The soviet union was a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviets brutalized the capitalists, tsarists, fascists, landlords, and kulaks, while liberating the workers and peasants. The USSR had steady and consistent economic growth, and provided free, high quality education and healthcare, full employment, cheap or free housing, and fantastic infrastructure and city planning that still lasts to this day despite capitalism neglecting it. This rapid development resulted in dramatic democratization of society, reduced disparity, doubling of life expectancy, tripling of functional literacy rates to 99.9%, and much more. Living in the 1930s famine would not have been good, but it was the last major famine outside of wartime because the soviets ended famine in their countries.
The USSR brought dramatic democratization to society. First-hand accounts from Statesian journalist Anna Louise Strong in her book This Soviet World describe soviet elections and factory councils in action. Statesian Pat Sloan even wrote Soviet Democracy to describe in detail the system the soviets had built for curious Statesians to read about, and today we have Professor Roland Boer’s Socialism in Power: On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance to reference.
When it comes to social progressivism, the soviet union was among the best out of their peers, so instead we must look at who was actually repressed outside of the norm. In the USSR, it was the capitalist class, the kulaks, the fascists who were repressed. This is out of necessity for any socialist state. When it comes to working class freedoms, however, the soviet union represented a dramatic expansion. Soviet progressivism was documented quite well in Albert Syzmanski’s Human Rights in the Soviet Union.
The truth, when judged based on historical evidence and contextualization, is that socialism was the best thing to happen to Russia in the last few centuries, and its absence has been devastating.
Death rates spiked:
And wealth disparity skyrocketed alongside the newly impoverished majority:
Capitalism brought with it skyrocketing poverty rates, drug abuse, prostitution, homelessness, crime rates, and lowered life expectancy. An estimated 7 million people died due to the dissolution of socialism and reintroduction of capitalism, and this is why the large majority of post-soviet citizens regret its fall. A return to socialism is the only path forward for the post-soviet countries. A lot of Eastern European countries were swarmed with western capital during the destruction of socialism, which is what temporarily caused the rise of the far-right in these countries, but in time their problems will no longer be able to be ignored.
I do agree that we should not merely emulate soviet socialism, but not in the way you are making the point. Each country has its own unique circumstances, and thus each country will have its own socialist construction process. Dogmatically emulating the Soviet Union is not what we should do, we should learn from their successes and problems while applying Marxist-Leninist thought to our own conditions.
I also have no idea what you mean when you say Marx’s numbers and theories do not stand up to critical scrutiny. This is a throwaway line you never justified, but treat as a complete point. I also have no idea why you believe me to be Russian (I’m not), nor why you call me “friend” while wishing for Balkanization of Russia. It’s clear that you’re more of an enemy of the working classes than a supporter, and again ignored that the population crisis facing Ukraine is far more devastating than Russia. It’s best for the war to end swiftly, for both parties, and it’s clear that Ukraine does not hold the cards.
No, my comment is not confusing correlation with causation. You never explained this point, you just stated it as though it counters all of the hard evidence I brought supporting how well socialism works and how poorly capitalism has done in its place. Further, I never said prostitution did not exist in the Soviet Union, I said it skyrocketed after socialism was dissolved, which is uncontestably true.
As for Marx and numbers not adding up, he made minor mistakes here and there. Engels and other Marxists have corrected the figures and they do not change the points Marx made, nor do they disprove Marxist economics. That’s like suggesting that if a scientist makes a mistake in calculating gravity, that the law of gravity is wrong.
It’s also telling that, again, you never give examples, and entirely ignore the part where Marx debunked Henry George. You’re incapable of actually countering anything I say, so instead you make a thesis statement and confuse that for an argument itself. You aren’t going to convince any onlookers that way, and you sure as hell aren’t going to convince me, so why even try?
As for Putin being an enemy of the working classes, this is partially true. He is, after all, a nationalist leader and a billionaire. However, nationalist Russia still plays an internationally progressive role in undermining imperialism, which is positive.
Your latter comment is just racism, assuming hordes of Asians are going to conquest Russian land if Russia cannot defend itself from China and India. This was already true a decade ago, and yet no Chinese invasion of Russia seems plausible.
