The spirit of Stalin possesses me when I think of Nikita Khrushchev
Me when I read the secret speech

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The spirit of Stalin possesses me when I think of Nikita Khrushchev
Me when I read the secret speech
‘With regard to Russia, it is incontestable that Stalin has raised living standards. The Russian people weren't being starved. Overall we must recognise that workshops of the scale of the Hermann Göring Werke have been built where two years ago there were only unknown villages. We are discovering railway lines that aren't on the maps.’
August 26, 1942 - A. Hitler, transcribed by notebooks keepers Heinrich Heim and Henry Picker
The interests of Nazi Germany were diametrically opposed to those of the USSR who posed a threat to their eastern border. The Soviet army was presumed to be weak and rotting from the inside out, but posed a significant challenge to the German invasion.
The enemy of the Soviet’s had to acknowledge the strength of their opponents if they were to come up with successful military strategy.
The Soviets were not under equipped or poorly trained. They were guided by considered strategy as Stalin was not a bumbling fool, described as a ‘great strategist’ even by his American contemporaries.
(I am not going to spend my time condemning or venerating Stalin, I simply wanted to dispel the idea that he was unprepared for German invasion or simply throwing bodies at the front line. If you’re not going to listen to nuance, me a Stalinist or tankie, etc etc.)
Celebratory photos regarding Soviet victories in WW2
tankie is genuinely the hottest insult you could ever call me. matter of fact, i hope everybody on this app views me as a secret communist spy sent by the spirit of joseph stalin to brainwash them into joining the red army
Commie tankie redfash Stalinist here to collectivise you and make you join the hive mind
Literature on the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR)
There has been a lot of anti-communist propaganda spread about the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, particularly the 1968 Prague Spring and subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion, so I'd like to offer some more sources about Czechoslovakia which cover these topics well, are in English (unfortunately, not much socialist Czechoslovak literature has been translated into English, though I have been trying to translate some things from authors such as K. Gottwald, the first communist president, and other Czechoslovak theorists/economists) and are fully available online for free.
Definitely need to give some of these a read
Dante and Virgil - William Adolphe Bouguereau (1850) currently displayed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris
One of my personal favourites
It is very clearly documented that what voters want does not translate into policy. Time and time again it reflects the interests of large donors.
This is a common point by US Marxists, but is consistent globally - the only difference is that our lobbying over a certain amount is not legalised. We circumvent this legal process with under-the-table bribery (not to say this does not happen in the US too).
But the point is, capitalism and democracy are, in fact, at odds with each other. The two cannot coexist, and we are all well aware of which one is prioritised by states.
Liberal democracies are foolish and a pretty veneer over their economic bases. The only way we can get policy that voters, workers, the people, want, is change the economic base - and we cannot dismantle that economic base by playing by the rules of liberal democracy.
(Basically, everyone should read Reform or Revolution)
On the ideological differences between tumblr Marxist-Leninists
I know it’s a bit silly, but I wanted to spend a little time talking about the variation in positions between self-identified Marxist-Leninists on this website. Because this is a social website with all the dynamics and cliquish tendencies that come with it, the political content of arguments between MLs on specific issues has a tendency to blend with interpersonal issues and ends up being obscured to the point that it may all appear to be interpersonal drama to an outside observer. To be sure, there is no shortage of interpersonal drama among tumblr communists, and I think all of us at some time or another have taken things very personally and handled disagreements without much grace. I don’t expect that to stop any time soon, but I do find it frustrating to see people from different ML perspectives and traditions write off other positions as uninformed nonsense only driven by internet cliques. I will admit I’ve been guilty of this myself, but I’ve been thinking about it more carefully recently. So, I want to get into the substance behind some of the disagreements we see here, not because I think it will stop any disagreements but out of hope that it can help us all at least understand where the different perspectives here come from. I’m going to try to portray this as objectively as I can, and I’ll follow up with my own position later. For now, I’d just like to establish an overview of this subject.
Excellent write-up! I would add that regardless of where specific ML organizations stand on this debate (which is by no means a small issue as it informs on ones collective strategy), all ML parties I know of are engaged in educating those they can reach and forming themselves for the tasks to come.
So regardless of how ugly debates and disputes can get on this platform or IRL, it is important to remember that we are closer to each other's lines than we would like to admit. And the work we have before us will unite us in some ways in the coming years and decades. So leniency and good faith exchanges will be necessary for us to get anywhere.
Thank you for putting this in writing!
Fascinating read and very reflective of Marxist debate in the global south - whether following orthodoxy is suited to the material conditions of the global periphery nations or not.
