u/ThePeoplesBadger - originally from r/GenZhou
It seems that based on what I have read:

  • WW1 and the foreign-backed civil war utterly destroyed Russia and its population, but the Bolsheviks won out after a very long and drawn out period of devastation.
  • Lenin introduced the NEP to begin to build the basis for an eventually socialist economy by developing industry and agriculture with similar practices to other capitalist countries (but without imperialism)
  • There was disagreement in the Bolshevik leadership after Lenin’s strokes and passing on how to move forward. Some top party leaders suggested moving forward “at a snail’s pace,” but it seems that Stalin had a very “yes we can” attitude, introduced five year plans, and completely revolutionized the country/countries in socialist construction.
  • When Stalin died, Khrushchev turned around and in his “secret speech,” condemned Stalin and hung all blame on Stalin for all of the problems in the USSR.
  • Khrushchev initiated changes and reforms that were seen by China as extremely problematic and revisionist, contributing to the Sino-Soviet split.
  • China followed some very similar approaches to building socialism as the USSR but also approaches unique to the material nature of China, hence “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
  • Mao dies in the 70s (right? I could have the dates wrong) and the torch is passed to Deng Xiaoping, and China opens up to foreign trade and meets with Nixon and China becomes an economic power on the international market.
  • It seems like since then, China has been working deliberately and exactingly toward eliminating poverty, raising the living standards, and building up industries and trade across the entire spectrum.

Please correct any misunderstandings I may have above, as these are the understandings that form the basis of my questions.

  1. What were the reforms initiated by Khrushchev?
  2. What were the reforms initiated by Deng?
  3. How/why were the Khrushchev reforms revisionist?
  4. Were the Deng reforms revisionist, and regardless, why or why not?
  • archive_botOPB
    0·
    2 years ago

    u/EarDry9811 - originally from r/GenZhou
    I got grifted by one too many “leftists” who kept promoting anti-communism. Chomsky is one that comes to mind but there’s also a lot of younger people from the “Dirtbag” left who are really patsocs or just plain liberals. I also became disillusioned with the American left after Sanders dropped out the second time. Their ideologies had a lot of internal contradictions which became obvious after a while.

    I eventually found Parenti whom resonated with me because he called out a lot of the hypocrisy of the leftists I’d encountered. In trying to learn more about Parenti I stumbled on ultra-leftist forums which ironically criticized him. I chatted with some of the members about their opinions and learned that although he’s a USSR and China sympathizer his writings aren’t really from a Marxist point of view. His work is still good and somewhat worth reading but the problem is that he rehabilitates the USSR on liberalism’s terms.

    From there, I focused less on current politics and trying to change the system and more on unlearning my foundations (growing up in a capitalist society) so I can learn to think like a Marxist and understand the motivations which lead to the formation of the USSR and Marxist revolutions elsewhere.

    Although ultra-leftism has it’s issues, I’ll admit that it’s a really fast track to developing a fundamental base of Marxist theory. Ultras are really good when it comes to discussion of theory and you’ll quickly learn to think like a Marxist just by being around them. However, some will question their practicality and they can get very tribalistic.

    TLDR: Got fed up with the current state of American Leftism, stumbled on Parenti, which led me to ultra-leftist forums. Learned a ton, but got tired of their tribalism and am now venturing out into the open.

    Edit: I realized I didn’t answer your question about why I turned to MLM. MLM along with Third Worldism is kind of dominant among ultra-leftists (At least the ones I encountered), so you’ll get naturally exposed to it through osmosis.