u/jmattchew - originally from r/GenZhou
Question is in the title. I know that everything is more complicated than this, but is it a fair shorthand assessment or not? Could it be too simple to say that feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism, or is this actually the right way to look at it? Did the USSR fail because it went straight from feudalism to socialism and then introduced the wrong reforms?
u/emisneko - originally from r/GenZhou
[What makes a country “socialist”?]A society where public ownership of the means of production, a state controlled by a politically organized proletariat, and production for societal use rather than for profit is the principal aspect (main body) of the economy.
Key term here is principal aspect. There is a weird phenomenon from both anti-communists as well as a lot of ultraleft and leftcom communists themselves of applying a “one drop rule” to socialism, where socialism is only socialism if it’s absolutely pure without a single internal contradiction. But no society in the history of humankind has been pure, they all contain internal contradictions and internal contradictions are necessary for one form of society to develop into the next.
If you applied that same logic to capitalism, then if there was any economic planning or public ownership, then capitalism would cease to be “true capitalism” and become “actually socialism”, which is an argument a lot of right-wing libertarians unironically make. The whole “not true capitalism” and “not true socialism” arguments are two sides of the same coin, that is, people weirdly applying an absolute purity standard to a particular economic system which is fundamentally impossible to exist in reality, so they then can declare their preferred system “has never truly been tried”. But it will never be tried ever because it’s an idealized form which cannot exist in concrete reality, actually-existing capitalism and socialism will always have internal contradictions within itself.
If no idealized form exists and all things contain internal contradictions within themselves, then the only way to define them in a consistent way is not to define them in terms of perfectly and purely matching up to that idealized form, but that description merely becoming the principal aspect in a society filled with other forms and internal contradictions within itself.
A capitalist society introducing some economic planning and public ownership doesn’t make it socialist because the principal aspect is still bourgeois rule and production for profit. This would mean the state and institutions carrying out the economic planning would be most influenced by the bourgeoisie and not by the working class, i.e. they would still behave somewhat privately, the “public ownership” would really be bourgeois ownership and the economic planning would be for the benefit of the bourgeoisie first and foremost.
A similar story in a socialist society with markets and private ownership. If you have a society dominated by public ownership and someone decides to open a shop, where do they get the land, the raw materials, permission for that shop, etc? If they get everything from the public sector, then they exist purely by the explicit approval by the public sector, they don’t have real autonomy. The business may be internally run privately but would be forced to fit into the public plan due to everything around them demanding it for their survival.
Whatever is the dominant aspect of society will shape the subordinated forms. You have to understand societies as all containing internal contradictions and seeking for what is the dominant form in that society that shapes subordinated forms, rather than through an abstract and impossible to realize idealized version of “true socialism”.
Countries like Norway may have things that seemingly contradict capitalism like large social safety nets for workers funded by large amounts of public ownership, but these came as concessions due to the proximity of Nordic countries to the USSR which pressured the bourgeoisie to make concessions with the working class. However, the working class and public ownership and economic planning never became the principal aspect of Norway. The bourgeoisie still remains in control, arguably with a weaker position, but they are still by principal aspect, and in many Nordic countries ever since the dissolution of the USSR, the bourgeoisie has been using that dominant position to roll back concessions.
The argument for China being socialist is not that China has fully achieved some pure, idealized form of socialism, but that China is a DOTP where public ownership alongside the CPC’s Five-Year plans remain the principal aspect of the economy and other economic organization is a subordinated form.
Deng Xiaoping Theory is not a rejection of the economic system the Soviets were trying to build but a criticism of the Soviet understanding socialist development. After the Soviets deemed they had sufficient productive forces to transition into socialism, they attempted to transition into a nearly pure socialist society within a very short amount of time, and then declared socialist construction was completed and the next step was to transition towards communism.
Deng Xiaoping Theory instead argues that socialism itself has to be broken up into development stages a bit like how capitalism also has a “lower” and “higher” phase, so does socialism. The initial stage is to the “primary stage” of underdeveloped socialism, and then the main goal of the communist party is to build towards the developed stage of socialism. The CPC disagreed that the Soviets had actually completed their socialist construction and trying to then build towards communism was rushing things far faster than what the level of productive forces of the country could sustain and inevitably would lead to such great internal contradictions in the economic system to halt economic development.
The argument was not a rejection of the Marxist or Marxist-Leninist understanding of what socialism is, but a disagreement over the development stages, viewing socialism’s development as much more gradual and a country may remain in the primary stage like China is currently in for a long, long time, Deng Xiaoping speculated even 100 years.
I recall reading somethings from Mao where he criticized the Marxian understanding of communism, but not from the basis of it being wrong, but it being speculative. He made the argument that Marx’s detailed analysis of capitalism was only possible because Marx lived in a capitalist society and could see and research its development in real time, therefore Mao was skeptical the current understanding of communism would remain forever, because when you actually try to construct it you would inevitably learn far more than you could speculate about in the future, have a much more detailed understanding of what it is in concrete reality and what its development stages look like.
