Ask A Red V: The Five-Year Plan

[ReindeerThistle]

In honor of the Cuban diplomats who are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner, I give you the Cuban National Anthem.


Link to video.

 

[Daw]

I'll have to think on it.

It's just to say I'm still interested. Don't want to seem in any way pushy or demanding though.

 

[jackelgull]

How do you view Democratic Socialism? More specifically, do you agree with its emphasis on democratically implementing socialism through the ballot?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

How do you view Democratic Socialism?

Harshly.

More specifically, do you agree with its emphasis on democratically implementing socialism through the ballot?

I don't agree that it's possible, no.

Any reds who consider themsel their support of Communism to constitute belonging a separate Communist ethnicity?

No.

Communism seems to be more than just an ideology and more a unique lifestyle distinct from established ethnic groups based on ancestral kinship and religion.

It's not.

Some other things that make me ask this question is that Communist promote international workers solidarity as opposed to civic and ethnic nationalism. Basically, Communists consider the world to be their homeland and view territorial and ethnic nationalists to be oppressors against whom they seek liberation. There is also a distinct Communist culture: There are Communist songs, paintings and more.

And?

 

[jackelgull]

Harshly.

Why do you view it so harshly though? What in your opinion is the greatest failing of democratic socialism?

 

[Tahuti]

What do you think of the Mladorossi?

 

[_random_]

I don't agree that it's possible, no.

In light of that, what's the idea behind Marxist-Leninist parties running candidates for office in bourgeois democracies? What do you believe the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Alternative, CPUSA (formerly) et al. could accomplish through this?

(Also, I'm aware that there are plenty of non-American examples of this phenomenon but I listed those because you, RT, and I are all American so I figured it would be easiest to explain this using our own context. Although if you know of a case where a Marxist-Leninist Party has actually gained power through elections, I'd be curious to learn how that went.)

(Also, I realized I sounded like a douche about the Populists/People's Party confusion a little ways back, and I wanted to clarify that I meant to confirm that you understood my question correctly, not be stubbornly insistent on referring to the People's Party by its official name rather than the one by which it's popularly known.)

 

[ReindeerThistle]

I can't speak for PSL, but CPUSA used to run candidates to prove how rigged the system is. Now, they just support the Dems as the lesser of two evils.

The New Deal agencies and FDR's administration was full of communists and progressives, but the irony is that they were all working to save capitalism.

No Marxist-Leninist Party -- and I qualify that because Salvador Allende was an M-L, but UP, his Party, was not -- has ever come to power by elections. In Venezuela, it was a popular front in 1998, and the PSUV was built after, in 2006, but it is not Marxist-Leninist.

Even Che said that the July 26th movement did not become ML until it started fighting in the Sierra Maestra.

But in the US, it is not possible to elect in the revolution. The machine barely tolerates independents, let alone revolutionaries.

 

[_random_]

I can't speak for PSL, but CPUSA used to run candidates to prove how rigged the system is.

How did that work exactly? To my knowledge, there's never been enough widespread support for communism in the US that one would expect democratic elections to reflect it. I guess you could argue that support would be more widespread if not for systemic supression of Marxist movements, but that demonstration seems to be preaching to the choir, more or less.

Now, they just support the Dems as the lesser of two evils.

That's generally frowned upon, right? Do you think there are any circumstances where that's warranted?

 

[Hygro]

I'm not familiar with the brand of anarchism they practice at Red Emma's, I just picked up a few books and had some coffee. They have some vegan cafe items that looked interesting, but that's generally not my thing. If I had to guess; being that they specifically celebrate Emma Goldman and not generic "anarchism" (meaning you can expect everything from Max Stirner to Robert Nozick), I would expect them to be Platformists, which is probably similar to anarcho-syndicalism (they will generally take CNT as their model of Anarchism Done Right).

the biggest thing problem they, along with all anarchists, have is that they readily eschew the kind of organization necessary to build a real mass organization. They should read "What is to be Done?" and think on how the failings of Catalonia demonstrate the necessity of such organization.

I see. Thanks!

I can't speak for PSL, but CPUSA used to run candidates to prove how rigged the system is. Now, they just support the Dems as the lesser of two evils.

The New Deal agencies and FDR's administration was full of communists and progressives, but the irony is that they were all working to save capitalism.

No Marxist-Leninist Party -- and I qualify that because Salvador Allende was an M-L, but UP, his Party, was not -- has ever come to power by elections. In Venezuela, it was a popular front in 1998, and the PSUV was built after, in 2006, but it is not Marxist-Leninist.

Even Che said that the July 26th movement did not become ML until it started fighting in the Sierra Maestra.

But in the US, it is not possible to elect in the revolution. The machine barely tolerates independents, let alone revolutionaries.

Do you find iterations of Marxism or efforts toward communism/socialism feasible or amenable, other than M-L?

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Do you find iterations of Marxism or efforts toward communism/socialism feasible or amenable, other than M-L?

I do. I am a materialist.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Why do you view it so harshly though? What in your opinion is the greatest failing of democratic socialism?

