Spectre of Communism

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• How did Stalin and Mao fight imperialism? 30.06.2026 1ч 33мин

  Imperialism threatens humanity. Our burning task is to overthrow it – but how? Many revolutionaries have turned to Mao and Stalin for answers, as they are associated with the biggest blows to imperialism in world history: the Russian and Chinese revolutions. But did Stalin and Mao really fight imperialism? And what would we have done differently? These are the questions we set out to answer in the latest episode of Spectre of Communism.As communists, we aim to learn the lessons of the past in order to conquer the future. In the 20th century, no lessons are more important and controversial than those of Stalinism and Maoism. On the one hand, they are associated with anti-imperialist liberation struggles. On the other, they are accused of betraying and undermining those same struggles in their own interests. Brushing aside the vicious lies and attacks of the capitalists, who use Stalin and Mao to slander communism in general, we invited Daniel Morley, member of the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to set the record straight.📺 Related episodes 📺The truth about Mao and the Chinese Revolution – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZR5t4Bo4kThe Spanish Revolution and Civil War: A Complete Timeline – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMcYaCMBSYStalinism on trial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JevkQNg98E📖 Texts cited 📖SPEECHES ON WAR AND PEACE AT A MEETING OF THE C.C. OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). JANUARY 11 (24), 1918 – https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jan/11.htmOut of the Night, Jan Valtin – https://files.libcom.org/files/2025-02/Out%20of%20the%20Night%20(Jan%20Valtin)%20(Z-Library).pdfThe Third International After Lenin, Leon Trotsky – https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1928/3rd/index.htmWest European Unity Against Hegemonism ls a Historical Necessity (Peking Review 1978 no.9 p.20) – https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1978/PR1978-09.pdf📖 Recommended reading 📖Stalinist land programme wins peasants – Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, by Ted Grant – https://marxist.com/ted-grant-china-jan-1949.htmReply to David James, by Ted Grant – https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/james.htmOn Imperialist War: Lenin Selected Writings – https://wellred-books.com/on-imperialist-war-lenin-selected-writings/China: From Permanent Revolution to Counter-Revolution – https://wellred-books.com/china/⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️00:00:00 Introduction00:00:59 Why are we so critical?00:06:43 Comintern: Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks00:17:38 Stalin, Zinoviev and the German Revolution00:23:40 Socialism in One Country + Stalin's Foreign Policy00:36:19 The Spanish Revolution + Popular Front00:40:57 WWII00:48:49 Stalin and the Founding of Israel00:51:15 Mao's Foreign Policy and the Sino-Soviet Split01:08:08 China and Western Europe (1960s–1970s)01:15:00 The Indian Subcontinent01:21:31 Southeast Asia01:22:26 Angola01:26:50 Conclusion🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5JSs2U1TANlRkawQCH7luP?si=ec9ca883b8f940f0📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/spectre-of-communism/id1659878020📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
• The 1926 General Strike: Britain's revolution betrayed 26.05.2026 1ч 36мин

  A stereotype holds that British workers have always been conservative and averse to radical class struggle. But a century ago, they waged a general strike that reached revolutionary proportions, threatening the very foundations of capitalist society. The Guardian newspaper declared on 10 May 1926: “It is just a week since Civil War was declared in this country. It is not a war of arms; it is not yet even a war of tempers; it is a trial of strength.” But the strike ended suddenly after 9 days: at its peak. What happened?Shamefully, little has been written to mark the centenary of the 1926 general strike, and the accounts that do exist completely misrepresent it in various ways. Right-wing historians say the unions were simply a ‘boil that needed lancing’ and the workers’ case was a hopeless one (despite the terror the strike struck into the hearts of the establishment at the time). Meanwhile, some left-wingers deny the workers were actually defeated! Which rather raises the question of why they were forced to accept brutal wage cuts, lengthened hours and targeting sackings, leading to a whole period of paralysis on the industrial front.The real story of the 1926 general strike reveals a tragic failure of leadership. Despite the immense power and courage of the British workers – who paralysed the country, established their own embryonic seats of power and even developed a rival press – they were ultimately sold out by the trade union leadership.This major episode in the British and world class struggle is full of lessons for class fighters today, at a time when the capitalist system is one more in an historic crisis and trying to force ordinary people to shoulder the burden. We are delighted to welcome onto the show Ben Gliniecki, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party and author of A Communist History of the British General Strike, to set the record straight.📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖A Communist History of the British General Strike, Ben Gliniecki: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/a-communist-history-of-the-british-general-strike/ Accounts critiqued: The 1926 General Strike: revolutionary potential, reformist betrayal, and the lessons for today, Dylan Murphy: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/1926-general-strike-revolutionary-potential-reformist-betrayal-and-lessons-todayHow the 1926 General Strike shaped trade union solidarity, Aslef general secretary David Calfe: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/how-1926-general-strike-shaped-trade-union-solidarity “Their Greatest Effort Ever”: The British General Strike at 100, Cal Winslow: https://jacobin.com/2026/05/general-strike-britain-labor-history General Strike was 'the boil that needed lancing', BBC (citing David Torrance, author of ‘The Edge of Revolution: The General Strike that Shook Britain’): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7057jy14j1oReflections on the General Strike, 100 years on, Paul Nowak, General secretary of the Trades Union Congress: https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/reflections-general-strike-100-years
• How Adam Smith influenced Karl Marx 28.04.2026 1ч 33мин

  Did you know that Adam Smith, the poster child of free-market capitalism… was also a major influence on Karl Marx? While Smith is celebrated today as the father of capitalism and Marx as the founder of communism, they are actually part of the same theoretical tradition of political economy.Unlike the lunatic libertarians and hired guns for capitalism who lay claim to Smith’s legacy today; in his day, he actually aimed to scientifically understand the workings of “commercial society”.Although the apologists of capitalism don't like to admit it, Smith identified labor – not trade or crafty entrepreneurs – as the true source of a nation's wealth. In so doing, he elaborated on the labor theory of value: the idea that a commodity's worth is determined by the labor required to produce it.But his analysis was incomplete and inconsistent, leaving him fundamentally unable to understand the mysteries of the burgeoning capitalist world, with all its inequality, chaos and crisis.By taking Smith's insights and pushing them to their logical conclusions, most notably by distinguishing between labor and labor-power, Marx unlocked the secret of profit: workers produce more value than they receive in wages, with the difference – surplus value – falling to the capitalist.By combining the labor theory of value with dialectical materialism, Marx revealed the fundamental laws governing capitalism and demonstrated why the system inevitably generates crises and exploitation. In this episode of Spectre of Communism, Adam Booth (leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party and co-author of Understanding Marx’s Capital) joins Joe Attard to explore how two seemingly opposed economists are connected.📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖From Adam Smith to Karl Marx: The Wealth of Nations and Das Kapitalhttps://marxist.com/from-adam-smith-to-karl-marx-the-wealth-of-nations-and-das-kapital.htmUnderstanding Marx's Capitalhttps://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/understanding-marxs-capital/⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️0:00 — Intro — Who was Adam Smith?8:56 — Division of labour21:37 — The labour theory of value43:58 — Exchange-value and price55:04 — 'The invisible hand of the market'1:00:36 — Profit and surplus value1:12:44 — Decay of bourgeois economics🌐 LINKS 🌐✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International:https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 🎧 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
• Imperialism in the 21st century – what Lenin would say today 31.03.2026 1ч 52мин