In a sense, that’s the same position the modern CPC takes towards socialism, that the Soviets and Mao rushed into socialism due to geopolitical circumstances and did not have time to actually fully grasp what socialist development would look like in practice, and Deng Xiaoping Theory introduces the concept of the primary stage of socialism based on their experience actually trying to implement it under Mao.
Despite common misconception, the CPC’s position is indeed that China is currently socialist, not “will be socialist in 2049” or whatever. The argument is that China is in the primary stage of socialism, a system where socialist aspects of the political and economic system have become the main body but in a very underdeveloped form.
!by u/aimixin!<
u/jmattchew - originally from r/GenZhou
Damn u/aimixin even contributing when he isn’t here, hahaha. That’s such a great response and clears a lot up for me. Thanks!u/Ryan_Cynic - originally from r/GenZhou
Where does the “Socialism by 2050” claim come from?u/cbaltmackie - originally from r/GenZhou
The CPC centenary goals.u/Lorenzo_BR - originally from r/GenZhou
Would it be fair to say that is their goals to “advance to the next stage”?u/WikiMobileLinkBot - originally from r/GenZhou
Desktop version of /u/cbaltmackie’s link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Centenaries
^([)^(opt out)^(]) ^(Beep Boop. Downvote to delete)
u/Logical_Platypus_442 - originally from r/GenZhou
The great depression forced the USSR to prematurely advance to the advanced stage and China might have to in the face of an increasingly confrontational west.[from r/GenZhou
] - originally
[deleted]u/oddmaus - originally from r/GenZhou
What are you talking about? And why are you on this sub?[from r/GenZhou
] - originally
[removed]u/oddmaus - originally from r/GenZhou
What are you talking about??? Like literally what the fuck?Edit: I guess it’s a good thing you’re here. This sub is for education after all. Literally GenZegong and this sub are literally subs for Marxist Leninists AKA COMMUNISTS
[from r/GenZhou
] - originally
[removed]u/oddmaus - originally from r/GenZhou
How is it economically identical to fascism?
u/BennieAndTheZ - originally from r/GenZhou
The USSR did not fail, it was dismantled.u/Aizer3115 - originally from r/GenZhou
Here’s something I believe every communist should hear.The USSR failed. We failed. Had it not failed it would not have been dismantled. Had it not failed capitalism would not have encroached the east once more.
We must not deny this failure, we must not shy away from it. Reality is not what we desire but what it must be.
If we do not accept this fact, if we lie to ourselves. Every observation we shall build henceforth shall be fundamented on a fallacy. One that would never allow us to see the truth.
We failed at our task. Yet we were not defeated, Stalin said it, as Lenin once did. The Worker’s nation would be besieged at all sides by the capitalist powers who would seek nothing but it’s destruction. We stood against impossible odds and the Workers managed to stand tall for 80 years. And it is their example which continues to inspire us, we must not falsify their history for we are not ashamed of it. On the contrary! We must be proud of what they accomplished against the entire Capitalist world.
And from this we shall learn, we shall grow. And with this example of how we fell, we shall never falter ever again
u/Due_Idea7590 - originally from r/GenZhou
According to the educated individuals on genzedong, they say that the USSR started going downhill ever since Khrushchev came into power as they started to deStalinize the USSR. I don’t know anything about USSR history as I recently became a commie, but if what they’re saying is true then I can see how the USSR was doomed to fail if they kept drifting further away from the left.u/AnkanBasu - originally from r/GenZhou
USSR fall began because of Khrushchev’s revisionist policies and his softness towards the western block. This was further amplified when more and more incompetent leaders came to power, ultimately allowing traitors like Yeltsin and fools like Gorbachev to ruin everything. Grover Furr’s book “Khrushchev Lied” sheds light on itu/Thakal - originally from r/GenZhou
Khrushchev and co. were merely symptoms of something larger.For example the power vacuum left by Stalin must have certainly been a huge pressure for those that came after him, somehow they have to now step into his boots. Perhaps some people did never go ahead and run for the position due to this, although I believe that the biggest issue regarding the position was simply that the USSR had two people just die while in power, that is horrible and just strengthens opportunists.
Secondly the USSR was overextending, they had certainly underestimated just how much the west would resist against their efforts by supporting opposition groups. What ended up happening is that all these proxies just drained the USSR, economically, slowly, it is exactly for this reason that China reviewed their policy on this and stopped exporting the revolution.
As for the people on GenZedong, a lot of them probably didn’t read anything, it’s the internet everybody can claim stuff. However this does not mean that their claims are wrong, the Union was dismantled against the will of the people living there and when in 1996 the communists would have won, the capitalists resisted violently against it, thus putting the final nail into the coffin.
We should, at all times, try to understand why the Union failed, we can compare its conditions to China and learn what they are doing differently. Especially regarding foreign policy, China is playing it extremely safe and tries not to endanger the revolution.
