Who's your main influence?

[Blanquist]

Your one main political mentor?

Mine's Trotsky, I take his word as the gospel.

[Brosip Tito]

Your one main political mentor?

Mine's Trotsky, I take his word as the gospel.
Making an infallible god out of someone, and taking everything they say as "gospel" without critical thinking and analysis is fucking stupid. Not only stupid, but quite against Marxist thought.

Rosa Luxemburg would be my "main political mentor". I certainly don't take her words as gospel, but she was an amazing women and revolutionary, with whom, I find I am in agreement with on a lot.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Stalin.
Although I've been reading Hoxha lately and his works also influence me.

[Deicide]

Stalin.

[Zav]

Your one main political mentor?

Mine's Trotsky, I take his word as the gospel.
Don't do that. Great man theories cause all sorts of trouble.

My political stances are a conglomeration of those ideas which I find to be true. If I must pick a single person who influenced me the most, it would be Kropotkin, simply because he pretty much fostered modern Anarchism through ideas like mutual aid.

[Blanquist]

Don't do that. Great man theories cause all sorts of trouble.


But Trotsky was a great man, and he was right about everything. There is nothing I can disagree with from all I have read.

It would be ridiculous for me to claim Trotsky didn't understand something, or was wrong about something.

He was;

1. The greatest revolutionary strategist of all time (very hard to argue)

2. Greatest historian of all time (a little easier to argue)

3. Great original social and economic thinker, his "Theory of combined and uneven development" is taught all over the world.

4. Greatest memoirist of all time

5. A military genius on par with Napoleon and Cesar, a great man of action and letters.

6. Greatest writer of the 20th century.

7. One of the greatest orators of all time.

8. And many, many other things.



If one man is worthy of hero-worship, then it's him.

[Ismail]

Talk about how upholding people means promoting "great men" are ridiculous. Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Enver Hoxha were outstanding individuals and the former three were quite obviously exceptional theorists which all communists base their words and works upon. Not to mention that Marxism, as a science, is rather hard to turn religious.

[Yefim Zverev]

Stalin.

This guy... worst anti-stalin ever

so useless and waste of time

[Sasha]

if anyone i would say emma goldman, the perfect storm of idealism, principlism and realism.
living a revolutionary life and bearing the consequences for it but at the same time not giving up on life and everything that entails like love, adventure, fun and so much more.

[OnlyCommunistYouKnow]

But Trotsky was a great man, and he was right about everything. There is nothing I can disagree with from all I have read.

It would be ridiculous for me to claim Trotsky didn't understand something, or was wrong about something.

He was;

1. The greatest revolutionary strategist of all time (very hard to argue)

2. Greatest historian of all time (a little easier to argue)

3. Great original social and economic thinker, his "Theory of combined and uneven development" is taught all over the world.

4. Greatest memoirist of all time

5. A military genius on par with Napoleon and Cesar, a great man of action and letters.

6. Greatest writer of the 20th century.

7. One of the greatest orators of all time.

8. And many, many other things.



If one man is worthy of hero-worship, then it's him.

I could argue with these absurd claims but I shall instead briefly troll you good sir.
Trololololol!

[Ismail]

... alright, having someone be the "greatest" in damn near everything might qualify as quasi-religious.

[Deicide]

"Theory of combined and uneven development" is taught all over the world.

That's actually true..

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Marx because he was the one that facilitated my further growth, he is like the cornerstone to my ideological growth. His conception of historical materialism is my guiding light. Although I disagree with him sometimes.

[bricolage]

louise michel, martin glaberman, bruce springsteen.

[Искра]

Iggy Pop.

“What did Christ really do? He hung out with hard-drinking fishermen.”

“I stare at myself in the mirror and I think, 'Wow, I'm really great-looking.'... I think I'm the greatest, anyway.”

“I never believed that U2 wanted to save the whales. I don't believe that The Beastie Boys are ready to lay it down for Tibet.”

“Well, I don't use the toilet much to pee in. I almost always pee in the yard or the garden, because I like to pee on my estate.”

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Marx,Lenin,Trotsky, Mao,Chomsky, and some David Harvey.

[ColonelCossack]

Your one main political mentor?

Mine's Trotsky, I take his word as the gospel.

I kinda suspect a trollol here.

Anyway, I dunno, I'm influenced from a lot of areas, there is no "main" one.

[Railyon]

Making an infallible god out of someone, and taking everything they say as "gospel" without critical thinking and analysis is fucking stupid. Not only stupid, but quite against Marxist thought.
Subtle irony was had ;)

For me Marx, R.A. Wilson, 60s Hippie counterculture. I also like I.I. Rubin and Kropotkin, though the latter had a major Kautskyan brainfart.

[Franz Fanonipants]

Felipe II

Tomás Vélez Cachupín

[gorillafuck]

nobody really.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

Rudolf Rocker, Anton Pannekoek, Marx, and Kropotkin.

[Krano]

Ho Chi Minh And Mao.

[hatzel]

Mainly Jesus but also Pontius Pilate.

[Nox]

Marx.

[seventeethdecember2016]

Umm... The Proletariat...

[Art Vandelay]

Marx,Lenin,Trotsky, Mao,Chomsky, and some David Harvey.

Very interesting; How, if you do not mind me asking, does Mao and Chomsky fit into this grouping?

For me it would most likely be Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Stirner, Bakunin.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Hoxha, a little bit of Mao (pretty much only the parts that he sounds like Hoxha), and.....ummmmm.....that's it.

[NewLeft]

You

[Omsk]

The classics of the communist ideology and their works,along with various revolutionaries and revolutionary heroes who fought all kinds of reactionaries,from imperialists,to fascists.(Mostly heroes from the combat against fascism.)

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Very interesting; How, if you do not mind me asking, does Mao and Chomsky fit into this grouping?

For me it would most likely be Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Stirner, Bakunin.

