KKSankara

Hey all,

I'll be honest that I have no idea how the Bolsheviks won the war considering the Red Army was newly formed, had no funding, WWI had already destroyed the countryside and led to millions of deaths, the White Army possessed most loyal and experienced top military from the former Russian Empire, the 13 most powerful and wealthiest empires and countries in history invaded on behalf of the Whites, rogue leftist anti-Bolshevik armies and gangs formed, sabotage and counter-revolution, etc. It seemed like the Red Army was fighting on every single possible front for the mere existence of the fledgling socialist nation.

So how did they win? Out of all this chaos how did the Bolsheviks retain power and, ultimately, were able form soviet republics across the former Russian Empire? I genuinely do not understand.

Of course I'm glad they won, but can an understanding of why and how they won still be illustrative to modern movements? Not in terms of copying all tactics, the Bolsheviks had to contend with their particular material conditions which led to their particular approaches, but rather in any underlying ethos or ideological tendency in building and maintaining power after the initial revolution which can be helpful to future and contemporary revolutionaries?

Also any good book recommendations would be helpful too!

Hey all,

I'm currently developing a Marxist-Leninist analysis of settler colonialism, especially in light of the situation in Palestine, and am going to read Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat by J. Sakai for the first time. Before I do I was just curious what other comrades think of the book and its analysis? It seems a pretty controversial text among many online Marxist groups, to whatever extent that matters, but as an Indigenous communist I feel having a clear and principled stance on the settler question is important for all serious communists. I'm not sure if I'll agree with Sakai specifically, but since I generally agree with the opinions of y'all, I was curious as to your thoughts on the book.

From Breakthrough News.

I'll admit I'm not super knowledgeable on the inner workings and operations of groups like the Bolsheviks, but before revolutions how did the professional revolutionaries necessary to lead the party, whether it be Stalin or Deng Xiaoping, get money to live? Whether organizing within the country or living in exile, they still need to eat and pay for things. What financially allows professional revolutionaries to make revolution their profession, so they can devote their time and energy fully to the cause without having to work a day job? The necessity of such a day job is what typically stops many from being able to become professional revolutionaries, as there are no doubt many Lenins and Sankaras in the world who aren't able to change the world due to their necessity to have to work a job in order to live and survive.

How can modern organizations and parties implement structures to facilite a class of professional revolutionaries?

For those of us, unfortunately, in the imperial core, what steps should we take to stop a US war with China over Taiwan? I've honestly been pretty scared since the war in Ukraine started knowing that China is next. We must avoid this at all costs to save the thousands of Chinese lives that will be sacrificed by the west in their bid to reestablish a unipolar world.

While I'm not discounting the achievements of the anti-war movement in support of Vietnam, the war still waged on for years. The same with Iraq. What should be done differently?

Hello, I'd like to first say as someone who is not Chinese and well-versed in the theory surrounding one country two systems, I'm asking this more for educational reasons.

From my ignorant perspective I understand the important practical usage of the policy regarding the handing over of Hong Kong and Macau, and hopefully soon Taiwan, into the control of the PRC. If, like many Ultras and Maoists wanted, the PRC had immediately brought the former colonies, with highly entrenched and developed capitalist systems, under the direct control and supervision of the CPC, than most likely the UK and Portugal wouldn't had even agreed to let them go, or if they did would immediately instigate color revolutions and mass violence. It was necessary, if undesirable, to maintain stability and social cohesion between the economies, west, and peoples of the former colonies by allowing a degree of independence and separation between them and the PRC. This is why the same policy is directed at the eventual reunification of Taiwan.

(As well its so hypocritical that the west demonizes China over its handling of Hong Kong given that China has been extremely lenient and hands-off compared to most governments, especially western ones, faced with the same situation of gaining control over new territory with a completely different, and opposed, economic model. We only have to look at the disastrous and quick implementation of decommunization to see such hypocrisy).

But will the policy end? And if so what are the preconditions which must be met in order to change the policy? Essentially, when will the PRC abolish the privileges Hong Kong and Macau posses and directly incorporate them within the economic and political system of the PRC? When will the CPC gain complete control over them? For many like myself I actively look forward to this day, to see the full freedoms the PRC grants given to the people of the former colonies. But what must be done in order for this process to begin? Is it a gradual process which has been actively taking place since reunification, or will it take place more rapidly in the future?

Again, I think China has bigger problems to worry about then this, and I believe the policy is itself correct and necessary. So I'm not proposing Xi must press the socialism button on Hong Kong now or else he's not a real comrade. Rather, I'm curious as to how this entire situation is to be resolved, or how the CPC currently sees this happening.

By successful I mean in maintaining relative party unity, work with the masses, and thus the masses trust in the party, and political and economic stability.

With the exception of the latter years of the Cultural Revolution, the CPC has been remarkably stable, ideologically consistent, and have maintained power and dominance over the Chinese state and economy. All of this is even more impressive given the fall of communist states in Europe and the rise of western/American unipolarity.

While similar tendencies have been found in the CPSU, the rise of figures like Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and especially Gorbachev, and of course their supporters within the party, makes the CPSU appear less stable and ideologically consistent compared to the CPC. Added onto this the fact that the CPC has a much larger and diverse membership, including the national bourgeoisie.

Rather than viewing this question through great man theory, I want to know how the structural formation and process of the CPC itself maintains stability, and how it's party structure is different from the CPSU. While both parties are founded on democratic centralism, how does this manifest differently between the two? In an interview with Marxist Paul, Hakim said the ban on factions within the CPSU, while imperative during the civil war and early years of the revolution, ultimately hurt the party. He then praised the informal factionalism of the CPC: Dengists, Maoists, liberals, etc. From the outset it would appear that such a situation of factionalism should rip the party apart, but it doesn't. Why,?

Looking at the relatively young history of communist movements and parties show that many, for material reasons, were/are unable to be stable and ideologically consistent. Again, outside factors and capitalist sabotage are of course a major contributing factor, but could there be structural elements within various parties which explain, to a certain extent, their successes or failures?

Seeing the immense progress the CPC has brought their own people and, increasingly, the people of the rest of the colonized world, means we must understand how they operate. Every party and movement will be different and adjusted to their particular circumstances and material conditions, and thus copy and pasting the CPC anywhere else will not yield positive results. However, could/should the structural basis of the CPC be applied and modified to other countries and contexts?

I don't know if I'm being overly paranoid or what, but I can't tell if it's safe for me openly publish some spicy stuff under my legal name. Not to sound like I think I'm the most popular girl at school, but don't most prominent leaders go by pseudonyms the rest of their lives? Not saying I'm Lenin but...

EDIT: Alright comrades you've won me over. New name, new me.