# General [Anti-Communist Myths Debunked (GDocs)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/edit) [Collection of Reading Lists (GDocs)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k-OPPy9UM9ApPuWVIsPcvX3zQh1LUsVbPQocD9mUhyA/edit) [Useful Studies and Sources for Debating Reactionaries](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1066) [Masterpost for Defending Socialism Against Anarchist Attacks](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1068) [Socialism FAQ (This is actually amazing)](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md) # Theory [The Importance of Ideological Discipline: Why the USSR Fell While China Prospers](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1158) # Nations ## Bolivia [Masterpost on the Achievements of Socialism in Bolivia](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1070) ## China [China Megathread 1: Everything a Leftist Must Know](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1152) [China Megathread 2: Debunking Western Propaganda](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1153) [Detailed Analysis of the Living Standards Under Mao Zedong, Based on Academic Sources](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1156) [Imagine being China and having to put up with the Hong Kong bullshit](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1148) ## German Democratic Republic [Masterpost on the German Democratic Republic](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1071) ## Soviet Union [How Much Power Did Stalin Have?](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1072) [Masterpost on the USSR (Part One: The Achievements of Soviet Socialism)](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1069) [On the Crimes of the USSR](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1075) ["Yezhov's Opposition" an excerpt](https://old.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cc7b63/yezhovs_opposition_an_excerpt/) [Historians Proving that the Ukrainian Famine Was Not Caused by Stalin/Socialism](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1155)

> I saw this list on Reddit and thought I’d post it here: > > Nazi’s Caught Dressing As BLM Protestors To Instigate Riots https://bipartisanreport.com/2020/07/27/nazis-caught-dressing-as-blm-protestors-to-instigate-riots/ > > White supremacists pose as Antifa online and instigate violence https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/george-floyd-protests-antifa-twitter-white-supremacists-far-right-racist-a9544276.html > > Gov Walz: Organized Groups Now Using Protests to ‘Break the Back of Civil Society’ https://heavy.com/news/2020/05/gov-walz-organized-groups-now-using-protests-to-break-the-back-of-civil-society/ > > Police: Richmond riots instigated by white supremacists disguised as Black Lives Matterhttps: //www.wsls.com/news/virginia/2020/07/27/police-richmond-riots-instigated-by-white-supremacists-disguised-as-black-lives-matter/ > > Mystery ‘Umbrella Man’ Vandal From Minnesota: Police Say He’s A White Supremacist Instigator https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/07/28/mystery-umbrella-man-vandal-from-minnesota-police-say-hes-a-white-supremacist-instigator/#1b39787f48ee > > Trump’s words show that yes, he has encouraged violence https://www.ajc.com/news/national-govt--politics/trump-words-show-that-yes-has-encouraged-violence/7sIekwrBayVArwRRmZf6HI/ > > ‘No Blame?’ ABC News finds 54 cases invoking ‘Trump’ in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame-abc-news-finds-17-cases-invoking-trump/story?id=58912889 > > Were white supremacists following Trump’s advice about dealing with protesters? https://www.newsweek.com/trump-told-white-supremacists-attack-protesters-so-they-did-650622

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https://lemmy.ml/post/205104

Mirrored from Reddit, not my work. Source: https://teddit.net/r/InformedTankie/comments/hg2qu4/why_even_a_free_market_is_doomed_to_fail/ Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220325041808/https://old.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/hg2qu4/why_even_a_free_market_is_doomed_to_fail/ ----- "its not capitalism! its Corporatism." "its not the market, its regulation." we hear these 2 sayings all the time, but lets see what would happen using history and raw data to see what will happen if conservatives and libertarians got there dream of laissez-faire. i will give my case on why the "free market" would fail. Business will do anything, i mean anything to get out of head to head competition. with a super competitive market, whatever you sell so does your competition, that means lower and lower profits. Why do you think branding exists? # Natural Monopoly: **Merging and simple competition:** Firstly i hope many people know why monopoly is bad, at least capitalist monopolies. Many people like to claim there would not be any monopoly in a free market but this is demonstrably false: After the [Airline Deregulation Act of 1978](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act) politicians were excited to see many new competitors and thus improving the airline industry. the opposite happened, although competition did flourish and many new competitors hit the market it was a matter of time till the companies [started merging, thus eliminating competition](https://money.cnn.com/infographic/news/companies/airline-merger/) and the rest ended up going [bankrupt.](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/business/17air.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0) And there was even [more Airline companies before deregulation.](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2013-06-21/airline-industry-changes) Many people don't realize, companies don't want competition and will do **anything** to assure competition is eliminated, whether this be buying competitors, merging, out performing them based on scale (smaller companies give better quality the richer company can easily temporarily do better) and even other forms of sabotage. this is very general and simple, but competition has winners. **Utility monopoly:** this one is simple for several companies to run sewer systems, power lines, etc is simply inefficient resulting in a very common and natural monopoly. **Resource monopoly:** A resource monopoly occurs when a company has control of a scarce or location specific resource. Yes, not as widespread but still very possible for example: ALCOA—the Aluminum Company of America controlled almost all the supply of Bauxite. No other companies could produce enough Aluminum to compete. Another example is DeBeers who had control over the production of diamond in most of the 20th century. taken from socialisci: # Intimidation and barriers to entry: Businesses have developed a number of schemes for creating barriers to entry by deterring potential competitors from entering the market. One method is known as **predatory pricing**, in which a firm uses the threat of sharp price cuts to discourage competition. Predatory pricing is a violation of U.S. antitrust law, but it is difficult to prove. Now imagine no law against it. Consider a large airline that provides most of the flights between two particular cities. A new, small start-up airline decides to offer service between these two cities. The large airline immediately slashes prices on this route to the bone, so that the new entrant cannot make any money. After the new entrant has gone out of business, the incumbent firm can raise prices again. After this pattern is repeated once or twice, potential new entrants may decide that it is not wise to try to compete. Small airlines often accuse larger airlines of predatory pricing: in the early 2000s, for example, ValuJet accused Delta of predatory pricing, Frontier accused United, and Reno Air accused Northwest. In 2015, the Justice Department ruled against American Express and Mastercard for imposing restrictions on retailers who encouraged customers to use lower swipe fees on credit transactions. In some cases, large advertising budgets can also act as a way of discouraging the competition. If the only way to launch a successful new national cola drink is to spend more than the promotional budgets of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, not too many companies will try. A firmly established brand name can be difficult to dislodge. # Violent cycles: Instability would be a plague of Free market advocates whilst the USSR had no recessions besides maybe a downturn during the war, the USA had [50 recessions, let me say that again, 50 recessions.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States) This is some proper stability my friends. i mean ffs free market policies caused the [2008 financial crisis.](https://publications.lakeforest.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&context=seniortheses) the whole idea of competition is instability, tons of new competitors and tons of businesses going out of business. a super packed industry is ideal for quality and lowering of prices (as i've shown there's many problems with this) but this creates violent cycles of job instability, job loss, etc. # Resource allocation: Yes the usual market forces will be there but so will the [crushing](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/STBEeJZNT0I/AAAAAAAADHs/QMSfg5eUMLg/s400/stealing+food+from+starving+child.jpg) [poverty](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/SQ8FodfkC6RV41UTAjghRemGrM7EWkXF-Zcua6_Xna_W5Ueo91MCDnpJclIm4KZhNN4-dJfanGziT66ivsZYMm9BMk4=w1200-h630-n-k-no-nu) [worldwide.](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/31/aa/ec/31aaec3dcbd3c4d3358444c29ae3543f--sad-pictures-taking-pictures.jpg) but without any real government aid to other nations we should expect things to be much worse. It is not profitable to sell food to 3rd world nations, but they are good cheap labour so under a worldwide libertarian type system expect some crazy inequality and [unequal ](https://archive.org/details/HowEuropeUnderdevelopedAfricaByWalterRodney/mode/2up) [exchange.](https://web.archive.org/web/20170919180937/http://snylterstaten.dk/english/unequal-exchange-and-prospects-socialism-communist-working-group) ​ # principles needed to have a "Free market": (credit to Reddish\_vp) \- Rational agents; \- Monoatomic enterprises; \- Homogenuos products; \- No barriers to entry or exit the market; All of those items are purely theoretical and each have a whole world of problems of their own. # Profit and Waste its quite simple, a company runs on profits, capitalism runs on profits and if you do not keep coming back to buy there product there not making any money thus fail. this practice which is called planned obsolescence is very common, wasteful and exploitative. The made to break motive started mainly in the 1930s with the [pheobus cartel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel) at a time when the average light bulb could last up to 25,000 hours! but then all companies were commanded to only allow a max of 1,000 hours of life to increase demand. this is a prime example of the wastefulness caused by capitalism. if this is not fixed this wasteful and disgusting trait of capitalism will worsen the lives of many as life grows more unsustainable. these are not just numbers, these are finite resources that with proper allocation and correct production could better the lives of everyone whilst keeping world sustainability. Excerpt from TBS: "advertisements each and every day whose sole purpose is to convince us to keep on shopping under the promise that doing so will make our lives better. Through advertising, companies have managed to make us confuse our needs with our wants, thus making us desire to acquire things that we don’t truly need, so that we can fill in their pockets by emptying our own." this quote will remain crucial to the following points and crucial to this whole post in general. Not too long ago apple was fined for deliberately [slowing older phones](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51413724) so people buy the new ones. W: another example, inkjet printer manufacturers employ [smart chips in their ink cartridges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printing#Business_model) to prevent them from being used after a certain threshold (number of pages, time, etc.), even though the cartridge may still contain usable ink or could be refilled (with ink toners, up to 50 percent of the toner cartridge is often still full). This constitutes "programmed obsolescence", in that there is no random component contributing to the decline in function. **other examples/ways items are made to break:** Nylons: not nearly as quality as they use to be. Consumer Electronics: the case of apple deliberately slowing older phones and as shown below the tricks like placing the most sensitive part next to the hottest part on the circuit. Cars: Vehicles that mere made before world war 2 were still being driven in the 60s. but this is not profitable, so companies created plans. 1. “routinely discontinue parts that could otherwise be made available for repairs.” 2. ” confirm to a strict yearly cycle of model releases, often introducing purely cosmetic changes from one year to the next.” 3. “retire popular models and bring out something new every few years, making it harder to fix older vehicles.” (instead of “sticking with hits and standardizing them over time, which would better support a repair aftermarket”) Cars today, for many, are seen as a fashion accessory and statement. It has become common for people to buy the new model of a car, even if the one they own is in great shape, and still has years to live. [Reached character limit, continued in this comment.](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/174606/comment/120522)

Mirrored from Reddit, not my work. Source: https://teddit.net/r/InformedTankie/comments/hfgup4/analysis_of_hong_kong_the_second_most_free/ Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220325040243/https://old.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/hfgup4/analysis_of_hong_kong_the_second_most_free/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220325041017/https://www.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/hfgup4/analysis_of_hong_kong_the_second_most_free/ ----- according to the heritage foundation (a conservative think tank) Hong Kong is ranked [number to and in other rankings is ranked number 1](https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking?version=317) in economic freedom and how they go about classifying these nations is i quote: "We measure economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom: 1. **Rule of Law** (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness) 2. **Government Size** (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health) 3. **Regulatory Efficiency** (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom) 4. **Open Markets** (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom)" so lets see how this mostly "ideal capitalism" serves the people. first of all Hong Kong has one of the [biggest](https://theprint.in/global-pulse/hong-kong-once-a-symbol-of-wealth-prosperity-is-now-fighting-income-inequality/262207/) wealth disparities and is still [growing](https://lemmygrad.ml/pictrs/image/dc5571b1-b3fd-4268-9b09-075d83aee5be.png) ([image source](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/141106091110-chart-gini-coefficient-monthly-wages-1024x576.png)). **Hong Kong’s gap between the rich and the poor is at its widest in nearly half a century.**  rich Hong Kong people live [here](https://i.insider.com/5b9bbf371982d81d008b5de6?width=964) ([image source](https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5b9bbf371982d81d008b5de6-964/02.jpg)) all whilst a typical Hong Kong resident lives [here](https://lemmygrad.ml/pictrs/image/fd1fb25c-1e0f-4b89-b459-939e43d46b8b.jpeg) ([image source](https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2019/07/10/hk-housing/60cb7be70ccae7f7b8c1878a7f8d039e2edf3bdf/top-720.jpg)), some nice economic freedom. if you want a good illustration of average living space look here:  ([Image source](https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2019/07/10/hk-housing/60cb7be70ccae7f7b8c1878a7f8d039e2edf3bdf/subdivided-945.png)) **Nearly one in five people living in poverty. With a minimum wage of $4.82 an hour.** again, some nice economic freedom. all whilst it has the [The longest working hours in the world, and even with the best counter arguments still have some of the longest working hours in the world.](https://coconuts.co/hongkong/news/hong-kong-has-longest-working-week-world-study-says/) They also boast [the highest rent prices in the world.](http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf) The average home in Hong Kong also costs 20 times the median salary:  ([Image source](https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2019/07/10/hk-housing/60cb7be70ccae7f7b8c1878a7f8d039e2edf3bdf/ratio-600.png)) ​ It would take the [average Hongkonger today more than 18 years](http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2064554/hong-kong-named-most-expensive-housing-market-world-seventh-straight-year), using all their salary, to buy a flat of less than 500 square feet, according to the affordability survey by Demographia. #### [Average living space for Hong Kong’s poorest residents same as that of prisoners](http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2117810/average-living-space-hong-kongs-poorest-residents-same) [250,000 people are waiting to be let in to public housing because the second most free economies private sector has failed them.](https://www.housingauthority.gov.hk/en/about-us/publications-and-statistics/prh-applications-average-waiting-time/index.html) **Corporate tax in Hong Kong is among the lowest for major global cities.** but it helps nobody but the rich. the largest wage increase was when a statutory minimum was put in place. Hong Kong's [about half of Hong Kongs flats cost 70% of the median income.](https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2160554/nearly-half-hk-flats-rent-us2550-month-70-cent-median-household-income) [recently Hong Kong hit its highest poverty level in a very long time. very nice economic freedom.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/20/hong-kong-20-of-residents-live-in-poverty) The top 10 percent in Hong Kong [earn 44 times more](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/poverty-poor-in-crazy-rich-hong-kong-10781210) than the lower 10 percent in the city. [Hong Kong came dead last for customer 'smiling index'. this my friends is what its like being a clog in a machine.](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1934543/service-scowl-hong-kong-dead-last-global-customer-survey-smiling) excerpt from scmp: "Having to spend an average of nine hours a day at work, on top of three hours commuting between her home and the office, Chow, who is in her 40s, still manages to see the brighter side of life." this was a small analysis using a bit of resources but it goes to show even being the the "second most free nation" doesn't really make anyone anymore happy, or improve the standard of living compared to countries with heavy intervention. my next post will be on Singapore, the most "free" place on earth.

