Different types of Communism - Explain

[Hate Is Art]

Can someone explain to me all the different styles of communism and how the are different etc please

[Dynatos II]

Theres only one type of communism... There are diffrent types of 'socialism'. National socialism, fabianism, democratic socialism, Marxist-Leninism, Stalinism, ect. But some are more socialist than others. Marxist-Leninism is genuin socialism.

[redstar2000]

It's been customary for the last century or so to identify Leninism with Marxism.

However, in the advanced capitalist countries that identification is pretty dubious, not to say entirely wrong.

The Leninist variant of "the dictatorship of the proletariat" -- rule by an elite "vanguard party" in the name of a small, weak working class -- may have been useful in backward countries like Russia in 1917 or China in 1949, etc. A sophisticated class-conscious proletariat in an advanced capitalist country would never tolerate such a thing...and, in fact, has refused to do so.

The Leninist paradigm of proletarian revolution -- a revolution made under the direction of a "vanguard party" -- has proven itself useless in advanced capitalist countries.

In addition, the model of the "Leninist Party" (democratic centralism) has turned out in practice to be dictatorial, bureaucratic, clumsy, intellectually stifling, and prone to gross blunders in strategy and tactics.

So, Digital Nirvana, if you are interested in real communism, study the works of Marx and Engels.

If you are interested in how Marxism was applied in pre-capitalist countries (before and after their revolutions), then, by all means, study Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and Mao.

If you want to apply Marxism to advanced capitalist countries...well, that is unexplored territory.

One of these days, we've just got to get around to doing that. :cheesy:

:cool:

[Dynatos II]

Leninism is Marxism. The dictatership of the prolitariat applise to capitalist countries only. Lenin never said it applied to pre-capitalist countries and he even said that it's imposible to build the dictatership of the proletariat in Russai without it being built in advanced countries (id find a quote but im short on time). For Russia Lenin expected the ''democratic dictatership of the proletariat and pesantry'' to carry throught the revolution. The ''Leninist variant'' of the dictatership of the proletariat is exacly the same as Marxs. To say that the Leninist proletariat revolution would be usless in capitalist countries is stating the obviouse when Lenin never meant for it to happen this way in the west. About the Leninist Party being ''dictatorial, bureaucratic, clumsy, intellectually stifling, and prone to gross blunders in strategy and tactics'' well im not sure if you mean the Bolshevik party or the soviets or whatever.

[redstar2000]

I'm not sure if this is the place to debate the merits of Leninism, nor am I clear on what you are trying to say, Dynatos II.

But the character of Leninist parties in the advanced capitalist countries is and has been exactly as I characterized it. They have behaved far more like secular religions than like revolutionary organizations...and that could be and has been documented at enormous length.

My point is that Leninism "works" for a pre-capitalist country...that is, it is successful in both attaining power and creating the material conditions for a modern capitalist society. When you put aside the rhetoric and the red flags, you are still stuck with the fact that pre-capitalist societies cannot "jump over" capitalism into socialism. Material reality is ultimately more powerful, far more, than idealist ambition.

That's a Marxist view of the matter. Other views do exist, unfortunately.

:cool: