the ideological failure of the revolution

[Blasphemy]

do you think that the russian revolution failed ideologically? i mean, do you think that leninism destroyed the revolution from a philosophical point of view? i'm not talking about stalinism, only leninism.

if you think so, can you please direct me to articles or books concerning the subject?

thanks.

[CommieBastard]

Well, i would probably agree with that, but i don't know any literature about it...
personally i'm a pacifist who beleives in peaceful revolution and the alternative space method. By acting in violence lenin cut off the possibility of a post-revolutionary society that would be absent of violence, he caused stalin in doing so. Not that i blame the guy, he was only working on the best inferences he could make, and i woul;d probably fuck up even more...

[Marxman]

The answer is no! Leninism did not fail, it was an objective factor, which is more than well explain in a book "Russia:from revolution to counter-revolution" by Ted Grant on wellred.marxist.com

[LeninCCCP]

I like you Marxman

[Marxman]

Right on the contrary! Leninism succeeded in praxis, that is why the workers' government was established. The landlord and the exploiter was swept away and the workers for the first time in history controlled their lives.

[Cassius Clay]

''I like you Marxman''

Sorry but something along the lines of 'I find your posts ver imformative and I agree with alot of what you say' would of sounded better.

Anyway Long Live Trotsky.

[Marxman]

Long live Trotsky (?!)

First understand Stalinism, Cassius Clay. Trotsky spent almost half his life studying and analysing Stalinism.

[El Che]

There is no doubt the russian revolution failed miserably from an ideological point of view. The extent to which, if at all, this is the responsibility of Lenin seems to be a point of much contention. Personaly I think he shares a great deal of responsibility. But i think the important thing now is to focuss on the task at hand, drop the unfruitful and enternal polemics.

[Marxman]

Lenin wasn't guilty of anything, quite the contrary! It was an objective factor, not the subjective.

[honest intellectual]

Lenin was true to socialism and collectivisation, but not to democracy

[Palmares]

Lenin was trying to create communism in the long-term perspective, which is at the cost of democracy. Do you think short-term anarchy would be a better method? The only way Lenin failed, was by dying. However that was beyond his power to control. By the way, what is with the "Long live Trotsky"? What happened to Stalin? Please explain Mr. Clay, if it is no trouble.

"Under all conditions well-organized violence seems to him (Stalin) the shortest distance between two points."
-Leon Trotsky

[Cassius Clay]

Just a little joke. Was it just me that found Lenin CCCP's comment 'I Like you Marxman' hillarious? Oh well.

[Palmares]

Indeed I must agree with you Mr. Clay on that point ('I Like you Marxman').

"So many people are gonna read this because Krist Novoselic wrote it but let me tell you this, I am a man of the proletariat! This is quite a boast coming from my tax bracket. Remember, socialism is an ethic not an ideology! I write this under the gaze of an actual portrait, not a print, of Lenin..."
-Krist Novoselic

[Marxman]

Lenin failed nowehere! He did exactly as he should and sometimes more. He even starved to let others eat, he lived under terrible conditions so that the others may have a roof under their heads.

"Lenin was not true to democracy" - Very untrue. Bolshevik party was the most democratic party of all and it still is. Can you think of any 21st century political parties that would accept workers or simple people without large sums of money? Even when there was war communism and civil war, Russia was still highly democratic. The collectivisation was necessary and if you don't know it was volountarily organised in the time of Lenin. And just look how Lenin responded to the WWI, he called Russia's defeat a "lesser evil" and always stood against the imperialist war and always fought against it. And do you remember how Lenin offered the colonised Russian states to free themselves? Finland immediately went apart and some of the other states as they were given free permission to do as they wanted. And let's point our attention of languages in Russia. Before Lenin, Russian language was the only formal one but Lenin made other numerous languages an upheaval and some of the very unknown languages were given its freedom.

I could talk for hours about Lenin's true democratic achievements but this will do.