essays-ccs/socialism_faq.md

Socialism FAQ

On the difference between schools of thought:

• Can someone give us a quick like-we're-five rundown of the distinctions between Trotskyism, Maoism, orthodox Marxism, and so on?

• Can someone give me a brief ELI5 rundown of communism/socialism/anarchism/syndicalism/insert-communist-leader-name-here-ism? These terms are being tossed around and I'm lost.

• Looking for reference to types of communism.

• What are the different forms of Marxism and what are their differences?

On the differences between "socialism" and "communism" (or the "lower" and "higher" stages of communism):

• Did Karl Marx use "socialism" and "communism" interchangeably?

• Is the revolutionary DotP a separate material stage apart from lower phased communism?

• [Is socialism the lowest stage of communism or is it the transition to communism, in between capitalism and communism?](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/2rijno/is_socialism_the_lowest_staypal , but its lockedage_of_communism_or_is/)

Why do you defend [x] country? Don't you know [y] leader killed [z] people?

• Recommended reading: The Triumph of Evil, Chapter 1: The Documented Facts About Eastern Europe and Communism by A. Murphy

Didn't communism fail? It works on paper but not in practice.

• [Honestly not trolling] Why, in your opinion, have most attempts to form countries based economically on communism and socialism (USSR, Cuba, China) fail?

• Why did the Soviet Union fail?

• Communism, does it work?

• How do I counter the "communism is a nice thought, but it just doesn't work, as proved by Soviet and China" argument?

Who would sweep the floors under communism?

• How can people be expected to work hard if they don't get payed more FOR working harder? (I know nothing about communism)

• What prevents cultural, technological or scientific stagnation in a communist society? Also what motivation do people have to work at their Jobs?

• How does communism deal with lazy people?

• How does communism/socialism deal with human laziness?

But what about human nature?

• "What about human nature?" [ANSWER, but add yours, too]

Did the planned economies of the socialist countries work?

• My economics teacher said that the planned economies communist countries had are proven failures. Is this true?

But what about cooperatives?

• Can cooperatives bring about socialism?

What would [x] be like under communism?

• How would a record company/label work in a communist society?

• Music tours and traveling in a socialist state?

• How would airlines work for the workers and the customers in a communist world?

• How would a society without the family work?

• Distribution of housing

• Record Collecting

• How would everyday life be different in a Marxist society?

• How would non-essential products their production be promoted in a traditional Marxist economy?

• How would media be handled in a Communist state?

• What is going to happen after the revolution?

• How would a communist economy really function in practice?

• How does communism deal with niches?

• How would residentials be fairly distributed under full communism?

Further reading

• Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels

On Leninist theory

• What is the vanguard party? Is one necessary?

• Why is a vanguard party necessary in Leninism?

• What is Vanguardism and Democratic Centralism?

• What is a vanguard party supposed to be like? What qualifies and doesn't qualify as a vanguard party?

• Difference between leninism and Marxist-leninism?

• Why does left communism reject national liberation movements?

Further reading:

• The Leninist Theory of Organisation by Ernest Mandel

• Lenin: A Study on the Unity of his Thought by Georg Lukacs

On Joseph Stalin and the USSR

• What is Stalinism?

• Was Stalin's USSR State Capitalist?

• Why were there prison labor camps in the USSR and were they justified?

• What contributions did Stalin make to Marxism-Leninism?

• Opinions on Defense of Stalin and Mao

• Stalin's Purges

• What are some legitimate criticisms of Stalin?

• I need clarification on myths/truths of the USSR/Soviet Union.

• I'm fascinated by the idea of communism...

• Was the Soviet Union democratic? If so to what extent?

• How necessary or productive were the torture, mass executions of captives, and labor camps of 20th-century socialist governments and revolutions?

• Why did Lenin abolish factory committees established by workers?

• How much of the USSR's "dark history" under Stalin can actually be attributed to Yezhov?

• Forced Deportation Under Stalin

Further reading:

• A collection of Soviet history books on Stalin and Stalinism.

On Economics and Sociology

• Can someone ELI 5 the Labor Theory of Value

• Is human labor the source of value because human beings do not normally work for free?

• Value as a necessary product of labor?

• What is the right way to think about the relation between value and labor?

• I am in trouble understanding how exactly would a private property abolition work.