  Spectre of Communism – the theoretical podcast of the RCI – kicks off a new season by exploring one of the most fundamental and important topics of today: imperialism 💵First explained by Vladimir Lenin in his 1916 book of the same name, imperialism has come to define the past century. From countless wars to the economic dominance of giant monopolies, it has destroyed the lives of billions of people  🦅Much has changed since Lenin put pen to paper, but the core ideas and developments he described remain as relevant as ever. In fact, the parasitic features of imperialism have only become more pronounced, with monopolisation and the concentration of capital reaching truly obscene levels 📈Today, three asset management firms – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – control over $22 trillion in assets and hold major stakes in 88% of S&P 500 companies. The world's richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity, while developing countries pay $487 billion to foreign lenders every single year. Meanwhile, the number of wars and conflicts is at its highest since the Second World War, as rivalry between the major imperialist powers intensifies 🧨In this episode, Joe Attard is joined by Jorge Martín, leading member of the RCI, to discuss why understanding imperialism is a prerequisite for fighting it. That means grasping concretely how imperialist conflicts are bound to unfold in the period ahead – and how the class struggle that imperialism creates will provide immense opportunities to strike blows against the capitalist system the world over ✊Tune in, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you don't miss any future episodes of Spectre of Communism 📺
• The Communist Manifesto Explained 28.12.2025 2ч 13мин

  “A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism!” These immortal words from the Communist Manifesto (and the title of this podcast!) herald the most important piece of political literature ever written. In our final episode of the season, we go through the Manifesto chapter-by-chapter, and explain the ongoing relevance of this amazing document.In just a few dozen pages, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels describe the development and dynamics of capitalist society, explain the revolutionary role of communists, and issue a battlecry to the workers of the world. They draw the incredibly profound conclusion that the (written) history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles, a discovery that Engels later said had the same impact on political economy as Darwin’s theory of natural selection did on biology.While the Manifesto was written in 1847, in reality it more accurately describes the world of today! As Josh Holroyd, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, explains in our detailed chapter breakdown, the Manifesto predicts a world in which the entire population is made part of the capitalist machine, and periodically plunged into chaos by crises of overproduction. Marx and Engels fend off bourgeois slanders that communism crushes ‘freedom’ and would ‘make people lazy’. They point to the treacherous role of reformism, and teach communists how they should relate to the wider workers’ movement. And much more besides.These theoretical insights have only gained in relevance in the 150 years since the Manifesto was published. And in practice, the ideas contained in this text have transformed the course of world history, inspiring victorious revolutions and continuing to haunt the nightmares of the capitalists and their agents.We are delighted to end this season of the podcast with a deep dive into the foundational document of our movement. Workers of the world, unite!📖 WORKS CITED 📖Manifesto of the Communist Party, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (with prefaces):🔗https://marxist.com/communist-manifesto-chapter-1.htm Purchase a physical copy here as part of Classics of Marxism Volume One: 🔗https://wellred-books.com/classics-volume-one/ Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/communist-league/1850-ad1.htm [Podcast] How Marx became a Marxist:🔗https://marxist.com/podcast-how-marx-became-a-marxist.htm
• The Philosophy of Despair: Postmodernism Explained 16.12.2025 1ч 22мин

  The term ‘postmodernism’ is thrown around a lot by right-wing shock-jocks like Jordan Peterson, often in tandem with Marxism: although these two sets of ideas are totally opposed. In this episode, leading comrade Hamid Alizadeh takes on some of the main luminaries of this obscure, impenetrable and ultimately reactionary school including Foucault, Derrida and Lyotard. Lyotard describes postmodernism as “incredulity towards metanarratives.” In other words: an opposition to ‘big ideas’ about history, truth, science and progress. But with these ‘big ideas’ discarded, what are we left with? As Hamid demonstrates, the answer for all the postmodernists is basically the same: we cannot know the world, let alone change it, all we can do is ‘think differently’, play around with words, and retreat to subjectivity. They even celebrate writing in incomprehensible gibberish and ‘believing in nothing’ as a ‘radical’ act!This cynical philosophy is a total dead-end which winds up in stasis and despair. In total contrast to Marxism, which recognises the world as made up of complex processes, and driven by an inner lawfulness towards higher and higher complexity. By knowing the world, we can organise ourselves to intervene and change it for the better.Postmodernism is not merely a reactionary worldview, Hamid explains, it has a directly negative impact on society, serving to divide the working class through the related phenomenon of identity politics, and preserve the status quo by hampering unity of the working class. It is our duty as Marxists to oppose these counter-revolutionary ideas, and demonstrate the vast superiority of our dialectical materialist philosophy!📖 WORKS CITED 📖The case for theory: why communists should study philosophy | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM: 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQBXX7jZYgMarxism vs. Postmodernism, Daniel Morley and Hamid Alizadeh: 🔗https://marxist.com/marxism-versus-postmodernism.htmTheological-Political Treatise, Baruch Spinoza:🔗https://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/24118/excerpt/9780521824118_excerpt.htm Hegel, G.F. W. (1975). Hegel's Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art [For the quote about an ignorant man not being free]📖 WORKS CRITIQUED 📖Gender Trouble (Tenth Edition), Judith Butler: 🔗https://selforganizedseminar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/butler-gender_trouble.pdf The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Jean-François Lyotard:🔗https://monoskop.org/images/e/e0/Lyotard_Jean-Francois_The_Postmodern_Condition_A_Report_on_Knowledge.pdf The Subject and Power, Michel Foucault: 🔗https://www2.kobe-u.ac.jp/~alexroni/IPD2018%20readings/IPD1%202018%20No.8/Foucault%20Subject%20and%20Power.pdf Differance, Jacques Derrida: 🔗https://mforbes.sites.gettysburg.edu/cims226/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Week-5a-Jacques-Derrida.pdf Article about how the CIA used Foucault and postmodern ideas to their benefit: 🔗https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-cia-reads-french-theory-on-the-intellectual-labor-of-dismantling-the-cultural-left/ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️00:55 - What is postmodernism?11:40 - Is language oppressive?25:46 - 'Differance' vs Dialectics 31:58 - Are there objective patterns in the world?40:42 - Is there a barrier between mind and matter?01:00:54 - Practical impact of these ideas
• Communist Answers Most Searched Questions 09.12.2025 1ч 20мин

