Skip Navigation

Sorry for horrible title, let me explain

I'm a fairly new commie with some readings, and I've been thinking: is communism or at least an advanced socialist society achievable through continuous reform if the State is controlled by the working class? China in my eyes is advancing socialism even with a bourgeois class still owning much of the means of production, so the rule of capital is still in place, with the central socialist government using it to its needs. When I speak to my comrades in my party (UP in Brazil, they're ML - staunch anti-China "officially" but there are plenty of pro-China inside of the party) the anti-China ones always say there can't be socialist advancement while the bourgeoisie exist, or while there are market relations.

Anyways, I'm sorry if I was not very clear:

Is the betterment of the working class and a push to communist relations to the means of production possible through gradual means when the working class is in charge of the State and the economy?

7 comments

  • Is the betterment of the working class and a push to communist relations to the means of production possible through gradual means when the working class is in charge of the State and the economy?

    If what you mean is that a bourgeois state can be reformed into a DotP, its tough to say, to this day no one has been succesful, Venezuela may be the best example and its still very fragile due some self inflicted mistakes and the role of the US sanctions. Ecuador was dismantled by turncoats, Argentina got eroded by economic failure, Mexico is a newer case but its very fragile too and we have witnessed how the bourgeoisie can easily sabotage the economy through capital outflows, aka taking their money to the US. Brazil is in a similar spot to Mexico IMO, with the advantage of not being literally next to the US and thus being able to be a bit more free in their international policy, like being able to take part in BRICS.

    still i am not a fan of this way since we are always one bad election cycle away from being back to step 1.

    China is able to do what they do because the chinese communists seized power with authority and they themselves created the system of governance, throughout all latin america our system was designed by compradores through military dictatorships, its fundamentally different.

    How does Lula handle the military? The one thing we can all learn about Chavismo is the way they handled the military, that is the only reason they haven't been toppled.

    • If what you mean is that a bourgeois state can be reformed into a DotP, its tough to say, to this day no one has been succesful, Venezuela may be the best example and its still very fragile due some self inflicted mistakes and the role of the US sanctions.

      Don't forget Nicaragua that approved some months ago their own reform to create a People's democracy! -> https://lemmygrad.ml/post/6882506.

      The Yankee fascists not only hate Venezuela and Cuba but Nicaragua as well as shown by Maria Elvira Salazar -> https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8295921

      • I didn't put Cuba and Nicaragua in there because they had actual revolutions. I was specifically talking about the "21st century socialism" countries which seek a peaceful reform process from bourgeois democracy.

  • the anti-China ones always say there can't be socialist advancement while the bourgeoisie exist, or while there are market relations

    This is un-dialectical thinking. It is effectively the same as saying that there can't be progress while contradictions still exist. But progress is achieved precisely through the confronting and resolving of contradictions. Marxism-Leninism has always maintained that class struggle does not end overnight when the working class takes power.

    Intense class struggle continues all throughout the process of building socialism. For a socialist state to pretend as if class struggle has ended is to fall into the same trap the USSR did, as the vanguard party is lulled into a false sense of security and begins to make existentially dangerous mistakes. For what is the alternative to reform if not stagnation?

  • Communism can only exist globally in a world without scarcity. So while I wholeheartedly accept socialism in one country, I think we have to acknowledge that China isn’t going to reach communism alone.

    I do however think that Marxism is nothing if not constantly adapting or “reforming” to changing material conditions. So if the dictatorship of the proletariat remains, I think this is the only path towards developing socialism

7 comments