• Private property: Cause or result of alienation?

• In Marxian economics, is 'value' distinct from 'price'? What does 'value' indicate, exactly?

• can you explain the theory of alienation to me in a "explain like I'm five" manner?

• If private property is abolished, does this mean anyone can enter "one's home" (or where one lives) and cannot be expelled?

On Trotsky and Trotskyism

• Primarily to the trotskyists: Can you explain the theories of the degenerated workers state, the deformed workers state and state capitalism and can these theories co-exist in the same country?

• A critique of Trotsky?

• Regarding Trotsky's ‘‘Permanent revolution’’ and the two-stage theory

• How does Lenin's theory of revolution differ from Trotsky's?

• What are the main Marxist analyses of fascism? and a question regarding Trotsky's

• Did Stalin 'betray' the revolution? (repost of deleted question)

• Why was "Lenin's testament" suppressed by the Party after Lenin's death?

On the DPRK

• Why do some communists support the DPRK?

• What exactly is Juche?

• Is the DPRK socialist?

• How do elections work in the DPRK?

• Human rights and the DPRK

• What evidence is there than DPRK is not engaged in gross violations of human rights?

• Can someone explain Songbun (Caste system) of the DPRK to me?

Further reading:

• Essential readings on the Juche idea and the Korean revolution

• E-Library on the DPRK

On Mao, Maoism, and Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

• What is Maoism?

• Why did Mao launch the Cultural Revolution? What was he trying to achieve as distinct from the Revolution the Chinese Communists had already won? To what extent did he succeed? Does it have any continuing impact? (x-post from /r/AskHistorians)

• Where should I start with Mao?

• Debastardising Mao.

• How many peopled really died during the Great Leap Forward?

Further reading:

• Suggested reading for an aspiring M-L-M?

On Nationalism and Internationalism:

• Nationalism as applied internationalism.

• Nationalism and Communism?

• Why/is patriotism bad?

On Cuba

• Just how socialist was/is Cuba?

• [Honestly not trolling] Why, in your opinion, have most attempts to form countries based economically on communism and socialism (USSR, Cuba, China) fail?

• In defence of (and questions about) Cuba

• Multiple questions about Cuba

On Women's Liberation

• Is it necessary to be a feminist to be a communist?

• What real solutions does socialism have for women, LGBTQ, etc.?

• On Feminism

• What is proletarian/marxian feminism?

• Hello comrades! can anyone explain the idea of marxist-feminism?

Liberalism

• Why do communists dislike liberals?

• What is liberalism? (Olly from Philosophy Tube)

• What about free speech?

Human Nature

• Doesn't socialism go against human nature?

Tactics

• Do Marxists oppose individual terrorism? (Trotsky)

• What is Antifa? (Olly)

Branches

• What's the difference between anarchism and communism?

• What are Mao's contributions to Marxism? (MLM)

Markets

• Why are communists against markets?

Other Topics

• Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?, 2

• What's so bad about Elon Musk? 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

• Whats so bad about bill gates?, 2

• [What's so bad about George Orwell?] (http://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/7dhx99/-/dpyxvnd)

States

• Is it true that Socialism has killed X million people, and how many has capitalism killed?

• What's the role of the state in the revolution, and what is a state?

• Why do many socialist attempts end up in an authoritarian state? Watch this brilliant talk by Micheal Parenti, or read his article, Left anticommunism, the unkindest cut.

Soviet Union

• Did the Soviet Union manufacture a famine in Ukraine?

• Fraud, Famine, and Fascism by Douglas Tottle
• The 1932 Harvest and the Famine of 1933 by Mark Tauger
• Natural Disaster and Human Actions in the Soviet Famine of 1931–1933 by Mark Tauger
• The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–1933 by Davies and Wheatcroft
• Lies Concerning the History of the Soviet Union by Mario Sousa

Did the Soviet Union repress and kill millions of people?

• The Triumph of Evil by Austin Murphy
• Human Rights in the Soviet Union by Albert Syzmanski
• Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens
• Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives by Getty and Manning
• Origins of the Great Purges by J. Arch Getty
• The Road to Terror by J. Arch Getty
• Other studies by historian by J. Arch Getty
• The Legacy of Stalinism by "brown-eggs"
• Khrushchev Lied by Grover Furr
• Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti
• Blood Lies: The Evidence that Every Accusation against Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union in Timothy Snyder's 'Bloodlands' Is False by Grover Furr

Did the Soviet Union and the Warsaw pact nations have functioning democracies?