If you would prefer to watch a Video or just listen to one, I can recommend Yugopniks latest video. He did it in collaboration with someone and, while it’s topic is not straight up the USSR, it touches the dissolution and reasons to it, perhaps giving you more insight as to how a revolution can be prone to dismantling/attacks.
u/Due_Idea7590 - originally from r/GenZhou
Thank you for the educated response. I do prefer watching/listening when it comes to educational materials so yes I’ll go check out Yugopniks channel right now. So far I’ve been watching Hakim’s channel but I would like to expand my resources.
u/jeremyago - originally from r/GenZhou
Matt Christman has a very good explanation of the paths the Soviet Union could have went and the reasons why it went the way it did. Highly recommend his material analysis for beginners and even more experienced folks.u/t_g_spankin - originally from r/GenZhou
Do you have a link? I always enjoy Matt’s analysis. He always seemed like the most based Chapou/jeremyago - originally from r/GenZhou
Here you go: https://youtu.be/mPzEB-n4L5QI think Matt has kind of out grown chapo at this point. His podcast is much more material and a lot less “junk food” feeling than chapo.
u/meme_master533 - originally from r/GenZhou
Why does this read like a Lenin speech to me, even though it definitely isn’tEdit: grammar correction
u/Aizer3115 - originally from r/GenZhou
What do you mean?u/meme_master533 - originally from r/GenZhou
Like it’s just well spoken, I guess, I’m not quite sure how to explain itu/Aizer3115 - originally from r/GenZhou
Ah, thank you
u/Ryan_Cynic - originally from r/GenZhou
70 years, not 80. There’s no metric I can think of which would set the Russian socialist project at or above 8 decades.u/I_Call_Cav_Mistress - originally from r/GenZhou
Beautifully written
u/orkgashmo - originally from r/GenZhou
They didn’t re-introduced capitalism, they adapted their socialism to the global market.u/jmattchew - originally from r/GenZhou
Are there any resources for me to better understand this? When I explain socialism to my friends I often explain it as worker-owned means of production, the social ownership of capital, gov’t committees who allocate according to the people in a planned economy, etc. How can these attributes be adapted to a global market? The introduction of some private enterprise, with the purpose of building productive forces and GDP, a bigger role in the global economy? Would that explanation kind of cover it?u/orkgashmo - originally from r/GenZhou
If you spend a couple hours reading their last five year plan, you’ll have a great summary of why and how those changes were introduced. They always start with an analysis of the work done since the foundation of the party. I’ll check if I can find them link to the last one, was posted here this past week (edit: found it).https://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202111/16/content_WS6193a935c6d0df57f98e50b0.html
Besides that, you can also find a lot of info on the subject in the wiki of r/sino. It’s the best place to get some good reading about how Chinese Socialism works.
If you want a deep understanding of it, you can start with this book:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/comments/tj8swf/book_chinas_socialist_economy_by_xue_muqiao/
u/sneakpeekbot - originally from r/GenZhou
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u/Chris3108 - originally from r/GenZhou
China already had a state capitalist phase during new democracy under Mao, while I disagree with many of Deng’s reforms they do have many good reasons as to why they did it. With the reforms they managed to capture western capital and become the richest nation on earth (through some metrics)u/Clear-Result-3412 - originally from r/GenZhou
At least soon they will undeniably pass the USu/Chris3108 - originally from r/GenZhou
A good thing is it seems like Xi Jinping is pushing for more socialismu/Clear-Result-3412 - originally from r/GenZhou
Yeah
u/dimlimsimlim - originally from r/GenZhou
China should be defined in a way that makes it clear that it’s in the transitionary phase between capitalism and socialism. (Lower stage communism) within this phase of development, China claims itself to be in the primary stage of socialism. It had a New Democratic phase for 7 years, which was state capitalism under the people’s government. In 1956, China completed the basic socialist transformations in agriculture, handicrafts, industry and commerce, and officially entered the primary stage of socialism and completed the socialist transformation of the ownership of the means of production.What some people don’t realise is that China never entered lower stage communism (what some here may describe as the advanced stage of socialism, or what Marx/Lenin would’ve just called “socialism”.) For example, in Mao era China, although there was a workpoint system, money was still circulated around, and used by communes to invest in equipment, and by the state to buy commodities like grain. The state was still the appropriator of surplus, etc.
So based on a popular graph from Cheng Enfu that I’ve seen here, I shall put it like this.
Primary stage of socialism/intermediate stage of socialism = Transitionary Phase
Advanced stage of socialism = Lower stage communism (socialism)
Then comes communism.
In conclusion, China is and always was from 1956 in the primary stage of socialism, part of the transitionary phase between capitalism and communism. China’s New Democratic era lasted 7 years, which was cut short, years before it was planned to end. As you might expect to see in the transitionary phase, China still has the capitalist mode of production, which we call state capitalist, as nationalising the means of production even under a DOTP doesn’t equal to them being socialised. It’s important to keep that in mind.
In my opinion, China still has a long way to go in order to reach the lower stage of communism, and that is, to have wage labour abolished, the means of production to have been completely socialised, and that is, to have society rationally allot the products of the means of production efficiently, beyond seizing and confiscating it from the bourgeoisie.