Mirrored from Reddit, not my work. Source: https://teddit.net/r/bernieblindness/comments/hdiha0/resources_to_help_bernie_supporters_understand/ Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220325032437/https://old.reddit.com/r/bernieblindness/comments/hdiha0/resources_to_help_bernie_supporters_understand/ I've replaced www.youtube.com URLs with yewtu.be, and www.reddit.com with teddit.net. They are open source YouTube and Reddit webclients respectively, for better privacy. Just switch the domains back if you want undo this and get back to the vanilla YouTube link. **TODO: Archive all the Google Drive/Docs stuff too.** ----- NOTE: if you have any good resources please link them in the comments so i can add them to my personal list ive been building. im giving a decent list of free Marxist books/resources for everyone's use. i compiled this for the comrades who cannot afford to buy/order such books and for learning for everyone. This list should not be credited too much to me, a lot of the resources come from other comrades hard work and compiling and hours of researching, i found much here but most credit should go to everyone else who compiled/made/created these resources (some writing is even pasted from other comrades posts). i recommend the youtubers first. **Introduction to socialism:** [I think every single socialist should watch this video at least once in order to understand the unprecedented impact such leftist systems have in human history; Micheal Parenti](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=6Tmi7JN3LkA) [What is Marxism](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Vz3eOb6Yl1s) [Is Capitalism Bad For You](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=JvJTUZaivCI) [Richard Wolff: Introduction to Marxism](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=T9Whccunka4) [Alienation](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=PZ4VzhIuKCQ) [The difference between personal and private property](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=eknoQYrgq60) **Books:** Reform or revolution by Rosa Luxembourg [https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/](https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/) How Europe under-developed Africa by Walter Rodney [https://archive.org/details/HowEuropeUnderdevelopedAfricaByWalterRodney/page/n1/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/HowEuropeUnderdevelopedAfricaByWalterRodney/page/n1/mode/2up) Unequal exchange: The prospects of socialism [https://web.archive.org/web/20170919180937/http://snylterstaten.dk/english/unequal-exchange-and-prospects-socialism-communist-working-group](https://web.archive.org/web/20170919180937/http://snylterstaten.dk/english/unequal-exchange-and-prospects-socialism-communist-working-group) Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism [https://archive.org/details/FundamentalsOfMarxismLeninism](https://archive.org/details/FundamentalsOfMarxismLeninism) Das Kapital by Karl Marx [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.124455/page/n5/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.124455/page/n5/mode/2up) The communist Manifesto by Karl Marx [https://archive.org/details/ComManifesto/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/ComManifesto/mode/2up) Its not over: Learning from the socialist experiment [https://www.ebookphp.com/its-not-over-learning-from-the-socialist-experiment-epub-pdf/](https://www.ebookphp.com/its-not-over-learning-from-the-socialist-experiment-epub-pdf/) Economic problems in the USSR by Josef Stalin [https://archive.org/details/economicproblemssocialismussrstalin](https://archive.org/details/economicproblemssocialismussrstalin) The Myth of Capitalism Reborn: A Marxist critique of Theories of Capitalist Restoration in the USSR [https://archive.org/details/TheMythOfCapitalismReborn/page/n53/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/TheMythOfCapitalismReborn/page/n53/mode/2up) Killing hope: US military and CIA interventions since World war 2 [https://archive.org/details/pdfy-q0ULBH2DJICRS3Vg/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/pdfy-q0ULBH2DJICRS3Vg/mode/2up) Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm](https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm) Imperialism The Highest Stage Of Capitalism By Lenin [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.3317/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.3317/mode/2up) The State and Revolution by Lenin [https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch01.htm](https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch01.htm) Wage Labor and Capital [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/wage-labour-capital.pdf](https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/wage-labour-capital.pdf) Marxism and Feminism [https://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1979/marxism/ch12.html](https://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1979/marxism/ch12.html) Economics for dummies, to help people understand capitalism but be wary, it is semi pro capitalism [https://archive.org/details/EconomicsForDummies\_/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/EconomicsForDummies_/mode/2up) The great conspiracy against Russia by Michael Sayer and Albert E. Kahn [https://mltheory.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/great-conspiracy-against-russia.pdf](https://mltheory.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/great-conspiracy-against-russia.pdf) \\ Towards a new socialism by W. Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell [http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/\~cottrell/socialism\_book/new\_socialism.pdf](http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pdf) Socialist political Economy [https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/](https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/) Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of communism (an absolute must read for Marxists-Leninists) [https://eastsidemarxism.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/michael-parenti-blackshirts-and-reds-rational-fascism-and-the-overthrow-of-communism.pdf](https://eastsidemarxism.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/michael-parenti-blackshirts-and-reds-rational-fascism-and-the-overthrow-of-communism.pdf) Late Victorian Holocausts by Mark Davis (how the introduction of capitalism causes famine) [https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00dav\_wbr](https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00dav_wbr) Anti Communism: Who benefits from it? by Vladimir Mshvenieradze. it reveals just how prevalent anti-communism was and still is. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-V4quceAKK9bXVaOEx0Nm4xXzQ/view](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-V4quceAKK9bXVaOEx0Nm4xXzQ/view) **Youtubers and Youtube Videos:** Hakim (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q) TheFinnishBolshevik (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCCvdjsJtifsZoShjcAAHZpA](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCCvdjsJtifsZoShjcAAHZpA) Every anti-communist argument debunked [https://yewtu.be/watch?v=MjwL1mSrPLA](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=MjwL1mSrPLA) Benji (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCDG87s\_QtD4YrIamqb9k5WQ](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCDG87s_QtD4YrIamqb9k5WQ) DemocraticSocialist01 (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/user/MrReco12](https://yewtu.be/user/MrReco12) ComradeSloth (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCZtETWkXOblKAN5V1GUfnyg](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCZtETWkXOblKAN5V1GUfnyg) Tovarisch Endymion (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCTG-iJm0HtjWVOAwN8sA4Xg](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCTG-iJm0HtjWVOAwN8sA4Xg) Spooky Scary Socialist (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) [https://yewtu.be/channel/UCl\_A\_42M6kvjH8Gr-rwfCUw](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCl_A_42M6kvjH8Gr-rwfCUw) Capitalism is destroying us, socialism is not an option [https://yewtu.be/watch?v=CVpV\_wVYOEg](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=CVpV_wVYOEg) How capitalism is theft [https://yewtu.be/watch?v=GFEzJovH2yo](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=GFEzJovH2yo) **Resource document pages and Archives:** A complete Marxist archive [https://www.marxists.org/](https://www.marxists.org/) Venezuela myths debunked: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FgJdjKwWHow6Yy1-zmiiwxX\_DDgaF8kHkmVohkL\_Yew/edit?usp=drivesdk](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FgJdjKwWHow6Yy1-zmiiwxX_DDgaF8kHkmVohkL_Yew/edit?usp=drivesdk) The basics of Marxist-Leninist Theory [https://archive.org/details/basics\_of\_marxist\_\_leninist\_theory](https://archive.org/details/basics_of_marxist__leninist_theory) Massive document page debunking anti socialist lies by Albamc35 [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rRBtOd7tCPwJgXNy4m1PLvDnPrbMcn6yMe7mVIIHZfA/edit](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rRBtOd7tCPwJgXNy4m1PLvDnPrbMcn6yMe7mVIIHZfA/edit) The case for Marxism-Leninism [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uOAy23Rouv\_Mg14\_NgcEOm-K19ragMTlB03RV7Td01Q/edit](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uOAy23Rouv_Mg14_NgcEOm-K19ragMTlB03RV7Td01Q/edit) Another document page debunking lies against socialism [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/edit](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/edit) massive right winger fact sheet [https://socdoneleft.github.io/stinky\_rightwinger\_factsheet.html#public\_healthcare](https://socdoneleft.github.io/stinky_rightwinger_factsheet.html#public_healthcare) Socialist archive [https://revolutionarydemocracy.org/index.htm](https://revolutionarydemocracy.org/index.htm) Huge socialist book archive [https://archive.org/details/@ismail\_badiou](https://archive.org/details/@ismail_badiou) Huge Marxist-Leninist archive [https://neodemocracy.blogspot.com/](https://neodemocracy.blogspot.com/) Huge soviet archive and pro socialist articles [https://northstarcompass.org/](https://northstarcompass.org/) [Reached character limit, continued in this comment](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/174525/comment/120502)

Mirrored from Reddit, not my work. Source: https://teddit.net/r/InformedTankie/comments/hnc2cr/capitalism_is_unsustainable/ Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220325030335/https://old.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/hnc2cr/capitalism_is_unsustainable/ ----- a [study](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4) published in nature found that the world western level quality of life cannot be sustained at all. and not even developing nations can sustain there quality of life. one word, Capitalism. # made to break: its quite simple, a company runs on profits, capitalism runs on profits and if you do not keep coming back to buy there product there not making any money thus fail. this practice which is called planned obsolescence is very common, wasteful and exploitative. The made to break motive started mainly in the 1930s with the [pheobus cartel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel) at a time when the average light bulb could last up to 25,000 hours! but then all companies were commanded to only allow a max of 1,000 hours of life to increase demand. this is a prime example of the wastefulness caused by capitalism. if this is not fixed this wasteful and disgusting trait of capitalism will worsen the lives of many as life grows more unsustainable. these are not just numbers, these are finite resources that with proper allocation and correct production could better the lives of everyone whilst keeping world sustainability. Excerpt from TBS: "advertisements each and every day whose sole purpose is to convince us to keep on shopping under the promise that doing so will make our lives better. Through advertising, companies have managed to make us confuse our needs with our wants, thus making us desire to acquire things that we don’t truly need, so that we can fill in their pockets by emptying our own." this quote will remain crucial to the following points and crucial to this whole post in general. Not too long ago apple was fined for deliberately [slowing older phones](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51413724) so people buy the new ones. the resources used to make iphones are [deemed critically low](https://www.usgs.gov/news/interior-releases-2018-s-final-list-35-minerals-deemed-critical-us-national-security-and) yet they have the audacity to break phones so people buy new ones? absolutely repulsive. W: another example, inkjet printer manufacturers employ [smart chips in their ink cartridges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printing#Business_model) to prevent them from being used after a certain threshold (number of pages, time, etc.), even though the cartridge may still contain usable ink or could be refilled (with ink toners, up to 50 percent of the toner cartridge is often still full). This constitutes "programmed obsolescence", in that there is no random component contributing to the decline in function. **other examples/ways items are made to break:** Nylons: not nearly as quality as they use to be. Consumer Electronics: the case of apple deliberately slowing older phones and as shown below the tricks like placing the most sensitive part next to the hottest part on the circuit. Cars: Vehicles that mere made before world war 2 were still being driven in the 60s. but this is not profitable, so companies created plans. taken from RTP: 1. “routinely discontinue parts that could otherwise be made available for repairs.” 2. ” confirm to a strict yearly cycle of model releases, often introducing purely cosmetic changes from one year to the next.” 3. “retire popular models and bring out something new every few years, making it harder to fix older vehicles.” (instead of “sticking with hits and standardizing them over time, which would better support a repair aftermarket”) Cars today, for many, are seen as a fashion accessory and statement. It has become common for people to buy the new model of a car, even if the one they own is in great shape, and still has years to live. Unavailable/high cost spare parts: underproduction of a spare part leads to no availability of said part. but they will offer this \*new\* part that costs much more than the old part but its now the only choice you got. Vulnerability to wear and tear: examples are the fact some electronics most sensitive parts are exposed to the hottest part on the circuit. but it is not limited to the previous example. Warranty: many do not bother to keep a receipt, it gets lost, etc. but its not limited to that, especially if the repair can take months. also cases of having to send it to the manufacturer with out-of-pocket expenses. these are just a few examples of 'made to break' or planned obsolescence. this is widespread, considering the fact this system relies on profit and demand. # Overproduction and waste: relevant comment by u/jbid25 Taken from TWC: Most things as i've shown are made to break but general wastefulness and environmentally safe procedures are not widespread. [use it and lose it is the western philosophy](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-consumption-habits/). We way overproduce, and discard just about everything we use instantly. we dont care what items they are whether it be tossing our old tv in the trash to getting groceries with plastic bags. we waste a lot, some has to do with the fact things are not made to last but it also has to do with the fact capitalism is ecologically inefficient in production. taken from TG: "A record 54m tonnes of “e-waste” was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years, the [UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report](https://globalewaste.org/) found. The 2019 figure is equivalent to 7.3kg for every man, woman and child on Earth, though use is concentrated in richer nations. The amount of e-waste is rising three times faster than the world’s population, and only 17% of it was recycled in 2019." this is unsustainable, almost nothing is being done about it. These are precious resources in a finite planet these are not just numbers. we need a more efficient system that systematically deals with waste and we need to systematically deal with how we dispose of things. decades and capitalism has not fixed it. this all gets back to the original study, the world cannot sustain its living standards BECAUSE OF CAPITALISM. capitalisms inabilities to deal with these billions of tonnes of precious finite resources being wasted and dumped. but the study only dealt with current statistics, the thing is we can create a more efficient economy, a planned economy with proper technology, organization and planning so we can give everyone a decent standard of living on a finite planet. its simple. its not profitable to allocate resources for 'free' so there dumped. a staggering **2.9 trillion pounds** is wasted every year, this is enough to feed the entire world. taken from [here](https://www.rubicon.com/blog/statistics-trash-recycling/): ​ The amount of trash generated by the UK could [fill](http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/facts.html) Britain’s largest lake, Lake Windermere, in just 8 months. We used to get through 500 million plastic bags every week in the UK – amounting to billions of bags and thousands of tonnes of plastic. Sadly, each bag will take between 500 and 1,000 years to decompose in landfil At Christmas, as much as 83 square kilometres of [wrapping paper](https://www.envirowaste.co.uk/blog/articles/christmas-waste-statistics-making-christmas-green/) will end up in UK bins when it could have been recycled instead. That’s the same size as Sunderland! The number of disposable nappies each baby gets through weighs the same as a family [car](https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/real-nappies) Humans now buy a million plastic bottles a minute. Most of this plastic ends up in the ocean. By 2050, the ocean will contain more [plastic](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change) by weight than fish. It’s not just what goes in the bin that counts as waste – water can be wasted, too. A single leaky tap in your house can waste as much as [5,000 litres](http://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/water-saving-tips) of water a year. If we all fixed our dripping taps we could supply 120,000 people with a day’s worth of water. Nine-tenths of all solid waste in the United States does not get recycled. **Landfills are among the biggest contributors to soil pollution – roughly 80% of the items buried in landfills could be recycled.** **Although 75% of America’s waste is recyclable, we only recycle around 30% of it.** A single recycled plastic bottle saves enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours. It also creates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than would be created when making a new bottle. Recycling plastic saves *twice* as much energy as it takes to burn it. It only takes 5 recycled plastic bottles to make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket. Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty – [and it can be recycled.](https://www.rubicon.com/commodity-oil/) Over 11 million tons of recyclable clothing, shoes, and textiles make their way into landfills each year. Glass bottles take 4,000 years to decompose. Glass, like aluminum, is infinitely recyclable – without any loss in purity or quality. the above list is very small and only highlights a few things but i hope this gives everyone an idea of what is going on. The United States throws out the amount of office paper it would take to build a 12-foot wall from Los Angeles to New York City (2,794 miles). [Reached character limit. Continued in this comment.](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/174512/comment/120480)

Mirrored from a Reddit post, not my work. Source: https://teddit.net/user/SavageTruths74/comments/j6dfxz/list_of_marxist_channels_and_marxist_resources/ I didn't mirror this Reddit thread on archive.org because there were no comments at the time of posting this, so basically all the useful information is in this post. I've replaced www.youtube.com URLs with yewtu.be, an open source YouTube webclient, for better privacy. Just switch the domains back if you want undo this and get back to the vanilla YouTube link. ----- I will also be rating the channels from 1-10 based on quality. though opinions may vary so watch them all. i will NR if i have not watched/heard enough to comment. * [YUGOPNIK](https://yewtu.be/c/YUGOPNIK/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 7/10 * [Socialist Swann](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCitdSK4Gta0tjqr0bSxaFlA/videos) (so far, mainly only has amazing videos on the GDR) 9/10 * [SpookyScarySocialist](https://yewtu.be/c/SpookyScarySocialist/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 10/10 * [Halim Alrah](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCGog4JPn5-W3_XIKccENysg/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 8/10 * [Paul Cockshott](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCVBfIU1_zO-P_R9keEGdDHQ/videos) (Covers lots of economics and many other topics) 8/10 * [Space Babies](https://yewtu.be/c/SpaceBabies/videos) (covers many things, some better than others) 6/10 * [The Marxist Project](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCNalGyK3DaK37GTLIHSwmyA/videos) (covers lots of economics and many other topics) 10/10 * [AnotherBolshevikConspirator](https://yewtu.be/channel/UClkbdrFG-8kGjcdMF_FCeXQ/videos) (New channel so far mainly only has videos on colonialism) NR * [Socialist Voice](https://yewtu.be/c/SocialistVoice/videos) (an Ireland based channel that covers a wide variety of topics) 8/10 * [Politsurm International](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCfix0TWJgJdBvdsAtXKfG3A/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 7/10 * [TheFinnishBolshevik](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCCvdjsJtifsZoShjcAAHZpA/videos) (the OG Marxist-Leninist on Youtube. covers a wide variety of topics) 9/10 * [Hakim](https://yewtu.be/c/ComradeLenin/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 10/10 * [Swoletariat](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCReRffTpdfRgDsNVLAKBH0g/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 9/10 * [DemocraticSocialist01](https://yewtu.be/user/MrReco12/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 10/10 * [TovarishchEndymion](https://yewtu.be/c/TovarishchEndymion/videos) (covers a wide variety of topics) 10/10 * [Juche Gang](https://yewtu.be/c/shanelawrence86/videos) (almost exclusively DPRK focused content) 7/10 * [Bay Area415](https://yewtu.be/channel/UCdaFmmHTdGygThLv7nNy6zA/videos) (dengist \[neo-marxist\] channel focused a lot on china) * [Paul Morrin](https://yewtu.be/c/PaulMorrinIE/videos) (an irish based channel that covers a wide variety of topics) NR

