"Really existing socialism" of course meaning "a system wherein workers have zero effective political power."
Just because it's true that the ML movement was an essential part of decolonialization, and because it isn't true that the USSR was some evil empire, doesn't mean that the ideologies that underpin(ned) those societies aren't deeply flawed.
The USSR was not an evil empire, no, but the political structure of a hierarchical, command-based politic lead exactly where critics said it would lead. The "ultraleft", as you call them, including Luxemburg and Anarchist communists warned Lenin exactly what would go wrong in the USSR, and Lenin did not listen.
That's why Lenin is a counter-revolutionary by deed if not by intent. By his actions, the power of the people's and worker's soviets were shattered and replaced with corrupt bureaucracy.
Also, hey, go tell a Tartar, Kalmykk or other displaced ethnic group who were victim of Stalin's genocide that he wasn't a deranged butcher. Maybe if you survive you can tell me what you learned.
https://lemmy.world/comment/171791
From this post
You can easily make an account on lemmy in a minute, use a throwaway email https://tempm.com/
Go dunk on them on Lemmy not here :possum:
Why do people think this is a compelling point? If you talk to a white supremacist about black rights or any chud about trans rights, or any reactionary about anything good, there is a non-zero chance of a reactionary getting violent with you, therefore you should abandon those positions, apparently.
What stupid reasoning. I increasingly figure that will never respect the "western left".
Yeah I don't understand this either. Any political position you have will be unpopular with someone, to the point of violence maybe. I don't know what modern Tartars or Kalmyks think about the Soviet union, but most people in former Soviet states seem to have a positive opinion, but usually for weird nostalgic reasons rather than policy By this person's reasoning, there shouldn't be any socialist movements in post-soviet countries, even though there are. Ukraine had to ban all their leftist parties and so did others like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
I could easily tell this person to go talk to a Cuban who was alive in 1959 and tell them Castro wasn't a hero.