Forget it, you said you are a democratic socialist right? Don’t fight loosing arguments about history with people. Shut them up with this one argument.
“I will defend every seemingly communist country and their actions, only after you defend every capitalist nation and all of their actions. Simple enough right?”
When reading Marx please keep in mind that not only did he write in German, which has been translated… but if you have read his works he often heavily utilizes foot notes to explain what he means be certain things and at times will take an entire section building up an argument that is later summarized into a more concise statement. My first reaction to “dictatorship of proletariat” was negative, but reading more about his meaning is important.
Did Marx get some things wrong, sure however, while I will never say “everyone has to read this” I will say that “everyone who wants to oppose Marx should actually understand it to a level that probably requires reading”
The only moral revolution is one by and for the people, with the working class playing a vital role in driving societal change.
Moreover, one need not look far to find instances of so-called capitalist “Revolutions” supported by the United States, which often resulted in the rise of authoritarian dictatorships. For example, Fulgencio Batista’s regime in Cuba in 1933 and the tyrannical rule of President Rhee Syng-man in South Korea are separate cases illustrating this trend. Additionally, history records numerous coups and regime changes in Latin America, alluding to a broader pattern.
It’s crucial to acknowledge that capitalist economies, exemplified by countries like the US, have at times allied with and propped up dictatorships, fascist movements, and ultra-nationalist regimes.
When examining the actions and consequences of historical revolutions, it becomes apparent that revolutions aligned with capitalism have, both in the past and present, been more numerous and have encountered moral complexities and violence. One might argue that this predominance is partly driven by the capitalist motives associated with imperialism, which facilitated the diffusion of their economic model.
Or perhaps you are arguing that power will always be abused by individuals and thus we shouldn’t resist it and those that currently hold it in the form of capital…
in which case…
I never expect perfection in a human society, but I know for damn certain we can do better than what we do now and the improvements we can make are towards a more equitable society best expressed by socialist and communist thinkers alike.
Ah, I see you think yourself an expert on Marx. When he said this was he not meaning that instead of the people being under the dictatorship of a small privileged class of capitalists (see the plutocracy of many capitalist nations) he wanted the entirety of the people, in particular the working class to have control over their own lives, labor, and common interests?
Idk, but it sounds like you think you have read more of Marx’s literature and understand Marx better?
Marx, therefore, further refined the concept of a “transition society” and introduced the idea that the development of communist society would take place in two phases. In the first stage, “socialism” as he called it, the commune state was still necessary both to defeat all attempts at counter-revolution and to reconstruct the international economic system on an egalitarian and planned basis.
“I encounter a lot of people who tell me that they never knew the word ‘gypped’ had anything to do with gypsies, or that it’s offensive — especially when the word is heard not read,” says University of Texas at Austin professor Ian Hancock, who was born in Britain to Romani parents. “My response to them is, That’s okay. You didn’t know but now you do. So stop using it. It may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts.”