www.reddit.com

Today's home page is full of anti-war reflections and empathy. Since we all want to reflect so much, then I will seriously give you a reflection on how this matter in Ukraine has come to this point. 1. Ukraine had a fantastic start Many people see Ukraine as a small and weak country, but this perception is actually limited. In terms of the size of the country, Ukraine is as large as Britain, France, Germany, and other European countries, and its population is 50 million. In terms of resources, Ukraine is the third-largest exporter of food in the world, along with the Northeast of China and the Mississippi of the United States. There are more than 80 kinds of rich minerals that can be mined, including coal, iron, manganese, nickel, titanium, mercury, graphite, and so on. Basically, they have all the necessary resources to become a strong power. It is important to note that Ukraine is not an agricultural country with resources, but an industrial country with a very advanced industrial system and a system of universal education, which was also established as a production center in the former Soviet Union. With a literacy rate of 99.7%, Ukraine probably had the fourth-highest level of education in the world at that time, and had a large number of universities. Moreover, Ukraine inherited a bunch of highly sophisticated factories from the Soviet era. For example, the Nikolaev Shipyard - better known to the Chinese as the Black Sea Shipyard - was the largest shipyard in Europe at the time and built nine aircraft carriers for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the predecessor of China's Liaoning aircraft carrier “The Varyag” the predecessor of China's Liaoning aircraft carrier, was nearly 70% completed here. Kharkiv Morozov Mechanical Design Bureau, where the famous T34 was designed and developed. Antonov Design Bureau - in the 1980s the world's largest aircraft was built - the An-225 transport aircraft. Madasich - the world's largest aero-engine research and manufacturing company, specializing in the supply of engines for all types of aircraft, known as the "power tsar" Ukraine inherited 3,594 Soviet military-industrial enterprises, with 3 million workers, capable of producing aircraft, tanks, aircraft carriers, rockets, large transport aircraft, and land, maritime, aero equipment, and they were all at the top of the world at the time. The most important thing is that Ukraine is not a fat sheep, it directly inherited 700,000 Soviet troops, more than 6,000 tanks, 1,500 aircraft, 300 ships, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and -- 2,500 tactical nuclear weapons. So you think this is a small and weak country? Have you ever heard of small countries with nuclear bombs in their hands? When the family was divided, Ukraine's overall strength was second only to Russia, to Chinese, it is as known as the "second hairy". (Big hairy Russia two hairy Ukraine three hairy Belarus, hairy bear, of course, is the Soviet Union) Although it is no longer the might of the hairy bear, it by no means is a small country that can be compared to an average country. But the problem is In 1989, Ukraine's GDP per capita was 1598$, Romania's GDP per capita was 1818$, Russia's GDP per capita was 3429$, and China's GDP per capita was only 311$. Ukraine was five times larger than us. Then twenty years passed In 2016, Ukraine's GDP per capita is still only $2186$, Romania's GDP per capita is $9520$, Russia's GDP per capita is $8748$, and China's GDP per capita has come to $8123$ (source IMF official website) We are almost five times more than Ukraine. So there are many countries in the world that can cry themselves miserable, such as some small countries in Africa, with poor natural conditions, little land resources, more than 90% of their land are deserts, they are not close to the shoreline and transportation is not convenient, so the gods can't help. But Ukraine is not. Ukraine had a fantastic start, which other countries, including us, could not even think about at that time. 2. The Textbook of Color revolution So how did Ukraine end up where it is today? Ukraine is a textbook of color revolutions on all fronts, because it is really hard to imagine a country that has bought into the evil of the other side like this First, there was shock therapy. After Ukraine's independence in 1991, Kravchuk became president, and in order to bring Ukraine's economy out of stagnation and quickly transform from a planned economy to a market economy, he believed in "shock therapy" as did Yeltsin in Russia at the time. As you may have guessed, like Russia, the Ukrainian economy went from stagnation to chaos, with prices soaring and the currency devalued, while some senior officials took the opportunity to use their power to acquire state property and become oligarchs. But there is still something to say, after all, no one had the experience back then, the problem is the rest of the operations. When Ukraine wanted to join the European NATO after USSR's dissolution, in order to convince the west as soon as possible that he was not a threat, he believed in the promises of Europe and the United States and destroyed his nuclear weapons. On the surface, for Ukraine at the time, this step was profitable both in terms of reducing the funds for maintaining nuclear weapons and in exchange for Western assistance. But realistically speaking, only a company can discuss whether it makes money or not, a country cannot just consider whether it makes money or not, nuclear and non-nuclear countries are completely different things in terms of discourse. Why did they attack Iraq? Because it was suspected of having weapons of mass destruction So why not go after North Korea? Because it really does have weapons of mass destruction. Ukraine could negotiate terms with Europe and the United States back then, not because Europe and the United States were kind-hearted, but because you really had thousands of nuclear warheads in your nuclear arsenal. After Ukraine destroyed its own nuclear weapons, Europe and the United States not only did not fulfill their promises, but even the previously promised loans started to come with conditions. In addition to nuclear weapons, Europe and the United States also coerced and lured Ukraine into giving up a whole bunch of military equipment. For example, when Ukraine had already built the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk, a Norwegian company offered Ukraine's help to build six ships, but to build them on Platform 0, where the Ulyanovsk carrier was located, and another American steel company took the opportunity to offer a high price for the steel used in the carrier's construction. Ukraine had an idea: wouldn't it be a good move to kill two birds with one stone? So Ukraine dismantled the Ulyanovsk carrier and prepared to sell it, freeing up the shipyard for the orders of new ships. But when the carrier was dismantled, the US company refused to buy it on the pretext that the contract was invalid, and then the Norwegian shipbuilding contract was canceled for some reason. After your economic and military, the next is your whole industrial chain. The famous "aviation power tsar" Madasic company president Boguslaev once told reporters that when he took his products to France to exhibit and tender, Western aviation manufacturers unceremoniously told him, "'Your engine is very good, but we don't want it '. Why? Because "your product does not meet the standards." And what are the standards? The standard is that 24 ways of cutting environment-friendly humanitarian diamond and if you don't buy it then you don't love it. The standard is that the only champagne is the wine produced in the Champagne region of France. If you can produce diamonds in West Africa, then I will emphasize the cut, diamonds are important, but a good cut is equally important, only diamonds that produced in the City of London by a century-old master, with hyperbolic 4C technique are worth the money, you don’t know that thing which is called an artisan spirit! If you have the cut, I will then emphasize the brightness, only bright diamonds are worth the money, your dim ones are inferior! As a result, when China's man-made diamond technology exploded, and they have all the brightness and cut, but… Guess what the opposite side said? Only those with flaws are natural! Only natural ones are worth the money! Your Xinjiang cotton is cheap and good, I will just say that you used slave labor, the standards are in my hands and can change at any time, how do you play with it? Therefore, repeatedly teased by the west, Ukraine came to its own realization. Ukraine wasn't stupid, of course, they also reacted to the good old "freedom and democracy." Everything will become better they said, turns out that's not true at all, is it? In 2004, the Ukrainian public felt that we had to change our mindset, not what the west said, so they elected a pro-Russian Yanukovych and tried to move closer to Russia. Then the final form of the color revolution emerged when the pro-Western Yushchenko, after losing the presidential election, called on his supporters to hold peaceful demonstrations in major cities across the country on the basis of "massive election fraud by Yanukovych", which became known as the "Orange Revolution" because Yushchenko and his supporters wore orange clothes and waved orange flags. Under strong pressure, the Constitutional Court ruled that the election results were invalid and a new election was held early the following year, which Yushchenko won by a narrow margin. The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, along with the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, are considered to be color revolutions, with the common denominator that they took place in the former Soviet Union and that the initial winners were all pro-Russian or socialist parties.

Note: This is not mine and unfortunately, I didn't keep credit of the original poster. The original post was on r/MTC and, of course, now it's gone. The British and French were trying to goad Germany and Russia into war. The Soviets were the last country in europe to sign a pact with the Nazis and here's a [handy infographic of the countries that did sign](https://pics.onsizzle.com/what-countries-signed-contracts-with-hitler-and-when-1933-uk-1601874.png). The Soviets spent over a year trying to sign an anti Nazi alliance with the British and the French. The British confirmed all of this in 2009 when the 70 year limit ran out and their archive was opened and the full scale of what Stalin offered the Brits and French was basically enough to ensure WW2 never happened The British and French however sent delegates with no authority to sign an alliance. The polish hated the Soviets because they were fascists under Pilzudski and were hoping for an alliance with Hitler. Poland also realised that if they allowed the Soviets onto Polish territory the Soviets would unilaterally annexe the land the Polish had stolen from the Soviet Union in the 1918-1920 invasion of the USSR where Poland annexed land from Belarus, Lithuania (they stole Villinus the capital of Lithuania) and Ukraine. The Polish then enacted a forced "Polandisation" of the citizens living there. Suppressing native languages and treating Belarussians/Lits and Ukrainians as 2nd class peoples. Bear in mind this is one year after they signed the Munich agreement which gave Hitler Czechoslovakia. > "Papers which were kept secret for almost 70 years show that the Soviet Union proposed sending a powerful military force in an effort to entice Britain and France into an anti-Nazi alliance. > The new documents, copies of which have been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, show the vast numbers of infantry, artillery and airborne forces which Stalin's generals said could be dispatched, if Polish objections to the Red Army crossing its territory could first be overcome. > But the British and French side - briefed by their governments to talk, but not authorised to commit to binding deals - did not respond to the Soviet offer, made on August 15, 1939. Instead, Stalin turned to Germany, signing the notorious non-aggression treaty with Hitler barely a week later. > The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, named after the foreign secretaries of the two countries, came on August 23 - just a week before Nazi Germany attacked Poland, thereby sparking the outbreak of the war. But it would never have happened if Stalin's offer of a western alliance had been accepted, according to retired Russian foreign intelligence service Major General Lev Sotskov, who sorted the 700 pages of declassified documents. > **"This was the final chance to slay the wolf, even after [British Conservative prime minister Neville] Chamberlain and the French had given up Czechoslovakia to German aggression the previous year in the Munich Agreement,"** said Gen Sotskov, 75. > The Soviet offer - made by war minister Marshall Klementi Voroshilov and Red Army chief of general staff Boris Shaposhnikov - would have put up to 120 infantry divisions (each with some 19,000 troops), 16 cavalry divisions, 5,000 heavy artillery pieces, 9,500 tanks and up to 5,500 fighter aircraft and bombers on Germany's borders in the event of war in the west, declassified minutes of the meeting show. > **But Admiral Sir Reginald Drax, who lead the British delegation, told his Soviet counterparts that he authorised only to talk, not to make deals.** > *"Had the British, French and their European ally Poland, taken this offer seriously then together we could have put some 300 or more divisions into the field on two fronts against Germany - double the number Hitler had at the time," said Gen Sotskov, who joined the Soviet intelligence service in 1956. "This was a chance to save the world or at least stop the wolf in its tracks." *" [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html) And yes, there were talks to join the axis! Germany at this point was in war with Britain and France and the Soviets needed another year and would still suffer horrendous losses (27 million dead) So what was the result of those axis talks? (Besides the end point which was Germany invading the Soviet Union but let's continue down the fantasy path that the Soviets trusted fucking Hitler and they were going seriously joining any German axis) . > "Hitler, however, saw the Soviet territorial ambitions in the Balkans as a challenge to German interests and saw its plan as effectively making Bulgaria into an adjunct of the Axis pact. On several occasions, Molotov asked German officials for their response to Moscow's counterproposals, but Germany never answered them. Germany's refusal to respond to the counterproposal worsened relations between the countries. Regarding the counterproposal, Hitler remarked to his top military chiefs that Stalin "demands more and more", "he's a cold-blooded blackmailer" and that "a German victory has become unbearable for Russia" so that "she must be brought to her knees as soon as possible.""** **-Ericson, Edward E. (1999), Feeding the German Eagle: Soviet Economic Aid to Nazi Germany, 1933–1941,** Right so the axis talks ended with Hitler so pissed off at the Soviet Union Hitler assessed - Stalin was a "cold blooded blackmailer" and that he "demands more and more" - "A German victory is unbearable for russia" - that the Soviets were trying to have Germany "brought to her knees as soon as possible" And Hitler killing the talks. We've established thus far that the Soviets prioritised a British-French and polish anti nazi alliance. That the British, Poles and French were rat bastards that saw communism as a greater evil than fascism and were hoping for the Germans and Russians to kill each other. At this point though I've only quoted bourgeois sources so let's see what the Soviets said about all this **.** > "After the first imperialist war the victor states, primarily Britain, France and the United States, had set up a new regime in the relations between countries, the post-war regime of peace. The main props of this regime were the Nine-Power Pact in the Far East, and the Versailles Treaty and a number of other treaties in Europe. The League of Nations was set up to regulate relations between countries within the framework of this regime, on the basis of a united front of states, of collective defence of the security of states. However, three aggressive states, and the new imperialist war launched by them, have upset the entire system of this post-war peace regime. Japan tore up the Nine-Power Pact, and Germany and Italy the Versailles Treaty. In order to have their hands free, these three states withdrew from the League of Nations.** > The new imperialist war became a fact. > It is not so easy in our day to suddenly break loose and plunge straight into war without regard for treaties of any kind or for public opinion. Bourgeois politicians know this very well. So do the fascist rulers. That is why the fascist rulers decided, before plunging into war, to frame public opinion to suit their ends, that is, to mislead it, to deceive it. > **A military bloc of Germany and Italy against the interests of England and France in Europe? Bless us, do you call that a bloc? "We" have no military bloc. All "we" have is an innocuous "Berlin-Rome axis"; that is, just a geometrical equation for an axis. (Laughter.)** > **A military bloc of Germany, Italy and Japan against the interests of the United States, Great Britain and France in the Far East? Nothing of the kind. "We" have no military bloc. All "we" have is an innocuous "Berlin-Rome-Tokyo triangle"; that is, a slight penchant for geometry. (General laughter.)** > **A war against the interests of England, France, the United States? Nonsense! "We" are waging war on the Comintern, not on these states. If you don't believe it, read the "anti-Comintern pact" concluded between Italy, Germany and Japan.** > That is how Messieurs the aggressors thought of framing public opinion, although it was not hard to see how preposterous this whole clumsy game of camouflage was; for it is ridiculous to look for Comintern "hotbeds" in the deserts of Mongolia, in the mountains of Abyssinia, or in the wilds of Spanish Morocco. (Laughter.) > But war is inexorable. It cannot be hidden under any guise. For no "axes," "triangles" or "anti-Comintern pacts" can hide the fact that in this period Japan has seized a vast stretch of territory in China, that Italy has seized Abyssinia, that Germany has seized Austria and the Sudeten region, that Germany and Italy together have seized Spain – and all this in defiance of the interests of the non-aggressive states. The war remains a war; the military bloc of aggressors remains a military bloc; and the aggressors remain aggressors. > **It is a distinguishing feature of the new imperialist war that it has not yet become universal, a world war. The war is being waged by aggressor states, who in every way infringe upon the interests of the non-aggressive states, primarily England, France and the U.S.A., while the latter draw back and retreat, making concession after concession to the aggressors. > Thus we are witnessing an open redivision of the world and spheres of influence at the expense of the non-aggressive states, without the least attempt at resistance, and even with a certain amount of connivance, on the part of the latter.** > Incredible, but true. > **To what are we to attribute this one-sided and strange character of the new imperialist war?**

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Over the Time our Subreddit has accumulated quite a lot of Megathreads regarding different Nations. As it has been pointed out by u/Zaroden in his [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cnydo8/we_need_a_soviet_union_megathread_debunking/ewezc15?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) it would be useful to organise them in a helpful manner. So here is my take on that. I got together all the Megathreads that i know about but I certainly would be happy to make addition if I am missing out on one or a new one gets made.During the making of my Mega-Megathread I found a helpful [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cg2tu1/compilation_of_sourcelists_and_masterposts/) made by u/flesh_eating_turtle which already gathered most of the Megathreads. Thanks for your work comrade! # Current [America and Iran Mega thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/el080y/america_and_iran_mega_thread/) # General [Anti-Communist myths debunked (giant google docs document)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/edit) [Reading List Collection](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k-OPPy9UM9ApPuWVIsPcvX3zQh1LUsVbPQocD9mUhyA/edit) [Useful Studies and Sources for Debating Reactionaries](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c4j3xl/useful_studies_and_sources_for_debating/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) [Sources and Studies to Debunk Racism and "Race Realism"](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c9qmfq/sources_and_studies_to_debunk_racism_and_race/) [Masterpost for Defending Socialism Against Anarchist Attacks, With Sources](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cewriu/masterpost_for_defending_socialism_against/) [Online Library regarding communist Literature](https://archive.org/details/%40ismail_badiou?&sort=-publicdate&page=2) [Socialism FAQ](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md) [(r/communism) Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/wiki/debunk) [(r/communism101) Wiki](https://old.reddit.com/r/communism101/wiki/index) [(](https://old.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/wiki/index)[r/shitliberalssay) Wiki](https://old.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/wiki/index) # Nations (+ Hong Kong) **Albania** [Masterpost on the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, With Sources](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/ctr9q5/masterpost_on_the_peoples_socialist_republic_of/) **Bolivia** [Masterpost on the Achievements of Socialism in Bolivia](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cg2t3j/masterpost_on_the_achievements_of_socialism_in/) [Evo Morales and Bolivia Megathread. A look at the accomplishment of Morales and His Fight Against Imperialism.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/dmc3ps/evo_morales_and_bolivia_megathread_a_look_at_the/) [\[EFFORT POST\] Counter CIA Propaganda - A guide to the situation in Bolivia](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/dvdsds/effort_post_counter_cia_propaganda_a_guide_to_the/) [Bolivia Coup: one month on](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/eecja4/bolivia_coup_one_month_on/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) **Cuba** [Cuba and Fidel Castro Megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cfu81s/cuba_and_fidel_castro_megathread/)[Another Masterpost on Cuban Socialism, With Sources](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cgjlx1/another_masterpost_on_cuban_socialism_with_sources/) **Chile** [On the accusations against President Salvador Allende of anti-semitism and other hateful behaviors.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/acvzur/on_the_accusations_against_president_salvador/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) **China** [China Megathread: Everything a Leftist Must Know](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c2b7ma/china_megathread_everything_a_leftist_must_know/)[China Megathread 2: Debunking Western Propaganda](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/dg25qt/china_megathread_2_debunking_western_propaganda/) [Fake News & Myths about China Debunked](https://www.reddit.com/r/sino/wiki/fakenews-china)[A Response to "Organ Harvesting" Claims Against China](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/dfb8nh/a_response_to_organ_harvesting_claims_against/) [Megathread explaining why China's economic boom and drastic poverty reduction is attributable to socialism](https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateCommunism/comments/b3gjfe/chinas_drastic_decrease_in_poverty_is_a_result_of/ey8depl/?context=3) [Detailed Analysis of Living Standards Under Mao Zedong, Based on Academic Sources](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c8zxob/detailed_analysis_of_living_standards_under_mao/) [Class composition of the Communist Party of China](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/ael8v9/class_composition_of_the_communist_party_of_china/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)[China as a Socialist & Marxist-Leninist State: A defense](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/5ku8dz/china_as_a_socialist_marxistleninist_state_a/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) [Beijing, Suzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai : what the future holds for China.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MoreTankieChapo/comments/dhu95r/beijing_suzhou_shenzhen_and_shanghai_what_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) [Reading List on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VEeabfuAeAt_NU5KNHmGh0c9MKrQaIgtXExxmhmur68/edit) **DPRK** [DPRK Megathread: Part 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cc41yz/dprk_megathread_part_1/)[DPRK Megathread: Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cc42bl/dprk_megathread_part_2/) **German Democratic Republic** [Masterpost on the German Democratic Republic](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cxwul4/masterpost_on_the_german_democratic_republic_east/) **Hungary** [Masterpost on the Hungarian People's Republic](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/d8ykg7/masterpost_on_the_hungarian_peoples_republic/) **Hong Kong** (Yeah. Its China but this needs a sub-chapter) [We Need a Serious Discussion on the Overwhelming Misinformation on China and HK](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cpm5q1/we_need_a_serious_discussion_on_the_overwhelming/) [Beware of "Hong Kong Peralism;" Why the Hong Kong Protesters Must be Analyzed Critically From the Left.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c8345o/beware_of_hong_kong_peralism_why_the_hong_kong/) [Hong Kong's Problem isn't China or Communism; Its Capitalism](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cv40k0/hong_kongs_problem_isnt_china_or_communism_its/) **India** [Analysis of the Naxalite Movement and Its Achievements, With Sources](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cbnqmv/analysis_of_the_naxalite_movement_and_its/) **Nicaragua** [Celebrating the Sandinistas: Sources on their Achivements](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cfhor5/celebrating_the_sandinistas_sources_on_their/) **Poland** [Masterpost on the Polish People's Republic](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cwuhvl/masterpost_on_the_polish_peoples_republic/) **Ukraine** [Historians Proving that the Ukrainian Famine Was Not Caused by Stalin and/or Socialism](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/d22f2n/historians_proving_that_the_ukrainian_famine_was/) **USSR** [Masterpost on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Part One: The Achievements of Soviet Socialism)](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cvgnzm/masterpost_on_the_union_of_soviet_socialist/) [How much power did Stalin legally have, and if he did have legal restrictions on power, did he often ignore them?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/af29ur/how_much_power_did_stalin_legally_have_and_if_he/eduxj7o?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) [Response to Anti-Soviet Claims](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/95jr4q/response_to_antisoviet_claims_on/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) [On the Crimes of the USSR](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/81s4od/on_the_crimes_of_the_ussr/)[Sources on War Crimes and Atrocities Committed by the Red Army](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/7eeiql/sources_on_war_crimes_and_atrocities_committed_by/) [\[Polemic\] The Anarcho-Kulak Bandits Of Russia And Ukraine](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/64wkgf/polemic_the_anarchokulak_bandits_of_russia_and/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) [A brief overview of Trotsky's liberal counter-revolution](https://www.reddit.com/r/PartyofCommunistsUSA/comments/ckob8b/a_brief_overview_of_trotskys_liberal/)["Yezhov's Opposition" an excerpt.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cc7b63/yezhovs_opposition_an_excerpt/) **Rojava** [Toward a continued demystification of Rojava — it's a long one](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/chgsnj/toward_a_continued_demystification_of_rojava_its/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) **Syria** [Syria megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/MoreTankieChapo/comments/dcrk8b/syria_megathread/) **Venezuela** [Venezuela Megathread: How Socialists Should Respond to Upcoming Events](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/6s2v17/venezuela_megathread_how_socialists_should/)[Venezuela Resources and Megathread PART 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/bjpmbc/venezuela_resources_and_megathread_part_2/) **Vietnam** [How has Vietnam developed since the war?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/ai6ypn/vietnam/) **Yugoslavia** [Masterpost on the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cu8rug/masterpost_on_the_socialist_federal_republic_of/) # Organisations **ICE** [ICE Megathread: Legal information and resources concerning immigration rights (Spanish translation available too!)](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/ccgcct/ice_megathread_legal_information_and_resources/)