Well,influence is a vague word and I am a Pan-Leftist to begin with, so combine the two and you will see some strange sights.

Chomsky is the sense of his contribution towards history and media, whereas Mao in his contribution towards critiquing liberalism and creating a path of peasant warfare (peoples war, etc to put it simply).

[Deicide]

Here's a more serious list.. however, it's still incomplete as there's plenty of authors I haven't read yet, and I haven't completely read the authors I'm about to list either.. Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Horkheimer, Gramsci, Harvey, Luxemburg, Kropotkin, Chris Harman, Bordiga, Chomsky.. and rooster.

This is supposed to be leftists only, right?

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Omsk and Ismail :)

NewLeft, Elysian, Broseph Stalin and Blanquist.

[Roach]

dodger

[Brosa Luxemburg]

Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg, Harvey, Pannekoek, Gorter, Parenti just to name some off the top of my head.

[Yefim Zverev]

dodger

I follow dodger even if he tends to go to hell :)

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Harpal Brar

[Tim Finnegan]

Aside from Cherlie and Freddo, I'd say that Pannekoek, Dauvé, Luxemburg, and Bookchin- or at least my interpretation of them- have had the greatest impact on my thinking.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Daft punk

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Daft punk

You really miss him, don't ya?

[The Young Pioneer]

People who've experienced life and met a lot of different kinds of folks are most influential to me.

Specific, well-known people, though? That's harder, aside from the obvious Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, and to some degree Stalin and Mao...(I don't declare myself a Trotskyist or an ML or ultraleftist or Stalinist or anything else though, not pickin' sides)...

I happen to really love Fyodor Dostoevsky's views on life. There are also some really talented, determined athletes I admire like Xiao Sha, Scott Hamilton, and Hines Ward. If I can go bourgie political for a sec (capitalist tendencies of these folks aside) I think Ryan Crocker and former US Senator Gordon Smith deserve a mention as inspiring, as do Tarja Halonen and Khassan Baev.

[#FF0000]

influence in what?

i don't consider myself an anarchist but I've always been a huge fan of Errico Malatesta.

But most of my influences aren't really political (sorta). I feel like the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Dostoevsky, and JD Salinger were all really important to who I am now.

Then there's musicians like Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, and Dennis Lyxzen who also had an impact on how I looked at music and other things.

But then again, I wouldn't be into music at all if I hadn't found out about Conor Oberst's work in Bright Eyes. Before I heard Bright Eyes for the first time I sorta just figured all of music was boy bands and pop. Then I heard "Something Vague" and was totally blown away by how unrefined and plainly emotive his voice was. It was p. much the realest thing i ever heard in the 10 years of life i had lived up until that point, and it opened new musical vistas 4 me~

[Deicide]

You really miss him, don't ya?

What happened to daft punk? :crying:

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

What happened to daft punk? :crying:

Gulag.

[Ostrinski]

Blanquist is a troll in my humble opinion.

But to answer the OP: my biggest influence would have to be Janis Joplin on Cheap Thrills.

[gorillafuck]

Well,influence is a vague word and I am a Pan-Leftist to begin with, so combine the two and you will see some strange sights.

Chomsky is the sense of his contribution towards history and media, whereas Mao in his contribution towards critiquing liberalism and creating a path of peasant warfare (peoples war, etc to put it simply).Maos critique of liberalism was concerning inner party behavior. he did not use the same definition of "liberalism" that is common on revleft, or the one that is common in mainstream american politics.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Maos critique of liberalism was concerning inner party behavior. he did not use the same definition of "liberalism" that is common on revleft, or the one that is common in mainstream american politics.

I know, I just didn't feel like going into specifics... lazy.lol

[gorillafuck]

oh okay. I often get the feeling that everyone on revleft who talks about Mao critiquing liberalism doesn't actually know what he was talking about so I kind of assumed, sorry.

[Red Rabbit]

Obama.






:D

[Bostana]

Marx

[Luc]

Friedrich Engels

Fuck Marx! come at me bros!

[Brosip Tito]

Subtle irony was had ;)

For me Marx, R.A. Wilson, 60s Hippie counterculture. I also like I.I. Rubin and Kropotkin, though the latter had a major Kautskyan brainfart.
I fear I missed the irony train... :O

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

No one person...my opinions and ideas come from a load of sources, some are individuals, some are facts and historical events. Never had one main person or mentor politically...I suppose in my early years of learning about socialism I was smitten with Tony Benn, liked the way he spoke and a lot of his ideas

[Rooster]

Jack Daniels.

[dodger]

I follow dodger even if he tends to go to hell :)

Thank you YEFIM and ROACH too. I am a modest fellow. My Ma said that one day I would be famous, I was her first born. "They will name buildings after you! or even a town" "Public toilets, MA??" "There is already a Dodge City!" At 7, I KNEW HOW TO DEAL WITH SYCOPHANTS. You 2 blatant careerists and flatterites, are barking up the wrong tree.

On reflection, perhaps I was a tad ungracious. Perhaps a statue modest reflecting a great thinker. If somebody could be found who could capture me in deep thought? Eyes bulging-tongue protruding to one side. Set up high so as not to frighten children or the mentally infirm. That would have pleased Ma no end, and give those pigeons somewhere pleasant to shit.

[Magón]

Pol Pot.

Everyone other theorist simply said the same thing over and over again, that the others had already said before them. Pol Pot started on his own path.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Pol Pot.

Everyone other theorist simply said the same thing over and over again, that the others had already said before them. Pol Pot started on his own path.

You certainly don't support or condone his actions and policies though, right?

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I would say Bakunin, Makhno, Durruti, Most, among others however I'm more impressed and inspired by action than anything else.

Machiavelli was pretty good too.

[Zukunftsmusik]

Ho Chi Minh And Mao.

ew

[Magón]

You certainly don't support or condone his actions and policies though, right?

