DotP, Lower Communism, and Socialism

[Mettalian]

Can someone help me grasp the concepts of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the lower stage of communism, and the Leninist definition of socialism? I've heard some use them almost interchangably and others talk about distinct differences, but I've been having a bit of trouble on my own. I understand the concepts somewhat shakily (I've really only had the time to read the Manifesto with school and work, and you have to admit, Marx's writing can make you feel a bit lost) but I feel my grasp could be improved. Thanks in advance

[Die Neue Zeit]

I think there's enough theory and history over the past century to say all "socialism" should be avoided when describing the lower phase of the communist mode of production. The "Leninist" definition of socialism is actually that of the Revolutionary Social Democracy in the original Socialist International ("Second International"), a monetary economy under public ownership.

[Rooster]

Well, Marx never really went into them in great detail. You can work out what he's getting at though, and what we're dealing with primarily are classes and class society. They have been used interchangeably but I think that's wrong. The DotP is still a class based society (hence having the world "proletariat" in it). This means that it can't be socialist because socialism is the overcoming of class society. The words socialism and communism were used interchangeably for a long time before Lenin. Marx used them interchangeably for instance.

The lower phase of communism is mentioned in the critique of the Gotha Progam by Marx. He essentially says that the productive forces won't be great enough, well they might not be great enough, to provide genuine free access communism. He doesn't say anywhere about it being class based or having a state.

[Aurora]

Socialism and communism usually refer to the same thing, but Lenin tended to use socialism to refer to the lower phase and communism for the higher phase.
"What is usually called socialism was termed by Marx the “first”, or lower, phase of communist society .... the word “communism” is also applicable here, providing we do not forget that this is not complete communism."- Lenin

The Dictatorship of the Proletariat is exactly what it says, the rule of the workers, in capitalist society we have the bourgeois ruling through their state(government, military, police, courts etc), our aim is the creation of a workers state to expropriate the bourgeois, concentrate the means of production in the hands of the state, massively develop production and other measures necessary to begin the transformation of society towards communism.

When the workers have abolished the bourgeois internationally they will have abolished themselves as workers so society will be classless, without a class to hold down, the state will wither away and this will be socialism.
But this socialism isn't fully developed yet, this is a socialism which has just developed out of capitalism and is economically and culturally insufficient to provide for all according to need. So it's necessary to resort to the way capitalists distribute products, that is according to work done, so for a certain amount of work one will receive a certificate to obtain a certain amount of produce, minus necessary deductions for expanding production providing for those who can't work etc
It's only when society has developed enough to provide for all and with this a development of the individual that communism has really matured to it's higher phase.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

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