This is a (hopefully) near-complete list of all the constitutions of every socialist state, that has followed Marxism-Leninism or some variant of it. In light of u/bayarea415's megapost analyzing the CCP constitution, I have made this list as a go-to source for those who want to read, analyze and compare the different constitutions of all the Marxist-Leninist states that have existed over the years. This is not a complete list; I will update it as I track down more of them.

*Permananently Deleted*

by /u/flesh_eating_turtle [I went into an intense analysis as to how the USSR allowed revisionists after Stalin to seep into its party here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/da75go/comrades_refer_me_to_another_answer_if_this_has/) They were *the first* communist party to successfully overthrow a capitalist government. How could they structure a political party that gave prominence to revisionist policies and move away from Stalinism? [When explaining the four cardinal principle of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (SWCC), Mr. You described the massive amount of resources China dedicated to learn why the Soviet Union fell. The overwhelming conclusion these experts came to was because of the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union](https://youtu.be/Ff_ZkwJmfWQ?t=3815). But how can a political structure allow such revisionism to take hold? The focus of this question is not aimed at the correct problem of ideological compromise. A breakdown of ideology is not halted or obstructed by political bodies, but rather through ideological party discipline. [Mao Tse-Tung brilliantly illustrated this danger:](https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1964/phnycom.htm) > After the October Revolution, Lenin pointed out a number of times that: > a) The overthrown exploiters always try in a thousand and one ways to recover the "paradise" they have been deprived of. > b) New elements of capitalism are constantly and spontaneously generated in the petty-bourgeois atmosphere. > c) Political degenerates and new bourgeois elements may emerge in the ranks of the working class and among government functionaries as a result of bourgeois influence and the pervasive, corrupting influence of the petty bourgeoisie. > d) The external conditions for the continuance of class struggle within a socialist society are encirclement by international capitalism, the imperialists’ threat of armed intervention and their subversive activities to accomplish peaceful disintegration. The constant threat of bourgeois elements does not end at a victorious revolution. It is ongoing, evolving, and malleable. Despite the critiques against Deng, his economic reforms not only led to the prosperous China we know today, but **SAVED** the CPC from corruption. The Four Cardinal Principles were created by Deng and are the four issues for which debate was not allowed within China: 1. The principle of upholding the socialist path 2. The principle of upholding the people's democratic dictatorship 3. The principle of upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) 4. The principle of upholding Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism–Leninism To my knowledge, the USSR never had such ideological commitment. Although this is Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, I can never imagine evolving capitalism to socialism to communism without a party even having these already imbedded in their political structures and party ideology. But we can see what happens when a party lacks ideological discipline: > In announcing the abolition of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Soviet Union, the revisionist Khrushchov clique base themselves mainly on the argument that antagonistic classes have been eliminated and that class struggle no longer exists... > Ever since Khrushchov seized the leadership of the Soviet Party and state, he has pushed through a whole series of revisionist policies which have greatly hastened the growth of the forces of capitalism and again sharpened the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and the struggle between the roads of socialism and capitalism in the Soviet Union. The USSR was the target of some of the most horrendous espionage and guerrilla tactics from the West. At the time Yeltsin got elected, it was basically a CIA-ran election. In short, we must remember that socialism is a transition. Proper focus and discipline cannot falter while bourgeois elements fester in new forms. The beauty of Marxism and what SWCC has shown is that our ideology is just as adaptable to survive and thrive so long as we remain committed to that road.

by /u/flesh_eating_turtle **Introduction** Most people (including many who call themselves socialists) have a very deceptive impression of Mao Zedong. They tend to rely on bourgeois myths and fictions as their only sources of information about him, and they thus lack a proper understanding of his immense achievements (which are ignored), as well as his flaws (which are exaggerated and mischaracterized). Because Mao's ideology continues to be the driving force behind the most active and revolutionary sector of the international communist movement (as demonstrated by the Naxalites in India, the NPA in the Philippines, and many others), it is important that we have a correct understanding of Maoist policies, and the immense gains they made for the Chinese people. **General Overview of Living Standards** Our primary source in this section will be an in-depth study conducted by Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge University. Sen was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work comparing living standards in the People's Republic of China (particularly during the Maoist period) to those in India: * [Harvard University | Perspectives on the Economic and Human Development of India and China](https://www.univerlag.uni-goettingen.de/handle/3/isbn-3-938616-63-6) The results of the study can be summarized by the following remark, in which Sen discusses China's decidedly superior achievements, and attributes them directly to the socialist ideology of the Maoist period: >Because of its radical commitment to the elimination of poverty and to improving living conditions - a commitment in which Maoist as well as Marxist ideas and ideals played an important part - China did achieve many things that the Indian leadership failed to press for and pursue with any vigor. The elimination of widespread hunger, illiteracy, and ill health falls solidly in this category. When state action operates in the right direction, the results can be quite remarkable, as is illustrated by the social achievements of the pre-reform \[Maoist\] period. Another important comment summarizing the findings of the study is as follows: >We argue, in particular, that the accomplishments relating to education, healthcare, land reforms, and social change in the pre-reform \[Maoist\] period made significantly positive contributions to the achievements of the post-reform period. This is so not only in terms of their role in sustained high life expectancy and related achievements, but also in providing firm support for economic expansion based on market reforms. Sen states here that the Maoist period saw enormous increases in quality of life for the Chinese people, as well as important economic developments, without which the economic expansion following the 1979 market reforms most likely could not have taken place. Sen notes that during the Maoist period, a "remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment took place," attributing this to the socialist policies implemented by Mao's government: >The casual processes through which the reduction of undernourishment was achieved involved extensive state action including redistributive policies, nutritional support, and of course health care (since undernourishment is frequently caused by parasitic diseases and other illnesses). Sen focuses more attention on the remarkable advances in healthcare during the Maoist period: >China's achievements in the field of health during the pre-reform period include a dramatic reduction of infant and child mortality and a remarkable expansion of longevity. It is also noted that China's life expectancy approximately *doubled* during the Maoist period, from approx. 35 years in 1949, to 68 years in 1981 (when Dengist reforms began to take effect). This is further elaborated on in the next source. On the issue of education, Sen notes that the huge improvements (including dramatic increases in literacy) can be attributed primary to the pre-reform Maoist period: >China's breakthrough in the field of elementary education had already taken place before the process of economic reform was initiated at the end of the seventies. Census data indicate, for instance, that literacy rates in 1982 for the 15-19 age group were already as high as 96 percent for males and 85 percent for females. Let us examine the issue of public health in more detail. **Further Research on Public Health and Life Expectancy** Another excellent source on public health in Maoist China comes from the journal *Population Studies*, in a study conducted by researchers from Stanford University and the National Bureau for Economic Research: * [Population Studies | An Exploration of China's Mortality Decline Under Mao: A Provincial Analysis, 1950-1980](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/) One important comment is as follows >China's growth in life expectancy at birth from 35–40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980 is among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history. This alone goes to show the massive benefits attained by the socialist policies under Mao Zedong. More important information is provided in the study, dealing with hospital and medical resources: >Physician and hospital supply grew dramatically under Mao due to a variety of factors (including increases in government financing, the introduction of social insurance for urban public employees, and the launch of China's Rural Cooperative Medical System in the mid-1950's). Rural Cooperative Medical Schemes (CMS) were vigorously promoted and became widespread in the late 1960's as part of the Cultural Revolution. The study confirms Sen's analysis of education: >China made large strides in primary and secondary education under Mao. It also quotes other research which found that the rapid gains in Chinese healthcare can be attributed to the specific socialist policies implemented: >China's mortality decline between 1953 and 1957, which resembles that of the US between 1900 and 1930, was “primarily due to the unique social organisation of Chinese public health practices.” Note that China achieved in four years what the United States took thirty years to accomplish, due to their differing systems (i.e. socialism vs. capitalism). The study also confirms the immense success of Maoist vaccination programs: >Systematic efforts to vaccinate the population against polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and cholera were rapid and reputedly successful (China nearly eradicated smallpox within the span of only three years, with the last documented cases occurring in Tibet and Yunnan in 1960). Additional citations for the claims in the above quotes are provided in the original study. **Analysis of the Great Chinese Famine - Comparison to Capitalist India** In analyzing this topic, we may look to another work by Amartya Sen, his book *Hunger and Public Action,* written with John Dreze: * [Harvard University | Hunger and Public Action](https://scholar.harvard.edu/sen/publications/hunger-and-public-action) Sen and Dreze point out that, while the Chinese famine was devastating, it pales in comparison to the ordinary mortality rates which occur under capitalism in an otherwise comparable nation like India: >...it is important to note that despite the gigantic size of excess mortality in the Chinese famine, the extra mortality in India from regular deprivation in normal times vastly overshadows the former. Comparing India’s death rate of 12 per thousand with China’s of 7 per thousand, and applying that difference to the Indian population of 781 million in 1986, we get an estimate of excess normal mortality in India of 3.9 million per year. This implies that every eight years or so more people die in India because of its higher regular death rate than died in China in the gigantic famine of 1958 – 61. India seems to manage to fill its cupboard with more skeletons every eight years than China put there in its years of shame. This comes out to more than *100 million* excess deaths in India alone from 1947 (when India become independent) to 1980. As Paul Heideman put it, writing in *Jacobin*: >In other words, though India experienced no concentrated period of starvation which can be easily identified and hung around the neck of a particular ideology, its ordinary conditions for the latter half of the twentieth century, in which an extraordinarily unequal distribution of land obtained, created an excess mortality that, over the long term, dwarfed that of the worst famine of the century. This demonstrates the effects that capitalism has on a developing nation. This is all the more shocking when compared to the immense gains made in the People's Republic of China, described in the earlier sections of this discussion. **Conclusion** The People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong made enormous strides in living standards, dramatically bettering the lives of hundreds of millions of people. While the bourgeois establishment continues to misrepresent and distort the legacy of Mao Zedong, he remains an inspirational figure to the billions of people around the world who have benefited, either directly (via the improvements mentioned above) or indirectly (via his influence on global revolutionary movements), from his work.

(1/2) by /u/flesh_eating_turtle **- Introduction -** Hello comrades. I recently added a section on the Ukrainian famine to the Soviet masterpost, and I decided to post in separately here so that people can see it. **- The Ukrainian Famine -** Let us address perhaps the most infamous of anti-Stalin myths, the allegation that Stalin deliberately caused the 1931-1933 famine to starve Ukrainians. This idea has been consistently rejected by the most esteemed scholars on the topic. The following quotes are compiled in an article from the *Village Voice*, cited below. Alexander Dallin of Stanford University writes: >There is no evidence it was intentionally directed against Ukrainians... that would be totally out of keeping with what we know -- it makes no sense. Moshe Lewin (perhaps the most esteemed 20th century scholar of Soviet history) stated: >This is crap, rubbish... I am an anti-Stalinist, but I don't see how this \[genocide\] campaign adds to our knowledge. It's adding horrors, adding horrors, until it becomes a pathology. Lynne Viola of the University of Toronto writes: >I absolutely reject it... Why in god's name would this paranoid government consciously produce a famine when they were terrified of war \[with Germany\]? Mark Tauger, Professor of History at West Virginia University (reviewing work by Stephen Wheatcroft and R.W. Davies) has this to say: >Popular media and most historians for decades have described the great famine that struck most of the USSR in the early 1930s as “man-made,” very often even a “genocide” that Stalin perpetrated intentionally against Ukrainians and sometimes other national groups to destroy them as nations... This perspective, however, is wrong. The famine that took place was not limited to Ukraine or even to rural areas of the USSR, it was not fundamentally or exclusively man-made, and it was far from the intention of Stalin and others in the Soviet leadership to create such as disaster. A small but growing literature relying on new archival documents and a critical approach to other sources has shown the flaws in the “genocide” or “intentionalist” interpretation of the famine and has developed an alternative interpretation. More recent research has discovered natural causes for the Ukrainian famine. Tauger notes: >...the USSR experienced an unusual environmental disaster in 1932: extremely wet and humid weather that gave rise to severe plant disease infestations, especially rust. Ukraine had double or triple the normal rainfall in 1932. Both the weather conditions and the rust spread from Eastern Europe, as plant pathologists at the time documented. Soviet plant pathologists in particular estimated that rust and other fungal diseases reduced the potential harvest in 1932 by almost nine million tons, which is the largest documented harvest loss from any single cause in Soviet history. Thus, we can see that the Ukrainian famine was *not* intentional, and should not be attributed to Stalin or the socialist policies he implemented.