  How did Stalin outmanoeuvre Trotsky and take power following Lenin’s death? What do Marxists mean by ‘value’? And what does it really mean to ‘master the dialectic’? We went back to social media and asked for some more burning questions from our audience, for leading communist Niklas Albin Svensson to answer in a quickfire round!Watch our previous viewers’ questions episode with Ben Curry here:🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korpvewBWo8&t=3561s 📖 WORKS & SOURCES CITED 📖Wage, Labour and Capital, Karl Marx:🔗https://marxist.com/classics-wage-labour-and-capital.htm Value, Price and Profit, Karl Marx: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-marxism-two-book/value-price-and-profit.htm ABC of Materialist Dialectics, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/abc-materialist-dialectics-trotsky.htmRevolution Betrayed, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-the-revolution-betrayed.htm Results and Prospects, Leon Trotsky: 🔗https://marxist.com/results-and-prospects.htm Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Vladimir Lenin: 🔗https://marxist.com/classics-imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism/.htm The Wealth of Nations, Book One, Chapter 5: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-adam/works/wealth-of-nations/book01/ch05.htm Astronomy Is In Crisis...And It's Incredibly Exciting - 3 million views (discusses crisis in cosmology): 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zozEm4f_dlw Reason in Revolt, Ted Grant and Alan Woods: 🔗https://marxist.com/reason-in-revolt-marxist-philosophy-and-modern-science.htm Purchase In Defence of Marxism Issue 51 here: 🔗https://magazine.marxist.com/ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️00:57 - What is value?22:18 - How to master the dialectic?52:20 - How did Stalin come to power?1:04:23 - How did capitalism affect post-Soviet countries?🌐 LINKS 🌐✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
• The Marxist Who Predicted the Post-War Order: Ted Grant’s Legacy 02.12.2025 1ч 21мин

  Ted Grant is not widely known outside of revolutionary circles, but he was the most important Marxist theorist since the death of Leon Trotsky, who alone predicted the course of world politics after WWII. Amongst other things, he foresaw the post-war economic upswing; the expropriation of capitalism in China and much of Eastern Europe; Stalin’s clashes with Tito and Mao; and much more besides. In this episode, his closest collaborator Alan Woods, the main leader and theorist of the RCI, reminisces about Ted’s life and works, and explains the importance of his contributions.In today’s episode, Alan talks about Ted’s legacy. He emphasises not only Ted’s brilliant mastery of Marxism, which gave him a huge advantage over his contemporaries; but also his humanity, his indignance towards all forms of injustice, and his profound sense of optimism. While the road to revolution is long and often difficult, Ted always said, there are two indispensable traits for any revolutionary: a sense of proportion and a sense of humour!Aside from the organisation we inherit today, Ted’s main legacy can be found in his tremendous contributions to Marxist theory and analysis. The third volume of his collected works will be released in January 2026. Stalinist land programme wins peasants, Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, Ted Grant:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/01/china.htm Democracy or Bonapartism in Europe - A Reply to Pierre Frank, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/08/frank.htm Ted’s obituaries in the bourgeois press: 🔗https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1524889/Ted-Grant.html, 🔗https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jul/27/guardianobituaries.southafrica Ted Grant: The Permanent Revolutionary, Alan Woods: 🔗https://wellred-books.com/ted-grant-the-permanent-revolutionary/The degeneration and collapse of the Fourth International: in defence of our heritage, RCI: 🔗https://marxist.com/the-degeneration-and-collapse-of-the-fourth-international.htm The TRUTH about World War 2: Marxist historian sets the record straight | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM:🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vobbAMUzM&t=1191s The Changed Relationship of Forces in Europe and the Role of the Fourth International, Ted Grant:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1945/03/changed.htm Economic Perspectives 1946, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/04/economy.htm Perspectives in Britain, Ted Grant:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1946/07/britain.htm Czechoslovakia: The Issues Involved, Ted Grant:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1948/04/czechoslovakia.htm Reply to David James, Ted Grant:🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/james.htm Stalinism in the Postwar World, Ted Grant: 🔗https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1951/06/stalinism
• How the Greek Revolution was Betrayed: A Complete Timeline 25.11.2025 1ч 41мин

