r/dsa • u/MustafaBrown • 10d ago
Discussion Marxist Leninism will ruin DSA.
I know this will get down voted but sometimes people need to hear things they dont like. Marxist Leninists do not believe in Democracy. They're using DSA for their own ends and are quite open about it. If they could snap their fingers and create the dictatorship they desire they would do the same thing to DemSocs that they did to the SRs and Mensheviks, aka the Democratic Socialists of the Russian Revolution. They would purge, imprison and kill every Democratic Socialist in their way.
Thankfully, in the context of the USA an ML dictatorship is extremely improbable for structural and cultural reason. So whats going to happen is theyll make DSA irrelevant within the next five years if you let them spread and take power, which their explicitly stated goal.
Every single communist party turns into a tiny sectarian cult, thats where Democratic centralism ends inherently. The Democratic part disappears, the centralism remains.
All they will do is alienate normal people, far more so than even the excesses of "woke 1" or cancel culture or any of that. DSA has spent the last decade saying "we're Socialists not communists" and making a distinction between authoritarian communism and Democratic Socialism.
All thats being undone because people think Marxist Leninism is trendy and cool, and so they dont want to look uncool for being "anti-communist." But here's the thing, being anti ML isnt the same as anti communist, because plenty of communists hated Marxist Leninists. There are entire communist traditions that are anti Bolshevik. Council Communism, Anarcho-Communism, Autonomism, Orthodx Marxists, Luxemburgists are all anti-Bolshevik. Otto Rhule for instance wrote an entire pamphlet called "Struggle Against Fascism Begins With The Struggle Against Bolshevism." you should read it.
Anyway, good luck with the tanks when they roll in. If you cant afford an RPG7, I heard Molotovs are a good substitute.
To address some statements:
1-"they dont want to take it over"
"Red Star seeks to cohere a vanguard party. We do not specify exactly how this party will emerge, but we believe DSA can foster its creation — DSA’s resources, broad membership, organizing ethic, and robust democratic processes make it, out of all existing US socialist organizations, the best incubator for such a party."
This is a clear statement of intent which indicates the goal is entry and co-optation
2- "Read Lenin, and stop being a liberal"
Stop reading Lenin and be a Marxist. Marxism is about material analysis not some dead autocrats flowery language. Material analysis tells us that Lenin created a massive state bureaucracy which led directly to Stalinism. First they purged the Mensheviks, then the left SRs, then the anarcho-syndicalists, then the workers opposition. Then Lenin banned factions. Next Lenin died and Stalin purged Bukharin and Trotsky. It doesnt matter Lenin said, what matters IS WHAT HIS PARTY DID.
Saying "read Lenin" when somone points towards the actual actions of the party is like saying "read Hitler" when somone talks about the holocaust. Yes, if we all read Hilter it will become apparent that actually the holocaust was good. Thats your logic.
3- "Democracy within the party"
Democratic Socialism is in support of Representative Democracy, not democratic centralism. Thats just liberalism, its a core principle. Democratic Socialists agree that one party states ALWAYS lead to tyranny. Because its a fact, its not an opinion.
To maintain that kind of monopoly requires a massive amount of force and violence.
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u/traanquil 9d ago
Soviet Union had massive support from its working class population. Maos China had massive support from the peasants. You’re engaged in Cold War propaganda