Marxism-Leninism: Socialism and the DotP

[Fourth Internationalist]

Hello!

I am just wondering if any Marxist-Leninists (aka Stalinists) could provide a precise definition of socialism for me and shortly explain how it relates to the dictatorship of the proletariat. After a short search through Stalin's works and a few google searches, I was unable to find a single, precise definition and explanation of this subject from the Marxist-Leninist point of view. So if any Marxist-Leninist could just give a short definition and explanation, it would be appreciated!

[Tim Cornelis]

Not a Stalinist obviously but I'd try looking into these documents:

The Programme and Constitution of the Portuguese Communist Party;
The Programme of the Communist Party of Greece;
Assessments and conclusions on socialist construction during the 20th century, focusing on the USSR. KKE's perception on socialism.

Roughly, socialism is a system without private property (thus, based on public property) where surplus labour (surplus value) is used for social purposes, and not privately appropriated by the bourgeoisie.

From the Programme of the Communist Party of Greece:

"Socialism as the first phase of the communist socio-economic formation is not an independent formation but immature communism. The basic law of the communist mode of production is valid: "planned production for the extended satisfaction of social needs."
The development potential of the country is placed at the service of the people and their needs through the Central Planning. This is also valid for whatever has been created by human activity in science, technology and culture that ensures a higher standard of living and intellectual development. Unemployment and labour insecurity will be eradicated, free time will be increased, so that the working people will be able to actively participate and exercise workers' control, amongst other things, in order to safeguard the character of working class power.
Socialist construction is a unified process which starts with the conquest of power by the working class. In the beginning, the new mode of production is formed, which basically prevails through the complete abolition of capitalist relations, of the relation between capital and wage labour.

*The means of production will be socialized: in industry, energy-water supply, telecommunications, construction, repair, public transport, wholesale and retail trade, import-export trade, the concentrated tourist – restaurant infrastructure.
Land and the capitalist agricultural cultivations will be socialized.

*Private ownership and economic activity in education, health-welfare, culture, sports and mass media will be abolished. They will be organized exclusively as social services.

*Industry and the largest part of agricultural production will be carried out underrelations of social ownership, Central Planning, workers' control over the whole spectrum of management and administration.

*Labour power will cease being a commodity. Τhe use of alien labour, i.e. wage labour, by those who still possess isolated means of production in sectors that have not been compulsorily socializedwill be abolished e.g. in crafts, agricultural production, tourism-restaurants, in certain auxiliary services.

*Labour force, means of production, raw materials and other industrial materials and resources, will be used in the organization of production, social and administrative services via Central Planning."

The dictatorship of the proletariat is also mentioned in that document.

[FSL]

Hello!

I am just wondering if any Marxist-Leninists (aka Stalinists) could provide a precise definition of socialism for me and shortly explain how it relates to the dictatorship of the proletariat. After a short search through Stalin's works and a few google searches, I was unable to find a single, precise definition and explanation of this subject from the Marxist-Leninist point of view. So if any Marxist-Leninist could just give a short definition and explanation, it would be appreciated!

The "dictatorship of the proletariat" is the no-nonsense way of referring to every possible type of a workers' state. Similarly, all types of bourgeois states (constitutional monarchies, parliamentary democracies, presidential democracies or even military juntas) are all "dictatorships of capital". By talking about a dictatorship of the proletariat, you're talking about the event where workers overthrow the old state and create their own.


After political power has been captured by the working class, the appropriators are appropriated and the economy is organized according to socialist principles. What that might mean in each specific case is well laid out in the post above but you can also read marx's critique of the gotha programme in which socialism is referred to as the lower stage of communism.

[Comrade Jacob]

Socialism: A transitional period to Communism in which the means of production is democratically in the hands of the proletariat and the surplus goes to the state for the benefit of all.
That's how I view it.

[Mohr]

Socialism is the negation of capitalism. If the people are used to the laws of supply and demand, or wealth and poverty, and they believe they can achieve their happiness amid the mud, then they are capitalists. But if they are organizing and fighting for power, to remove the government of the rich, then they are socialists.

[LeninistIthink]

Back when I was kinda like castroist the definition I was always taught as the M-L definition was that socialism is a transnational period between capitalism and communism. IDK if this is 100% correct for M-Ls . I did read a piece by Lenin today saying socialism must be classless on marx2mao, is that in the M-L definition too ?