different types of communism

[Myke]

i've been doing lots of research on the various types of communism...marxism, leninism, trotskyism...

and everywhere i go, there are these overly complex descriptions...

what i was wondering is if someone could possibly break down the various types of communism in laymans terms so i can gain a better understanding.

[RedLenin]

Anarcho-Communism - Feels that the proletariat must liberate itself from capitalist oppression and smash the state. Further, anarcho-communists believe that a workers state should not be established, as anarchists define the state only as rule by a minority. Hence, according to anarchists, it would be impossible for a majority class to control a state. Anarcho-communists also feel that the abolition of money is very important and should take place as soon as possible. They don't believe in a seperate 'transition stage' but instead see the revolution as a long process that will result in communism.

Left Communists - Consider themselves Marxists but not Leninists, Trotskyists, or Stalinists. Like anarchists, they believe that the Proletariat itself must liberate itself from capitalist oppression and must smash the capitalist state. Left communists believe that the Proletariat must establish a workers state. However, as to ensure rule by the entirity of the class, left communists propose that the workers state must be a direct democracy based on workers councils. These councils would be composed of elected and recallable delegates. The difference with anarchism is mainly a difference in definition. Left Communists are Marxists and, as such, define the state as the oppression of one class by another. Hence, to them, a workers state is a direct democracy of the workers where a monopoly on force is put in the hands of the workers councils. Hence, a proletariat state is not a contradiction, as anarchists contend. Plus, left communists typically reject unions and participation in bourgeois elections.

Marxism-Leninism-Trotskyism - Trotskyists follow Marxism as well as the contributions of Lenin and Trotsky to Marxist theory. They believe in the vangaurd party as the advanced element of the Proletariat that will lead the class in the revolution. Trotskyists also emphasize workers democracy and class rule. However, unlike left communists, Trotskyists do believe in participating in bourgeois elections, working in the unions, and the necessity of a vanguard party. The most important feature of Trotskyism is its emphasis on revolution being international. According to Trotskyists, like Left communists and anarchists, socialism is international or it is not socialism at all.

Stalinism - Claims to follow Marx and Lenin but virtually ignores everything written by them that emphasizes democracy and class rule. Follows the theory of Socialism in One Country, that claims that socialism can exist in one nation before it becomes international. Stalinists believe in an extremely long transition period of 'socialism' where the 'workers state', which is controled by buerocrats acting in the name of the workers, suppresses all 'counter revolution' and helps the nations economy. Stalinism also advocates the suppression of supposedly 'counter revolutionary' speech and ideas. Essentially, Stalinism supports totalitarian rule by a vanguard.

Maosim - Basically the same as Stalinism, but places more emphasis on the peasantry and guerrilla warfare.

Those are the main branches of Communism. Those definitions are based partly on my opinion, so some people may disagree with some of them. I am flirting between Left Communism and Trotskyism at the moment.

[Myke]

awesome, thank you so much for your reply.

[Whitten]

Stalinism - Claims to follow Marx and Lenin but virtually ignores everything written by them that emphasizes democracy and class rule. Follows the theory of Socialism in One Country, that claims that socialism can exist in one nation before it becomes international. Stalinists believe in an extremely long transition period of 'socialism' where the 'workers state', which is controled by buerocrats acting in the name of the workers, suppresses all 'counter revolution' and helps the nations economy. Stalinism also advocates the suppression of supposedly 'counter revolutionary' speech and ideas. Essentially, Stalinism supports totalitarian rule by a vanguard.

So much for a non-biased response... First of all "Stalinist" is just a slur thrown about by ultra-lefties to discredit original marxist-leninist theory.

Marxism - A form of socialism advocated by Karl Marx. It advocates the creation of a workers state after the overthrow of capitalism, which will be run democraticly by the workers, this will be called the "dictatorship of the proletariat" (which in moderns terms essentially means "workers government"). Marx didnt go into to much detail about how such a state should be run so different Marxists ideas vary greatly. Eventually the workers state would become unnecessary and wither away, leaving true communism.

Marxism-Leninism - A form of Marxism which models itself around the writings of Lenin. The key defining principle of Leninism is that of the Vanguard, the most developed of the proletariat, who will lead the proletariat into the revolution. In almost all other ways its essentially the same as traditional Marxism, although alot of Leninists adopt some of the organisation present in the early soviet union.

[Forward Union]

There is google, Wikipedia and a dictonary on this very site, that explains and provides links for further reading. :rolleyes:

[ern]

Hi

cobra90x, not all left communists defend the idea of the proletarian state. For the International Communist Current, one of the main lessons from the Russian revolution is that the proletariat cannot identify itself with the state, but rather has to maintain its independence from the state. It has to impose its dictatorship over the state. The linked article goes into the question of the state in the period of transition and other problems arising in this period in more detail problems of the period of transition (http://http://en.internationalism.org/ir/113_pot_ir1.html)

[Janus]

There is google, Wikipedia and a dictonary on this very site, that explains and provides links for further reading.
There are also a couple of recent threads on it as well.

[Myke]

i appologize...but thanks to those who responded.