Their greatest failing is their revisionism. You cannot change class control of the state without violence. The ruling class will never allow their power to be voted away.

What do you think of the Mladorossi?

I don't. They're fascists.

In light of that, what's the idea behind Marxist-Leninist parties running candidates for office in bourgeois democracies? What do you believe the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Alternative, CPUSA (formerly) et al. could accomplish through this?

I can't speak for PSL, but CPUSA used to run candidates to prove how rigged the system is. Now, they just support the Dems as the lesser of two evils.

We [PSL] run candidates for local office to serve as a bully pulpit if we do win. The key, though, is that communists should never find themselves administering the bourgeois apparatus for the bourgeoisie. A city councillor is one thing; a mayor is entirely different. At the presidential level, yes, it is pretty much as a political statement. Get the name and the message out. But as usual, the only ballot box we invest time and trouble in winning at is the labor ballot box.

SAlt actually believes that they are accomplishing things, though. I think they're in danger of becoming full-on revisionists and establishment socialists. The signs of this developing in Seattle are already mounting, and they're coming into conflict with more radical communist organizations in the area over issues of labor militancy and leadership. But what else can you expect from Trots really? They've always betrayed the working class once they find the first opportunity.

CPUSA is a joke, and I want to be clear that in RT's post, "they" refers to the CPUSA as Democrat-supporters, not the PSL.

 

[Tahuti]

I don't. They're fascists.

How so? Is it in their attempts of restoring the Russian monarchy, the Socialism in One Country implicit to their doctrine or something else entirely?

 

[Hygro]

I do. I am a materialist.

Thanks.

You frequently refer to China as a country with leadership committed to socialism. From the outside they look like a group who retains the name but is more interested in economic growth and national success irrespective of class ideology. In the past we have seen a huge surge in super wealthy. Will there come a reckoning where they strip those of their wealth, and if so, why are they allowing it now?

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Thanks.

You frequently refer to China as a country with leadership committed to socialism. From the outside they look like a group who retains the name but is more interested in economic growth and national success irrespective of class ideology. In the past we have seen a huge surge in super wealthy. Will there come a reckoning where they strip those of their wealth, and if so, why are they allowing it now?

Good question. I don't know about a day of reckoning with the super wealthy, but I do know that THEY understand that this is being allowed and they know that in spite of their wealth, they are not immune from criminal prosecution.

And China has a lot of educating to do.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

How so? Is it in their attempts of restoring the Russian monarchy, the Socialism in One Country implicit to their doctrine or something else entirely?

The mixing of the two. Basically these people, like the NazBols, want to take the , command economies and "caring for the poor" parts of socialism, jettison the need for worldwide revolution or anything attempting to end political classes, and attach it to a hereditary, authoritarian government. It's a caricatured understanding of what Socialism in One Country, and socialism in general, even was. It's absurd and deserves to be forgotten to history.

 

[_random_]

We [PSL] run candidates for local office to serve as a bully pulpit if we do win. The key, though, is that communists should never find themselves administering the bourgeois apparatus for the bourgeoisie. A city councillor is one thing; a mayor is entirely different. At the presidential level, yes, it is pretty much as a political statement. Get the name and the message out.

As I recall, you were unaffiliated for a while after leaving the CPUSA. Why'd you pick the PSL, out of the myriad of parties on the American far left?

And what does being a communist city council member look like in practice? A friend of mine works for a non-profit that lobbies the Memphis city council for more equitable public transportation and civilian oversight of police. If you were a member, would you work to implement an agenda like that? How do you balance serving people's material interests without lending legitimacy to oppressive institutions? And why would being mayor cross that line?

Also, suppose, due to some outrageous far-fetched scenario (maybe a Clinton-Rubio sex tape leak in which both speak of loving ISIL and hating the American middle class), Gloria La Riva actually becomes president. What would she actually do?

But as usual, the only ballot box we invest time and trouble in winning at is the labor ballot box.

What's the level of far-left involvement in the modern American labor movement? And what about votes for a union endorsement of a political candidate?

Sorry for pestering you with so many questions. Do let me know if any are stupid. I have important things to be doing, so I figured I'd do this instead.

 

[Flying Pig]

I can't remember which poster here described themselves as a Stalinist, but how far is it possible to divorce 'Stalinism' from the less savoury actions of Stalin's rule? Certainly, I'd argue that xenophobia and mass murder are not simply extraneous parts of 'Hitlerism' but absolutely central to it: how are (say) the cult of personality and huge secret police repression seen in historical Stalinism different?

 

[Hygro]

Good question. I don't know about a day of reckoning with the super wealthy, but I do know that THEY understand that this is being allowed and they know that in spite of their wealth, they are not immune from criminal prosecution.

And China has a lot of educating to do.

Cool thanks. Is it also possible their wealth could be grandfathered in as kind of a contractual agreement of "we permitted it therefore as long as you played by our rules we won't flip the script on you personally"?



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What do you guys think more generally about derivative artistic works like sampling in hip hop and dance music.

What do you guys think about piratic media sharing.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Here is a Chinese entrepreneur's endorsement of the Communist Party of China:


Link to video.