No, I really hate the guy.

I would have said Stalin, but I wanted to be different. :D

[Book O'Dead]

My heart goes out to all of you poor chaps who named Stalin as political 'mentor'.

I guess being a megalomaniacal duchebag has its advantages.

[Ismail]

I guess being a megalomaniacal duchebag has its advantages.Stalin disliked his own cult and did work to trim it where he deemed necessary, but alright then.

[Omsk]

They wanted to name Moscow after him,he protested and Moscow remained Moscow.

They wanted to proclaim him the 'greatest communist in history' - he protested again and pointed out that Lenin was the only genius of the party.

They wanted to build a palace for him. He simply stopped the project and moved the sources for that project to industrial building.

I know many more examples.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

They wanted to name Moscow after him,he protested and Moscow remained Moscow.

They wanted to proclaim him the 'greatest communist in history' - he protested again and pointed out that Lenin was the only genius of the party.

They wanted to build a palace for him. He simply stopped the project and moved the sources for that project to industrial building.

I know many more examples.

What were they going to name Moscow and do you have any sources?

It's not that I don't trust you, comrade, it's just that I need to show this to my anti-Stalin history teacher. :)

[Ismail]

What were they going to name Moscow and do you have any sources?

It's not that I don't trust you, comrade, it's just that I need to show this to my anti-Stalin history teacher. :)One proposal was Velikii Stalingrad, or "Great Stalin City." Having two Stalingrads (the actual Stalingrad was named in 1925 before the personality cult, just like there was a place named Zinovievsk, etc.) would suck though.

[Magón]

I like the ring Stalincow, has. Moscow is dumb.

[Valdyr]

I don't have one main mentor, I think there are things to be learned from many revolutionaries, while at the same time they all made mistakes, and the communist movement can't proceed just by trying to imitate some dead revolutionary.

That being said, Marx himself has had a pretty big influence on me, as well as Lenin, Luxemburg, Mao, and others.

I have far too many theoretical influences to list here.

[Omsk]

@Comrade Commistar:

It took me some effort to find it,because it was a long time since i originaly read about it. It was from the book of the historian Getty: "Stalinist Terror". I think it was on the start of the book,search it up if you wish,i think it can be found on various web-sites that sell books.


And to add up on Ismail,Stalingrad got it's name because it was the city Stalin saved in WWI.Before Stalingrad,it's name was Tsaritsyn. Now it's Volgograd.

[hatzel]

the city Stalin saved

What a fucking hero that man.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

What a fucking hero that man.

Indeed.

[Omsk]

What a fucking hero that man.


You probably don't know anything about it,but yes,he was a real commander there,his orders and actions saved the city.Want some text's about that,because you really seem interested.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Lil B

[Blanquist]

@Comrade Commistar:

It took me some effort to find it,because it was a long time since i originaly read about it. It was from the book of the historian Getty: "Stalinist Terror". I think it was on the start of the book,search it up if you wish,i think it can be found on various web-sites that sell books.


And to add up on Ismail,Stalingrad got it's name because it was the city Stalin saved in WWI.Before Stalingrad,it's name was Tsaritsyn. Now it's Volgograd.

:confused:

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

You probably don't know anything about it,but yes,he was a real commander there,his orders and actions saved the city.Want some text's about that,because you really seem interested.

I would like some texts. ;)

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

What a fucking hero that man.

Yeah, because an Internet loser has the standing to mock the Marshal of the Soviet Union during WWII about WWII. Pathetic.

[Omsk]

Here is a short read on his role in the city.

(Read this Blanquist.)

On arrival at Tsaritsyn Stalin found a very perilous military situation. The armies of the counter-revolution were investing Tsaritsyn; and at the same time the city had become a place of refuge for counter-revolutionary elements. Large numbers of enemies of the Bolshevik Revolution had fled thither--officers of the Imperial army, high officials, and wealthy merchants. The enemy was not only beleaguering the city but within it as well, preparing to strike. Stalin, special plenipotentiary of the party, saw that his real task, the safeguarding of food supplies, could not be achieved unless the military problem was first solved. He assumed full powers for this purpose on his own responsibility. Strictly, in doing this he was incurring the guilt of what amounted to a punishable unauthorized initiative. He appropriated the supreme military authority, without any express instructions to do so from the center.
Within the city he set up a terrorist police organization which ruthlessly pursued the enemies of Bolshevism. Anyone who might be dangerous, anyone who might be open to suspicion, was eliminated. Stalin reported over the head of the local authorities, and over the head of the appointed Peoples Commissar, Trotsky, direct to the party executive and to Lenin. Formally he was infringing the laws of subordination in force even in the Red Army. He intervened also with iron resolution in matters of army personnel, with an energetic purge at the local headquarters. The enemies within the city were destroyed, the staffs of the Red troops subjected to a new and sharp discipline. The military plans came under his influence. And Tsaritsyn was saved. The first round of the civil war was won.
This brought Stalin's first conflict with Trotsky.
[I]Basseches, Nikolaus. Stalin. London, New York: Staples Press, 1952, p. 69


Here is a short text from the Anti-Stalin historian Roy Medvedev.


