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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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[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yes, you are very deeply wrong. You can read about some of the immediate improvements in quality of life and life expectancy as a result of the revolution here. Claiming that Russia traded an imperial elite for another class of elites shows your lack of knowledge of the subject. One of the direct results of the revolution was that means of production were put towards the needs of the majority, and this is what resulted in the improvements I list in the link above.

[–] H4rdStyl3z@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You do raise some interesting points. I'll admit I do have some bias (same as most westerners, probably) towards conflating Russia/Eastern Europe's current situation with being the result of communism directly when it's more likely that it's a result of a communist country not being able to directly adopt a capitalist system without turmoil.

I am still skeptical of USSR's regime in the matter of individual freedoms (which Karl Marx did not want to infringe on, distinguishing between private property and personal property AFAIK) and human rights, which I greatly value, but I'll admit I was wrong regarding scientific/industrial/societal progress, even under Stalin.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The thing to keep in mind is that communist states have never been allowed to develop peacefully. Every communist and socialist experiment has been under threat from the global capitalist system that has far greater resources available to it. This creates a selection bias where only militant regimes survive because other ones are simply destroyed as was seen in Chile. Parenti has a great article discussing this that I recommend reading.

[–] H4rdStyl3z@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

Ah yes, totally, the Chilean socialist regime falling due to US interference was a tragedy and a butchery, we can both agree on that.