You really ought to read up on the history of the communist movement. If you don't have that foundation on the particular and concrete ways the class struggles manifest, then you can struggle to contextualize the theory. For me, studying the October revolution was critical for understanding how theoretical differences do cause real problems in organizing. It was through that that I realized my org would have been the Mensheviks in the situation and that I ought to really take up the study of socialism on a rigorous and scientific basis. Not saying you have to study the Soviet experience first, you could always study the history of the communist movement in your country or somewhere you are interested in.
So, I read October by China Melville. I found it really good until about the last chapter where he kind of just reiterates the Trot point-of-view that Stalin ruined everything and the USSR basically stopped being socialist immediately after winning. However, the way it frames the struggle was enough for me to understand that this Lenin guy was onto something and so I began studying. I've been meaning to read a few books that I heard are better, like:
Yeah, people say it's very novel like. If I can just put in one comment, be skeptical of what Melville has to say about Stalin. If you ever want to read an opposing view on Stalin, read Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens.
I haven't read Furr outside of excerpts, but Martens was the leader of the Worker's Party of Belgium and his biography of Stalin seemed pretty sober to me.
That's the vibe I get from the Martens biography as well, although he is a Marxist Leninist in a worker's party so he does not hide the fact that he also admires Stalin, I just don't think the admiration gets in the way of a solid concrete analysis.
You really ought to read up on the history of the communist movement. If you don't have that foundation on the particular and concrete ways the class struggles manifest, then you can struggle to contextualize the theory. For me, studying the October revolution was critical for understanding how theoretical differences do cause real problems in organizing. It was through that that I realized my org would have been the Mensheviks in the situation and that I ought to really take up the study of socialism on a rigorous and scientific basis. Not saying you have to study the Soviet experience first, you could always study the history of the communist movement in your country or somewhere you are interested in.
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So, I read October by China Melville. I found it really good until about the last chapter where he kind of just reiterates the Trot point-of-view that Stalin ruined everything and the USSR basically stopped being socialist immediately after winning. However, the way it frames the struggle was enough for me to understand that this Lenin guy was onto something and so I began studying. I've been meaning to read a few books that I heard are better, like:
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Yeah, people say it's very novel like. If I can just put in one comment, be skeptical of what Melville has to say about Stalin. If you ever want to read an opposing view on Stalin, read Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens.
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I haven't read Furr outside of excerpts, but Martens was the leader of the Worker's Party of Belgium and his biography of Stalin seemed pretty sober to me.
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That's the vibe I get from the Martens biography as well, although he is a Marxist Leninist in a worker's party so he does not hide the fact that he also admires Stalin, I just don't think the admiration gets in the way of a solid concrete analysis.
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