On May 29, 1918, in connection with the increasingly grave food situation in Moscow and the central provinces of Russia, the Sovnarkom appointed Stalin general director for food supplies in the south of Russia and granted him extraordinary powers. In this capacity, on June 4 Stalin left for Tsaritsyn. There he found confusion and chaos not only in food and military matters but in transport, finance, and so on. Utilizing the authority granted him, Stalin took full power in the entire Tsaritsyn Region.
There is no doubt that he did significant work in restoring order and supplying food to the industrial centers of Russia....
Gradually Stalin assumed all the main military functions in the Northern Caucasus. He wrote to Lenin:
There's a lot of grain in the south. In order to get it, we must have a smoothly functioning apparatus that will not encounter any obstacles from trains, army commanders, etc.. Also the military men have to help the food-supply people. The food question naturally gets intertwined with the military question. For the good of the cause I need military powers. I already wrote about this but received no answer. Very well, in that case I myself, without formalities, will remove those commanders and commissars who are ruining the cause. The interests of the cause prompt me to do this and the absence of any papers from Trotsky will not stop me.
Medvedev, Roy. Let History Judge. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989, p. 56


In 1919 Stalin was sent as a special plenipotentiary to the key Volga city of Tsaritsyn. His mission was simply to assure the delivery of food supplies from this entire region. What he found was a disastrous military situation, with the city not only surrounded by the White Army but heavily infiltrated by counter-revolutionary forces. He saw that the food supply could not be safeguarded unless the military and political situations were dealt with. He instituted an uncompromising purge of counter-revolutionary elements within both the officer corps and the political infrastructure, took personal command of the military forces over the heads of both the local authorities and Trotsky, and then proceeded to save the city, the region, and the food supply. Trotsky, furious, demanded his recall. As for the citizens of Tsaritsyn, their opinion became known six years later, when they renamed their city Stalingrad.
After this episode, rather than being recalled, Stalin was dispatched far and wide to every major front in the Civil War. In each and every place, he was able to win the immediate respect of the revolutionary people and to lead the way to military victory, even in the most desperate circumstances. Certain qualities emerged more and more clearly, acknowledged by both friends and enemies. These were his enormous practicality and efficiency, his worker-peasant outlook, and the unswerving way he proceeded to the heart of every problem. By the end of the war, Stalin was widely recognized as a man who knew how to run things, equality sorely lacking among most of the aristocratic intellectuals who then saw themselves as great proletarian leaders.
Franklin, Bruce, Ed. The Essential Stalin; Major Theoretical Writings. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1972, p. 12

His victory there is quite famous,im surprised you haven't hear about it. He also had a great role in the defense of Leningrad,and at the front at the North,where he led naval actions.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

http://books.google.com/books?id=lXM2H6tWHskC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=Velikii+Stalingrad&source=bl&ots=fMe1LBQyXz&sig=dFY7gFQXLCWvYTpk808Rs2EF5JU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lJihT_PlHuiI6AHEqc3UCA&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA

[Omsk]

That is another source,not the book i had in mind,but it still counts.

Although the author made a mistake,Kaganovich was only a 200% "Stalinist" when the situation called for it.Molotov was almost as loyal.Although,"Iron Lazar" did admire Stalin,he carried out his orders with precision.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

http://books.google.com/books?id=lXM2H6tWHskC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=Velikii+Stalingrad&source=bl&ots=fMe1LBQyXz&sig=dFY7gFQXLCWvYTpk808Rs2EF5JU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lJihT_PlHuiI6AHEqc3UCA&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA

Lol at page before this one. They wanted to name it Stalins Bounty. :')

[Blanquist]

Stalin disliked his cult but if anyone said Stalin wasn't as great as he was portrayed then they would be shot.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Stalin disliked his cult but if anyone said Stalin wasn't as great as he was portrayed then they would be shot.

Oh, Shut the fuck up already!

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

If I have to pick only one, Karl Marx.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

@The Leninists;

Get a room already.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Oh, Shut the fuck up already!

Trolls can't shut up.

[Book O'Dead]

This thread turned out to be a Stalinist circle jerk.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

This thread turned out to be a Stalinist circle jerk.

Yes, and thank you very much, because you are the one who made it into that:


My heart goes out to all of you poor chaps who named Stalin as political 'mentor'.

I guess being a megalomaniacal duchebag has its advantages.

[scarletghoul]

Satan.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Lets try and get this thread back on track, ease off of the endless Left-VS-Right debate or take it to PM.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Yes, and thank you very much, because you are the one who made it into that:

That's what people of his ideology regularly do: flame. You never see Marxist-Leninists doing the same thing without being provoked first, EVER.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

Your one main political mentor?


Glauber Rocha, for sure.

Honorable mentions: Herbert Marcuse, Alexandra Kollontai, Rosa Luxembourg, Guy Debord.

[#FF0000]

Stalin disliked his cult but if anyone said Stalin wasn't as great as he was portrayed then they would be shot.

i am def. not some stalinist nerd but yeah i'm pretty sure this just straight up isn't anywhere close to true.

[Tim Finnegan]

Yeah, Stalin never would have pushed the five year plans through if he'd been so eager to waste good prison-labour.

[Magón]

Yes, and thank you very much, because you are the one who made it into that:


That's what people of his ideology regularly do: flame. You never see Marxist-Leninists doing the same thing without being provoked first, EVER.

You guys could have just ignored his post, instead of wasting all the time that you and the others did, responding to it. Then it wouldn't have been an ML circle jerk, just another post gone ignored.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Yeah, Stalin never would have pushed the five year plans through if he'd been so eager to waste good prison-labour.

Oh come on, stop bringing every single thing back to Stalin.
This is a thread about who influenced you not about stalin nor his policies.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

You guys could have just ignored his post, instead of wasting all the time that you and the others did, responding to it. Then it wouldn't have been an ML circle jerk, just another post gone ignored.

Not really mah style.

[Magón]

Not really mah style.

Stalin's dead and gone, he doesn't need you and the others jumping to defend him every goddamn time someone talks against him. Grow up a bit, and realize people don't share the same opinions as you do, on Stalin. Simple as that.

[Rooster]

red dave

[Os Cangaceiros]

Marx, Bakunin, Stirner, Goldman, Debs, Bordiga (for his efforts as a troll), Dauve, the dudes who wrote Nihilist Communism, etc

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Stalin's dead and gone, he doesn't need you and the others jumping to defend him every goddamn time someone talks against him. Grow up a bit, and realize people don't share the same opinions as you do, on Stalin. Simple as that.