The soviet union was a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviets brutalized the capitalists, tsarists, fascists, landlords, and kulaks, while liberating the workers and peasants. The USSR had steady and consistent economic growth, and provided free, high quality education and healthcare, full employment, cheap or free housing, and fantastic infrastructure and city planning that still lasts to this day despite capitalism neglecting it. This rapid development resulted in dramatic democratization of society, reduced disparity, doubling of life expectancy, tripling of functional literacy rates to 99.9%, and much more. Living in the 1930s famine would not have been good, but it was the last major famine outside of wartime because the soviets ended famine in their countries.
Literacy rates, societal guarantees in the 1936 constitution, reports on the healthcare system over time, and more are good sources for these claims.
The USSR brought dramatic democratization to society. First-hand accounts from Statesian journalist Anna Louise Strong in her book This Soviet World describe soviet elections and factory councils in action. Statesian Pat Sloan even wrote Soviet Democracy to describe in detail the system the soviets had built for curious Statesians to read about, and today we have Professor Roland Boer’s Socialism in Power: On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance to reference.
When it comes to social progressivism, the soviet union was among the best out of their peers, so instead we must look at who was actually repressed outside of the norm. In the USSR, it was the capitalist class, the kulaks, the fascists who were repressed. This is out of necessity for any socialist state. When it comes to working class freedoms, however, the soviet union represented a dramatic expansion. Soviet progressivism was documented quite well in Albert Syzmanski’s Human Rights in the Soviet Union.
The truth, when judged based on historical evidence and contextualization, is that socialism was the best thing to happen to Russia in the last few centuries, and its absence has been devastating.
Death rates spiked:
And wealth disparity skyrocketed alongside the newly impoverished majority:
Capitalism brought with it skyrocketing poverty rates, drug abuse, prostitution, homelessness, crime rates, and lowered life expectancy. An estimated 7 million people died due to the dissolution of socialism and reintroduction of capitalism, and this is why the large majority of post-soviet citizens regret its fall. A return to socialism is the only path forward for the post-soviet countries. A lot of Eastern European countries were swarmed with western capital during the destruction of socialism, which is what temporarily caused the rise of the far-right in these countries, but in time their problems will no longer be able to be ignored.
I do agree that we should not merely emulate soviet socialism, but not in the way you are making the point. Each country has its own unique circumstances, and thus each country will have its own socialist construction process. Dogmatically emulating the Soviet Union is not what we should do, we should learn from their successes and problems while applying Marxist-Leninist thought to our own conditions.
I also have no idea what you mean when you say Marx’s numbers and theories do not stand up to critical scrutiny. This is a throwaway line you never justified, but treat as a complete point. I also have no idea why you believe me to be Russian (I’m not), nor why you call me “friend” while wishing for Balkanization of Russia. It’s clear that you’re more of an enemy of the working classes than a supporter, and again ignored that the population crisis facing Ukraine is far more devastating than Russia. It’s best for the war to end swiftly, for both parties, and it’s clear that Ukraine does not hold the cards.
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No, my comment is not confusing correlation with causation. You never explained this point, you just stated it as though it counters all of the hard evidence I brought supporting how well socialism works and how poorly capitalism has done in its place. Further, I never said prostitution did not exist in the Soviet Union, I said it skyrocketed after socialism was dissolved, which is uncontestably true.
As for Marx and numbers not adding up, he made minor mistakes here and there. Engels and other Marxists have corrected the figures and they do not change the points Marx made, nor do they disprove Marxist economics. That’s like suggesting that if a scientist makes a mistake in calculating gravity, that the law of gravity is wrong.
It’s also telling that, again, you never give examples, and entirely ignore the part where Marx debunked Henry George. You’re incapable of actually countering anything I say, so instead you make a thesis statement and confuse that for an argument itself. You aren’t going to convince any onlookers that way, and you sure as hell aren’t going to convince me, so why even try?
As for Putin being an enemy of the working classes, this is partially true. He is, after all, a nationalist leader and a billionaire. However, nationalist Russia still plays an internationally progressive role in undermining imperialism, which is positive.
Your latter comment is just racism, assuming hordes of Asians are going to conquest Russian land if Russia cannot defend itself from China and India. This was already true a decade ago, and yet no Chinese invasion of Russia seems plausible.