A few ideology questions!

[Neomadmonkey]

So I can't figure this out, maybe I'm not understanding my sources, but I want to ask a question about Marxism-Leninism. Is it authoritarian by definition, or was that just how it is practiced? I can't seem to find a direct answer. See, I believe that on the path to communism, there does to be some sort of temporary government during socialism until it is eventually phased out completely. But I feel that that government does not need to be authoritarian at all! It just seems to be that these "temporary governments" that practice authoritarian seem to not like the idea of being phased out...which completely eliminates the idea of communism altogether! I don't know if I'm making any sense, but basically, I'm just trying to learn about ideologies and not sure which one I agree with.

[RedKobra]

There is no agreed upon answer to this. That's why there are so many sects on the left. Some think Lenin consistently argued for a minority of the working class, The Party, to govern in place of the working class whilst Capitalism was defeated. Others think that Lenin originally understood 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' in the same way as Marx, Engels and the German Democratic Communists, such as Luxembourg & Kautsky as merely the "Rule of the Proletariat' i.e - the working class democratically governing the Capitalist state towards Socialism and then Communism before opportunistically switching to a more 'Dictatorship of the Party' line after 1918. Some people believe that Lenin never had any intention of sharing power with the working class and always intended to have the Bolsheviks monopolizing power, and that he only ever paid lip service to democracy.

So in answer to your question, the critique of Leninist tactics is one of the main disagreements of the left. Was Lenin an pragmatic opportunist, was he always an authoritarian & merely lied about being democratic, or was Lenin the only one to truly understand Marx's meaning of 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' to actually mean 'Dictatorship of the Party'? It entirely depends which leftist you ask.

[G4b3n]

Well, "Marxists-Leninists", i.e., Stalinists would not regard "authoritarianism" as a valid criticism. They would either argue that revolution is inherently authoritarian or that the dichotomy between libertarian and authoritarianism is a false one. So you will not find Stalinists justifying ideology on the grounds that it is not authoritarian whether in theory or practice.

From a left communist perspective (what it sounds like you would most closely identify with), most of us would argue that Stalinism is authoritarian in both theory and practice, and the nature of Leninist organization (democratic centralism) invites cancers such as Stalinism to thrive and is hostile to worker's control over production.

[motion denied]

You say authoritarian as if it is a bad thing? Or the political rule of the working class would not use the means to guarantee its ends? Criticizing stalinism for "authoritarianism" is meaningless. The question is: who ruled and over whom did they rule?

[The Idler]

You say authoritarian as if it is a bad thing? Or the political rule of the working class would not use the means to guarantee its ends? Criticizing stalinism for "authoritarianism" is meaningless. The question is: who ruled and over whom did they rule?
If workers ruled, why were they still workers? Who did they work for?