Actually I was more or less defending myself. He was insulting people who put Stalin as an influence, I did. I think I at least should be able to defend myself.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Actually I was more or less defending myself. He was insulting people who put Stalin as an influence, I did. I think I at least should be able to defend myself.

Disengage, comrade. These ******* are just so fucking stupid. Next time, we'll just ignore them.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Yeah, because an Internet loser has the standing to mock the Marshal of the Soviet Union during WWII about WWII. Pathetic.
He had the gall to make fun of your dear leader, did he? Does that hurt your feelings?:crying:

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Yay, I went the whole day without saying the.....word.

[Rooster]

This is like watching a shit double act.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

He had the gall to make fun of your dear leader, did he? Does that hurt your feelings?:crying:

Yes, I'm crying into my pillow right now.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Yes, I'm crying into my pillow right now.

I'm crying myself to sleep.
How dare they insult our great leader, and king of the mustachians.

[hatzel]

It'd be ever so slightly funnier if you weren't being serious...

[Book O'Dead]

Yes, and thank you very much, because you are the one who made it into that:

The cult of Stalin demonstrates that not everyone who supposedly embraces Marxism is capable of critical thought. It reveals the fact that even Marxism can attract the kind of hero-worship and idolatry that properly belong to religious cults.

[Ismail]

The cult of Stalin demonstrates that not everyone who supposedly embraces Marxism is capable of critical thought. It reveals the fact that even Marxism can attract the kind of hero-worship and idolatry that properly belong to religious cults.Har-de-har. The fact is that, as Enver Hoxha pointed out, there is a clear line separating revisionism from Marxism-Leninism. That line tends to express itself in the denigration of Stalin by the former, whether it be open attacks or Maoist charges of "dogmatism," etc.

[Tim Finnegan]

Har-de-har. The fact is that, as Enver Hoxha pointed out, there is a clear line separating revisionism from Marxism-Leninism. That line tends to express itself in the denigration of Stalin by the former, whether it be open attacks or Maoist charges of "dogmatism," etc.
You are a cartoon, do you realise that?

[Ismail]

You are a cartoon, do you realise that?An entire country called Albania along with the leadership of the Party of Labour was a "cartoon" then.

[Tim Finnegan]

An entire country called Albania along with the leadership of the Party of Labour was a "cartoon" then.
Explains the bunkers. Somewhere to hide when the anvils start falling.

[Ismail]

Explains the bunkers. Somewhere to hide when the anvils start falling.More like NATO or Warsaw Pact bombs, but alrighty then.

But yeah, Hoxha noted that Albania was the only country on earth building socialism. That carries responsibilities. Of course your national chauvinism makes that not matter.

[bcbm]

Your one main political mentor?


the marquis de sade

[Omsk]

Nice one Finnegan.It's not like the bunkers tale was explained in detail on this forum a million times.

But i'l turn a blind eye on this,because you were away for some time.

[Tim Finnegan]

It's called a "joke", Omsk. I realise that, like the metaphor, it is a device which may be unfamiliar to you, but I assure that it's quite common in my country.

[Omsk]

You are so great you chauvinist idiot.

A joke old as earth.Not funny when i first heard it,not now.

[hatzel]

chauvinist

Heh.

[Omsk]

Heh indeed,find me a post where i displayed chauvinist tendencies.

[Roach]

red dave


Red Cat and Palingenesis :tt2:

[Paul Cockshott]

Your one main political mentor?

Mine's Trotsky, I take his word as the gospel.

The person who had the biggest political influence on me initially was Lenin. Later on, when I had read more of him in the original, I would say Marx came to influence me more.

[hatzel]

Heh indeed,find me a post where i displayed chauvinist tendencies.

I was actually laughing at your accusation. But as you're easily amongst the proudest state-worshipers on the board, I really don't think you should be tempting me...

[Omsk]

But as you're easily amongst the proudest state-worshipers on the board


Well,yes,you could say i admire socialist states.Too bad i'm not a chauvinist.

[Zealot]

Stalin was:

1. The greatest revolutionary strategist of all time (very hard to argue)

2. Greatest historian of all time (a little easier to argue)

3. Great original social and economic thinker, his "Theory of Socialism in One Country" is taught all over the world.

4. Greatest memoirist of all time

5. A military genius on par with Napoleon and Cesar, a great man of action and letters.

6. Greatest writer of the 20th century.

7. One of the greatest orators of all time.

8. And many, many other things.

[Book O'Dead]

Stalin was:
1. The greatest revolutionary strategist of all time (very hard to argue)
2. Greatest historian of all time (a little easier to argue)
3. Great original social and economic thinker, his "Theory of Socialism in One Country" is taught all over the world.
4. Greatest memoirist of all time
5. A military genius on par with Napoleon and Cesar, a great man of action and letters.
6. Greatest writer of the 20th century.
7. One of the greatest orators of all time.
8. And many, many other things.

You left out that he was a supreme mixmaster:

"Comrade Stalin can mix a mean margarita!"--Molotov

[Tim Finnegan]

Stalin was:

1. The greatest revolutionary strategist of all time (very hard to argue)

2. Greatest historian of all time (a little easier to argue)

3. Great original social and economic thinker, his "Theory of Socialism in One Country" is taught all over the world.

4. Greatest memoirist of all time

5. A military genius on par with Napoleon and Cesar, a great man of action and letters.

6. Greatest writer of the 20th century.

7. One of the greatest orators of all time.

8. And many, many other things.
This is a joke, right? Please tell me you're joking.

[Anderson]

1. Mao Zedong.

2. All the comrades who taught me Marxism Leninism - some of whom are now not there anymore.

[Ismail]

This is a joke, right? Please tell me you're joking.Obviously he is; he's making fun of Blanquist's post on Trotsky.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

You left out that he was a supreme mixmaster:

"Comrade Stalin can mix a mean margarita!"--Molotov
According to Milovan Dilas; Stalin drank red wine mixed with vodka. I think that´s pretty badass!:cool:
Some might disagree and argue Dilas was simply slandering Stalin as a drinker.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Patrice Lumumba inspired me to be an anti-capitalist and look into the world a little more critically... various other people and various works I've read inspired me to take this further and preach revolutionary socialism.