  A decade ago, Greece became the epicentre of a political earthquake. Brutal EU and IMF-imposed austerity measures provoked a revolutionary struggle by workers and youth, who vested their hopes in the left-wing SYRIZA government to take on the institutions of European capitalism. But in the end, these reformist leaders prepared a betrayal. What are the lessons of Greece that must be learned for the class struggle today?In this episode of the Spectre of Communism podcast, Francesco Merli, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, takes us step-by-step through the whole process, beginning with the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 that saw Greece’s creditors inflicting economic warfare against the country. Francesco explains that the Greek workers and youth did not take this lying down, launching multiple back-to-back general strikes over the course of seven years, before finally electing SYRIZA on a radical reformist programme in 2015. Today, class fighters around the world continue to draw inspiration from the heroism and fighting spirit that the Greek people displayed over this long struggle. We point to the experience of the SYRIZA government as a concrete illustration of the betrayal inherent in reformism. The lessons of Greece are invaluable for the victory of the future European and world revolution!📖 SOURCES CITED 📖‘Lessons from Greece’, In Defence of Magazine Issue 50, Summer 2025, Arturo Rodriguez: 🔗 https://marxist.com/magazine.htm‘The class struggle in Greece’, Alan Woods:🔗 https://communist.red/the-class-struggle-in-greece/‘Tsipras addresses American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce’, Tovima,🔗https://www.tovima.gr/2013/12/03/international/tsipras-addresses-american-hellenic-chamber-of-commerce/‘Greece: SYRIZA leaders preparing for government – what is the next step?’, Fred Weston and Stamatis Karagiannopoulos: 🔗 https://marxist.com/syriza-leaders-preparing-for-government-what-is-the-next-step.htm ‘Greece: Historic victory of left - First time in history a party with roots in Communist movement wins elections’, Communist Tendency of Syriza:🔗 https://marxist.com/historic-victory-of-the-left-in-greece-for-the-first-time-in-history-a-party-with-roots-in-the-communist-movement-has-come-to-power.htm ‘SYRIZA in power, the crisis and the Greek revolution’, Marie Frederiksen:🔗 https://marxist.com/syriza-in-power-the-crisis-and-the-greek-revolution.htm ‘Why Greek Exit From The Euro Would Be A Very Bad Idea’, Frances Coppola, Forbes:🔗https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/02/17/why-greek-exit-from-the-euro-would-be-a-very-bad-idea/ ‘Greece: No surrender to the Troika!’, Fred Weston:🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-no-surrender-to-the-troika.htm ‘Greece: A troika by any other name would smell as rotten’, Jorge Martin:🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-a-troika-by-any-other-name-would-smell-as-rotten.htm ‘Greece: The moment of decision’, Alan Woods:🔗 https://marxist.com/greece-the-moment-of-decision.htm ‘Varoufakis’ mission “to save European capitalism from itself”’, Fred Weston: 🔗 https://marxist.com/varoufakis-mission-to-save-european-capitalism-from-itself.htm ‘Greek default approaching – what next?’, Fred Weston:🔗 https://marxist.com/greek-default-approaching-what-next.htm ‘Greek crisis: the only way to break with austerity is to break with capitalism’, Jorge Martin: 🔗 https://marxist.com/greek-crisis-the-only-way-to-break-with-austerity-is-to-break-with-capitalism.htm
• Marxist Answers Communism Questions From Social Media | Communists in the Middle East, Degrowth and the Crisis of Reformism 18.11.2025 1ч 38мин

  Has communism ever been a serious force in the Middle East? Are Marxists in favour of shrinking the economy to save the environment? Has there been a shift to the right in society?We took to social media and asked our viewers to send in questions about communism, Marxism and revolution for leading communist, Ben Curry, to answer in a quickfire round!Chapters:00:00:54: The History of the Communist Movement/Parties in the Middle East00:28:05: Marxism vs. Degrowth00:57:33: Why is the Left so Weak?Works and sources cited:The 1917 Russian Revolution: A Complete Timeline | SPECTRE OF COMMUNISM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXzg544UyJ0&list=PLmkivsu9EhGABC5d-wtbSuk8D9fx55gh1  Molotov’s telegram to Israeli Foreign Minister 1948, cited here: https://marxist.com/stalin-and-the-founding-of-israel.htm  ‘Green growth’ doesn’t exist – less of everything is the only way to avert catastrophe, George Monbiot: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/29/green-growth-economic-activity-environment  Communism and the Iraqi Revolution, Ben Curry: https://marxist.com/communism-and-the-iraqi-revolution-part-one.htm  Population Matters, David Attenborough: https://populationmatters.org/news/2020/10/attenborough-film-saving-our-planet-requires-ending-population-growth/  A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm  The Communists Are Coming – A Visual Manifesto | RCI Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhOCEYM8LZE  
• The Spanish Revolution and Civil War: A Complete Timeline 11.11.2025 2ч

  Trotsky wrote in ‘The Tragedy of Spain’ (1939) that, despite the Spanish proletariat’s revolutionary heroism, they were “brought to ruin by petty, despicable, and utterly corrupted ‘leaders.’” In this episode, we chart the great triumphs and tragic demise of the Spanish Revolution in a complete timeline. Chapters listed below!The Spanish Revolution that ran from 1931 to 1937 is one of the most remarkable and inspirational events in world history. The Spanish workers brought down the hated regime of King Alfonso XIII in April 1931; and strived to win freedom, dignity and a decent existence, which was continually denied to them by a procession of bourgeois and so-called Popular Front governments of class collaboration. The Spanish workers spontaneously rallied to repel an attempted military coup by General Franco in 1936, and established workers’ power in key cities like Barcelona. Time and again, victory was within reach. But sadly they were betrayed at every step by the bourgeois leaders of the Republic; as well as the blunders and outright crimes of the workers’ leaders: anarchists, socialists, communists and the POUM alike.The price for these betrayals was the crushing of the revolution, with the Stalinist Communist Party (on the orders of the Comintern) playing an especially criminal role; and the eventual victory of General Franco in the Civil War, ushering in decades of military dictatorship.Leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martin, takes us through these remarkable years, month-by-month, revealing the entire process by which the Spanish Revolution rose and fell. --Chapters:00:01:27 – The importance of the Spanish Revolution00:03:20 – Conditions prior to the Revolution00:10:13 – Main political forces in Spain explained00:20:45 – April 1931, start of the Revolution00:23:03 – October 1931, beginning of Reformist Biennium00:23:19 – June 1932, first elected government00:26:02 – August 1932, attempted military coup00:27:00 – November 1933, second election, CEDA the biggest party00:30:54 – July 1934, coup in Austria 00:35:26 – October 1934, insurrectionary general strike and Asturian commune00:48:04 – September 1935, founding of the POUM, two black years00:51:31 – February 1936, Popular Front government elected00:58:07 – April 1936, president ousted from Cortes00:59:53 – July 1936, Franco coup defeated01:18:41 – August 1936, changing policy of Communist Party01:20:11 – September 1936, Caballero government01:21:58 – October 1936, militias placed under control of bourgeois army01:27:59 – November 1936, CNT leaders join Republican government in Madrid01:34:17 – December 1936, repression against POUM and anarchists01:34:32 – January 1937, POUM paper closed01:40:17 – May 1937, Red Barcelona crushed01:45:58 – June 1937, Nin arrested, POUM crushed01:50:20 – August 1937, Negrin's 'government of Victory' sabotages war effort01:52:08 – January 1938, Stalin recalling International Brigades01:52:46 – March 1939, another coup and attempted deal with Franco01:52:58 – April 1939, Franco enters Madrid01:53:25 – Consequences of the revolution's defeat---Works cited and sources:Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain, Felix Morrow: https://wellred-books.com/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-spain/The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain, Pierre Broué and Emile Témime: https://www.marxists.org/archive/broue/1961/spain/rev-spain.htmlCollected Writings on The Spanish Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/spain/index.htmThe Class, the Party and the Leadership: Why Was the Spanish Proletariat Defeated? [Questions of Marxist Theory], Leon Trotsky: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/party.htmHomage to Catalonia, George Orwell: https://www.marxists.org/archive/orwell/1938/homage-catalonia.htm
• The 1917 Russian Revolution: A Complete Timeline 04.11.2025 1ч 40мин

