Stalin and 'Stalinism'

Stalin and "Stalinism"

There has never been, before or now, anywhere, a personality more hated and slandered by the world bourgeoisie and its mercenary spokespersons, than the Georgian Joseph V. Dzhugashvili (December 21, 1879 to March 5, 1953). He himself discarded his baptismal name to take the name Stalin, by which he will always be remembered in the history of the humanity.

Imperialist propaganda has made a myth of that name, that of an individual who personifies crime, evil in all its numerous manifestations. In a century in which the bourgeoisies of the countries fighting for the domination of markets unleashed two world wars and caused millions of people to die, as in the 20th century, now it only remains to place all faults, some real and some imaginary, on the man called Stalin. Nobody names, of course, such a person as Harry Truman, who had atomic bombs dropped on the very populous Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus causing hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Or the cruel bombardment that Winston Churchill ordered carried out against the defenseless German city of Dresden despite its being inhabited then only by elderly people, children and disabled people.

There was a time, as many may remember, when for Yankee propaganda the personification of evil was represented by a German named Adolf Hitler, and in recent times that role has been assigned to political leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. At present, little by little, although on a smaller scale they are trying to do the same with our president Hugo Chavez. This is a technique that can be characterized as that of "St. George and the Dragon," in which the role of St. George corresponds to Yankee imperialism. It is the Anglo-Saxon mentality that needs to see in every adversary a bandit.

In reality the purpose of this permanent campaign against Stalin, which many people on the left echo blinded by a habitual anti-communism, is to discredit in the eyes of the peoples the very idea of socialism.

In present-day circumstances, when the world crisis of capitalism can no longer be concealed, and the socialist solution is the only feasible one, this campaign of slanders centered on the figure of Stalin means in practice to try to lead the world to a dead end. Therefore Washington’s servants try to present false versions of socialism – some real illusions created by the petty bourgeoisie– and a distorted historic version of the concrete experiences of socialist construction.

However, each day it becomes forcefully clearer that socialism is only possible in which the national peculiarities and the situations of the epoch in no way contradict the principles of scientific socialism of The Communist Manifesto stated by Marx and Engels. Just as Lenin and Stalin interpreted them in the foundation and development of the USSR.

It is helpful to bring to light here these significant words of Alexander Lukashenko, current president of the Republic of Byelorussia, speaking last September before the 60th General Assembly of the UN in New York: "... fifteen years have passed since the end of my country, the Soviet Union. This event has dramatically changed the world order. The Soviet Union, in spite of all the errors and betrayals of its leaders, was the source of hope and support for many States and peoples. The Soviet Union guaranteed equilibrium in the world..."

Stalin was without a doubt the main builder of the Soviet State, and "Stalinism" was the master plan which, in accordance with that epoch, made possible such a successful construction.

Jerónimo Carrera (from the Communist Party of Venezuela).

Comrade do you have info on Stalin Pre-Revolution. For Stalin was in the Revolution Koba. Really new to me.

There was a time, as many may remember, when for Yankee propaganda the personification of evil was represented by a German named Adolf Hitler, and in recent times that role has been assigned to political leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. At present, little by little, although on a smaller scale they are trying to do the same with our president Hugo Chavez. This is a technique that can be characterized as that of "St. George and the Dragon," in which the role of St. George corresponds to Yankee imperialism. It is the Anglo-Saxon mentality that needs to see in every adversary a bandit.

This reminds me of a little book by historian Anne Morelli, called "Elementary principles of war propaganda". War propaganda is not just for shooting wars, it's useful in cold, hot or lukewarm wars. Some of the elementary principles described: "We don't want war." "The other camp is responsible." "We defend a noble cause, not private interests." "The enemy commits cruelties, we make unintentional errors." "Artists and intellectuals support our cause." "Anyone who doubts our propaganda is a traitor."

Most noteworthy, however, is that the enemy leader should resemble the Devil himself. He is the "monster of the week", like in so many mecha series in which the bad guys come up with a new super-powered mobile suit in every episode. The war is not just waged against the Hun or the Jap, but more specifically against Napoleon, the Kaiser, Mussolini, Hitler, Nasser, Kadhaffi, Khomeini, Saddam or Milosevic. Behind this revolting mask, one can hide the diversity of the people who are governed by this leader.

Such treatment is no less than Orwellian. In 1913, the German Kaiser was still a "gentleman", one year later he was a barbaric leader, a modern Judas. After WWII, Hitler became the new benchmark for demonic leaders. All our enemies had to share his likeness, be his direct descendant or reincarnation. When necessary, that is. Before that, Ceausescu was a popular guest, who resisted the Evil Empire's infuence. Saddam was our "secular" ally. Milosevic was a man of peace who raised his glass with Chirac and Clinton. Yet soon after, Saddam's moustache was shortened to make him look like Hitler, and Milosevic must have been insane (http://michaelparenti.org/Milosevic.html).

Of course, since these leaders are Hitler incarnates, it is fully justified to bomb their cities into rubble, to destroy its industry (because they make WMDs...), eliminate its media (because they make state propaganda...) and ruin the country and its people. Who wouldn't support that? Because you don't want to defend Hitler, would you?