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Why is Marxism still a thing? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 years ago by Owell1984@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I was wondering why Marxism was still a thing and this placed seemed to be filled with Marxists. So, why? Didn't the fall of USSR teach us anything? Do today's Marxists think that USSR did something wrong? In other words, will they do anything different than the dictators of the soviet union? Also, some here seem to admire Stalin. I would really have to try hard to find a community that would admire Hitler but apparently admiring Stalin, another mass murder seems to be perfectly fine!

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[–] Dragon@lemmy.ml 20 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I was wondering why Marxism was still a thing

Capitalism is still a thing, and continues to hurt people. Marx had insightful critiques of Capitalism.

this placed seemed to be filled with Marxists. So, why?

The site was built by communists

Do today’s Marxists think that USSR did something wrong?

Most do, but some are insane and will defend literally anything in the name of communism.

I would really have to try hard to find a community that would admire Hitler but apparently admiring Stalin, another mass murder seems to be perfectly fine!

Yes, it is abhorrent, but in reality there are plenty of people who admire Hitler too. You might just not be familiar with those communities.

To answer your question broadly, Marxism is mainly a critique of capitalism, and Marx wrote very little about the specifics of how its replacement should function. So I don't think it is reasonable to blame the horrors of Stalin on Marxism. Marx was pro-democracy and pro-freedom, not pro-totalitarianism.

A more accurate term for what you are describing might be Marxism-Leninism, which was the ideology of the USSR. People abbreviate it to ML.

[–] BlackLotus@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

Stalin was imperfect and made mistakes, but I agree with Deng that he was 70% right and 30% wrong which is worlds better than any liberal democratic leaders in the entire history of the imperial core.