  The Russian Revolution of 1917 was the greatest event in human history. For the first time, ordinary working people were able to win power and hold onto it. Our new season of the Spectre of Communism podcast kicks off with a complete timeline of the revolution, from January to October, charting 10 months that shook the world! The Russian proletariat, allied with peasantry (many of whom were soldiers who had been fighting in the Great War) successfully brought down the brutal regime of Tsar Nicholas II in February and established the soviets (mass workers’ councils).Lenin was able, through patient work, to arm the Bolshevik Party with the correct slogans and tactics to win over the workers and peasants organised in the soviets. Under the leadership of Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks, the masses finally felled the capitalist provisional government in October and created a workers’ government: the first in history that began to carry out its programme.Fred Weston from the leadership of the Revolutionary Communist International takes us through the events of 1917, month by month, culminating in the seizure of power. This incredible story altered the course of world history and remains an immense inspiration to revolutionaries today.—Works cited and sources:History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky: https://wellred-books.com/history-of-the-russian-revolution/The History of the Russian Revolution to Brest-Litovsk, Leon Trotsky: https://wellred-books.com/the-history-of-the-russian-revolution-to-brest-litovsk/ Letter to Volksrecht, V.I. Lenin: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/mar/29.htm The April Theses (The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution)’, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/the-april-theses-the-tasks-of-the-proletariat-in-the-present-revolution.htm Letters from Afar, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/letters-from-afar.htm A History of Soviet Russia, E.H. Carr: https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Soviet-Russia-Revolution-Constitutional/dp/014020749X The War, J. V. Stalin: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1917/03/16.htm  On Slogans, V.I. Lenin: https://marxist.com/on-slogans.htm In Kerensky’s Jail, Proletarskaya Revolutsia, F. Raskolnikov (not available online)*Lenin’s ‘words not deeds’ statement is miscited in the episode as ‘The Bolsheviks Must Assume Power, A Letter to the Central Committee and the Petrograd And Moscow Committees Of The R.S.D.L.P.(B.), V.I. Lenin: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/sep/14.htm’. This was actually sent on the 24th, just before the seizure of power. The statement Fred is referencing from 16 October can be found here: https://pdfcoffee.com/ronald-grigor-suny-the-soviet-experiment-russia-the-ussr-and-the-successor-states-1997-oxford-university-press-usa-pdf-free.html Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution, Alan Woods: https://wellred-books.com/bolshevism-the-road-to-revolution/ In Defence of Lenin, Rob Sewell and Alan Woods: https://wellred-books.com/in-defence-of-lenin/ In Defence of Marxism Issue 51: https://marxist.com/magazine.htm State and Revolution, V.I. Lenin: https://wellred-books.com/state-and-revolution/ 10 Days That Shook the World, John Reed: https://www.marxists.org/ebooks/reed/ten-days-that-shook-the-world-reed.pdf 
• The case for theory: why communists should study philosophy 06.05.2025 1ч 17мин

  “Do I really need to read long theoretical books to be a communist?” This is a common question among class fighters today. In our final episode of the season, we make the case that, in order to change the world, it is first necessary to understand it. And for that, we need a philosophy!The American trade unionist Bill Haywood once said: “I’ve never read Marx's Capital, but I've got the marks of capital all over my body!” While it’s true that working people don’t need to pick up any books to understand through bitter experience the horrors of capitalism, is life experience enough?After all, if the experience of exploitation was sufficient to bring about revolutionary change, surely capitalism would’ve been brought down long ago?If we look at the bafflement of the liberals and cynicism of the reformists in the face of politics today, we see the consequences of failing to scratch the surface to the deeper truth of what is going on.Just as a surgeon would not attempt to operate through intuition and guesswork alone, if we are serious about ending capitalism, we first need to diagnose why it is in crisis and determine what we can replace it with.Marxist philosophy is the most powerful tool we have for this purpose. But Marxism is itself the culmination of millennia of philosophical development. It is no accident that Vladimir Lenin steeled himself, not only in Marx, but also the great German philosopher Hegel!Leading communist and host of the Against the Stream podcast, Hamid Alizadeh takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the history of thought, from Plato to Marx, to illustrate the advantages of developing a philosophical outlook, rather than relying on mere ‘common sense’.It was precisely the worked-out philosophical perspective of the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin and Trotsky in particular, that allowed them to understand the dynamics of history that gave rise to the Russian Revolution, and play a leading role in ensuring its victory. As Trotsky wrote:“It is historical experience that the greatest revolution in all history was not led by the party which started out with bombs but by the party which started out with dialectical materialism.”By the end of this video, we hope you will not only be convinced of the value of studying theory, but eagre to take it up!As Marx once said: “ignorance never yet helped anybody!”This is the final Spectre of Communism season four. We will be back later in the year for a new season! Please like, share and subscribe, and let us know in the comments what you thought about this season, all feedback is appreciated! In the meantime, check out our sister show, Against the Stream, which provides rolling analysis of the world situation from a Marxist point of view every Thursday. See you soon!— Sources:Lenin Collected Works: Volume 38, (Philosophical Notebooks), https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/volume38.htm Anti-Dühring, Friedrich Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-anti-duehring.htm Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, Friedrich Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-ludwig-feuerbach-and-the-end-of-classical-german-philosophy.htm ‘How Lenin studied Hegel’, Hamid Alizadeh, https://marxist.com/how-lenin-studied-hegel.htm ‘Lenin in a Year: In Defence of Materialism’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/materialism-and-and-empirio-criticism-introduction-by-alan-woods.htm‘In defence of theory — or ignorance never yet helped anybody’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/defence-theory-ignorance-never-helped.htm ‘Marxism versus postmodernism’, Daniel Morley and Hamid Alizadeh, https://marxist.com/marxism-versus-postmodernism.htm‘Aristotle’s Metaphysics’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/The Republic, Plato, https://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html ‘An Open Letter to Comrade Burnham’, L. Trotsky, https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/idom/dm/14-burnham.htm 
• The history of fascism: lessons for today 29.04.2025 1ч 33мин

