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Can someone explain this to me:
Marxism= based on theory of Marx
Leninism= based on Lenin's theories
Marxism-Leninism= an amalgam between both, created by Stalin
Why not call it stalinism?
- Stalinism is a term people use to mean something else
- Marxism-Leninism is a name that explains what it is quite nicely. You can have disagreements with other Marxist-Leninists (e.g. USSR and China) about what works, whereas Stalinism implies you specifically want what Stalin did (but that should really only apply to a specific time and place, namely Stalin’s governance of the USSR)
I see, thanks for explaining. So it's a bit like a 'do like I say, not like I do' kind of situation...
So it’s a bit like a ‘do like I say, not like I do’ kind of situation
Wow, I must have horribly explained it then.
No, it’s more like different strategies might be more appropriate for a specific time and place, based on trial and error (e.g. how can we avoid the fall of the USSR in China?), the resources of your country, threats of other countries, etc.
Ok thanks!
Stalin did as much as he could to distance himself from Lenin and to minimalize him. He was just a jackboot dictator. Calling anything stalinism would just be a reference to being a mass murderer probably. Dude had zero principals. Marx was a philosopher (economics didn't used to really be separate from philosophy), Lenin based much of his beliefs on Marxist theory, but was a revolutionary and then political leader.
Stalin was just a vicious power hungry idiot who siezed power after Lenins death. Lenin would of never chose him. He should never be mentioned in the same breath as Marx. He was involved in Lenins government so, some association can be made there.
People really need to read some Marx. Especially his earlier works which are mostly (still very valid and relevant) critiques of the capitalist system. There's too much stigma because of all the red scare bullshit and he just gets tied to every communist dictator ever because he is like the godfather of communist ideas.
~Sincerely, Some weird guy who reads too many books on econ theory
Lenin was a Marxist when it was convenient, but not when it didn't gain him power. Certainly after joining with Trotsky it gets very difficult to call him Marxist. Obviously the Mensheviks never considered him a Marxist, with mixed feelings from the SRs. I think following the machine gunners of kronstadt is the easiest way to tell when he's being a Marxist vs something else. They were pretty reliablely Marxist the entire revolution.