• Soviet Communism: A New Civilization by Sydney and Beatrice Webb
• Is the Red Flag Flying? by Albert Syzmanski
• Socialism Betrayed by Keeran and Kenny
• Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934–1941 by Robert Thurston
• Democracy, East Germany, and the Berlin Wall by Stephen Gowans
• The Russians are Coming: The Politics of Anti-Sovietism by V.L. Allen
• The 1936 Soviet Constitution
• Soviet Democracy by Pat Sloan

Was Soviet Socialism an economic failure?

• Do Publicly Owned, Planned Economies Work? by Stephen Gowans
• From Farm to Factory by Robert Allen
• The Rise of Socialism by William Foster
• We Lived Better Then by Stephen Gowans
• The Need for Planning by Joseph Ball

Did the citizens of the Soviet Union dislike their government?

• Homesick for a Dictatorship
• 60% of Russians Want Communism Back
• Former Soviet Countries See More Harm from Breakup
• Russians say Aug 1991 events are tragedy, not triumph of democracy
• Struggling Romanians Yearn for Communism
• Tajikistan Pines for Old Soviet Union Strength
• Referendum on the Preservation of the USSR
• Central Asia in Nostalgia for the Soviet Period
• Freest Under Czech Communism!
• Seven Myths about the USSR by Stephen Gowans
• An experiment in living socialism: Bulgaria then and now by F.S.
• Growing Up Under Communism Was The Happiest Time Of My Life by Zsuzsanna Clark

Peoples Republic of China

Did Mao kill millions of people?

• Did Mao Really Kill Millions in the Great Leap Forward? by Joseph Ball
• Monster or Liberator? by Carlos Martinez
• The Battle for China's Past by Mobo Gao
• Was Mao Really a Monster? The Academic Response to Chang and Halliday's "Mao: The Unknown Story" by Benton and Chun
• How did Mao manage to kill ~78 million people? by Godfree Roberts

Was the PRC a totalitarian dictatorship?

• The Rise of the Chinese People's Communes by Anna Louise Strong
• The Chinese Road to Socialism: Economics of the Cultural Revolution by E. L. Wheelwright
• Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village by William Hinton
• Shenfan: The Continuing Revolution in a Chinese Village by William Hinton
• Turning Point in China: An Essay on the Cultural Revolution by William Hinton

Cuba

Was Che a murderer and/or a racist?

• Che: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson
• Debunking the 'Che Guevara Was Racist!' Lie by Cuervo Rojo

Is Cuba a functioning democracy or a terrible place to live?

• 20 Reasons to Support Cuba
• Cuba: A Revolution in Motion by Isaac Saney
• Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion by Arnold August + http://www.democracyintheus.com/
• Cuban Democracy Fact Sheet
• All in This Together: Cuba's Participatory Democracy
• The Elected Delegate and the Dissident in Cuba's Municipal Elections by Arnold August
• 2002 Cuban Constitution
• Work and Democracy in Socialist Cuba by Linda Fuller

Did the cuban people like Fidel Castro?

Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK)

Do North Koreans believe in unicorns and think Kim Jong-Un is immortal?

• Do communists defend the nationalistic (juche) aspects of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of North Korea)? short answer: no.

• Western DPRK Propaganda: The Worst, Occasionally Hilarious, and Often Racist, Lies by Alyx Mayer
• Anti-DPRK Propaganda War – a Cavalcade of Comedy by Red Youth
• Tourist who took camera inside North Korea shocked by 'ordinary' lives of citizens

Is the DPRK a Fascist Monarchy?

• Korea Resilient! Socialism in Democratic Korea by Vince Sherman
• How to Think about Socialism in Korea
• Understanding North Korea by Stephen Gowans
• A Model of Democratic and Participatory Socialist Planning by MasCapital
• Constitution of the DPRK
• Socialist Korea: A Case Study in the Strategy of Economic Development by Brun and Hersch
• Interview: Understanding and Defending North Korea
• Democracy: US vs DPRK – Towards the Annihilation of a Narrative
• The secret genocide in South Korea you’ve probably never heard of

TODO

• Bill Gates