  What is fascism and is it a threat today? In this episode of the Spectre of Communism podcast, we discuss the history of fascism’s rise to power in the 1930s, to learn the lessons for our movement.Our guest, Niklas Albin Svensson, is a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International and the editor of a brand new collection of articles by Leon Trotsky and Ted Grant: ‘Democracy, Bonapartism and Fascism: Class Struggle in the 1930s’. The book is available to pre-order from Wellred Books here: https://wellred-books.com/democracy-bonapartism-fascism/ The media is full of blood-curdling comparisons between the political situation today and the 1930s, equating current politicians with the likes of Adolph Hitler. But whatever one thinks of Donald Trump, there is a clear difference between America in 2025 and Germany in 1933! The main purpose of such comparisons, Niklas argues, is to prettify ’normal’ capitalist politicians and democracy under the likes of Joe Biden and Keir Starmer, who have carried out vicious attacks on working people and facilitated genocidal imperialist policies abroad. We must not be diverted by this scaremongering. Communists must have a sober view and a scientific understanding of what fascism is and what it is not, because this guides the way we act.Capitalism has always treated fascism as a reserve weapon in its back pocket. In times of intense class struggle, with revolution on the cards, it is an instrument of last resort that the ruling class can deploy to physically destroy the organisations of the working class, eradicate their democratic rights, and force them into subjugation. Looking at the history of Mussolini and Hitler’s conquest of power, as Niklas explains, we find the primary responsibility lies with the politicians and wealthy industrialists who funded and abetted their movements as a ‘lesser evil’ to communism (as stated bluntly by no less than Winston Churchill).But the errors and crimes of the leaders of the workers’ movement are also a factor. The Social Democrats found themselves constantly propping up the ‘lesser evil’, ultimately paving the road for the greatest possible evil. Meanwhile, the Communist leaders pursued sectarian policies that equated the Social Democrats with the fascists, preventing a united struggle against a common enemy.While fascism is not in power or on the brink of power anytime soon, fascist groups do exist and pose a serious threat to workers and oppressed communities at a local level. They must be met with the overwhelming strength of the organised working class and driven off, wherever they raise their heads.The tragedies of the 1930s are an object lesson in the lengths capitalism will go to preserve its rule, and in the dangers of dividing and confusing the working class at the pivotal moment. These are harrowing but invaluable insights for class fighters today. Ultimately, the only way to guarantee the nightmares of the past are never repeated is to bring down capitalism and create a socialist alternative, before it is too late.—Sources:Democracy, Bonapartism and Fascism: Class Struggle in the 1930s, Leon Trotsky and Ted Grant, pre-order: https://wellred-books.com/democracy-bonapartism-fascism/ ‘Trump's first weeks as president have been enough to give the nightmare of America's turn to fascism a feeling of reality’, Le Monde article (criticised in the podcast) https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/03/02/trump-s-first-weeks-as-president-have-been-enough-to-give-the-nightmare-of-america-s-turn-to-fascism-a-feeling-of-reality_6738723_23.html ‘The rise of Fascism in Italy: 100 years since the March on Rome’, Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione, https://marxist.com/the-rise-of-fascism-in-italy-100-years-since-the-march-on-rome.htm ‘White supremacists and militias have infiltrated police across US’, Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report
• The TRUTH about World War 2: Marxist historian sets the record straight 22.04.2025 1ч 17мин

  The Second World War is one of the most-mythologised events in history. In the West, we are led to believe that Winston Churchill and Roosevelt single-handedly led the Allies in a struggle for democracy against the fascist totalitarianism of Nazi Germany. But what’s the real story of WWII: the one they don’t teach you at school or on the History Channel?We welcome Marxist theorist, revolutionary and historian Alan Woods onto the Spectre of Communism to talk about the war, which in the last analysis came down to single combat between Nazi Germany, with all the productive forces of Europe behind it, and the might of the USSR and its planned economy. Thankfully for all of humanity, the latter emerged victorious. The fact that Soviet Russia was chiefly responsible for Hitler’s defeat is often buried in the ‘official’ histories. So too is the fact that the European imperialists (Churchill and the British ruling especially) not only allowed Hitler to run roughshod over Europe for years (indeed, many of the British elite were sympathetic with fascism), but hoped for the collapse of the USSR, whose ‘communism’ they feared more the Nazis.Alan dispels all the lies and historical mythology surrounding WWII, and explains why even today it is invoked by the bloated, half-blind imperialist politicians to puff themselves up on past glories, even as they blunder from one disaster to another on the world stage.—The latest issue of the In Defence of Marxism theoretical magazine is out now, and is focused on the Second World War. Alongside articles about the betrayed revolutionary struggles in Italy and the France; an analysis from Marxist theorist Ted Grant in 1945 about the changed balance of world relations; and an investigation into postwar Italian neorealist cinema, the issue opens with an editorial by Alan Woods which offers some more detail about the topic of this podcast episode.Buy your copy of IDoM issue 49: ‘1945: Liberation, Revolution and Betrayal’ HERE: https://marxist.com/magazine.htm Read Alan’s editorial online here: https://marxist.com/the-second-world-war-setting-the-record-straight.htm Sources:‘D-Day and the truth about the Second World War’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/wwii-anniversary-one210704.htm ‘Ted Grant Writings: Volume One’, https://marxist.com/ted-grant-writings.htm ‘Ted Grant Writings: Volume Two’, https://marxist.com/ted-grant-writings-world-war-two.htm ‘The Battle of Stalingrad – How the Soviet Union defeated the Nazis’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/seventy-years-since-the-battle-of-stalingrad-how-the-soviet-union-defeated-the-nazis.htm ‘Hitler's war on the Soviet Union and how Stalin prepared the way for it’, Andrew Wagner, https://marxist.com/operation-barbarossa-stalin-s-bloody-catastrophe.htm ‘History of British Trotskyism’, Ted Grant, https://marxist.com/history-british-trotskyism-ted-grant.htm ‘The Treaty of Versailles - the Peace to end all Peace’, Alan Woods, https://marxist.com/treaty-of-versailles-to-end-all-peace.htm 
• Who was Karl Marx REALLY? – A reply to CrashCourse 15.04.2025 1ч 31мин

  Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist and journalist, and above all a revolutionary. He continues to haunt the nightmares of the rich and powerful, just as he inspires workers, the poor and youth to struggle for a future without exploitation and oppression. The popular CrashCourse channel has attempted to explain Marx’s theories and their continued relevance, but we think we can do better…CrashCourse (established by the Green Brothers) is an educational YouTube channel that provides introductory videos about various topics, including politics and philosophy. A few months ago, they released a video called ‘Who Was Karl Marx? And Why Is Everyone Still Talking About Him?’ (linked below). The video correctly points out that the powers-that-be still invoke Marx’s name as a bogeyman, 150 years after his death: a fact that tells us something about the power of his ideas. CrashCourse says that we need to have an honest discussion about Marx’s actual beliefs, which they attempt to provide in an accessible form. While we agree with the sentiment, we have some issues with the way CrashCourse characterises Marxism and its so-called ‘limitations’. For example, was Marx wrong to call for revolution, when perhaps we can simply reform capitalism into a kinder, friendlier form? Are aspects of his analysis ‘outdated’? Did he focus on the plight of the working class to the point of ‘ignoring’ the oppression of women and minority groups?To fill in some of the gaps left by CrashCourse, and deal with some of their misrepresentations, we are delighted to have Josh Holroyd, a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, on the Spectre of Communism. Josh gives a more complete overview of what Marx really stood for, and why we communists still study his ideas today. As a body of thought, Marxism is the sharpest weapon we have in the fight against capitalism. After all, as Marx writes, “philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it!”—Listen on Spotify, Apple and anywhere else you get your podcasts here: https://linktr.ee/specom Sources:‘Who Was Karl Marx? And Why Is Everyone Still Talking About Him?’, CrashCourse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3imIf8NAcWQ ‘A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy’, Karl Marx, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/index.htm ‘Communist replies to MORE right-wing lies’, Spectre of Communism Podcast, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKY5gL5-YvY ‘The Civil War: America's second revolution’, John Peterson, https://marxist.com/idom-the-us-civil-war-america-s-second-revolution.htm ‘The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State’, F. Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-the-origin-of-the-family-private-property-and-the-state.htm ‘Mondragon through a Critical Lens’, Jill Bamburg, https://www.fiftybyfifty.org/2017/10/mondragon-through-a-critical-lens/ ‘On Cooperation’, V. I. Lenin, https://marxist.com/on-cooperation-lenin1923.htm ‘Socialism: Utopian and Scientific’, F. Engels, https://marxist.com/classics-socialism-utopian-and-scientific.htm 
• The TRUTH about Mao and the Chinese Revolution 08.04.2025 1ч 33мин

  The Chinese Revolution is condemned as a bloody tragedy by bourgeois historians. But if it was all simply a disaster, then how do we explain China going from a backward colonial holding to the second world power today? In this episode, we deal with the truth about the Chinese Revolution of 1949.We welcome Daniel Morley from the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain to talk about the history of the Chinese Revolution and Mao Zedong’s rise to power.He explains that the victory of Mao’s peasant army was based on the rottenness of the capitalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek, which looted China’s wealth, starved its masses, and utterly failed to defend it from Japanese invasion, instead obsessively hunting the communists.While Mao and the Red Army eventually soared to power on a wave of revolution that swept the country after WW2, it was not their intention to expropriate capitalism. But were compelled to do so given the utter bankruptcy of Chinese capitalism.On the basis of the planned economy, there were huge advances for the Chinese people in terms of living conditions; the rights of women, workers and peasants; and the modernisation of the country.However, the peculiar nature of the Chinese Revolution, which was not led by a workers’ party but a peasant army, meant the regime that was established (in the image of Stalinist Russia) did not base itself on workers’ democracy, but rather military-style commandism.This created many problems for China (including severe famine) that were not the result of communism, but rather the failure to establish the democratic planning necessary for real socialism and communism. This in turn laid the basis for the eventual restoration of capitalism.Despite this, we genuine Marxists defend the legacy of the Chinese Revolution, which liberated hundreds of millions from the yoke of imperialist domination and ushered China into the modern world. The tasks of the revolution today remain incomplete!Sources:‘Stalinist land programme wins peasants: Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape’, Ted Grant, https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/01/china.htm‘The Chinese Communist Party 1927-37 – The development of Maoism’, Daniel Morley, https://marxist.com/chinese-comminist-party-1927-37-part-1.htm‘The Chinese Communist Party 1937-49 – The Unfolding of Historical Necessity: China’s Great Revolution’, Daniel Morley, https://marxist.com/the-chinese-communist-party-1937-49-the-unfolding-of-historical-necessity-chinas-great-revolution-part-one.htm‘Peasant War in China and the Proletariat’, Leon Trotsky, https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1932/09/china.htm‘On Contradiction’, Mao Tse-tung, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm‘Is China Communist?’, Spectre of Communism, https://marxist.com/audio-and-video/podcast-is-china-communist‘The Legacy of Mao Zedong is Mass Murder’, Lee Edwards, https://www.heritage.org/china/commentary/the-legacy-mao-zedong-mass-murder (criticised in episode)
• Communist replies to MORE right-wing LIES 01.04.2025 1ч 30мин

  Is communism against ‘human nature’? Would workers in charge inevitably be ‘corrupted by power’? Do communists ‘oppose free speech’? Watch a leading communist answer some more typical right-wing talking points!A couple of weeks ago, Fred Weston (a member of the International Secretariat for the Revolutionary Communist International) was on the show replying to slanders about communism from Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk and Alice Weidel. But there are plenty more lies to deal with!Watch Fred face off against Charlie Kirk, Jordan Peterson (again), Peter Hitchens and Donald Trump, defending communists’ ideas and programme from common right-wing lies.Sources:Previous episode: 'Communist replies to right-wing LIES', Spectre of Communism, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOQqVXzgt2g‘The Psychological Benefits of Volunteering’, Mindstate Psychology, https://www.mindstatepsychology.com.au/blog/the-psychological-benefits-of-volunteering  ’New paper reveals impact of first lockdowns on depression and anxiety diagnosis’, University of Bath, https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/new-paper-reveals-impact-of-first-lockdown-on-depression-and-anxiety-diagnosis/ ‘Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind’ (2007), Colin Renfrew ‘The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilisation to the Fall of Rome’ (1959), Leslie White‘The State and Revolution’, V.I. Lenin, https://marxist.com/the-state-and-revolution.htm ‘We produce enough food to feed 1.5 (times) the global population’, Thin Ink, https://news.thin-ink.net/p/we-produce-enough-food-to-feed-15 ‘Statistics on unemployment and labour underutilisation’, International Labour Organisation, https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/unemployment-and-labour-underutilization/  ‘The 6 Companies That Own (Almost) All Media’, https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/ 'British state arrests pro-Palestine communist – We won’t back down!', The Communist, https://communist.red/british-state-arrests-pro-palestine-communist-we-wont-back-down/ 'Free Mahmoud Khalil! Only class struggle can ensure freedom of speech!', Martín las Hoces, https://marxist.com/free-mahmoud-khalil-only-class-struggle-can-ensure-freedom-of-speech.htm‘Woodrow Wilson and the Decision to Intervene in Russia: A Reconsideration’, Eugene P. Train, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1878747 Max Hayward quoted in ‘Communists say: capitalism is incompatible with free speech!’, Joe Attard, https://marxist.com/communists-say-capitalism-is-incompatible-with-free-speech.htm ‘Bolshevik decriminalisation of homosexuality – intentional or oversight?’, Fred Weston, https://marxist.com/bolshevik-decriminalisation-of-homosexuality-intentional-or-oversight.htm
• Stalinism on TRIAL 25.03.2025 1ч 27мин