Eventually you come to realise that capitalism is contrary to basic human empathy. I recall being quite young when I first realised that if you do not work, you essentially die.
This has fairly obvious implications for people who are unable to work, but if you simplify it even further, your ability to survive should not be contingent on your ability to work. People deserve to have more than that.
What is life if you’re living to work for your next meal, sleeping, and doing it all over again? We are a resilient species and find joy in these bleak scenarios, but education, travelling, new foods, and so much more is out of reach. Higher needs are not met.
Is that just supposed to be the way things are? That’s incredibly stupid. You can call me idealistic for that, but the current economic system is so fundamentally anti-human that stripping it down to its core reveals it.
Time for some more discourse but this time I’m just contemplating the things I’ve seen people say about “tankies”. Allegedly we’re mostly just rude and nasty people, like apart from political reasons, which kind of mystifies me because of course I’ve seen rude tankies but the community I have found on here is very lovely. I don't know what kind of tankies these people are meeting but it's sure not the tankies I know lol
But the main thing is that I think even many other leftists seem to misunderstand our politics, not to mention liberals and conservatives
One particular issue is the issue of imperialism. I say this because I saw a communist on here talk about how tankies support Russia’s “imperialism” because we believe it’s not as bad as US imperialism. I have problems with that assumption and framing ofc, but I think much of the imperialism discourse comes from the fact that we are operating on different definitions
To most people, imperialism refers to the exertion of political or military or economic influence by any nation. This is the wikipedia definition, it is the mainstream definition
Marxist-Leninists of course use Lenin’s definition, which is entirely different. We may understand a country’s foreign policy as exploitative, aggressive, or generally problematic, but that does not necessarily equate to the Leninist definition of imperialism. If we claim it’s not imperialism without specifying that, it just sounds to others like we condone everything basically
I think us tankies have got to get better at clarifying our theory and our perspectives, because a lot of the hate comes from severe misunderstandings of what we’re talking about
Sometimes just out of curiosity I look up anti tankie tags on tumblr and 99% of the time the criticism is targeted at things that most of us don’t believe
I think we need to become more receptive and conscious of the way we are perceived by the general left as well as the average person if we wish to have effective communication about our politics
Today is a good day to remember Salvador Allende, the democratically-elected President of Chile, who died in September 1973. Allende most likely shot himself in the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago when he could no longer fight off the forces of General Augusto Pinochet as they executed a violent coup heavily supported by the United States and Henry Kissinger. Pinochet then ruled Chile as an American-supported "anti-communist" military dictator for nearly two decades in which tens of thousands of Chileans were killed, jailed, or simply disappeared.
Allende, a socialist, was popularly elected as Chile's President with promises to strengthen democracy in Latin America and institute significant economic, education, and health reforms in order to dramatically improve the social welfare of the Chilean people. Some American leaders, like Henry Kissinger, saw him as a potential threat -- a South American version of Fidel Castro -- and the CIA begin laying the groundwork for eventual regime change.
The biggest problem with Allende, in Kissinger's mind, was the very fact that he was freely and democratically elected. In a memo to President Nixon that is still somewhat shocking to read, Kissinger wrote that "Allende was elected legally...He has legitimacy in the eyes of Chileans and most of the world; there is nothing we can do to deny him that legitimacy or claim he does not have it." Kissinger then reminds Nixon that "We are strongly on record in support of self-determination and respect for free election; you are firmly on record for non-intervention in the internal affairs of this hemisphere and of accepting nations 'as they are.'" Then he spends several pages outlining ways in which to undermine, delegitimize, and potentially eliminate "the Problem." After all, as Kissinger wrote shortly before Allende was elected, "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves."
Dates That Made History 2x20: The Other 9/11: September 11, 1973 A.D.
The US will never allow a communist threat, whether it be through democratic election or violent revolution. Democratic election is already so rare, and when they happen, the United States swoops in and denies the so called democratic freedom they adore so much.
Let it be known that no matter how a project came to be socialist, it will always be undermined by the leading capitalist hegemon. Democratic elections will not save us, and Salvador Allende had to learn through him being violent usurped by a US backed Pinochet.
He is a tragic lesson that ‘the fates of Chile are too important to leave up to the Chilean people’. The fate of any nation is too important for its people to decide, if said choice is socialism. Reformism will get us nowhere - no one knows that more than a disenchanted reformist.
(Quote regarding Chilean fate paraphrased from Kissinger)
Franz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth described an underdeveloped intermediary bourgeois class that succeeds the colonial one. I can only speak to Sourh Africa, but if his observations then still apply now, I have no doubt that people across the global south would resonate with his writings.
