• Che Banana@beehaw.org
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    11 days ago

    Saying that Stalin was a communist is like saying Trump is altruistic.

    Call it like it is: he was a dictator and the following regimes were dressed in the same cloth.

    • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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      11 days ago

      You can also just say he was a communist but also bad. Not all communists or communist projects have to be virtuous for communism to be right.

    • dogbert@lemmy.zipOP
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      11 days ago

      Communism (correction - Socialism) is a dictatorship of the proletariat. Resources must be usurped from the ruling class by force, as they cannot be reasoned with. There is nothing wrong with that.

      • _cryptagion [he/him]@anarchist.nexus
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        11 days ago

        Communism is a dictatorship of the proletariat.

        no, the dictatorship of the proletariat is supposed to be a transitional phase. once you get to communism, it’s not supposed to be a dictatorship of anyone. even Marx allowed that it was possible that in a country with a strong democratic system, that the dictatorship of the proletariat might not even be needed. ironically, one of the countries where he said it might be possible was the United States and Great Britain.

        clearly, times have changed.

        • dogbert@lemmy.zipOP
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          11 days ago

          You’re correct. Thank you for clarifying.

          My point about “dictatorship” being “not real communism” still holds though. The dictatorship is required to achieve communism.

      • masquenox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 days ago

        is a dictatorship of the proletariat

        So Communism (correction - Socialism) is whatever the people who control all the tanks says it is?

        How convenient.

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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        11 days ago

        There’s nothing wrong with usurping resources from the ruling class, but there is a lot wrong with imposing tyranny on the proletariat.

        • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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          11 days ago

          Which is what the previous ruling class will always accuse you of when you usurp their resources.

          • dogbert@lemmy.zipOP
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            11 days ago

            For many westerners, communism is just a fantasy. They have no material grasp on what happens when you try to do it. They think you just magically redistribute resources while the ruling class stands by without interference.

            • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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              11 days ago

              I speculate that the deep influence of Christianity on the West has created a culture where people think that the point of ideology is to cultivate the most virtuous personal beliefs, not to actually try to materially change anything. It’s better to die on the cross than to actually be pragmatic.