(1/3) by /u/Entire_Cover The inevitable question is whether or not there really existed, during Yezhov’s tenure, a subversive underground in the Soviet Union with "an undiscovered Trotskyist center...which had to be found and liquidated," in the words of a former Assistant People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs Ya. S. Agronov, who received direct instructions from Yezhov. One of the first difficulties in answering this is that the "center," as Agronov put it, that Yezhov was seeking is alternately described by other NKVD officials who were involved in these manhunts. For example, G. E. Prokofiev, a Deputy Peoples’ Commissar of Internal Affairs (like Agronov, another NKVD official), said the investigation Yezhov was conducting was directed "towards the discovery of underground revolutionary formations" and perhaps "of all the organizational links of the Trotskyists and the Zinovievists and to the discovery of terrorist groups." Prokofiev’s description of the targets of the Yezhovshchina is clearly more general and nebulous: it includes a search for saboteurs or provocateurs only peripherally connected to Trotsky and his close agents. The diversity of the descriptions of the objects of Yezhov’s dragnet has only served to confuse and to play into the hands of those who seek to prove Yezhov was a villain, demented, pathological, or vice-ridden from the beginning. His own statement, quoted earlier, on Civil War confederates posing as loyal Communists after their defeat ca. 1921, who thereafter entered the state, Party, and security apparatuses - especially in rural areas far from Moscow’s scrutinizing eyes - as being his target is the clearest, most accurate, and most productive avenue of approach, especially in view of the statistical confirmation this has received. Having been a member of the "class of 1921" is the common thread that links all the varied descriptions of Yezhov’s targets, from "wrecker" to Old Bolshevik, from "Zinovievist" to "Menshevizing idealist," from Japanese to German spy, descriptions that differed to conform to the context of the instructions containing them - many times ad hoc - that Yezhov and other police authorities issued. In the Great Terror, Yezhov was veritably continuing the Civil War because the Whites had only appeared to surrender: they had never really conceded, nor had they really given up the assistance they had received during the actual Civil War hostilities from the new-born Bolshevik regime’s foreign enemies, especially Germany, Japan, and Great Britain. (Recall, again, the above analogy with the American Civil War and what may be called the mock-surrender of the war-weary Confederates.) In June of 1936, Stalin interrupted Yezhov at a Central Committee Plenum with what has come to be known as "Stalin’s inaudible remark." Stalin complained to Yezhov about his having expelled too many Party members: Yezhov: "Comrades, as a result of the verification of party documents, we expelled more than 200,000 members of the party." Stalin: [Interrupting:] Very many." [Stalin was criticizing Yezhov.] Yezhov: "Yes, very many. I will speak about this..." Stalin: "[Interrupting again:] If we expelled 30,000 [inaudible remark], and 600 former Trotskyists and Zinovievists it would be a bigger victory." At a time during which he enjoyed the full trust of Stalin, Yezhov debated him for nearly two years on the need for a severe repression or liquidation of his predecessor NKVD head, Genrikh G. Yagoda. In the fall of 1936, at the height of the Yezhovshchina, Stalin observed that the NKVD was about four years behind in uncovering the oppositionist underground. The blame for this was laid at Yagoda’s door, his non-feasance suspected of being due to complicity with counter-revolutionaries. Yagoda was suspected of being not a mere bungler, but an at best passive conspirator who consciously "looked the other way" to protect the old, enduring, resistant former White Guard that had once sought to defeat the Soviet system right out in the open. That Yagoda was indeed at the critical center of such a network is borne out by detailed studies that pertain to the NKVD’s predecessor and successor organizations, such as The Soviet Secret Police, the Uses of Terror by Borys Lewytzkyj (Boris Levitsky), Soviet Secret Police by Simon Wolin and Robert Slusser, and Beria, Stalin’s First Lieutenant by Amy Knight. From these and other sources, the most reasonable extra-paradigmatic construction of events is as follows: There existed a domestic underground counter-revolutionary network with strong foreign connections seeking the overthrow of the USSR. Yagoda was its (possibly passive) internal functional center. This network had a lineage that can be traced back to early counter-revolutionary factions (some even socialist) that had been assisted by foreign spy-rings, as documented by the CheKa for the earliest years of the Soviet State. Trotsky and other notable exiles were involved. The patience of this underground was uncommon (for the West). Yezhov was keener than Stalin in perceiving the threat this underground posed, and wanted to put his foot in a "revolving door" of tolerance for saboteurs that, in many cases, Stalin just kept allowing to turn. This was due to Yezhov’s unique background, and to brain-aging on Stalin’s part (to be described in what follows). Yezhov’s rock-ribbed efforts failed to reach the key personages in this underground. This underground finally prevailed at the time of the curtailment and reduction of the NKVD when the new NKGB ("KGB") was formed, which backed Khrushchev. Khrushchev did not believe in Communism and began the dismantling of the Soviet system. Khrushchev’s efforts culminated with Gorbachev and finally Yeltsen: Bolshevism was destroyed. It is known that Yagoda and the OGPU (the Soviet Union’s State Political Administration, which had been reorganized from the Bolshevik’s original, multi-party secret police or CheKa) were opposed to peasant collectivization. Stalin was aware of this, resulting in personal friction between him and Yagoda right up to Yagoda’s very end when Stalin once threatened to "punch him in the kisser." In July of 1934, the OGPU was abolished and its functions transferred to the all new NKVD or Peoples’ Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which, unknown to most, existed from the start. (Dzerzhinsky was, at one time, head of both the multi-party CheKa and the exclusively Bolshevik NKVD. At one point the NKVD was suspicious of - and opposed to - the CheKa.) In May of 1934, Yagoda was appointed the new organization’s head. It is frequently and glibly stated that the NKVD was the successor organization of the OGPU, and that the better known KGB was the successor of the NKVD. Neither is correct. When the NKVD was formed, a central core of former agents of OGPU reappeared as functionaries in the NKVD’s Main Administration of State Security: the GUGB. In February of 1941, a separate agency called the NKGB (later KGB) was formed from this same core of people from the GUGB. The KGB, or Committee of State Security (as it existed after Khrushchev empowered it), resembled the American CIA, FBI, and Secret Intelligence Service all rolled into one, involving itself in intelligence, counter-intelligence, and internal security. In this, it was unusual for its time and unlike its incorrectly nominated "parent" organizations: the CheKa, OGPU, and NKVD. The NKVD became the MVD, an "authority" not even a faint shadow of the old NKVD. In September of 1953, six months after Stalin’s death, two months after the arrest of the staunch Stalinist Beria (Yezhov’s successor as NKVD chief), Khrushchev began to consolidate his power. He replaced the Old Bolshevik Malenkov, who had been First Party Secretary, and stripped the NKVD of most of the economic sections that had been under its control - ending the system established by Lenin and Dzerzhinsky. Khrushchev turned these economic functions over to other agencies. Suffering the same fate as Beria, but with less publicity involving less well known personalities, many old NKVD agents were executed - or forced to flee abroad. The NKVD was reduced to the MVD, a mere "traffic cop" operation by comparison. When the dust settled, the KGB had extraordinary powers, both internally and in foreign affairs, consisting of the same old GUGB core from the former OGPU. (Consult Bibliography for NKVD-INFO. See Felix Dzerzhinsky by A. Tishkov for information about the NKVD and other NK’s ["Narkomats" or People’s Commissariats], which were organizations regulating the Soviet economy.)

(1/3) by /u/bayarea415 It’s been a pretty overwhelming week on Reddit. Despite Chinese investment on the site, [we can see the censorship Redditors were decrying hit full force on here]( https://www.reddit.com/r/MoreTankieChapo/comments/dfy0om/after_thorough_research_into_the_top_posts_of_the/). But all sarcasm aside, I think it’s time to approach the allegations and sensationalism surrounding China again to at least cast some doubt against these ridiculous claims. After doing some more research on the topics that have been popping up on Reddit, I would like to, once again address the major misinformation Western propaganda is promoting. With that said, I want to first address the basic logical aspect and fallacies I notice a majority of these pieces and arguments hit on. Before even diving into the specific allegations Western media is portraying, we must recognize the following: **1.) Testimonies from "witnesses" are usually an unreliable source for their truth.** I first started to notice this claim when studying North Korean defectors, and how many not only end up embellish the truth, but outright lie. It is no surprise [that many North Korean defectors inaccurately describe prison conditions, living standards, and absurd laws that they must abide by.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart). Additionally, many have become more skeptical because of the [inconsistent nature these defectors do tell their story]( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkegD7V9E6g), when reiterating their tales about North Korea. It’s been later discovered that most of these stories are pressued by the South Korean government, [really doing some shady shit to keep these narratives alive, threatening family members and others]( https://www.reddit.com/r/FULLCOMMUNISM/comments/9ptoa4/loyal_citizens_of_pyongyang_in_seoul_%EC%84%9C%EC%9A%B8%EC%9D%98_%ED%8F%89%EC%96%91_%EC%8B%9C%EB%AF%BC%EB%93%A4_a/). That last link is a great documentary not only debunking the lies surrounding from the DPRK, but also showing the immense pressure they are under to push these faulty narratives. Along with the fame and fortune some of these defectors obtain, these “witnesses” are truly unreliable sources for the truth. As a side note, some of these North Defactor stories end [in tragedy thanks to capitalism.]( https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3023188/death-destitute-north-korean-mother-and-child-sparks-national). In US court, witnesses are only one aspect of evidence, *not the only aspect.* Opposing parties can even attack their credibility using their background, work, funding, etc. Whenever one sees a report that soley relies on the testimony of witnesses, whether they be doctors, or people of a certain religion, always be skeptical. Widespread horrendous behavior definitely needs more proof than mere superstition and witnesses that may be bias. **2.) Western media and NGOs should not be a credible source for information because of their use of unreliable sources, leaps in logic, and sensationalism if it is not coupled with legitimate unbias sources.** Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; North Korea's belief in unicorns, strict haircuts, and unbelievable ability to bring back people from the dead; Venezuela bullshit; and many many tidbits about Muslim groups in the Middle East (stunning how all of the sudden they care about the Muslims in China now). Idk how many times Western media and NGOs have shot themselves in the foot making these ridiculous claims concerning other non-Western countries. There are some that report with primary sources, but some articles are far and few in-between. [This CNN article is probably the epitome of Western sensationalism, leaps of logic, and Western pandering.](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/06/asia/china-xinjiang-video-intl-hnk/index.html) It’s about the China prison transfer. Despite stating: > CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of this video or the date it was shot. Chinese Foreign Ministry officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the video. In a statement to CNN on October 4, authorities in Xinjiang said that "cracking down on crimes in accordance with law is the common practice of all countries. Xinjiang's crackdown on crimes has never been linked to ethnicities or religions," the statement added. "Transporting inmates by judicial authorities (is related) to normal judicial activities." They go on to say: > The YouTube account which uploaded the video described it as demonstrating the "long-term suppression of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region." They go on about Western intelligences, reporting from witnesses, and NGOs confirming it was fill of Uygurs (all of which we lopsidedly given their narratives to be true, even with the fallacies described above). Specifically with Western NGOs, [there has been countless documentaries on how most are being funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which obtains its funds from the state department and CIA]( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzIJ25ob1aA). Most NGO [being funded by NED spout against governments in order to destabilize them, with one former CIA official stating “they do what we use to do in the 1950s](https://youtu.be/FcW3_SzDmto?t=200). You don’t have to look far when it comes to this either (see Venezuela and NED’s funding of the opposition party). So obvious biases and sensationalism should not be supported through these sources. **3.) Reddit, and other media platforms have an unholy amount of Western bias** [Western, white, males between the ages of 18-34 overwhelming make up the visits of the site](https://mediakix.com/blog/reddit-statistics-users-demographics/). 70% male, over 60% from the US, Canada, and UK, and between 55%-90% between the ages of 18-49 (18-29 making 55%). This creates a cultural bias on news with different cultures, countries, and governments. Take reddit’s opinions with a grain of salt, even if it has hundreds of thousands of upvotes.

(1/2) by /u/bayarea415 I am a user that loves sources (as seen from my [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/bjpmbc/venezuela_resources_and_megathread_part_2/) Venezuela [megathreads](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/6s2v17/venezuela_megathread_how_socialists_should/)). We can all sniff out propaganda pieces sure, but to believe in Western narratives over others is Eurocentric at best, and maliciously imperialistic at worst. To dismiss these sources out right and not see the presented truth to what is going on is negligent and willfully ignorant. There are many primary sources, photos, and truth to these that should not be dismissed outright, and I hope we all can recognize the US’s agenda (trade war, anti-communist, cold war rhetoric) and their narratives against China. Recently, there has been an absurd amount of praise for the Hong Kong protests that promote Western imperialism, orientalism, and eurocentrism around their “freedoms.” When, in reality, these protests are about an extradition law over a murdered pregnant woman: > [The extradition bill cane about when a man from Hong Kong killed his pregnant girlfriend while in holiday in Taiwan. He fled back to Hong Kong. Taiwan asked for him to be extradited, but Hong Kong did not have an extradition treaty with Taiwan, so the administration in Hong Kong proposed a bill that would allow Taiwan, the PRC, and Macau to request extradition, which the judiciary in Hong Kong can then approve. [There were 49 crimes that were to be included in the bill that would allow extradition requests.](https://qz.com/1636663/the-37-crimes-included-in-hong-kongs-proposed-extradition-law/) Some of these were financial crimes, and the Bourgeoisie in Hong Kong shit themselves because they are often in breach of PRC law, but protected by Hong Kong's independence as a Special Administrative Region. This bill is completely reasonable, and any fears of the PRC taking over or of the extradition of 'political' criminals is unfounded. Right now I fear that the US is encouraging the organizers to keep protesting in order to provoke the administration in Hong Kong to crack down on them, so that they can blame China and keep up their propaganda narrative that 'CHINA BAD!']( https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/c1nxga/opinions_on_hong_kong_protests/ered9wl/) [More on this here](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3008099/sentence-man-who-killed-girlfriend-taiwan-sets) So is this not a pretty gruesome case to rally a massive protest behind? Not for the West. As u/parenti_shotgun puts it: > The US is trying to leverage the only advantages it has right now: military supremacy, and a media monopoly, to demonize and try to start a new cold war with China. Chinas life expectancy even [recently surpassed]( https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-lifespan/china-overtakes-u-s-for-healthy-lifespan-who-data-idUSKCN1IV15L) the USs, they hoodwinked western capital into dismantling production in their home countries, and now are the primary consumer goods producer for the whole world, and they have a [renewable energy roadmap](https://www.reeep.org/projects/china-roadmap-30-renewable-energy-penetration-2030) that puts the US to shame. Meanwhile the US has left the Paris climate agreements and a climate change denier has the presidency. We need to be more vigilant than ever of this rash of anti-china stories, and not take all these stories at face value. Some of the links below get into chinas slower, steadier road towards socialism, the contradictions and struggles involved, and how they managed to survive in a neoliberal sea when other socialist countries were overthrown it the 90s. **China in general:** - [Is modern day china communist? Is it staying true to communist values?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/91liw2/how_is_china_staying_true_to_communist_values/e2z3kzu/) - [How does China’s political system work?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu4QTxl9GVw) - [The Long Game and Its Contradictions]( https://medium.com/@leohezhao/the-long-game-and-its-contradictions-8ff92823cf68?postPublishedType=repub&fbclid=IwAR1jAfUSH39nEKCkTAD7GK8ayR9YVekX6Ht6hWU7x7iKPVUK_fLdA5OlPV4) - [China’s Democracy]( https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-democracy-does-the-China-have/answer/Godfree-Roberts?share=0ac8c628&srid=JMzz) - [“Washington is actually far more corrupt than Beijing. If you want to get something done in Washington, you do what you do in Jakarta: just slip some money to the right people.”]( https://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnfingleton/2014/11/12/obama-in-china-taking-candy-from-a-baby/#27d9d3c1231e) - [The west views China as one big sweatshop, but the actual working hours aren't much more than anywhere else. The average for a migrant worker (most vulnerable to exploitation as they are traveling from the countryside) is 8.8 hours, little under an hour more than a typical working day. Labor strikes are rarely suppressed, there are many exemples of workers on strikegetting the support of the PRC.The Chinese state rules in favor of the workers](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchfree/2013/07/11/held-hostage-entrepreneurs-uneasy-over-chinese-govt-inaction/#2431f5463de4) - [Why do Chinese billionaires keep ending up in prison?](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/why-do-chinese-billionaires-keep-ending-up-in-prison/272633/) - [Wages themselves are also forced to rise in the private sector by the CPC (+16% every years, +400% since 1980) who force the capitalists to accept the presence of CPC chapters who represent the interest of the workers, increasing workers control even in the capitalist parts of the economy.](https://www.workers.org/2015/07/21/china-rising-wages-and-worker-militancy/#.WXOlQtPytsM) - [The workplace safety standards of China are better than in the capitalist countries of the West like in Australia who have an higher rate of work related death despite having a GDP per capita 3-5 times higher.](http://www.trotskyistplatform.com/workplace-safety-now-better-in-china-than-in-australia/) -[More debunking China's Western narrative sources here](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md#on-mao-maoism-and-marxism-leninism-maoism-and-the-prc) **~~Credit Scores~~ Social Credit Score** - [China’s Social Credit System, and how it isn't actually Black Mirror and how you should stop using facile pop cultural references to demonize countries you haven't bothered to understand.](https://mobile.twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/975536363364696064?lang=en) - [The complex truth about China’s Social Credit system]( https://logicmag.io/07-the-messy-truth-about-social-credit/?fbclid=IwAR2ZZLiRAyJalyvAngv0EvwaoLleeAEOfN99GxPAccxfQpSplf5gbNmtFnA) **What about the Uyghurs?** - [No, the UN did not report China has ‘massive internment camps’ for Uighur Muslims]( https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/) - [US fuels terrorism in China: “1 million Uyghurs never verified”]( https://journal-neo.org/2018/10/24/us-fueling-terrorism-in-china/) - [China’s Xinjiang Problem – Made in USA](https://journal-neo.org/2015/11/10/chinas-xinjiang-problem-made-in-usa/) - [The Truth About China’s Uyghur Problem]( https://21stcenturywire.com/2018/12/14/the-truth-behind-chinas-uyghur-problem/) - [Religious freedoms in China explained]( https://twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/1004884261051092993?s=21) - [A Pakistani Diplomat given full access to “re-education camps” and this is what she found](https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/422970-pakistani-diplomat-narrates-visit-to-chinas-xinjiang) - [EU rejects China offer of Xinjiang tour](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003217/eu-rejects-chinas-offer-xinjiang-tour-says-its-open-one-later) - [If China Is Anti-Islam, Why Are These Chinese Muslims Enjoying a Faith Revival?]( https://time.com/3099950/china-muslim-hui-xinjiang-uighur-islam/) - [More sources debunking this here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XiHrkJ_zudQZP1hBIBCgJKKAfAILxEG0cmQGrNH8pIU/mobilebasic)

