Month: October 2024

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Spectre of Communism

Is socialism in one country possible? A reply to the Young Communist League

The idea of building socialism in one country alone was alien to Marx, Engels and Lenin. But after the latter’s death, Stalin and his supporters raised the possibility of constructing socialism in the USSR amidst a sea of capitalism. The Young Communist League – the youth wing of the Communist Party of Britain – recently advanced the theory of socialism in one country, as opposed to Trotsky’s Permanent Revolution. Where does the RCI stand on the matter? Was the USSR socialist? Is China today socialist? Is it possible to build socialism in a single country?

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Niklas Albin Svensson from our International Secretariat. He explains that the survival of the Russian Revolution was always dependent on a European and eventual world revolution. Lenin was under no illusions about this. The idea of building socialism in economically backward Russia reflected the narrow interests of the Stalinist bureaucracy, in a period of temporary defeat for the world revolution.

The notion of achieving socialism within any single nation’s borders – even a very advanced one – was and remains a utopian fantasy; as attested by the experience of the USSR: a workers’ state encompassing a huge geographical area and vast resources, that lasted far longer than expected, yet still ultimately collapsed.

Modern capitalist production is global: with supply chains and manufacturing processes for all manner of commodities, from smartphones to aeroplanes, distributed across the world. Socialism can only be built based on the highest possible level of productivity, harnessing the full potential of the international working class. Therefore, socialism being built anywhere depends on a victorious revolutionary process overthrowing capitalism in one counter after another!

While the YCL heavily quotes Lenin, the ‘theory’ of socialism in one country represents a total break with his ideas and the authentic traditions of Marxism. We must return to these traditions if we hope to overthrow capitalism and achieve socialism in our lifetimes!

Niklas’ article on socialism in one country is available in issue 47 of the In Defence of Marxism magazine, available to purchase now: https://marxist.com/magazine.htm

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Against the Stream

Sinwar’s assassination, Zelensky’s peace plan, and the BRICS summit

On 24 October, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down for another special podcast episode focusing on three flashpoints of world politics: Sinwar’s assassination, Zelensky’s peace plan, and the BRICS summit.

The comrades look behind the headlines, starting with what the capitalist media have been saying about the assassination of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas. The killing was greeted by a wave of gloating from Israel and Saudi Arabia. But Israel – which released a video of his death on the frontline – has inadvertently turned Sinwar into a hero and has fueled defiance of Israel and its allies in the whole region.

The second article looks at Zelensky’s desperate ‘victory plan’, which pleads for admission to NATO and long-range missiles with which to strike Russia. But this is completely untenable. Ukraine is heading towards an inevitable, brutal defeat, and now the western imperialists who provoked this war in the first place are preparing to betray Ukraine and abandon it to its fate.

Finally, the comrades discussed the BRIC summit which is being held in Russia. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, the West has sought to isolate Russia. But the summit shows that this has completely failed. Russia was not only joined by Iran and China, and other western rivals, but US allies like India, Saudi Arabia, as well as the secretary general of the UN. This is a reflection of the fact that, as the power of US imperialism enters relative decline, other countries are hedging their bets, and balancing between the different blocs in the world economy.

This episode was streamed live on Youtube. Once again, we’d appreciate any feedback on this new style of podcast.

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Spectre of Communism

US Civil War: America’s Second Revolution

The American Civil War, unlike the conflicts that plague the world today, was just and historically progressive. The Union north smashed the Confederacy of southern slave states and carried out the biggest expropriation of private property in history at the time, with the emancipation of 4 million enslaved people. The Union cause was praised by Karl Marx, who said Lincoln’s battle cry should be: “death to slavery!” With elections in the US just a few weeks away, the American bourgeoisie once again has civil war on its mind…. 

With recent polls showing nearly half of Americans believe that a new civil war is on the horizon, it is vital that revolutionaries study this period of history to prepare for the third, socialist revolution.

This week, Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes John Peterson – executive editor of The Communist, the organ of the Revolutionary Communists of America. John discusses the enduring lessons and contemporary relevance of the Civil War, which communists consider the Second American Revolution. 

For more from John Peterson on the US Civil War, we recommend issue 38 of In Defence of Marxism magazine, which includes a detailed article on this topic.

John has also presented a series of podcasts on this topic (available here), as part of the regular podcast of the Revolutionary Communists of America, the US section of the Revolutionary Communist International.

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Spectre of Communism

Threads: a terrifying vision of nuclear annihilation

This year marks 40 years since the release of the film Threads, one of the clearest and most harrowing depictions of the consequences of nuclear war ever produced. With wars and conflicts escalating around the globe, the stark message of this film has never been more relevant. The fight against the barbarity of militarism and imperialism is an existential struggle that communists have a duty to take up.

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Alan Woods, lead editor of marxist.com and leading member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International. 

Alan discusses not only the powerful artistic impact of Threads, but also its vital message for us today. With Netanyahu hell-bent on escalation in the Middle East, and Zelensky intent on provoking Russia with the West’s help, the possibility of an open confrontation between nuclear powers is closer than ever. If we are to avoid the horrors that Threads so brilliantly depicts, we must wage a relentless struggle against war and imperialism, and fight to bring an end to the capitalist system that engenders them.