He describes the new national middle class as business people, not industrialists. They desire nationalisation, not for the purposes of resource distribution, but be the ones who hold the materials. “To them, nationalisation means the transfer into native hands of those unfair advantages which are legacy of the colonial period.”.
This lack of originality extends into their investments. They’re not interested in the development of their own country, instead placing their securities in Western markets and spending their weekends in Paris. They are useless and harmful – not even able to create the conditions for the development of the industrial product. take centuries to have even an embryonic industrial revolution.
They are a greedy caste, get-rich-quick, content to accept dividends from the old colonial power, and incapable of inventiveness. They are “not even a replica of Europe, but it’s caricature” and they conceal their mediocrity with cars and holidays on the Riviera. 
Fanon outlines the nature of the post-colonial bourgeois with such scathing, incisive language that I sometimes cannot believe he was not a contemporary writer observing our present circumstances.
The Trump administration is spending more than $100 million to fight the "emergency" of "white genocide" in South Africa.
Every single one of the 599 refugees the US admitted last month was a white South African, according to data the State Department’s Bureau of Population released Friday.
In fact, so was every other refugee admitted this year. Since October 1, 2025, the US has accepted 6,668 refugees. Of those, 6,665 were white South Africans. Three—admitted last November—were from Afghanistan. No other refugees were admitted.
The white ‘refugees’ from my country are cowardly and snapping up the opportunity to live in the mythicised ‘greatest place on earth’ because of how they are being ‘victimised’ by farm murders and land redistribution. More black employees have been murdered on farms than their white owners and practically every country in the world redistributes that that is not being used.
When they arrived, they were forgotten and left to the hall that is American capitalism. This was a PR stunt for the American administration who see a false plight of minority whites and rush to their ‘aid’. Now that they are there, the Afrikaner ‘refugees’ can bear their cross.
Marxism is about changing the current state of things in practice, not about mental masturbation. this is why liberal institutions view Marxism-Leninism with such hostility. it's fine to teach sophisticated seeming versions of Marxism in the university when they're detached from revolutionary practice. it's fine to give their authors air time on your shows or write ups in your magazines. the same goes with platforming anti-communist socialists who condemn Marxism-Leninism, and with it all the countries in the world that have made significant steps towards building socialism. the construction and reproduction of this compatible left by liberal institutions is a powerful weapon for making sure that imperial core socialists are anti-communist, and are detached from practices that actually threaten to overthrow capitalist rule. don't fall for their bullshit when Marxism-Leninism is right there
Israel has once again cut off all aid to Gaza and closed all crossings into the strip, intensifying its genocidal blockade as the population
Israel has once again cut off all aid to Gaza and closed all crossings into the strip, intensifying its genocidal blockade as the population faces widespread disease and malnutrition.
The move, announced by the Israeli military’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), comes after Iran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday in retaliation for its strikes against Lebanon.
Israel has repeatedly violated its ceasefire agreements with Hamas and Hezbollah, killing hundreds in both Gaza and Lebanon in recent months as it seizes control of more land.
The apartheid state last cut off all entry to Gaza in late February following the outbreak of the US and Israel’s illegal war on Iran.
...
Cogat said in a post on X on Monday that crossings into Gaza would be closed “until further notice”. It falsely claimed the move “will not affect the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
only 150-200 of the 550-600 needed trucks of aid were allowed to enter each day anyway. this is going to kill so many people
The historic collaboration between the USSR and the ANC is a fascinating one.
South Africa under apartheid was a stalwart US and British ally and proxy, despite international divestment campaigns. It fought against the MPLA in Angola and Frelimo in Mozambique for that very reason (alongside those countries harbouring revolutionaries).
The USSR provided weapons, financial aid, and diplomatic pressure in support of the end of apartheid. In fact, they introduced the resolution in the UN for international sanctions against the apartheid government. The ANC, SACP and other forces would not have survived had it not been for this aid.
There is plenty to criticise the USSR for, yet ignoring its role in ending apartheid would be a disservice to its policy of aiding leftist revolutionary forces all around the world.
It birthed a culture of leftism in this country that is unfortunately underrepresented. In fact, some of the earliest communists in South Africa existed before the Soviet Union even existed.
In much of Africa, Marxism appeals to this day for its policies of nationalisation, representative governments, and an expansion of economic rights, not just social ones. It has morphed into African Marxism with the likes of Mbembe, Fanon, First, Hani, La Guma and so many others proposing how the scientific method can be applied to the material conditions of a particular nation.
It is a rich political tradition in my country.