Perspective on the development of Mao's "communist" ideology and how this appears only very loosely based on core communist values.

Mao's understanding of communist principles and the development of his own communist ideology appeared to have grown without him having read any of Marx and Engels' work but by observing the governance and principles of Soviet communist leaders. This form of communism clearly developed through the interpretation of Leninist principles and his setting about of the authoritarian control and dictatorship of the proletariat as with the formation of the Bolsheviks (those dictating the proletariat) to exploit the Mensheviks (the working classes who were repressed by Lenin's dictatorship and supported democratic and liberal way acknowledging the needs of all groups including the proletariat, the bourgeois so as to bring out a socialist revolution) in the Russian Revolution. Mao's values appear to be clearly resemble those of the Bolshevik with his revolution as put by Roger Griffin having been set out with the goal of "overcoming the decadence of the existing liberal democratic system". This, ironically, appears to present clear oppression of the common people for the needs of the more politically powerful and higher socially standing leader in a classist hierarchical system which clearly goes against the raw principles of collective liberty and leadership by the common people as originally proposed by Engels. This would likely present for Mao's form of communism to likely present only vague and superficial resemblance of pure communism, as well as his main intentions being likely to gain power and begin revolution against the feudal capitalist system valued by many in China at the time and which he disapproved of. This can be observed with his ideology, according to an interpretation by A. James Gregor and Maria Hsia Chang, having been believed to have:

"originated in his personal concerns, his youthful commitments, his moral principles, and the aspirations he entertained for humiliated China—rather than any familiarity with the writings of Marx and Engels"

This could perhaps present his values to not be centred around any specific ideology or model of a system of governance that existed at the time, but that he formed it based on a variety of existing models and observations of past forms of far left political leadership of which he supported. These included "revolutionary peasant populism" (or Narodnichestvo) which, while appearing to liberate and increase the influence of the proletarians and serfs within a feudal capitalist society, appears to further preserve and not attempt to dissolve this form of society, through these groups aspiring to resemble the wealthy land owning bourgeois and petty bourgeois thus further promoting this. It is important to note that the status and position in society of Mao's family could have influenced these ideas in that he described them as being "rich peasant" likely wishing to gain power in this way. The expectation that the proletariat must be subservient to and support the requirements of the bourgeois can be observed in the common and often exploited idea of hero worshipping as described by Ruhlmann as "a touchstone for the social historian: Tell me who your hero is, and I'll know who you are" with the hero in question being those of the class and status that one aspires to be.

The crossover between Mao's ideas and those observed with fascist and far right individuals is also striking with these fitting in with the garnering of support for right wing or religious groupuscules whose values complement these ideas and that Mao likely came into power as leader deemed to be extremist at a time in which there was little transparency and effect of moderate leaders at a time of desperation as "small extremist formations solely in terms of their potential to gain a mass following and so become credible electoral or revolutionary forces" according to Griffin. While these groups are fairly small and fragmented, they thrive in times such as this and are significant enough to have major influence. This, therefore, further explains the view that Mao's ideas clearly, although stemming from basic communist principles, only appear to be very loosely defined as such and function in the clearly opposite way with clear similarities observed between the philosophies of Mao and those of other leaders such as Lenin and Deng Xiaoping.

Griffin, R (2003) Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2003, From slime mould to rhizome: an introduction to the groupuscular right. Routledge.

Gregor, A. J and Chang, M. H (2009) Maoism and Marxism in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500028527

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSbolsheviks.htm#section4

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSbolsheviks.htm#section4

Analysis of Chapter 6 of Mario Mieli's Towards a Gay Communism: Elements of a Homosexual Critique.

While there has been limited attention paid to sexuality and the action against repression of the homosexual people in Marx and Engels' work (as well as the theory by some early leftists exploring this topic that homosexuality could be viewed as a threat to communism defining homosexuals by "the corruption and decadence of bourgeois society, while they themselves, the left, do their part to fix gays into a position of the qualunquismo" thus reducing productivity and hindering attempts at revolution), communism has, over the centuries, been instrumental in influencing perceptions on the queer community and activism amongst them, as well as in the politicisation of homosexual rights.