[Panda Tse Tung]

This is hard... I've had influences from all over the place. But i think that Ludo Martens (even though he is a historian more then a theoretician) shaped my way of thinking the most.

[Omsk]

According to Milovan Dilas; Stalin drank red wine mixed with vodka. I think that´s pretty badass!http://www.revleft.com/vb/whos-your-main-t170939/revleft/smilies/001_cool.gif
Some might disagree and argue Dilas was simply slandering Stalin as a drinker.

Milovan Djilas was a dubious Marxist and an individual who deserved little mention.Like most of the Tito aligned communists.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

If we were to go by how influential Marxists looked when they were young I would go with Stalin...

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDlu0EnZ8EsQ-IN2oESW86RTnQKh8p7GGkTB9KDmoFc9hNFsIV

[Drosophila]

If we were to go by how influential Marxists looked when they were young I would go with Stalin...

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDlu0EnZ8EsQ-IN2oESW86RTnQKh8p7GGkTB9KDmoFc9hNFsIV

am i kawaii? uguu~~

[Ismail]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc207/MrdieII/Hoxha1950.jpg
Hoxha in 1950

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc207/MrdieII/Hoxha1950.jpg
Hoxha in 1950

No.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Enver_Hoxha_aged_18_1927.jpg/220px-Enver_Hoxha_aged_18_1927.jpg

1927

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Neither are studs like Stalin was.... is a crying shame he had to go all heavy on us... :thumbdown:

[Omsk]

Comrade Commistar you should know that the 1948-1957 was the period when Hoxha had a tremendous job in front of him.Although,various diplomatic problems and threats continued to exist even after that period. (1948 was one of the hardest periods for international Marxism-Leninism.)

So the Hoxha of 1950 probably had more troubles to worry about than the young Enver.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Marx wins.
http://libcom.org/files/images/library/marx_3.jpg

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

None of these people are attractive.
Especially this guy:
http://hoffstrizz.typepad.com/.a/6a0128773aba66970c0133f0eda62e970b-800wi

[Magón]

Both Stalin and Hoxha crash and burn compared to this charmer.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2009/5/8/1241792015854/Friedrich-Engels-001.jpg

[WanderingCactus]

I'm gonna answer this question for realsies. I don't have a single influence, so here are a bunch of various ones:

Marx, Engels, Monsieur Dupont (two people, but whatever), Guy Debord, Paul Mattick, as well as Bakunin and other various anarchists.

[Brosip Tito]

No no no...Leo, was a handsome devil. Rosa had an eye for the lookers.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Leo_Jogiches_01.jpg

[Luís Henrique]

Stalin disliked his own cult and did work to trim it where he deemed necessary, but alright then.

Yes, he thought of himself as the most modest person in History, and fittingly sent some of the nastier lickspittles to the gulags.

Luís Henrique

[Ismail]

Yes, he thought of himself as the most modest person in History, and fittingly sent some of the nastier lickspittles to the gulags.I don't see your point. I said "Stalin disliked his own cult and did work to trim it where he deemed necessary," because someone called him a megalomaniac. There's quite a few sources for my claim, from the Soviet side (Molotov's recollections in the 1970's and 80's, Stalin's anti-communist daughter, etc.) to the Western pre- and post-1991 side.

To give one of the post-1991 sources:

"When Feuchtwanger told Stalin how he found some manifestations of the cult tasteless and excessive, Stalin agreed, but said that he only answered one or two of the hundreds of greetings he received and did not allow most to be printed, especially the most excessive. He claimed that he did not seek to justify the practice, but to explain it: evidently the workers and peasant masses were simply delighted to be freed from exploitation, and they attributed this to one individual: 'of course that’s wrong, what can one person do – they see in me a unifying concept, and create foolish raptures around me.'

Feuchtwanger then asked a very legitimate question: why could he not stop the most excessive forms of rapture? Stalin responded that he had tried several times but that it was pointless as people assumed he was just doing so out of false modesty. For example, he had been criticised for preventing celebrations of his 55th birthday. According to Stalin, the veneration of the leader was the result of cultural backwardness and would pass with time. It was difficult to prevent people expressing their joy, and to take strict measures against workers and peasants. Feuchtwanger responded that what concerned him was not so much the feelings of workers and peasants, but the erection of busts and so on. Echoing some of his comments (above) about the abuse of the cult, Stalin answered that bureaucrats were afraid that if they did not put up a bust of Stalin, they would be criticised by their superiors. Putting up a bust was a form of careerism 'a specific form of the 'self-defence' of bureaucrats: so that they are left alone, they put up a bust'....

His interventions often reveal a concern to tone down, or to be seen to be toning down, some of the excesses of the cult... There are many examples of this. While a draft report for Pravda described a reception of a delegation of kolkhozniki of Odessa province in November 1933 as a reception by Stalin, Stalin himself added the names of Kalinin, Molotov and Kaganovich. He also criticised the writer A. Afinogenov for highlighting the 'vozhd' [leader] rather than the collective leadership of the Central Committee in his play Lozh'. When the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute (IMEL) produced a history of 30 years of the party in 1933, he removed some references to himself....

Stalin continued to pay close attention to the editing of reports of Kremlin receptions for publication in Pravda. He would sometimes (but not always) cut out or tone down the references to the endless clapping which accompanied these quintessentially cultic occasions. He also tried to reduce the language of adulation, or to distribute it more equally with other colleagues....

