative methods of organisation which may be introduced.


4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system?Capitalism played a progressive role in human history by eliminating the regressive forces of feudalism, however, a few decades ago it reached its peak efficiency and now it plays a regressive role. Now we need yet another economic system to replace it. We generally refer to its replacement as socialism.


5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?The most likely place for revolution to occur in the immediate future is South Asia. The naxalites are a powerful force in India and the UCPN (M) plays an important role in Nepal. You can hear much more about this at Revolution in South Asia (http://southasiarev.wordpress.com/).

http://southasiarev.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/nepal-may1-jed-brandt-south-asia-revolution-maoist.jpg


6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?In 100 years I think the entire Eastern world will become socialist, especially India and China the most populous countries in the world. The higher population in these Eastern countries is one characteristic which may make them more inclined to socialist revolution.

The next most likely area to become socialist are the countries in the Southern hemisphere, especially most of Africa and South America, so you can expect many of these countries to become socialist as well. The least likely place to become socialist are those countries in the North Atlantic, namely those countries which are a part of NATO imperialism. I wouldn't expect any NATO countries to become socialist in the next 100 years.


7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think? That is why we need a socialist stage to usher in a new post-scarcity age (http://www.adciv.org/Post-scarcity).


1. What is the common opinion about the Soviet Union from people who had lived there?Better then today's Russia. (exactly what Omsk said)


2. Is China completely capitalist, or just state capitalist?State capitalist. The capitalist faction won out in the PRC just as it did in the USSR despite the efforts of Mao.


3. Is there any chance that the Chinese Communist Party will adopt Socialism?I doubt it will happen from within the party itself, but I am confident that someday China will become an important socialist nation.


4. How does scarcity disprove capitalism?It doesn't. Post-scarcity is a much greater problem for capitalism then scarcity, because it is hard to profit off of something that is completely abundant. For example, digital information is no longer scarce thanks to the Internet and modern computers, and this has caused a big problem for capitalists, so they are actively trying to suppress the Internet under the banner of "anti-piracy" because apparently they think sharing information with your friends is akin to violently attacking ships. The capitalists are actively pushing anti-piracy policies such as SOPA on us all.

Capitalism will never produce the technologies of abundance, which is precisely why we need a socialist stage to develop new technologies such as nuclear fusion to improve our productive forces before we transition to communism.


5. What was this "red terror" and was it really that bad? Communists are openly opposed to all forms of terrorism. However, the bourgeoisie governments refer to all of their enemies as terrorists these days. For example, the corrupt government of India refers to the Naxalites as terrorists. Perhaps this is because the Naxals are terrorising the poorest of India with medical care they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford?

[daft punk]

Thanks everybody! I got a few more though (sorry for my lack of knowledge).
1. What is the common opinion about the Soviet Union from people who had lived there?

Mixed


2. Is China completely capitalist, or just state capitalist?

deformed workers state mixed with capitalism and state capitalism,



3. Is there any chance that the Chinese Communist Party will adopt Socialism?

No


4. How does scarcity disprove capitalism?

Dunno exactly what that means



5. What was this "red terror" and was it really that bad?
Just a name for defending the revolution when the White generals started the civil war.

[MajorGeneralPineapple]

Hey comrades. I got a few questions that have just been wandering around my head for a bit. So here we go:
1. Was the U.S.S.R. state capitalist, as I often here it was by many Trots and such?I would say yes, predominantly.


2. How far away was the U.S.S.R. from achieving communism?I think, like any society, it was as close as a revolution away.



3. In your opinion, is the vanguard party a good idea?I think it's a practical necessity


4. Is capitalism truly a flawed economic system? I hear that it's so ridiculous that some companies resort to hiring astrologists to help them decide where to invest.Capitalism is inherently unstable and doomed to destruction. But that capitalism is inevitable does not mean the communism is as well... We have to work toward that, and be ready when the end of this era comes.


5. If there was a Socialist revolution to occur tomorrow somewhere in the world, where do you think would be the most likely place it would happen?I think the future of the world is in South America.


6. Where do you see communism in the next 100 years? Do you think that in 100 years time most of the world will still be capitalist? Mostly capitalist? Socialist?I am optimistic that we will not blow one another up--- we would have done it already. And despite all the reforms, even in the U.S., the oppression of the proletariat has not been completely subsumed by capitalist ideology. Change will come.


7. I've heard capitalists bring up the issue of scarcity, claiming it disproves communism. What do you think?Interesting claim. Nonsensical, though. I've heard it before. Capitalists somehow think that if the ruling class were deprived of their excesses, somehow the world would be sucked up dry by all the rest of us. However, I don't think the true bloodsuckers are on the left.