This has been highlighted through the theories regarding gender by communist activist Mario Mieli in his work Towards a Gay Communism in which, while the promotion of sexuality had been considered as secondary to the revolutionary aims of the communist political groups as well as having homosexuals removed from and indifferent to policymaking, the significant influence that communism had on promoting revolutionary changes in attitudes towards homosexuality as well as it acting as a tool by which the homosexuals could use to act against the repression that they are under and fight for positive change.  Joe Fallisi (composer, musician and political activist), whose activism Mieli looks upon, even goes so far as to state that, so as to act against this system and demonstrate their need for liberation (as well as to ultimately disprove and reform previous leftist ideas in relation to them such as them metaphorically representing the bourgeois qualunquismo), "gay people saw only the system itself as their ‘salvation’". Fallisi describes them as being influential in modernising typical "phallocentric and heterosexual" left wing reformist politics depicted by the protestors resembling a ‘tough guy with a big cock and muscles of steel’, who sets even the fascist bullies to flight". This image appears to, according to him, have been somewhat modified so as to go against this phallocentric and male-dominant image of an ideal revolutionary protestors, and fight for the rights of women and homosexuals. To prove this point, a homosexual is now viewed by many as an ideal revolutionary comrade nowadays, yet somehow still evoking a sense of authority and influence with Mieli considering the main view amongst the people being that, despite them remaining a minority,  ‘we must tolerate the homosexuals, so that they don’t bust our balls, making us discuss our heterosexuality and acting like we also take it in the ass" society being somewhat panicked and intimidated by their presentation in a "violent and exaggerated manner, with sequins and gold gleaming, they sell their paper, accosting people in an accusatory manner, saying to them: ‘You deny your own homosexuality’". The "denying ones own homosexuality" could relate to them seeing all as equals, but also relate to the irony observed in the fact that many (particularly youth) who act against homosexuality and perpetuate homophobic ideology, have in fact been trying to mask their own homosexuality, and act against an authoritarian system "that oppresses both the victim and the murderer" which is oppressive to all, and one in which individual liberty and freedom of expression are not valued thus meaning the challenging of these ways, and that homosexual led revolution is required even more.

Mieli, M (1977) Towards a Gay Communism, pp. 208-216. Pluto Press 2018

China's 1949-52 land reforms: The liberation of the working class or the preservation of the bourgeois society?

“Eating from a big [common] pot breeds laziness”

These were the words of Deng Xiaoping when declaring the need to dismantle the communes and intend to redistribute land and capital amongst the peasants and increase their power within society. While these principles (ignoring the anti-state and pro-capitalist ideas clearly present in the quote above) might appear to evoke an anti-feudal sentiment and aims to dismantle the bourgeoisie with the proletariat needs central to the running of society, it appears that this was the main means of paving the way for a capitalist society to remain in China and further promote the feudal system which ironically, would be run be the proletarians and serfs originally exploited by this and intending to dismantle it. While arguing that it was liberating the working classes, it was further keeping those below them within the constraints of the society repressing them. This presents the crossing of paths of capitalism and communism and the events in the lead up to Deng's various capitalist projects, as well as the disastrous impacts on the productivity, efficiency and cost of running farms (with over 60% of farms paying between 40% and 6o% of their gross produce as rent), The supposedly socialist principle of collectivized agriculture perhaps meaning that there would be arguably greater room to exploit the peasant farmers and their resources due to the loss of their own smallholdings as well as allowing greater feudal influence by those owning the large scale collective farms to be evident. This was in a time when the agriculture still remained China's dominant economic sector and prior to the major economic growth and modernisation the country had experienced assisted by its take-off by rapid industrialisation. This had, therefore proven for a supposedly working class led project free from state influence to ironically have further preserved traditional class hierarchy and more conservative models of society and been instrumental in forming the foundations of a capitalist society ever favoured in China and throughout the rest of the world.