While some members of the Politburo approved the renaming [of a electromechanical factory after Stalin], others proposed a discussion of the issue. However Stalin declared emphatically that he was not in favour, writing 'I am against. I advise that it should take the name of Kalinin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Kosior, Postyshev or another of the leading comrades.' Nevertheless, despite Stalin's objections, on 25 March the Politburo went on to approve the attaching of Stalin’s name to the factory."
(Balázs Apor, Jan C. Behrends, Polly Jones & E.A. Rees (eds). The Leader Cult in Communist Dictatorships: Stalin and the Eastern Bloc. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. pp. 37-39.)

[Rocky Rococo]

My one main political role model would probably be my great-grandfather I'm named after. He arrived in the US and settled in Chicago in 1887, in the immediate wake of the Haymarket events. Already an experienced socialist organizer (why he'd had to flee Denmark) he was soon helping create and build socialist organizations and the usual Second International type of cultural bodies that he was familiar with in Denmark, including a singing society and a socialist summer campground. He was among the earliest members of the Chicago chapter of the Socialist Party, and became for a time president of the Chicago Danish socialist social club, Dania Hall. For over 40 years he served on the organizing committee of the Chicago May Day parade.

The lesson I take from my great-grandfather's life is that one needn't be some world-famous big shot to be an effective socialist, in fact sometimes being some unknown somewhere is a better way to make lasting difference.

[ed miliband]

probably clr james and maurice brinton although i now have many problems with elements of their politics

[corolla]

If we were to go by how influential Marxists looked when they were young I would go with Stalin...

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDlu0EnZ8EsQ-IN2oESW86RTnQKh8p7GGkTB9KDmoFc9hNFsIV

I suspect that this photo is misleading. I have seen other photographs of young Stalin, where he is not even remotely handsome, and from what I understand, he had scars all over his face.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I suspect that this photo is misleading. I have seen other photographs of young Stalin, where he is not even remotely handsome, and from what I understand, he had scars all over his face.

From what you understand?
How come he didn't had any scars anymore later?
Or are you just another ultra-left or trotskyite piece of shit who can't see Stalin without being a whiny little kid about it?

[corolla]

From what you understand?
How come he didn't had any scars anymore later?
Or are you just another ultra-left or trotskyite piece of shit who can't see Stalin without being a whiny little kid about it?

I love how you just raaaged over a comment about Stalin's attractiveness. :lol:

Anyway, I will look for a source for the scarred face thing, hang on.

[Bronco]

From what you understand?
How come he didn't had any scars anymore later?
Or are you just another ultra-left or trotskyite piece of shit who can't see Stalin without being a whiny little kid about it?

lol are you M-L's even going mental at someone just making a comment on Stalin's attractiveness now

[corolla]

Jesus dude, google it, there are a million sources.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Jesus dude, google it, there are a million sources.

Why should I have to proof your baseless claims?

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

This is just a baseless statement without proof. This is slander!

[corolla]

Why should I have to proof your baseless claims?
Christ, I would think as a "Marxist Leninist", you would know a little more about the man.


At the age of seven he suffered from smallpox. He survived but the scars remained on his face. Due to this, he was called as “pocky” by his friends.


As a boy, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left him with lifelong facial scars.

Sexxxay.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Yes, Stalin had scars and a pretty ugly face (not structually, but in the sense of marks). His attractive photos were probably redone by the Soviet leadership in an attempt to make him look better. I have no problem admitting it. Just because someone is ugly, that doesn't make their ideas worse.

[Ismail]

He was actually scarred because of smallpox as a child, as noted by Ian Grey and various others. One of his arms was also a bit smaller than the other due to a carting accident in childhood as well.

FYI, in Soviet portrayals Gorbachev lacked the spots on his forehead. Portraits tended to "prettify" every official, not just Stalin.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

After some googling, I guess you're right.
My apologies.
Although I still think it's stupid to discuss about the looks on a photo.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

FYI, in official Soviet portraits Gorbachev lacked the spots on his forehead as well. Soviet portraits tended to "prettify" every official, not just Stalin.

But Brezhnev always had that damn unibrow/moustache above his eyes in every portrait. I think.......he liked it. :laugh:

[gorillafuck]

why the fuck is the suggestion that Stalin got smallpox as a kid so offensive to some people? seriously. it's not like there's even anything wrong with getting smallpox.

this thread has become really dumb.

[Omsk]

On the issue of Stalin's 'looks' this short text can be informative:

Some authors have affirmed that one of his [Stalin] arms functioned poorly. His daughter Svetlana said that he moved his right arm with difficulty, whereas the old Bolshevik Shumiatsky wrote in the Soviet press that Stalin couldn't bend his left arm. To tell the truth, I never noticed anything like that. I frequently saw him make large gestures with his right arm, bending and unbending it. In the final analysis, I never saw him do any physical work. It's possible that his left arm was in bad shape, but I never had occasion to observe it.
Always calm, he disciplined himself well.
Bazhanov, Boris. Bazhanov and the Damnation of Stalin. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, c1990, p. 104

Keep in mind that Bazhanov was actually a traitor.So you can't denounce this as "Stalinist propaganda".

This tells a lot about modern historiography in relation to Stalin. Little is known about his childhood,and most of the information is either from rumores or stories,so it's not strange that sometimes,people mix things up or get entangled in information.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

Koba was such a mystical figure. No wonder he becomes the focus of every other thread here.

[Pretty Flaco]

my biggest influence is probably dwyane wade


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Dwyane_Wade.jpg/531px-Dwyane_Wade.jpg


fuckin ballin

[Luís Henrique]

Just because someone is ugly, that doesn't make their ideas worse.

Of course not. Conversely, though, when someone's ideas are really bad, they may feel the need to airbrush their photographs.

