A must-read article: "Explaining Global Communism Today"
In discussions with former KGB and GRU officers you will run across two apparently contradictory statements. Sometimes you will hear them say that the former USSR is still run by Communists, suggesting that the rulers there believe in Communism. On the other hand, they will tell you to forget about the Communist label; that the rulers of the USSR never really believed in Communist ideology, which was a deception used to manipulate large numbers of unintelligent people. Former KGB Lt. Col. Victor Kalashnikov recently wrote several paragraphs on this subject, and it is worth presenting. Kalashnikov’s key point is that Communism is strategy, not ideology. Useful idiots believe in Communist dogma, while Communist strategists do not.
PRECISELY! Thus has it ever been about harnessing the power of the collective to the wishes of the elites.
Ideology as such has not ever been the real driving force guiding Russia’s rulers, from the Bolsheviks until the present. Ideological explanations are irrelevant. Consider the deeds of the Bolsheviks rather than the explanations or justifications given by them. Don’t forget that criminals may be very eloquent and even well educated, and are capable of offering convincing-sounding rhetoric. The real problem is located elsewhere. A lot of people, those ‘useful’ ones, will take that rhetoric … seriously, giving it attention and respect, and even protection. Yet if we rely on ‘Occam’s razor,’ we may remove the superficial misunderstandings caused by taking rhetoric seriously.
The Bolsheviks were basically nothing but professional gangsters and terrorists, killers and robbers, and that is unquestionably more relevant than all the ideological explanations provided by them. They were part of a broader terrorist spectrum which spread across Russia since the late 19th century and grabbed power and national wealth UNDER COVER of Marxist and Leftist-sounding slogans. They did so to mislead the Russians themselves and the foreign public – the latter often longing for ‘real’ socialism or communism.The slogans of the gangsters have varied substantially over time, according to the changing needs up until our day. Compare the types of Marxism preached and practiced under various general secretaries, even during different parts of their respective tenures. Marxism-Leninism was used in the USSR rather as a DECEPTION TOOL; whereas, in reality, the regime was a gangster-run state with all the unmistakable features of organized criminal activity.
Sort of like today's "Justice" Department and the Digital Stasi state. The difference is only one of degree, which will lessen as time goes on.
6 comments:
This is a perfect example of why Marxism teaches "power to the people" and "equal sharing of wealth" as ideological goals....but in practice, Communism always ends up with the power of government in the hands of the few and everyone outside the political ruling class ends up "sharing" poverty.
I seem to remember Solzhenitsyn saying the same thing as this article. Cannot remember if it was in one of his books, or a speech, but I remember him saying it.
it occurs to me that this same basic strategy could easlly apply to the US
................
For the Republic, III%
Dr. D
C.O. Ben W. Hooper Bgd.
The most accurate description of the Soviet Union and the Obama White House I have ever heard published.. it was never ideology.. just power.
Yank lll
Kalashnikov’s lucid argument says Soviet communism was perverted by power-mad psychopaths who were only interested in ideology as a means to power.
This encourages True Believers to redouble their efforts, sure that if only Marx’s ideas could be applied by non-psychopaths such as themselves, then the promised Utopia will arrive.
Nyquist quotes Lenin: “Communism is nothing more than the scientific management of human affairs.” For a modern person that is a shiny promise which in and of itself does not lead to Nyquist’s conclusions regarding mass murder.
Yet in practice it invariably does. It is next to impossible to convince a tender-hearted Socialist that the ideology is fundamentally empty, and in itself encourages the dire results seen in every case where it is practiced.
Some may argue that Russia’s authoritarian history compelled the perversion of Marxism into totalitarianism, but the same cannot be said for all examples.
Scientific management of human affairs is a promise burdened with hubris and vanity. Science is imperfect, as is mankind. The only acknowledgement of this fact comes from Christian theology, but we are not encouraged to cling to that any more, let alone base national policy on that primary assumption as the Founders did. Too bad.
Also, Swift is right--Solzhenitsyn did illustrate this whole concept in his book "The First Circle."
Post a Comment