Be China British, French, and other European empires invade, make your weak and cowardly monarchy into a puppet, force opium upon the entire population turning them to addicts, and becoming literal slaves to the West. Repeated attempts by the Chinese to fight off this oppression result in hostility and brutality and massacres from the invading empires, and brutal crackdowns on the opium addled population. British decide that they need a more prominent port city, to maintain naval presence, but more importantly to steal China's labour and resources. British decide that Hong Kong belongs to them now, and that they will rule over it. China protests, and manages to negotiate England into a "99 year lease" for Hong Kong, despite this awful situation being literally forced upon them at gunpoint. China under Mao manage to fight back the west and western-allied governments, providing a liberation from the yoke of imperialism, and allowing China to have autonomy and self-determination of a nation once again. China has literally millions of soldiers ready to march, could send them all into Hong Kong and take their city back by force at any time, the same way it was taken from them. Instead, China fully agrees to play by the rules. It was a 99 year lease - so they let the British continue to lease it for the remainder of those 99 years. During this century of wealth extraction from mainland China, and using Hong Kong as a British port to facilitate this has grown the wealth of Hong Kong with the trade and tariff of the stolen assets of mainland China. Hong Kong citizens have been re-trained and re-educated in a British imperial system, and now make up a much wealthier strata than mainland Chinese, forming a middle management and heavily fictionalized sector. 99 year lease finally ends. China says, "Okay, we played by all the rules, even through they were nonsense and forced upon us at gunpoint - we played by them anyway. Now we do not wish to continue this lease, and would like our city back." British throw in phony last minute elections during the final moments before the lease officially ends. "BuT yOU wIlL bE rUiNInG HoNG kOnG deMoCRaCy!!" China officially gets their city back, despite the whining and flailing and crying and complaining of the insufferable British Empire. China realizes that Hong Kong is operating under a very different political system. Rather than bring in the mainland China political system - which they have every right to do - the same rules that apply to Beijing citizens or Chengdu citizens should apply to all Chinese, including Hong Kong. But the Chinese government decides to be totally reasonable and install the "two systems, one country" to allow Hong Kong to keep many of their British-imposed traditions and customs. China finally says "great, now our Chinese citizens can return to our city of Hong Kong and live there." Mainland Chinese begin to move to live in Hong Kong. Much wealthier Hong Kong class repulsed by this influx of much poorer, much less wealthy, filthy mainland population coming to take their jobs and bring Chinese traditions back to the Chinese city. Chinese taxes are considerably higher on the mainland than on Hong Kong. China plans to take part of the plundered wealth and assets of rich Hong Kongers and use it to improve conditions and lives of poorest people on the mainland (remember that China is the world leader in ending poverty). Hong Kongers see poor immigrants and higher taxes and start freaking out. A rich multi-millionaire literally murders his girlfriend, and flees the country. *Protesters come out of the woodwork en masse in Hong Kong* **in support of the murdering multi-millionaire!** The West sees their opportunity. Sends government specialists, agents, media crews to Hong Kong. Brings in Hong Kong pro-murderer protest leaders for training. Supplies protesters and encourages them to take the streets and escalate the situation. Western News Media: "ChIna iS oPprESsiNg HonG koNg!!!" China sighs, "How the fuck is anyone falling for this bullshit."

(1/2) Taken from [a question I was asked](https://communistsloth.tumblr.com/post/171489958554/opinions-on-the-crimes-of-ussr). Anonymous asked: Opinions on the crimes of USSR? Sorry for the late response. This took me a while to make, as you’ll soon be able to tell. The majority of them have been drastically exaggerated and overstated in western media and the education system. Nevertheless, there were some genuine wrongdoings which i do not wish to defend. There follows a more detailed explanation (sources are listed at the bottom): **Holodomor** There are three questions to ask and answer when discussing the holodomor: 1) Did it happen? Yes. Very few people, if any at all, deny that a famine did occur in the years 1932-33 in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and parts of Russia and the Caucasus. The location of the famine is relevant for question two. 2) Was it intentional? The traditional line of reasoning goes that the famine was planned and implemented because the Soviet Government wanted to eliminate a potential Ukrainian independence movement. There are several flaws in this line of reasoning, which I will now explain: https://78.media.tumblr.com/88b8d71b82187c6e7b07424233c19254/tumblr_inline_p511mtlnQS1u8wcv4_1280.jpg **Location** - the famine was not limited to Ukraine. As stated before, it affected Kazakhstan and parts of Russia and the Caucasus. It even affected parts of Turkey and Bulgaria (this fact in itself calls into question how a famine supposedly made by the Soviet Government could have affected territories outside their control?). But it goes further than that, the region most affected by the famine was not Ukraine, but Kazakhstan. Further still, the most severely affected regions within Ukraine itself were parts with a significant Russian minority, and thus the least likely to support a Ukrainian independence movement. Ukrainian nationalism was strongest in the far west of the country, but it was the far east which was most affected. If the Soviet Government were trying to target Ukrainian nationalists, they certainly did a bad job of it.^^[1] https://78.media.tumblr.com/6371af5ae297077451fdf18f527aaf71/tumblr_inline_p511nkXzMR1u8wcv4_1280.gif **Government action in response to the famine** - World War 1 and the Russian Civil War had destroyed most industry in the country. Thus, the Soviet Government had been exporting grain in order to fund industrialisation programs. The reason they exported grain rather than their plentiful stocks of gold or metal was because the Soviet Union had been prevented from exporting these things via embargoes. In 1925, a gold blockade was implemented where western powers refused to trade gold for industrial supplies. More embargoes were put in place until, in the early 30’s, western powers demanded that the Soviet Union pay for all equipment in grain. In 1930, the USSR exported 4,846,024 tons of grain. In 1931, the number increased to 5,182,835 tons. However, in 1932 there was a sharp drop in exports of grain, with only 1,819,114 tons being exported. They also began importing more grain. In 1932, 907,000 tons were imported ^^[1][2]. In addition to reducing grain exports and increasing imports, in 1933 the Soviet government set up political departments to help peasants in agricultural work, as well as providing grain aid to the afflicted areas. This relief worked, and the harvest in 1933 was much better than in previous years ^^[3]. Correspondence between the Ukrainian and Russian governments - letters sent between Stanislav Kosior (head of the Communist Party of Ukraine) and Joseph Stalin indicate a lack of clear and honest communication on Kosior’s part - which was responsible for the initial lack of response to the famine - as well as Stalin’s urgency to take action. The letters read as follows^^[1]: Stalin: >The Political Bureau believes that shortage of seed grain in Ukraine is many times worse than what was described in comrade Kosior’s telegram; therefore, the Political Bureau recommends the Central Committee of the Communist party of Ukraine to take all measures within it’s reach to prevent the threat of failing to sow [field crops] in Ukraine Kosior: >There are also isolated cases of starvation, and even whole villages [starving]; however, this is only the result of bungling on the local level, deviations [from the pary line], especially in regard of kolkhozes. All rumours about faming in Ukraine must be unconditionally rejected. The crucial help that was provided for Ukraine will give is the oppportunity to eradicate all such outbreaks [of starvation]. Stalin immediately responded: >Comrade Kosior! You must read attached summaries. Judging by this information, it looks like the Soviet authority has ceased to exist in some areas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Can this be true? Is the situation in villages in Ukraine this bad? Where are the operatives of the OGPU, what are the doing? Could you verify this information and inform the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist party about taken measures? 3) Was it caused by government policy? **Environmental causes** - no doubt, environmental factors played a large role in the famine - there was drought in some areas, too much rain in others, attacks of rust and smut (fungal diseases), and infestations of insects and mice ^^[3]. **History** - Collectivisation of agriculture was largely completed in the USSR by 1932.^^[3] Before collectivisation, the USSR & Russian Empire had famines every 10–13 years ^^[4], and there had been severe famines in 1918, 1920, 1924 and 1928-29. After collectivisation had been implemented, there were only two major famines in the rest of the USSR’s existence (i.e. 59 years). One of these was the 1932-33 famine, and the other occured just after World War 2 as a result of the destruction caused by the Nazi invasion. Judging by this inforamtion, collectivisation did likely not cause the famine, rather the aforementioned environmental causes did. **Gulags** Previously estimated figures of the number of prisoners in the USSR were drastically over-estimated. During the 1980s, Robert Conquest alleged that in 1939 there were 25-30 million prisoners in the Soviet Union. More modern evidence shows that the number of prisoners in 1939 was actually 2.5 million (2.4% of the adult population), and only 454,000 of thosen were political prisoners. This is 3 million less than the number of prisoners in the United States in 1996, which was 5.5 million (2.8% of the adult population).^^[5] The brutality and death rates in gulags has also been overstated. The death rate in gulags between 1930 and 1953 was 4%. This includes the World War 2 years. Excluding the World War 2 years, the death rate was 2.5%, which was lower than that of an average citizen in tsarist Russia in 1913. 1/3rd of inmates weren’t required to work, however for those who did work the maximum work week was 84 hours.^^[6] **Repression** Only 10% of arrests during Stalin’s rule were for political reasons. Police, secret police and national guardsmes made up only 0.2% of the population, compared to police alone making up 1% of the population in the USA, meaning the kind of mass repression described in western media & the education system would have been unfeasible.^^[6] On the subject of democracy in the USSR, consider the following description by London Progressive Journal^^[7]: >The USSR’s written constitution places power firmly in the hands of the people, and indeed, representatives were regularly elected. The primary executive body of the USSR was the Supreme Council, which consisted of representatives from two committees: the Council of Nations and the Union Council. Representatives to each were elected for a 4 year term – for the Union Council, one representative for every constituency of 300,000, and for the Council of Nations: 25 representatives per Republic, 11 from each autonomous region, and one for each municipality for a specific nationality. The Supreme Council would then elect the government for the 4 year term (i.e. the Ministers) and the Chairman, also for a 4 year term. Committees were everywhere – school clubs, committees for social events, charity work, anything and everything. To be eligible to be elected Chairman, a candidate must have had experience governing at every level – local, municipal, and regional.

(1/2) (by /u/supercooper25) Stalin wasn't a dictator, this is an outdated myth. Power was officially vested in the hands of various collective bodies of leadership such as the Supreme Soviet, the Presidium, the Sovnarkom, the Central Committee and the Politburo, all of which were elected, as was Stalin. He had no ability to individually make decisions and there are countless examples of him losing out to the majority if you look hard enough. I'll give you three examples: 1. Stalin attempted to resign from General Secretary four times, twice due to Lenin's testament, once due to a request from Kamenev and Zinoviev, and once due to deteriorating health, but the party didn't let him. 2. When Beria was appointed as head of the NKVD in 1939, Stalin objected to this and wanted Malenkov instead, but the Presidium outvoted him. 3. As the new Soviet constitution was being created throughout 1935 and 1936, Stalin pushed for contested multi-candidate elections, but the Central Committee feared that this would lead to communism being overthrown, thus it was never implemented. What's more, Russian historian Yuri Zhukov contends that had Stalin continued to push for these reforms as the Great Purge intensified, he would've been voted out, tried for treason and executed. In fact, up until 1941, Stalin wasn't even the most powerful individual in the country. I refer you to this quote from Sidney Webb: >Sometimes it is asserted that, whereas the form may be otherwise, the fact is that, whilst the Communist Party controls the whole administration, the Party itself, and thus indirectly the whole state, is governed by the will of a single person, Josef Stalin. First let it be noted that, unlike Mussolini, Hitler and other modern dictators, Stalin is not invested by law with any authority over his fellow-citizens, and not even over the members of the Party to which he belongs. He has not even the extensive power which the Congress of the United States has temporarily conferred upon President Roosevelt, or that which the American Constitution entrusts for four years to every successive president. So far as grade or dignity is concerned, Stalin is in no sense the highest official in the USSR, or even in the Communist Party. He is not, and has never been, President of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Union Congress of Soviets-a place long held by Sverdlov and now by Kalinin, who is commonly treated as the President of the USSR. He is not (as Lenin was) the President of the Sovnarkom of the RSFSR, the dominant member of the Federation or of the USSR itself, the place now held by Molotov, who may be taken to correspond to the Prime Minister of a parliamentary democracy. He is not even a People's Commissar, or member of the Cabinet, either of the USSR or of any of the constituent republics. Until 1934 he held no other office in the machinery of the constitution than that, since 1930 only, of membership (one among ten) of the Committee of Labour and Defence (STO). Even in the Communist Party, he is not the president of the Central Committee of the Party, who may be deemed the highest placed member; indeed, he is not even the president of the presidium of this Central Committee. He is, in fact, only the General Secretary of the Party, receiving his salary from the Party funds and holding his office by appointment by the Party Central Committee, and, as such, also a member (one among nine) of its most important subcommittee, the Politbureau. All of that said and done, what IS true is that Stalin held a massive amount of influence over the party and the government, meaning that was de facto far more powerful than his official positions would suggest on paper. This DOES NOT mean that people were subordinate to Stalin due to fear of execution, what it means is that Stalin was an extremely well-respected ideological figurehead, and thus people trusted him and were more inclined to agree with him because of this. I refer you to this quote from H.G. Wells: >I have never met a man more candid, fair and honest, and to these qualities it is, and to nothing occult and sinister, that he owes his tremendous undisputed ascendancy in Russia. I had thought before I saw him that he might be where he was because men were afraid of him, but I realize that he owes his position to the fact that no one is afraid of him and everybody trusts him. If I had to evaluate just how much individual power Stalin had, I'd say that during WWII, it was comparable to that of Winston Churchill, and actually considerably less than that of the United States President. I refer you to yet another quote from Sidney Webb: >Assuming that we accept the primary meaning of the term dictator, as it is defined in the The New English Dictionary — “a ruler or governor whose word is law; an absolute ruler of the state — and who authoritatively prescribes a course of action or dictates what is to be done” — Stalin is not a dictator. In May 1941 Stalin hitherto content to be a member of the Presidium, alarmed at the menace of a victorious German Army invading the Ukraine, took over, with the consent of the Presidium, the office a prime minister and Minister of defense, leaving Molotov as foreign Secretary; in exactly the same way, and for a similar reason–the world war–that Winston Churchill, with the consent of the house of Commons, became prime minister and Minister of defense with Chamberlain,…. Neither the prime minister of the British cabinet nor the presiding member of the Sovnarkom has anything like the autocratic power of the president of the USA, who not only selects his cabinet, subject merely to approval by a simple majority of the Senate, but is also commander in chief of the American Armed Forces and, under the Lend Lease act, is empowered to safeguard in one way or another, the arrival of munitions and food at the British ports. By declaring, in May 1941, a state of unlimited national emergency, President Roosevelt legally assumes a virtual dictatorship of the United States. He has power to takeover transport, to commandeer the radio for the purposes of propaganda, to control imports in all exchange transactions, to requisition ships and to suspend laws governing working hours, and most important of all, to decide on industrial priorities and, if necessary, to take over industrial plants. Keep in mind that WWII was the very height of Stalin's powers, it was during this time that he simultaneously occupied five different leadership positions: general secretary of the party, chairman of the Sovnarkom, minister of defense, chairman of the State Defense Committee and chairman of the Stavka (military high-command). Although this made Stalin very powerful, he still could not make decisions on his own, and he was entirely accountable to the body that elected him in the first place, namely the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. For the rest of Stalin’s tenure however, he was nowhere near as powerful as that. Up until 1930, the premiership, the presidency and the Politburo were all controlled by members of the Right Opposition (Rykov, Kalinin, Bukharin, Tomsky etc), so Stalin didn’t get his way at all. From 1930-1941, Stalin got his way in the sense that his political programme was being carried out, but he himself didn’t hold the positions of power, rather his allies like Molotov did. What’s important to note here is that the Soviet political system functioned in much the same way that western democracies do. Stalin got his way not because he was a dictator, but because his programme was supported by a majority in the parliament, and by extension the masses (see the 1927 party referendum, Stalin absolutely trounced Trotsky in a direct vote between the two) All positions of leadership were elected by representative delegates, who in turn were elected from their local Soviets, i.e. worker councils, and the people directly in elections. Contrary to popular belief, Stalin didn't have the power to personally appoint anyone, all positions of leadership within the Communist Party were elected and ratified at the Party Congresses, attended by thousands of delegates representing millions of party members. What's more, even if we accept that Stalin had complete control over the Supreme Soviet (he didn't), we need to dispel the myth that the central government in Moscow had complete control over the country. Much like any western democracy, matters concerning union republics, autonomous oblasts, regions, municipalities and workplaces were handled by local governments, councils and trade unions, it is ridiculous to assert that Stalin had any influence over this.