The time when I almost believe God exists and is a good fellow is when I realise that there was no overlapping between Stalin's life and the availability of Photoshop.

Otherwise many more comissars would have vanished (http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/vanishes.htm).

Luís Henrique

[Misanthrope]

Chomsky, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman, Luxemburg umm

[Ismail]

Of course not. Conversely, though, when someone's ideas are really bad, they may feel the need to airbrush their photographs...

Otherwise many more comissars would have vanished (http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/vanishes.htm).

Luís Henrique

I don't see your point here. In Albania Mehmet Shehu and others were removed from photographs (http://www.panorama.com.al/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/enveri-me-shoket-e-pa-to.jpg) as well. Stalin considered Yezhov a "rat" who knowingly sent a great many people to their deaths for ulterior motives. Shehu advocated right-wing policies against the Marxist-Leninist line of the Party of Labour and had pretensions of succeeding Hoxha.

I don't see how prettifying Stalin's face in portraits is significant to anything, just like I don't see how removing people from photographs is either, especially since Molotov in his memoirs actually noted a case of Stalin commenting negatively on how they totally removed any mention of Trotsky in a book about the Russian civil war.

[Tim Finnegan]

I don't see your point here. In Albania Mehmet Shehu and others were removed from photographs (http://www.panorama.com.al/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/enveri-me-shoket-e-pa-to.jpg) as well.
"So what if Jeffrey Dahmer ate people? So did Andrei Chikatilo."

[Ismail]

Har-de-har. My point still stands, reactionaries tended to be removed from photos. I don't see how this is an indictment on either Stalin's USSR or Albania.

[Brosip Tito]

Chomsky, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman, Luxemburg ummLuxemburg was not fond of Anarchism.


"But apart from these few “revolutionary” groups, what is the actual role of anarchism in the Russian Revolution? It has become the sign of the common thief and plunderer; a large proportion of the innumerable thefts and acts of plunder of private persons are carried out under the name of “anarchist-communism” – acts which rise up like a troubled wave against the revolution in every period of depression and in every period of temporary defensive. Anarchism has become in the Russian Revolution, not the theory of the struggling proletariat, but the ideological signboard of the counterrevolutionary lumpenproletariat, who, like a school of sharks, swarm in the wake of the battleship of the revolution. And therewith the historical career of anarchism is well-nigh ended." - Rosa Luxemburg

[fabian]

I'd say Rousseau, but of those who were active politicians- Leonard Nelson.

[Tim Finnegan]

Luxemburg was not fond of Anarchism.
So? Synthesis is possible.

[Rooster]

Occam and his razor blades. Because if someone doesn't agree with you then you cut them with it. Reductionism at it's finest...

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/15021000/ngbbs4777cf8e7e0da.jpg

... one body part at a time.

[Ismail]

So? Synthesis is possible.Well yeah, it's possible to synthesize anything on the internet. But Marxists shouldn't be doing that.

[Caj]

But Marxists shouldn't be doing that.

Because it's revisionism.

[Caj]

Luxemburg was not fond of Anarchism.

That doesn't mean one can't be influenced by both Luxemburg and anarchist thinkers.

[Brosip Tito]

That doesn't mean one can't be influenced by both Luxemburg and anarchist thinkers.
My point isn't that you can't be influenced by both Marxist and Anarchist thinkers.

My point is that they shouldn't be taken into the illusion that Luxemburg was some Libertarian, anarchist friendly, hero of the anti-Leninist left.

She was the only Marxist amongst his influences, and, as usual, this would consider he has a misconception of Luxemburg.

I'd like to know why the anarchist comrade considers her an influence before I judge.

[Caj]

Good point. The misrepresentation of Luxemburg as some sort of "libertarian" alternative to the "authoritarian" Lenin is all too common.

[Pretty Flaco]

oh yeah! how could i have forgot?

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/A/Muhammad-Ali-9181165-2-402.jpg

[Ismail]

Because it's revisionism.No, because it's stupid and unscientific.

[fabian]

oh yeah! how could i have forgot?

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/A/Muhammad-Ali-9181165-2-402.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02049/joe-frazier-ali-fl_2049189b.jpg

[NorwegianCommunist]

The same as RedRebel. Stalin, but I am also reading some Hoxha at the time and he really influences me =)

[Tim Finnegan]

No, because it's stupid and unscientific.
As opposed to ethnic nationalism, which is Marxism's natural bed-fellow.

[Azraella]

I'm influenced by way too many people to have a "main influence". I like Trotsky, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Luxembourg, Marx, Engels, Pannekoek, Bordiga, and Proudhon. Do I describe myself as a left communist or Trotskyist? No. I'm an anarchist for all intents and purpoes that happens to like some ideas of others.

My more contemporary influences are Chomsky, Graeber, Andrea Dworkin, McKinnon, and Foucault. It's ok to think some theories other than your own are the greatest things since sliced bread even if you don't subscribe to their ideologies wholesale

[Ismail]

As opposed to ethnic nationalism, which is Marxism's natural bed-fellow.A nation that oppresses another forges its own chains, as Engels noted. Hoxha noted that Albanians could be proud that they never sought to dominate another country, that they were an oppressed people whose history was not one of imperial conquests but of defense against partition and eradication (since up until 1912 many imperial powers denied the existence of the Albanian nation.)

Bourgeois nationalism is, of course, contrary to Marxism, and Hoxha noted as such. Among other things he noted the "Sinicization" of Marxism by Mao as an expression of China's ambitions to become an imperialist superpower. He likewise opposed "Arab Socialism" and other "national socialisms" as being anti-Marxist. He derided what he termed the "Koranic eclecticism" of Ben Bella's brand of "socialism," he attacked Juche, he wrote a whole book on the Eurocommunists, etc.

You can see an Albanian Marxist-Leninist critique of the anti-Marxist and nationalist views of Yugoslavia here: http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/titoites.htm