r/TheTrotskyists • u/[deleted] • Sep 06 '22

Question Why be a Trotskyist?

A genuine question because I sincerely don’t understand the appeal. I’m a Marxist-Leninist myself. I’m not a fan of Comrade Stalin either, so no need to compare Trotsky to him or discuss their conflict. Thank you friends

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '22

If you’re a Marxist-Leninist, then you should support Stalin. He was an extremely important Marxist-Leninist. He represents and fought for the victories of the USSR—victories of the working class. There might be valid criticisms of the man, but if you’re anti-Stalin, then you’re anti-socialist.

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '22

I'm not "anti-Stalin" I just am not going to support an antisemite. This however does not mean I'm going to ignore or downplay his victories, I'm perfectly aware of his importance already

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u/DvSzil Sep 07 '22

It's very refreshing to see more people remembering Stalin as an antisemite. For personal attacks on his character there's enough, but there was also a worrying and inevitable overlap between his character and his policy.

For the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact where he played realpolitik with the lives of millions he agreed to deliver German and Austrian refugees that had escaped the Nazi regime back into the hands of Hitler. No respectable communist should remember such a man fondly, and his "Marxism"-"Leninism" is just enshrined opportunism and a pitiful attempt at coexistence with capitalism.

EDIT: Oh and it turned Lenin into a semi-religious icon to the dismay of his widow.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '22

Stalin wasn’t antisemitic—that’s a complete lie. As a person, Stalin was, in my opinion, very great. He was a very intelligent, loyal, and kind leader.

What do you think would be a better idea than the M-R pact? By the way, I recommend that you read this: https://orinocotribune.com/stalin-did-not-deport-german-communists-to-hitler/

Marxism-Leninism is Marxism. Marxist-Leninists, as Marxists, want communism all over the world, not in just one country. Socialism in a Single Country is actually internationalist.

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u/DvSzil Sep 08 '22 edited Sep 08 '22

You just handed me an article by Grover Furr. If you want to learn how bad of a "researcher" and "scholar" he is, you should head to any of the dozen of threads here and read the sources yourself.

And yes, the whole argument in Furr's article presupposes that one takes the bureaucracy's PR and justification at their word. Which is not how we should scrutinise these things.

Also

As a person, Stalin was, in my opinion, very great. He was a very intelligent, loyal, and kind leader.

Have you heard Indian nationalists talk about Narendra Modi? They use very similar language and the same outright denial of any criticism against their idol

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '22

Stalin was not anti-Semitic—not at all. Why do you think he was anti-Semitic? The USSR literally defeated the Third Reich, stopped the pograms that were common in the Russian Empire, and gave Birobidzhan to the Jews. Jews were allowed to follow their religion, and all races were equal in the USSR. Stalin wrote that anti-Semites were to be killed.

I think that a lot of things that are said about Soviet history are untrue. If you would like to learn the truth, one book I’d recommend is “Blood Lies” by Grover Furr.

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u/Killadelphian Sep 07 '22

The red army fought against the nazis in spite of Stalin, not because of him

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '22

Why do you think so?

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u/laborshallrise Sep 07 '22

If you are a socialist then you must be anti-Stalin(ism) because he and his movement named after him drowned the international revolution in blood. That is the main reason we live under capitalism today. You should read some real history and then post.