(1/4) (by /u/flesh_eating_turtle) **Introduction** Throughout its 41 year existence, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) found itself constantly at the center of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall, set up to divide East Berlin from FRG-controlled West Berlin, quickly became the most famous symbol of the conflict. Despite this, most people (including most socialists) know relatively little about this nation; how its economy functioned, what kind of life did it give its people, etc. However, in the light of recent studies finding that 57% of East Germans feel that life was better under socialism (see sources below), many people have grown more curious about this particular country. As such, in this post we will go over various aspects of the GDR in detail. All sources are listed at the bottom. I will indicate which source I am using whenever I quote from one. **Historical Background and Starting Conditions (WWII and Pre-War Era)** World War II left Germany a shadow of its former self. Cities had been leveled, and the economy had been utterly devastated. East Germany in particular was at a serious disadvantage; it had always been far less industrialized than Western Germany, and as such, it had depended largely upon the West for its economic needs. According the US Federal Research Division's study of East Germany: >Before World War II, the area that later became East Germany was not well developed industrially. Because this area lacked raw materials, heavy industry was generally located in other parts of the German state. Compounding the problems for the newly created East German state in 1949 was the massive destruction during World War II of the industrial plant that had existed there and the subsequent Soviet dismantling and removal of factories and equipment that had survived the war. \[...\] During the interwar years, the territory that is now East Germany was profoundly dependent on external economic ties. In the mid-1930's, it shipped almost half of its total production to the other parts of Germany... This domestic trade featured sales of agricultural products; textiles; products of light industry, such as cameras, typewriters, and optical equipment; and purchases of industrial goods and equipment. In other words, East Germany depended totally on the West for its heavy industrial needs, and paid for these needs by selling its agricultural and light industrial products. However, after the war, this balance between East and West was thrown off. According to the US Federal Research Division: >Major dislocations occurred after World War II, when Germany was divided into two sections, one part dominated by the Soviet Union, and the other by the Western Allies. > >Because it could no longer rely on its former system of internal and external trading, the Soviet Zone of Occupation had to be restructured and made more self-sufficient through the construction of basic industry. This was no small feat for the fledgling GDR, especially seeing as it received virtually no large-scale economic aid from the USSR (which was too busy rebuilding itself after WWII to worry about pumping money into East Germany). In addition, the GDR had to pay heavy reparations to the USSR for the damage caused during WWII. This acted as a major obstacle to development. According to *The East German Economy, 1945-2010,* published by the German Historical Institute, direct and indirect reparations paid by East Germany between 1946 and 1953 amounted to $14 billion in 1938 prices. Another statement on this is found in the US Federal Research Division's study: >The reorientation and restructuring of the East German economy would have been difficult in any case. The substantial reparations costs that the Soviet Union imposed on its occupied zone, and later on East Germany, made the process even more difficult. Payments continued into the early 1950's, ending only with the death of Stalin. According to Western estimates, these payments amounted to about 25 percent of total East German production through 1953. This is in direct contrast to the West, which received large aid investments from the United States as part of the Marshall Plan, as well as lucrative trade relationships with the developed nations. Now, let us examine how the GDR developed in spite of these factors. **Economic Growth and Industrial Development** Despite all of the aforementioned significant disadvantages, the East German economy managed to overcome its difficulties and develop at an impressively rapid rate. This is especially true in terms of heavy industry. According to the US Federal Research Division: >During the 1950's, East Germany made significant economic progress, at least as indicated by the gross figures. By 1960 investment had grown by a factor of about 4.5, while gross industrial production had increased by a factor of about 2.9. Within that broad category of industrial production, the basic sectors, such as machinery and transport equipment, grew especially rapidly, while the consumer sectors such as textiles lagged behind. Despite the priority given to heavy industry, consumption also increased steadily during this period: >Consumption grew significantly in the first years, although from a very low base, and showed respectable growth rates over the entire decade. At the end of the 1950's, some analysts feared an economic crisis in the East, spurred by the "brain drain" from East to West; however, this did not occur, and the East German economy continued to grow impressively in the 1960's. The US Federal Research Division reports: >As the 1950's ended, pessimism about the future seemed rather appropriate. Surprisingly, however, after the construction of the Berlin Wall and several years of consolidation and realignment, East Germany entered a period of impressive economic growth that produced clear benefits for the people. For the years 1966-1970, GDP and national income grew at average annual rates of 6.3 and 5.2 percent, respectively. Simultaneously, investment grew at an average annual rate of 10.7 percent, retail trade at 4.6 percent, and real per capita income at 4.2 percent. This growth continued on through the next decade: >As of 1970, growth rates in the various sectors of the economy did not differ greatly from those of a decade earlier... Production reached about 140 to 150 percent of the levels of a decade earlier... The growth rates in production resulted in substantial increases in personal consumption... throughout the 1970's the East German economy as a whole enjoyed relatively strong and stable growth. In 1971, First Secretary Honecker declared the "raising of the material and cultural living standard" of the population to be a "principal task" of the economy; private consumption grew at an average annual rate of 4.8 percent from 1971 to 1975 and 4.0 percent from 1976 to 1980... The 1976-1980 Five Year Plan achieved an average annual growth rate of 4.1 percent. The 1980's saw some economic difficulties for the GDR as Western banks clamped down on credit for the East and the USSR reduced oil deliveries by ten percent. This led to a period of slow growth as the GDR rushed to step up exports; despite this, the economy did manage to pull through and deliver impressive growth results during this period (though it did fall short of the plan). The US Federal Research Division reports: >The 1981-1985 plan period proved to be a difficult time for the East German economy... However, by the end of the period the economy had chalked up a respectable overall performance, with an average annual growth rate of 4.5 percent (the plan target had been 5.1 percent). The overall impacts of the industrialization strategy of the GDR were extremely positive. As the US Federal Research Division reported in 1988: >Industry is the dominant sector of the East German economy, and is the principal basis for the relatively high standard of living. East Germany ranks among the world's top industrial nations, and in the Comecon it ranks second only to the Soviet Union. Overall, the socialist system in the GDR managed to industrialize the nation at a rapid rate, enabling the country to sustain itself without constant infusions from the West. It did this despite numerous aforementioned disadvantages, a feat which should be celebrated. **Increases in Living Standards** The socialist system in the GDR did not only succeed in rapidly developing the nation; it also provided a steadily increasing quality of life for the people. The US Federal Research Division reports: >The East German standard of living has improved greatly since 1949 \[when the GDR was established\]. Most observers, both East and West, agree that in the 1980's East Germans enjoyed the highest standard of living in Eastern Europe. Major improvements occurred, especially after 1971, when the Honecker regime announced its commitment to fulfilling the "principal task" of the economy, which was defined as the enhancement of the material and cultural well-being of all citizens. This focus on increasing quality of life for all citizens, rather than providing profit for the capitalist class, is a unique feature of the socialist system, which provided steadily improving living standards. The US Federal Research Division states: >Since the inception of the regime, the monthly earned income of the average East German has increased steadily in terms of effective purchasing power. According to the 1986 East German statistical yearbook, the average monthly income for workers in the socialized sector of the economy increased from 311 GDR marks in 1950 to 555 GDR marks in 1960, 755 GDR marks in 1970, and 1,130 GDR marks in 1985. Because most consumer prices had been stable during this time, the 1985 figure represented a better-than-threefold increase over the past thirty-five years.

(1/2) (by /u/flesh_eating_turtle) *"The worst enemy of humanity is capitalism... If the entire world doesn't acknowledge this reality, that the national states are not providing even minimally for health, education and nourishment, then each day the most fundamental human rights are being violated." - President Evo Morales* **Introduction** Hello comrades. As we are all aware, Venezuela has dominated the headlines over the last couple of years, due to the economic and political crisis which has been plaguing that country. This has given a fresh heap of ammunition for liberals and reactionaries to hurl at us, claiming that "Venezuela proves that socialism doesn't work!" In response, we should take a look at a country which has pursued similar policies, with an explicitly socialist leader, which has seen immense success. I am referring of course to Bolivia, under President Evo Morales. Before we begin, it should be noted that neither Venezuela *or* Bolivia are technically "socialist" in the Marxist sense of the term; neither have a dictatorship of the proletariat, nor has the economy been taken under complete public ownership. However, they are much more left-wing than most governments in the world today, and they do explicitly refer to themselves as socialist. They engage in nationalization, expansions of the social welfare systems, and anti-imperialist foreign policies (such as supporting the government of Cuba); all of these achievements, though we may regard them as insufficient for the building of socialism, should be appreciated. As socialists, it is our duty to show solidarity with our comrades around the world, however they choose to go about building socialism. In addition, since Venezuela is currently the media's favorite example of "socialism", it seems only fair that we should use a similar nation in response. Now, let us analyze the situation in Bolivia. **Economic Achievements: Growth, Poverty Reduction, etc.** The economic policies of Evo Morales have focused on nationalization of various major companies, increases in labor rights and the social welfare system, and strong opposition to the IMF and World Bank. The *Economist* (a neoliberal publication if there ever was one) discussed some of Morales' policies in an article on the topic: * [The Economist | The Explosive Apex of Evo's Power](https://web.archive.org/web/20150406092712/http://www.economist.com/node/15065929) As the article states: >In his first term Mr. Morales imposed many controls on private business. Telecommunications and mines, as well as gas, were nationalized. Prices of gas and many foodstuffs were controlled, and food producers forced to sell in the local market rather than export. A new state-owned body distributes food at subsidized prices. The article also states: >Mr. Morales's nationalization of oil and natural gas in 2006, together with higher prices for gas exports to Brazil, left his government awash with cash. He used this to expand welfare provision, including a non-contributory old-age pension and payments to mothers provided their children are at school and their babies are taken for health checks. The president has also handed out hundreds of free tractors. These policies have led to the highest economic growth that Bolivia has seen in decades, and it is now the fastest growing economy in Latin America. This is demonstrated by a report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research: * [CEPR | Bolivian Economy During Morales Administration](http://cepr.net/publications/reports/bolivian-economy-during-morales-administration) This report states that growth under Morales "has been higher than at any time in the last 30 years, averaging 4.9 percent annually since the current administration took office in 2006." The report also comments on some of the redistributive policies of the Morales government: >...the government has begun several programs targeted at the poorest Bolivians. These include payments to poor families to increase school enrollment; an expansion of public pensions to relive extreme poverty among the elderly; and most recently, payments for uninsured mothers to expand prenatal and post-natal care, to reduce infant and child mortality. A more recent article from the *Guardian,* published after the 2014 Bolivian election, analyzes the significance of Bolivia's economic growth, and its effect on quality of life: * [The Guardian | Evo Morales has Proved Socialism Doesn't Damage Economies](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/evo-morales-reelected-socialism-doesnt-damage-economies-bolivia) The article states: >The benefits of such growth have been felt by the Bolivian people: under Morales, poverty has declined by 25% and extreme poverty has declined by 43%; social spending has increased by more than 45%; the real minimum wage has increased by 87.7%; and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean has praised Bolivia for being “one of the few countries that has reduced inequality”. The article closes by commenting on Morales: >He has defied the conventional wisdom that says left-wing policies damage economic growth, that working-class people can’t run successful economies, and that politics can’t be transformative – and he’s done all of this in the face of enormous political pressure from the IMF, the international business community and the US government. In the success of Morales, important political lessons can be found – and perhaps we could all do with learning them. Bolivia, with approx. 40% of the economy under some kind of state-ownership, closed 2018 with one of the highest growth rates in the world: * [teleSUR | Bolivia Closes 2018 Among the Highest Economic Growth Rates](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Closes-2018-Among-The-Highest-Economic-Growth-Rates-20181208-0022.html) As the article states: >The economic model followed by Bolivia is based on the Social Community Production, supported by a strong participation of the State in strategic sectors, which goes against the recommendations made by the IMF, which looks for the suppression of subsidies and the reduction of public investments. The Bolivian economy registered on average a growth of 4.9 percent in the period 2006-2017, where more than three million people left poverty. The GDP registered a growth of 4.2 percent last year, according to the 2017 Bolivian Economy Report. Economic inequality (as measured by the GINI Index) has also drastically reduced under Morales (he was elected in 2006): * [World Bank | Bolivia GINI Index](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=BO) All of this makes it clear that the economic policies of the Morales government have been extremely successful in growing the economy and drastically reducing poverty, all while combating neoliberalism and imperialism. **Social Reforms and Achievements** The Morales government has also succeeded in implementing very successful social reforms, particularly in the areas of education and racial issues. Bolivia has succeeded in becoming only the third nation in Latin America (after Venezuela and Cuba) to be declared "free of illiteracy": * [teleSUR | UNESCO Declares Bolivia Free of Illiteracy](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UNESCO-Declares-Bolivia-Free-of-Illiteracy-20140721-0048.html) This was achieved via educational programs inspired by the Cuban model. In addition, the Bolivian government has made great strides in fighting racism against the indigenous population of Bolivia (Morales himself is the first president of Bolivia from the indigenous population): * [teleSUR | UN Praises Bolvia for Progress in Fight Against Racism](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Praises-Bolivia-for-Progress-in-Fight-Against-Racism-20161018-0012.html) As the article states: >The government of Bolivia has made "great progress" in the last ten years in its fight against institutional and structural racism and discrimination, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced Tuesday in an official statement. The government has also sought to combat gender inequality and discrimination: * [teleSUR | Bolivian Government Outlines Measures to Curb Violence Against Women, Promote Equality](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivias-Evo-Morales-Outlines-Govt-Measures-to-Curb-Violence-Against-Women-Promote-Equality-20190309-0009.html) The Morales government has succeeded in making great strides in terms of various social issues in Bolivia. **Foreign Policy and Anti-Imperialism** The Morales government has consistently stood in solidarity with the Cuban and Venezuelan governments, and in opposition to neoliberal capitalism and US imperialism. In 2005, Morales visited Cuba, receiving full honors from Fidel Castro. While there, he signed an agreement in which Cuba promised Bolivia aid in health and education, and Morales referred to Castro and Hugo Chavez as "the commanders of the forces for the liberation of the Americas and the world." The government has sought to promote anti-imperialism, even opening an explicitly "anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist" military school for their officers: * [The Guardian | Bolivia Opens Anti-Imperialist Military School](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/17/bolivia-anti-imperialist-military-school-evo-morales-us) As the article states: >“If the empire teaches domination of the world from its military schools, we will learn from this school to free ourselves from imperial oppression,” the country’s first indigenous president said at an inauguration ceremony on Wednesday. > >“We want to build anti-colonial and anti-capitalist thinking with this school that binds the armed forces to social movements and counteracts the influence of the School of the Americas that always saw the indigenous as internal enemies,” he told a crowd that included the defense ministers of Venezuela and Nicaragua.

(1/3) **Introduction** The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the first nation ever to declare itself a socialist state, dedicated to the building of communism. Over the seven decades of its existence, the USSR went through many stages and phases of development, from a semi-capitalist feudal society, to a state capitalist nation during the NEP years, to a developed socialist country, and finally to a revisionist state regressing towards capitalism. The purpose of this post is to examine the achievements of socialism in the USSR up to the early 1960's, at which point market reforms and capitalist restoration began to take effect. We will also be examining the disastrous effects that these reforms had on the health and well-being of the Soviet people. This post will consist of three parts. This first part is a discussion of the achievements of Soviet socialism in terms of economic development, living standards, and healthcare. The question of Stalin and the Ukrainian famine will also be discussed. The second part will be a discussion of Soviet advances in women's rights, as well as opposition to racism (both internally, and in its global manifestation of imperialism). We will also discuss the nature of Soviet democracy. The third part will discuss the eventual fall of the USSR, and the disastrous effects of capitalist restoration and revisionism in the USSR. All sources are listed at the end of the post. I will indicate which source I am using each time I quote from one. Now, let us begin. **-** **Economic Development and Living Standards -** When the 1917 revolution took place, Russia was a backwards, semi-capitalist feudal society. The manor system had only recently been abolished, and replaced by the most brutal and primitive form of capitalism. The nation was dreadfully under-developed, with no sign of improving in the future. Not only that, but what little growth did occur led to massive inequalities. According to Robert C. Allen, Professor of Economic History at Oxford University: >Not only were the bases of Imperial advance narrow, but the process of growth gave rise to such inequitable changes in income distribution that revolution was hardly a surprise. Real wages for urban workers were static in the late Imperial period despite a significant increase in output per worker.... The revolution was also a peasant revolt, and the interests of the peasants were different... As in the cities, there was no gain in real wages. The University of Warwick supports these claims: >Agriculture had reached North American levels of productivity by 1913 and wheat prices collapsed after 1914. The expansion of the railroads had run its course and there was no prospect of protected light industry becoming internationally competitive. The appropriate comparators for the prospects for Russian capitalism in the twentieth century are not Japan but Argentina or even India. Moreover, Russian capitalist development had brought little if any benefit to the urban and rural working class, intensifying the class conflicts that erupted in Revolution. With the 1917 revolution (and after the bloody civil war, with its policy of war communism), the Soviet economy began to grow rapidly. The New Economic Policy (which nationalized large-scale industry and redistributed land, while allowing for the private sale of agricultural surplus) succeeded in transforming Russia from a semi-capitalist society into a developing state capitalist society, laying the groundwork for socialism. The University of Warwick states: >Following War Communism, the New Economic Policy (NEP) sought to develop the Russian economy within a quasi-capitalist framework. However, economic circumstances came to require the transition to a planned socialist economy: >However, the institutional and structural barriers to Russian economic development were now compounded by the unfavorable circumstances of the world economy, so that there was no prospect of export-led development, while low domestic incomes provided only a limited market for domestic industry. Without a state coordinated investment program, the Soviet economy would be caught in the low-income trap typical of the underdeveloped world. In 1928 (after Stalin came to power as head of the Communist Party), Soviet Russia instituted a fully planned economy, and the first Five Year Plan was enacted. This resulted in rapid economic growth. According to Professor Allen: >Soviet GDP increased rapidly with the start of the first Five Year Plan in 1928... The expansion of heavy industry and the use of output targets and soft-budgets to direct firms were appropriate to the conditions of the 1930's, they were adopted quickly, and they led to rapid growth of investment and consumption. Bourgeois economists often alleged that this rapid growth came at the cost of per-capita consumption and living standards. However, more recent research has shown this to be false. Professor Allen states: >There has been no debate that ‘collective consumption’ (principally education and health services) rose sharply, but the standard view was that private consumption declined. Recent research, however, calls that conclusion into question... While investment certainly increased rapidly, *recent research shows that the standard of living also increased briskly.* Calorie consumption rose rapidly during this period: >Calories are the most basic dimension of the standard of living, and their consumption was higher in the late 1930's than in the 1920's... In 1895-1910, calorie availability was only 2100 per day, which is very low by modern standards. By the late 1920's, calorie availability advanced to 2500... By the late 1930's, the recovery of agriculture increased calorie availability to 2900 per day, a significant increase over the late 1920's. The food situation during the Second World War was severe, but by 1970 calorie consumption rose to 3400, which was on a par with western Europe. Overall, the development of the Soviet economy during the socialist period was extremely impressive. According to Professor Allen: >The Soviet economy performed well... Planning led to high rates of capital accumulation, rapid GDP growth, and rising per capita consumption even in the 1930's. The USSR's growth during the socialist period exceeded that of the capitalist nations: >The USSR led the non-OECD countries and, indeed, achieved a growth rate in this period that exceeded the OECD catch-up regression as well as the OECD average. This success is also attributed specifically to the revolution and the socialist system. As Professor Allen states: >This success would not have occurred without the 1917 revolution or the planned development of state owned industry. The benefits of the socialist system are obvious upon closer study. As the University of Warwick puts it: >...a capitalist economy would not have created the industrial jobs required to employ the surplus labour, since capitalists would only employ labour so long as the marginal product of labour exceeded the wage. State-sponsored industrialization faced no such constraints, since enterprises were encouraged to expand employment in line with the demands of the plan. Economic growth was also aided by the liberation of women, and the resulting control over the birth rate, as well as women's participation in the workforce. Allen states: >The rapid growth in per capita income was contingent not just on the rapid expansion of GDP but also on the slow growth of the population. This was primarily due to a rapid fertility transition rather than a rise in mortality from collectivization, political repression, or the Second World War. Falling birth rates were primarily due to the education and employment of women outside the home. These policies, in turn, were the results of enlightenment ideology in its communist variant. Reviews of Allen's work have backed up his statements. According to the University of Warwick: >Allen shows that the Stalinist strategy worked, in strictly economic terms, until around 1970... Allen’s book convincingly establishes the superiority of a planned over a capitalist economy in conditions of labour surplus (which is the condition of most of the world most of the time). Other studies have backed-up the findings that the USSR's living standards rose rapidly. According to a study from Williams College: >Remarkably large and rapid improvements in child height, adult stature and infant mortality were recorded from approximately 1945 to 1970... Both Western and Soviet estimates of GNP growth in the Soviet Union indicate that GNP per capita grew in every decade in the postwar era, at times far surpassing the growth rates of the developed western economies... The conventional measures of GNP growth and household consumption indicate a long, uninterrupted upward climb in the Soviet standard of living from 1928 to 1985; even Western estimates of these measures support this view, albeit at a slower rate of growth than the Soviet measures. Unfortunately, after the introduction of market reforms and other revisionist policies, living standards began to deteriorate (although some measures continued to increase, albeit more slowly). According to Williams College: >Three different measures of population health show a consistent and large improvement between approximately 1945 and 1969: child height, adult height and infant mortality all improved significantly during this period. These three biological measures of the standard of living also corroborate the evidence of some deterioration in living conditions beginning around 1970, when infant and adult mortality were rising and child and adult height stopped increasing and in some regions began to decline.

