Paul Johnson: Modern Times Study Guide

Volume 1 of My History of Cosmonautics

Journal of Libertarian Studies, 2021

The Left was represented by various currents that have historically been very aggressive towards each other because they used different tactics and strategies to achieve socialism. Like many intellectuals, revolutionary leftists did not get along with each other very often. Since the inception of Marxism, which is the doctrine of communism-an extreme and distinctive flavor of socialism-the far Left has portrayed adherents of less revolutionary ideologies as enemies of the working people. The followers of evolutionary socialism-the Social Democrats-were accused by the communists of betraying the proletariat. Non-Marxist currents of socialism, such as Fascism and National Socialism, were excluded from the socialist camp and put on the right wing by Marxist-Leninist propaganda. Stalinist political science became a benchmark that set markers to distinguish between the genuine Left and the Right. This article shows the origin and historical background of the artificial shift of Fascism and National Socialism to the right side of the political spectrum.

2014

Revolutionary Russia 29:1 (2016): 1-27.

Jenö Varga became Stalin's preferred economist in the 1930s. His book "Two Systems" publidhrf in the US was an apology of communist achievements in the USSR in comparision with the crisis-ridden capitalist economies.

1989

In view of the incredibly widespread nature of the distortions of Marxism, our first task is to restore the true doctrine of Marx." Lenin, The State and Revolution 6 ences among, and class differentiations within, the third-world countries. 8. We use "West" and "East" to denote the blocs of (mainly) Euro pean and North American countries allied, respectively, to the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. Among the geographical oddities that result is that Japan, Australia and New Zealand belong to the "West." As well, "American" will sometimes refer to the United States alone when this meaning is clear from the context. 9. "Proletariat" as used here is synonymous with working class; "bourgeoisie" means the capitalist class of the traditional capitalist societies. The "petty bourgeoisie" is the class of small capitalists, including peasants, who employ little or no non-family labor. Whereas the "middle class" means not the bourgeoisie, as it did in Marx's day, but the various layers of professionals, ideologists, bureaucrats, managers and supervisors described in later chapters. February 1990 24 MODES OF EXPLOITATION Capital opens with this brief paragraph: "The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails presents itself as 'an immense collection of commodities,' its unit being the single commodity. Our investigation must therefore begin with the analysis of a commodity." 1 Marx begins his analysis with commodities, and for many Marxists that is where it ends. The clue to Marx's real meaning, however, is in the wording presents itself-or in an alternative English translation, appears. Marx used such terms deliberately, to distinguish between appearance and essence. His volumes of economic work are devoted to exploring the reality beneath the appearance. The determining factor of capitalism is not simply the existence of commodities but rather the commodification of labor. This defines the system's specific mode of exploitation, the way the ruling class appropriates the surplus product created by the producers. To see that this was Marx's view, we first note that the key to any society lies in the struggle between its ruling and producing classes. Thus the Communist Manifesto begins: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guildmaster and journeyman-in a word, oppressor and oppressed-stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open, fight, a fight that each time ended either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large or in the common ruin of the contending classes." The main battlefield of the class struggle is the surplus product. What distinguishes one form of society from another is the way in which the ruling class exploits the producing class; that is, the way the surplus product is appropriated: "The essential difference between the various economic social formations, between for instance, a society based on slave labor and one based on wage labor, lies only in the mode in which this surplus labor is in each case extracted from the actual producer." 2 Near the end of Capital Marx outlines the full significance of the difference between modes of exploitation: "The specific economic form in which unpaid surplus labor is pumped out of the direct producers determines the relationship of rulers and ruled, as it grows directly out of production itself and in turn reacts ____________________

Iskra Books , 2024

Another remarkable work from Torkil Lauesen. At a time when capitalism spells the doom of man and nature, this book addresses the difficulties and necessity of socialist transformation. Its message is that the fight for universal emancipation is long, yet delay is a crime. Essential reading to anyone wishing to understand the ascent of socialism and socialist thought. Its incisive examination of the history of imperialist aggression against states that adopt socialist principles covers areas rarely discussed in the mainstream. -Ali Kadri, Sun Yatsen University, PRC Torkil Lauesen's The Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism is a profound exploration of the global and historical dynamics of the past 150 years of the trajectory of socialism. Employing a historical materialist framework, the book challenges the reductionist "purity politics" lens prevalent in much left analysis of socialism today. A failure to grasp the political economy of imperialism and how it has undermined the material conditions of socialist transition has led to defeatism and pessimism in Western Marxist circles. Lauesen, instead, provides reasons for optimism on the left, deftly tracing the "fundamental contradiction" between the development of productive forces and the capitalist mode of production, demonstrating how this core conflict propels the global struggle towards socialism. The book provides a detailed historical overview of revolutionary movements, from the revolutions of 1848 to the Paris Commune and the Russian, Chinese, and decolonization revolutions of the 20 th century. Lauesen emphasizes how each revolution has contributed to the long transition from capitalism to socialism, serving as critical learning experiences for future movements. The discussion of China's strategic use of "market socialism" highlights how the country navigated these contradictions by leveraging the dynamics of capitalism to develop its productive forces, illustrating a significant example of a transitional state adapting to global conditions. With the decline of neoliberalism and the rise of China, Lauesen highlights how Global South states have been provided "breathing space" to remove the boot of imperialism from their necks, challenge historically polarized accumulation in the world-system, and provide support for socialist movements. This masterful analysis makes Lauesen's work essential reading for anyone interested in developing the theoretical tools required to understand "the long transition" and ultimately to achieve socialism on a world scale. -Corinna Mullin, The New School, author, Constructing Political Islam as the New Other: America and its Post-War on Terror Politics The Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism is a theoretically sophisticated and erudite tour de force that is among the most significant works on the transition from capitalism to socialism over the past 150 years. Lauesen provides a clear-sighted roadmap for a socialist future that is rooted in reality, rejecting idealistic and utopian models proffered by Western Marxist thinkers who view socialism as a seemingly magical and supernatural phenomenon. The Long Transition is a project that recognizes, and is grounded in, a pragmatic and learned understanding of past and existing socialist endeavors. This book is essential reading for all who are searching for a concrete pathway towards socialism, and offers a grounded hope now underway in Socialist China, a project that is deepening its original, foundational Marxism for the present era.

The Journal of Asian Studies, 1988