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Why is Marxism still a thing? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 years ago by Owell1984@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I was wondering why Marxism was still a thing and this placed seemed to be filled with Marxists. So, why? Didn't the fall of USSR teach us anything? Do today's Marxists think that USSR did something wrong? In other words, will they do anything different than the dictators of the soviet union? Also, some here seem to admire Stalin. I would really have to try hard to find a community that would admire Hitler but apparently admiring Stalin, another mass murder seems to be perfectly fine!

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[–] DPUGT2@lemmy.ml -1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They likely would not only choose to act differently based on lessons learned, but they would have to.

Why? Why would they have to act differently? What would force this to be so? What if, for instance, they considered that the projected failure of their state 100 years after the founding to just be the price of utopia, and did everything the same way? What if they considered it a fluke, some extremely slight random chance that toppled their government? Like, I dunno, the misspoken utterings of a dumbass East German propaganda minister who should have kept his mouth shut or better yet "lost his job" a year prior?

There's no reason to suppose they'd have to do things differently. It might even be unreasonable to think they would, given human nature and our propensity for trying the same thing over and over, hoping that it will work "this time".

[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Why would they have to act differently? What would force this to be so?

For one, material conditions. They don't have the same resources, the same society, the same enemies, the same trade options, the same existing infrastructure, the same social expectations, etc.. 1917 Russia is not the same as 2022 Portugal, not even close. In fact, it can be argued that if they did act the same, it would violate Marxism, "a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict as well as a dialectical perspective to view social transformation". It's not some static formula.

What if, for instance, they considered that the projected failure of their state 100 years after the founding to just be the price of utopia, and did everything the same way? What if they considered it a fluke, some extremely slight random chance that toppled their government?

Then they'd be laughed at, and hopefully ignored by any organization that takes itself seriously. There are people like that you can find online, and I don't see them getting popular in organizations or their online communities.

It might even be unreasonable to think they would

Absolutely not. Look at how capitalism has changed since its inception. Even today there are clearly distinct forms, such as comparing the Nordic Model to USA's current economy. They clearly didn't just do the same thing. They had different conditions, difference social values, different pressures from rival economies, different capacity for invading other countries, all which visibly influence how their economic systems and social governance developed.