Gray, J. (1964) Soviet Studies Vol. 16, No. 2 (Oct., 1964), pp. 209-231

Hsu, D.Y, and Ching,, P.Y. (2024) Rethinking Socialism, Foreign Languages Press, ISBN: 978 1 03532 637 2

Interpretation on the Overlaps of Libertarianism, Communitarianism and Radical Communism

The notion of communism being considered as a means of corruption of authoritarian power and acting as a theory of governance by which the supposed communitarian and anti-capitalist ethos supporting complete equality of opportunities and abolishing class, state and wealth overrides against this, as well as that communists are considered to be merely power hungry dictators, always surprises me especially considering that this completely opposes the original key principles of communism.

According to Engels' 1847 work, The Principles of Communism, communism is defined as "the doctrine for the liberation of the conditions of the proletariat", this definition thus clearly proving to emphasise the communitarian aspects of communism and support collective liberty as well as promoting the individual rights and freedoms of the people, particularly the supposedly oppressed proletarians (those who live to support their needs through the selling of their labour to be benefited from (or exploited) by the bourgeoisie reducing their relative influence in society, even appearing to in some ways present a imbalance in power and varying class dynamic between them and serfs (who sell their presence within the workplace as opposed to purely their labour) thus allowing for them to be somewhat oppressed to a lesser degree). This would, therefore, appear to go against the idea of communists setting out to run oppressive totalitarian and undemocratic dictatorships, with it also proving important to note that, considering no hierarchy and no ruling class or state should be present within a true communist society. These sentiments and ways of running a society also ironically appear to be far right in that they would preserve class, authoritarian power, and use and exploitation of the military often with views of nationalism, pro-colonialism and occupation of land, and the forming of military alliances as can be observed with supposedly communist nations such as Russia both in the past and present, and China and North Korea.

For this reason, while to many this would seem ironic considering the exploitation and abuse of communist ideals (aka what I consider to not be true communism and for authoritarianism and corruption of power to be impossible to achieve in this pure form of communism) to be completely opposite to this, I believe libertarianism (the support for individual liberty, community involvement of all classes, freedom of speech and expression, and equality of opportunities) and communitarianism (which also appears to be a by-product of libertarianism as it relates to an individual's liberty and integration and inclusion within a community) to go nicely hand in hand with communism's key principles thus proving for an inclusive and democratic society in which collective and individual liberty in support of the anti-class and non-hierarchical people-led communism to appear an effective model of society to implement so as to reduce corruption and promote people's rights.

Abel Meeropol: Rosenbergs, Strange Fruit, and Children of Activists.

To kick start this blog, enjoy this post featuring two of my greatest passions, left wing politics and music.

                                                                       Abel Meeropol

Today would be Abel Meeropol’s birthday him being the poet, New York high school teacher and socialist and trades union activist who wrote the poignant, haunting and ever powerful anti-racist poem, "Strange Fruit" in 1937. This continues to be used to shed a light on the brutality of the treatment of slaves and the racially induced violence in the southern US states having been inspired by his shock and horror at a photo the lynching of two slaves in 1930. Originally titled "Bitter Fruit", put to music and sung by Billie Holiday, this would become a timeless anthem encouraging us to solemnly reflect and question the advancement of humanity as well as identify and call out against any racist acts which still continue to be subjected to people globally regardless of age, values and social standing. 

Lyrics:

Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop

With three verses and a mere 91 words, the brutal and harsh contrast of the "sweet and fresh" scent of pure white magnolia flowers with the "sudden smell of burning flesh" as if to present a loss of purity in the air through the lack of humanity and morality as well as the metaphor damage and deformation of these bodies with "bulging eyes and the twisted mouth" perhaps presenting the abuse they were subject to along with the description of lynched slaves hanging like fruits on a tree left to rot and decompose amidst the peaceful and idealistic "pastoral scene" of the so-called "gallant South" ruled by the wealthy white supremacists.

                                                               Abel and Anne Meeropol

After writing this piece, Meeropol continued to work as a high school teacher and write poetry and music as well as being a member of the American Communist Party from 1932-47 and, after adopting the children of communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were executed for spying for and leaking information about the Soviet Union, with his wife Anne Meeropol set up the Rosenberg Fund for Children, a charity providing support for children whose needs have suffered due to their parents' political activities as well as providing grants supporting the education and needs of targeted activist youth. Meeropol proves to have been an influential writer and political figure whose work deserves greater recognition today.