(1/3) (by /u/flesh_eating_turtle) *"These gentlemen think that when they have changed the names of things they have changed the things themselves. This is how these profound thinkers mock at the whole world." - Friedrich Engels* **- Introduction -** While the phrase "left unity" has come into great fashion lately, it seems that this has done little to stem the tide of anarchist assaults on everyone and everything having to do with Leninism. Everybody reading this will no doubt be able to recall at least one occasion on which they were smeared as a "tankie", "authoritarian", or (most insultingly of all) a "red fascist". This has left us with little choice but to respond, a task which we are often woefully unprepared for. In the interests of protecting the legacy of socialism from these attacks, I have compiled this post addressing the various accusations and slanders put forth by our more utopian comrades. Keep in mind that I am not attacking those anarchists who legitimately stand with Leninists and support socialist revolution; these anarchists are good comrades, even if we have theoretical differences. Rather, I am responding to those sectarian anarchists who, in the words of Michael Parenti, "support every revolution except the ones that succeed." \- **"Leninist States Were Nothing But Horrible Dictatorships!" -** Perhaps the most common allegation put forth by the anarchists is this one, that the USSR, Red China, etc. were little more than brutal dictatorships, with no participation by the workers themselves. However, the truth of the matter is far more complex. While the Leninist states did commit excesses, they were far less extreme than is usually claimed, and there was a great deal more participation by workers than anarchists generally like to admit. Let us focus on the USSR as an example. For one thing, the common claim that Soviet gulags were political prisons used to silence dissenters is, for the most part, untrue. An excellent study on this was conducted by J. Arch Getty (and others), and published in the *American Historical Review*, the most prestigious historical journal in the world: * [American Historical Review | Victims of the Soviet Penal System in the Pre-War Years: A First Approach on the Basis of Archival Evidence](http://sovietinfo.tripod.com/GTY-Penal_System.pdf) In addition to pointing out that the total number of gulag prisoners was far lower than previously thought, the study also states that: >The frequent assertion that most of the camp \[gulag\] prisoners were 'political' also seems not to be true. The study found that between 12% and 33% of camp prisoners were imprisoned for political offenses, with the rest convicted of legitimate crimes. This is corroborated by a CIA report on the topic, which found that as many as *95%* of prisoners in the camps they investigated were non-political: * [CIA (Freedom of Information Act) | Report on Soviet Gulags](https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00246A032000400001-1.pdf) As for the issue of mass participation and political repression, research by Robert Thurston (Professor emeritus at Miami University at Ohio), published in the Cambridge University Press' *Slavic Review*, deals with this topic quite well: * [Slavic Review (Cambridge University Press) | On Desk-Bound Parochialism, Commonsense Perspectives, and Lousy Evidence: A Response to Robert Conquest on the USSR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2499177?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents) Thurston remarks that: >Stalin, the press, and the Stakhanovite movement all regularly encouraged ordinary people to criticize those in authority. He also points out that many arrests in the 1930's were actually late punishments for genuine offenses, such as serving in the White Army during the Civil War. Thuston also puts forth the question "If the citizenry was supposed to be terrorized and stop thinking, why encourage criticism and input from below on a large scale?" He also states that "my evidence suggests that widespread fear did not exist in the case at hand \[the Soviet "Great Terror" period\]." Thuston also wrote a good book on this topic, published by the Yale University Press: * [Yale University Press | Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934-1941](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32bw0h) In it, Thurston states that: >Stalin did not intend to terrorize the country and did not need to rule by fear. Memoirs and interviews with Soviet people indicate that many more believed in Stalin's quest to eliminate internal enemies than were frightened by it. The book also states that: >...between 1934 and 1936 police and court practice relaxed significantly. Then a series of events, together with the tense international situation and memories of real enemy activity during the savage Russian Civil War, combined to push leaders and people into a hysterical hunt for perceived 'wreckers.' After late 1938, however, the police and courts became dramatically milder. One particular quote from Thuston demonstrates the entire point of this problem, and why we are hesitant to condemn the USSR for its excesses: >There was never a long period of Stalinism without a serious foreign threat, major internal dislocation, or both, which makes identifying its true nature impossible. The genuine material conditions of the time (which anarchists consistently refuse to acknowledge) had an enormous impact on the functioning of these societies. The USSR, for example, dealt with sabotage, multiple invasions, constant infiltration and foreign threat, etc. And despite it all, they *still* managed to include a great deal of mass participation, even if this did not extend as far as we would like. **- Analysis of the Anarchist Revolution in Spain -** If we are to take anarchist critiques seriously, then they must present us with a genuine alternative to the Leninist model. However, a practical analysis of anarchist revolution shows that they have no such alternative to offer. Their successes have largely been due the adoption of Leninist tactics, while their failures have resulted from their own unique features. For the sake of brevity, we will focus our analysis on Revolutionary Spain, the most famous of anarchist revolutions. After the initial revolution, a system of courts were set up, which dispensed ruthless justice against fascist sympathizers and right-wingers. According to Juan Garcia Oliver, the Anarchist Minister of Justice (how's that for a phrase!): >Everybody created his own justice and administered it himself...Some used to call this 'taking a person for a ride' \[paseo\] but I maintain that it was justice administered directly by the people in the complete absence of the regular judicial bodies. Diego Abad de Santillan, editor of *Solidaridad Obrera* (the official CNT newspaper), said the following: >We do not wish to deny that the nineteenth of July brought with it an overflowing of passions and abuses, a natural phenomenon of the transfer of power from the hands of privileged to the hands of the people. It is possible that our victory resulted in the death by violence of four or five thousand inhabitants of Catalonia who were listed as rightists and were linked to political or ecclesiastical reaction. The anarchists even implemented a system of labor camps for fascist sympathizers. Juan Garcia Oliver remarked: >The weeds must be torn out by their roots. There cannot be and must not be pity for the enemies of the people, but... their rehabilitation though work, and that is precisely what the new ministerial order creating "work camps" seeks... great irrigation canals, roads, and public works must be built immediately. The book *Workers Against Work: Labor in Paris and Barcelona During the Popular Fronts* (used as a source by Libcom, incidentally) is useful for discussing this topic: * [University of California Press | Workers Against Work](https://libcom.org/files/WorkersAgainstWork-Seidman_0.pdf) The book remarks: >The work camps were considered an integral part of the "constructive work of the Spanish Revolution," and many anarcho-syndicalists took pride in the "progressive" character of the reforms by the CNT minister of justice. The CNT recruited guards for the "concentration camps", as they were also called, from within its own ranks. While the use of the term "concentration camps" is unfortunate (this was pre-Holocaust, remember), the use of a labor camp system hardly seems particularly anarchistic. Now, let us discuss the economy. Our primary source for discussing the economy in Catalonia will be the book *The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution* by Burnett Bolloten, which discussed the events from a pro-anarchist perspective: * [University of North Carolina Press | The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution](https://books.google.com/books?id=-VarDLHA3_YC) After only a short time, the anarchists saw the need for organized economic planning, after completely decentralized self-management led to economic chaos. CNT member Albert Perez Bara commented: >After the first few days of euphoria, the workers returned to work and found themselves without responsible management. This resulted in the creation of workers' committees in factories, workshops and warehouses, which tried to resume production with all the problems that a transformation of this kind entailed. Owing to inadequate training and the sabotage of some of the technicians who remained many others had fled with the owners the workers' committees and other bodies that were improvised had to rely on the guidance of the unions.... Lacking training in economic matters, the union leaders, with more good will than success, began to issue directives that spread confusion in the factory committees and enormous chaos in production. This was aggravated by the fact that each union... gave different and often contradictory instruction.

(1/2) (by /u/flesh_eating_turtle Hello comrades, I figured it would be helpful to have a bunch of useful studies and sources all in one place, so people would have a useful resource for debating right-wingers and reactionaries. Most of them are from neutral or outright anti-communist sources, to counter any claims of "commie propaganda". I've divided them up by category. **Quality of Life Under Socialism / Economic Performance of Socialism** * [American Journal of Public Health | Economic Development, Political-Economic System, and the Physical Quality of Life](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1646771/pdf/amjph00269-0055.pdf) * Study using World Bank data, which found that socialist countries had a higher quality of life than capitalist countries when controlling for level of economic development. Quality of life was measured using criteria such as life expectancy, literacy, daily calorie consumption per capita, access to higher education, housing, etc. * [International Journal of Health Services | Has Socialism Failed? An Analysis of Health Indicators Under Socialism](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/B2TP-3R5M-Q7UP-DUA2) * Study by Vicente Navarro, Professor of Health and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University, which found that "contrary to dominant ideology, socialism and socialist forces have been, for the most part, better able to improve health conditions than have capitalism and capitalist forces." It also states that "the evidence presented in this article shows that the historical experience of socialism has not been one of failure. To the contrary: it has been, for the most part, more successful than capitalism in improving the health conditions of the world's populations." * [University of Oxford | A Reassessment of the Soviet Industrial Revolution](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.507.8966&rep=rep1&type=pdf) * Professor of Economic History, Robert C. Allen, states that "the Soviet economy performed well," remarking that it achieved "high rates of capital accumulation, rapid GDP growth, and rising per capita consumption even in the 1930's," and that "recent research shows that the standard of living also increased briskly." Also states that "This success would not have occurred without the 1917 revolution or the planned development of state owned industry." A longer version of this work was published in book form by the Princeton University Press: * [Princeton University Press | Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution](https://press.princeton.edu/titles/7611.html) * [Williams College | Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data](https://web.williams.edu/Economics/brainerd/papers/ussr_july08.pdf) * Detailed analysis of living standards in the USSR, which found that the Soviet Union achieved "Remarkably large and rapid improvements in child height, adult stature and infant mortality," using this data to state that "significant improvements likely occurred in the nutrition, sanitary practices, and public health infrastructure." Also states that "the physical growth record of the Soviet population compares favorably with that of other European countries at a similar level of development in this period." Finally, states that "The conventional measures of GNP growth and household consumption indicate a long, uninterrupted upward climb in the Soviet standard of living from 1928 to 1985; even Western estimates of these measures support this view, albeit at a slower rate of growth than the Soviet measures." * [Slavic Review (Cambridge University Press) | The Great Leap Upwards: Anthropometric Data and Indicators of Crises and Secular Change in Soviet Welfare Levels, 1880-1960](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2672986?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents) * Study demonstrating the steady increase in quality of life during the Soviet period (including under Stalin). Includes the fact that Soviet life expectancy grew faster than any other nation recorded at the time. * [Population Studies | An Exploration of China's Mortality Decline Under Mao: A Provincial Analysis, 1950-1980](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/) * Researchers from Stanford University and the National Bureau of Economic Research state that "China's growth in life expectancy at birth from 35–40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980 is among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history." They attribute this primarily to Mao's socialist policies, which increased access to healthcare, education, and nutrition. * [Harvard University | Perspectives on the Economic and Human Development of India and China](https://www.univerlag.uni-goettingen.de/handle/3/isbn-3-938616-63-6) * In-depth comparison of the world's two largest countries by population, one of which is socialist, and the other capitalist. Includes a detailed analysis of China under Mao Zedong, concluding that "the accomplishments relating to education, healthcare, land reforms, and social change in the pre-reform \[Maoist\] period made significantly positive contributions to the achievements of the post-reform period." It describes Maoist China's "remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment," stating that "casual processes through which the reduction of undernourishment was achieved involved extensive state action including redistributive policies, nutritional support, and of course health care." * Also includes some important remarks related to starvation in each country, saying "it is important to note that despite the gigantic size of excess mortality in the Chinese famine, the extra mortality in India from regular deprivation in normal times vastly overshadows the former... India seems to manage to fill its cupboard with more skeletons every eight years than China put there in its years of shame." * [CIA (Freedom of Information Act) | The Nutrient Content of the Soviet Food Supply](https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000498133.pdf) * Detailed CIA report, stating that the Soviet diet was remarkably similar (and in some ways healthier) than the American diet. * [Oxfam America | Cuba: Social Policy at the Crossroads](https://web.archive.org/web/20090303221405/http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf) * Detailed report on the achievements of the Cuban revolution, including the immense improvements to healthcare, education, and food security after the revolution. * [UNICEF | Cuba Has Better Literacy Rate, Life Expectancy, and Prenatal Care than the United States](https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cuba_statistics.html) * Statistics compiled on the official UNICEF website, showing that Cuba's life expectancy and literacy rate are higher than those of the USA, and Cuba has a lower percentage of babies born with low birthweight (5.2%) than the USA (8.28% according to the CDC). Low birthweight can be an indicator of many problems, from poor nutrition to fetal disorders and stress during pregnancy; Cuba's better statistic here is a major quality of life indicator. * [Food and Agricultural Organization (United Nations) | Report on Nutrition in Cuba](http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/nutrition/cub_en.stm) * According to the FAO, Cuba's "remarkably low percentages of child malnutrition put Cuba at the forefront of developing countries." * [World Food Program USA (United Nations) | Cuba Has "Largely Eliminated Hunger and Poverty"](https://www1.wfp.org/countries/cuba) * USA branch of the World Food Program (the food-assistance branch of the United Nations) claims that Cuba's "comprehensive social protection programs" have helped to drastically reduce hunger in Cuba. This is especially impressive when Cuba is compared to other developing countries, and considering the decades of economic blockade. * [World Health Organization (United Nations) | Cuba First Country in the World to Eliminate Mother-to-Child HIV Transmissions](https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/) * Self-explanatory. This is an amazing healthcare achievement, and proves that innovation is not exclusive to capitalism; far from it, as no capitalist nation has yet achieved this feat. * [OnCubaNews | Cuba Starts Giving Out Free HIV-Preventative Pill](https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/cuba-starts-giving-out-free-preventive-hiv-pill/) * Cuba has begun free distribution of a pill which reduces the chance of HIV infection by as much as 90%. * [Food and Agricultural Organization (United Nations) | Soviet vs. USA Calorie Consumption](https://artir.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/compar1.png?w=640) * Chart showing per capita calorie consumption in the USA and USSR over time, according to the FAO. **"Communism is All About Dictatorship!"** * [American Historical Review | Victims of the Soviet Penal System in the Pre-War Years: A First Approach on the Basis of Archival Evidence](http://sovietinfo.tripod.com/GTY-Penal_System.pdf) * Study published in the most prestigious historical journal in America, which found that the total amount of gulag prisoners was far lower than previously estimated. Also states that "The frequent assertion that most of the camp prisoners were 'political' also seems not to be true." The study found that between 12% and 33% of camp prisoners were imprisoned for political offenses, with the rest convicted of legitimate crimes. This is corroborated by the following source as well. * [CIA (Freedom of Information Act) | Report on Soviet Gulags](https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00246A032000400001-1.pdf) * Report from the CIA which found some interesting things about the gulags, including that between 65% and 95% of prisoners (depending on the camp) were imprisoned for genuine crimes (such as theft, murder, rape, etc.) rather than political offenses.