• yucandu@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    I think we should absolutely be learning from Lenin and the USSR.

    Learning from their mistakes. Not emulating a failed brutal authoritarian dictatorship.

    I don’t see what is “backfiring,”

    Americans fear the word “socialism” because they associate it with brutal authoritarian dictatorships. Your love of Lenin and the USSR isn’t helping with that.

    The PRC learned from what succeeded and what failed in the Soviet Union, and is currently overtaking everyone else.

    The only thing the PRC learned was to abandon socialism. Canada is more socialist than the PRC.

    You keep linking books to read. I think we’ve read enough. It’s time to start writing.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      3 hours ago

      The USSR wasn’t a “failed brutal authoritarian dictatorship,” though. They democratized the economy, ended famine in a country where that was regular, over tripled literacy rates from the low 30s to 99.9%, dramatically lowered wealth inequality while maintaining high economic growth, defeated the Nazis, proved that a publicly driven and planned economy works well, provided free and high quality healthcare and education, and more.

      The USian fear of countries that went against the US Empire’s dominance and provided an alternative to it based in Red Scare propaganda is a problem that must be confronted, not thrown under the bed and avoided. If we are to establish Socialism, we must be honest about it.

      As for the PRC and Canada, this is much the opposite. The PRC has a Socialist Market Economy driven by Marxist economics. Large firms and key industries like banking and steel are overwhelmingly in public ownership and control, while the private sector is overwhelmingly populated by self-employed people, cooperatives, and small businesses. Canada, on the other hand, is driven by private property and Imperialism.

      If you write without reading and learning from your predecessors, you’ll repeat their mistakes and fail to replicate their successes. This is throwing away perfectly good tools, and is what doomed the SRs in Russia and why the Bolsheviks succeeded.

      • yucandu@lemmy.world
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        13 minutes ago

        They democratized the economy,

        They had absolutely no democracy.

        ended famine in a country where that was regular

        They deliberately caused famine.

        dramatically lowered wealth inequality while maintaining high economic growth

        They were ended by the very corruption and wealth inequality you claim they lowered.

        defeated the Nazis,

        With the help of capitalist empires.

        proved that a publicly driven and planned economy works well

        It did not work well.

        provided free and high quality healthcare and education

        We do that in Canada, too.

        The USian fear of countries that went against the US Empire’s dominance and provided an alternative to it based in Red Scare propaganda is a problem that must be confronted, not thrown under the bed and avoided.

        Yet you dismiss everything bad ever said about the USSR as “Red Scare propaganda” to conveniently throw it under the bed and avoid it.

        As for the PRC and Canada, this is much the opposite. The PRC has a Socialist Market Economy driven by Marxist economics.

        China has banks. Stock markets. Billionaires. Absolutely nothing about their economy is socialist or is driven by marxism.

        You can’t back these statements up with any evidence. You just make bold proclamations and assert them as true because you said they were, and if anyone doubts you they just have to “read theory”.

        Large firms and key industries like banking and steel are overwhelmingly in public ownership and control, while the private sector is overwhelmingly populated by self-employed people, cooperatives, and small businesses.

        None of what you just said here is true.

        If you write without reading and learning from your predecessors, you’ll repeat their mistakes and fail to replicate their successes.

        Yes, but unfortunately you have dismissed everything you have read as “Red Scare propaganda”, or likely “Yellow fever propaganda”.