It is for this reason that the RCI has launched its Books not Bombs campaign, and we encourage listeners to read the opening statement of the campaign here: https://marxist.com/fight-imperialism-and-war-workers-of-the-world-unite-rci-statement.htm

People in the UK can watch Threads on BBC iPlayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02kgkkg/threads

For more on the threat of escalation in the world today, we recommend this recent article by Alan Woods on the risk of World War III: https://marxist.com/are-we-facing-world-war-iii.htm

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Against the Stream

Gaza, Lebanon, and the economic crisis in Europe

On the 16 October, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down to talk about the genocide in Gaza, the war in Lebanon, and the crisis facing the European economy.

We once more dive into the pages of the billionaire press of the past week, in order to expose the truth behind the headlines, illuminate the processes driving the chaos on the world stage, and to explain how we as communists can pick out the truth.

Click here to listen on Twitter Spaces.

This week, they discussed: a New York Times exposé on the IDF’s barbaric practice of using Palestinian prisoners as human shields, a practice fully in keeping with Israel’s genocidal policy in Gaza which reflects the fact that no amount of lives or ‘international laws’ can stand in the way of the interests of imperialism; a Reuters article analysing the US’ role in aiding and abetting Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, an expression of the relative decline facing the world’s foremost imperialism power; and a Bloomberg summary of a paper written by Italian ex-PM Mario Draghi, which lays out the enormous crisis and stagnation facing European capitalism, which has been devastated by the repercussions of the Ukraine war.

After the enthusiastic feedback we received following the last instalment, we will be releasing episodes of this series weekly, alongside Spectre of Communism. We are still experimenting with this new style of podcast, so you can help us by sending your feedback on the format, as well as suggestions for articles to discuss in the future.

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Against the Stream

Gaza, Ukraine and world relations

On the 11 October, comrades Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International recorded a special podcast episode on Gaza, Ukraine and world relations. Instead of our regular format, this one addresses the burning questions of the day in a slightly different format.

Click here to listen now on Twitter Spaces.

The comrades have taken a selection of articles from mainstream newspapers, in order to pick apart the real interests and processes at play in an increasingly stormy world situation.

These include: a piece exposing the barbarism that imperialism has created in Gaza from the New York Times, a rarity on account of the self-censorship of the western press; an insane inversion of reality in the Middle East from the Daily Telegraph, in which Iran is made out to be the aggressors in the region and an existential threat to mankind, whilst Israel and the West are painted as doves; and figures from the Ukrainian outlet Strana that reveal, despite all the propaganda from the Zelensky regime and the West, that the Ukrainian forces are on the brink of collapse.

This podcast was streamed via Twitter Spaces, and at this stage is something of an experiment. Since the launch of the Spectre of Communism podcast and the readers’ survey in the summer, we’ve had a lot of enthusiastic feedback about our audio-visual content. Further feedback on this type of more conversational podcast by our readers and listeners would be most welcome.

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Spectre of Communism

What is ‘woke’? Culture war vs. class war

Around the world, the capitalist establishment is increasingly obsessed with the so-called ‘Culture War’, with conservative journalists and politicians scaremongering about the ‘woke agenda’, while liberals drape rainbow flags on war and austerity and call it ‘liberation’. How can communists cut through this reactionary nonsense and get to the heart of the issues facing us today?

To answer this question, this week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Yola Kipcak, a leading member of Der Funke, the Austrian section of the Revolutionary Communist International. Yola explains why communists oppose the toxic division sown by identity politics, and instead fight for a class-based approach to fighting for the liberation of humanity.

For more from Yola on how communists should fight for liberation, read her article “Marxism vs Queer Theory” here: https://marxist.com/marxism-vs-queer-theory.htm

For a longer read on this topic, we recommend the Revolutionary Communist International’s document from 2018, “Marxism vs Identity Politics”: https://marxist.com/marxist-theory-and-the-struggle-against-alien-class-ideas.htm

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Spectre of Communism

Israel invades Lebanon: fight war, fight imperialism!

The situation in the Middle East is escalating dramatically. Israel’s current invasion of Lebanon has sent shockwaves throughout the region and represents a further step towards the outbreak of a region-wide conflict, risking open war with Iran. As the Middle East grows more unstable, communists need a clear understanding of these events and what we can do to fight against militarism and imperialism wherever we are.

This week’s episode of Spectre of Communism Podcast welcomes Fred Weston, from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International. Fred discusses recent events in Israel’s escalating military campaign, and explains the need for communists to fight for the real interests of workers and youth, which has nothing to do with the hypocritical warmongering of the ruling class internationally.

For further reading on Israel’s war on Lebanon, we recommend this article published on 1 October: https://www.marxist.com/israel-invasion-of-lebanon-starts-fight-war-fight-imperialism.htm

For more from Fred on recent events in the Middle East, we recommend his latest article on the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah: https://www.marxist.com/the-killing-of-nasrallah-netanyahu-is-provoking-iran-to-enter-war.htm

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