Communism was a lived reality for hundreds of millions of people in the twentieth century and remains a lived reality for many in the twenty-first century. It is based in an analysis of capitalism and a theory of history proposed by Karl Marx, which is the main subject of this lecture. Marx's ideas were revised by Vladimir Lenin so as to allow the individual (or the party elite) much greater latitude to choose the timing and the place of revolution. Lenin's very success in making a revolution in a country that Marx regarded as backward led to the Stalinist program of accelerated development and associated starvation and mass terror. That model was then copied in China and elsewhere.
Welcome to the fourth lecture of my new lecture series, “Hitler and Stalin Today.”
This lecture is titled “What is Communism?”
Below are the readings that go along with this week.
Thank you for engaging with these lectures. I hope you enjoy them.
Below are some more of my works if you’d be interested in reading:
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