Hey,everyone I had a few questions about Trotskyist theory and I thought this would be the best place to come. First of all, I wanted to know if I'm understanding Permanent Revolution correctly. From my understanding it says that in underdeveloped countries the bourgeois aren't capable or willing to stage a revolution to establish a traditional "democratic" capitalist system , and so it falls to the working class to carry you that revolution and begin implementing the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, is that right? 2nd. I'm kind of conflicted on the Vanguard and authoritarianism, I'm strongly opposed to Stalinism and Maoism, both because they have been proven to fail and they have strong authoritarian tendencies. Where does Trotskyism fall in the scale of libertrarin socialism to authortain socialism? I've read a lot of Trotsky's writings where he criticizes the authoritarian nature of the USSR, but wasn't he authoritarian himself during the Civil War, with the implementation of War Communism, the militarization of labor, and weaking of worker's controls? I understand that, those may have been necessary steps, I'm just to understand why he took those actions since he seemed opposed to authoritarianism later on. Anyway thanks for any help you can give.
Not an specialist by far but here it goes 1- Mostly correct yes, as the burgeoisie of these countries are prone to just comply with the existing order. 2- Vanguard can be done with democracy such as in the case of the Russian Revolution before Stalin. And one of the keys of trotskyism is workers democracy. As for War Communism it was a extreme and difficult decision that was made because of that specific situation, but no one in the party favored maintaning it in the long run. On "The Soviet Economy in Danger" he says "Only through the inter-reaction of these three elements, state planning, the market and Soviet democracy, can the correct direction of the economy of the transitional epoch be attained." and that the stalinist burocracy destroyed soviet democracy, and was out of touch with the market. So I'd say that it stands against the so called "authoritarian socialists".
Trotskyists are as authoritarian as is needed to win a revolution. Our "authoritarianism" is directed at the bourgeois and other reactionary and oppurtunist elements however.
Trotskyists are as authoritarian as is needed to win a revolution. Our "authoritarianism" is directed at the bourgeois and other reactionary and oppurtunist elements however. This, authoritarian with the enemies of the workers but not with the workers
