Anti-communism: Difference between revisions
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==Beliefs and propaganda== | ==Beliefs and propaganda== | ||
===Communism as a totalitarian movement=== | ===Communism as a totalitarian movement=== | ||
{{Main|Totalitarianism}} | {{Main|Totalitarianism}}Opponents of communism claim that [[socialist states]] such as the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] under the leadership of [[Joseph Stalin]] were [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] and despotic with little or no [[Democracy|democratic]] rule or freedoms. These accusations are proven false when considering the thriving [[Soviet democracy|Soviet democratic]] system in place which provided popular rule.<ref>Samantha Lomb (2018). ''[https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/4cc6cfbb-da46-4f2d-ad2b-b6e6a3aee91f/1004198.pdf Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constitution]'' (1st ed.). ''Routledge''. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315194004</nowiki></ref> Additionally, freedoms such as the freedom of speech, assembly, voting rights, and equality for all regardless of [[nationality]] and other aspects were constitutionally ensured in the Soviet Union.<ref>''[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1936/12/05.htm Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]'' (1936). Available on the Marxists Internet Archive. </ref> | ||
===Excess deaths in socialist states=== | ===Excess deaths in socialist states=== | ||
{{Main|Black Book of Communism}} | {{Main|Black Book of Communism}} | ||
Anti-communists frequently cite the supposedly massive death toll in | Anti-communists frequently cite the supposedly massive death toll in socialist states, often asserted to be in the tens of millions, to discredit communist movements. Sources for these claims generally derive, directly or indirectly, from the ''[[Black Book of Communism]]'', a notorious propaganda-piece which employs intellectually fraudulent methods to reach a total estimate of over 100 million deaths under communist states.{{Efn|They include [[Revisionism|revisionist]] and non-communist states in the estimate, including the [[People's Republic of China]] under the leadership of both [[Mao Zedong]] and [[Deng Xiaoping]].}}<ref>Stephane Courtois, Karel Bartošek et al. (1997). [https://archive.org/details/BlackBookOfCommunism/mode/2up ''The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression'']. Available on the Internet Archive.</ref> Anti-communists who make assertions about the death toll under communism care little about the extremely high death toll under capitalism.<ref>Engel-Di Mauro, Salvatore; et al. (May 4, 2021). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10455752.2021.1875603 ''"Anti-Communism and the Hundreds of Millions of Victims of Capitalism"'']. ''Capitalism Nature Socialism''.</ref> | ||
==Anti-communism in academia== | ==Anti-communism in academia== | ||
Revision as of 21:41, 24 July 2024
"A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies. Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?" — Opening of the Communist Manifesto
Anti-communism is a reactionary position which is opposed to the creation and spread of communism, revolution, and Marxist movements. Anti-communism is interlinked with support for the capitalist system, and has been a core aspect of anti-Semitic and fascist tendencies. Nominally "left-wing" opponents of communism are known as the non-communist left.
Anti-communism is as old as communism itself, and has taken many forms throughout the history of capitalism. Examples of anti-communism include Jewish Bolshevism, the Red Scares, McCarthyism, and in the present, cultural Marxism.
Beliefs and propaganda
Communism as a totalitarian movement
Opponents of communism claim that socialist states such as the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin were totalitarian and despotic with little or no democratic rule or freedoms. These accusations are proven false when considering the thriving Soviet democratic system in place which provided popular rule.[1] Additionally, freedoms such as the freedom of speech, assembly, voting rights, and equality for all regardless of nationality and other aspects were constitutionally ensured in the Soviet Union.[2]
Excess deaths in socialist states
Anti-communists frequently cite the supposedly massive death toll in socialist states, often asserted to be in the tens of millions, to discredit communist movements. Sources for these claims generally derive, directly or indirectly, from the Black Book of Communism, a notorious propaganda-piece which employs intellectually fraudulent methods to reach a total estimate of over 100 million deaths under communist states.[a][3] Anti-communists who make assertions about the death toll under communism care little about the extremely high death toll under capitalism.[4]
Anti-communism in academia
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See also
References
- ↑ Samantha Lomb (2018). Stalin’s Constitution: Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constitution (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315194004
- ↑ Constitution (Fundamental law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1936). Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.
- ↑ Stephane Courtois, Karel Bartošek et al. (1997). The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Available on the Internet Archive.
- ↑ Engel-Di Mauro, Salvatore; et al. (May 4, 2021). "Anti-Communism and the Hundreds of Millions of Victims of Capitalism". Capitalism Nature Socialism.
Notes
- ↑ They include revisionist and non-communist states in the estimate, including the People's Republic of China under the leadership of both Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.