  Who was Joseph Stalin and what is the legacy of his leadership? In this episode of the Spectre of Communism, we weigh the evidence, based on historical fact and the principles of Marxist theory, to give Stalinism a fair trial.The USSR achieved great things, thanks to the superiority of the planned economy. It defeated the Nazis, expropriated capitalism on a sixth of the earth’s surface and built a superpower in just a few decades. Genuine Marxists celebrate all of these accomplishments.However, we must also acknowledge that there were many mistakes, and many crimes. A line of blood separates Stalinism, by which we mean the bureaucratic counterrevolutionary dictatorship at the head of the workers’ state, from the real principles of Bolshevism and Marxism.Virtually the entire leadership of Lenin’s party that won power for the Russian workers and peasants in 1917 were killed in the frame ups of the 1930s, along with countless others. Meanwhile, the leaders of the USSR actively wrecked revolutionary struggles abroad and sought alliances with imperialism to secure their positions.How do we explain this? Jorge Martin, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, makes the case that Stalin and the clique around him were not guided by Marxist theory, but by the narrow interests of defending their privileges and positions. Their outlook was one of empiricism and cynical ‘pragmatism’, which was entirely contrary to the way Lenin built the Bolshevik Party.But in the end, we are only presenting the evidence: you can be the jury! Let us know what you think in the comments. Is Stalinism ‘guilty’ of betraying the world revolution?Sources:‘Revolution Betrayed’, Leon Trotsky https://marxist.com/classics-the-revolution-betrayed.htm‘Stalinism and Bolshevism’, Leon Trotsky https://marxist.com/stalinism-bolshevism-trotsky.htm‘Marxism and the National Question’, Joseph Stalin https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1913/03a.htm‘The April Theses (The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution)’, V.I. Lenin https://marxist.com/the-april-theses-the-tasks-of-the-proletariat-in-the-present-revolution.htm‘Is Socialism in One Country Possible? A reply to the YCL’, Spectre of Communism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdIM6mnoBrM‘What is the Permanent Revolution?’, Spectre of Communism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z44RMQMJlRQ‘How the Spanish Revolution was betrayed’, Spectre of Communism, https://marxist.com/podcast-how-the-spanish-revolution-was-betrayed.htm  ‘Lenin and Trotsky: What They Really Stood For’, Alan Woods and Ted Grant, https://marxist.com/lenin-trotsky-stalinism-johnstone.htm‘Once Again: The USSR and its Defence’, Leon Trotsky, https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/11/ussr.htm‘Stalin’s responsibility in the creation of Israel and its disastrous consequences’, Fred Weston, https://marxist.com/stalin-and-the-founding-of-israel.htm
• Communist replies to right-wing LIES: Musk, Peterson & Shapiro 18.03.2025 1ч 20мин

  Did communism kill 100 million people? Was Hitler really a communist? Is there no difference between Lenin and Stalin? Right-wing pundits and politicians always throw blood-curdling statistics and historical ‘facts’ to prove that communism is pure evil, while capitalism is the best system that could ever exist. In this video, leading communist Fred Weston takes on three popular right-wing commentators, and separates fact from fiction.Some of these reactionary culture warriors have made entire careers out of ‘proving’ that communism could never work; and has caused chaos, death and misery whenever it has been tried. There are whole libraries of history and political theory books filled with bile ‘proving’ that communism is synonymous with terror and dictatorship. Elon Musk, the richest man on earth with the ear of the President of the USA, spends nearly all of his time demonising socialism and boosting right-wing politicians on the social media platform that he owns. Especially in times such as these, with inequality, war and poverty rampant, the capitalists need to smear and discredit any possible alternative to their rotten system: revolution and communism most of all. But looking at the facts not only demolishes these slanders, it reveals that capitalism is the deadliest system ever to exist, responsible for death on a scale that dwarfs even the most outlandish anti-communist propaganda.Watch as Fred takes on Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, Alice Weidel and Jordan Peterson, answering their reactionary lies with communist facts and logic! Skip to:00:04:32 Ben Shapiro: “Capitalism is the best possible system and communism killed 100 million people.”00:32:53 Elon Musk and Alice Weidel: “Hitler was a communist.”00:52:28 Jordan Peterson: “Lenin was no better than Stalin.”Sources:Deaths from poverty under capitalism:https://www.cdc.gov/global-water-sanitation-hygiene/about/about-global-hygiene.htmlhttps://www.wfp.org/news/world-wealth-9-million-people-die-every-year-hunger-wfp-chief-tells-food-system-summithttps://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-caused-by-vaccine-preventable-diseases-over-timehttps://www.unicef.org.uk/campaign-with-us/child-health-report/ Declassified Soviet figures on gulag deaths and purge victims:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/10/russia.lukeharding Eyewitness account of Trotskyist at Vorkuta:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isr/vol24/no03/vorkuta.htm The truth about the Black Book of Communism and the Black Book of Capitalism:https://jacobin.com/2025/01/black-book-communism-courtois-historyhttps://libcom.org/article/interview-black-book-capitalism-robert-kurz Hitler on Marxism and communism:https://famous-trials.com/hitler/2529-1923-interview-with-adolf-hitler Capitalist’s support for Hitler:https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/hitler-millionaire-backers-how-german-elite-facilitated-rise-nazis-third-reich/ https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/04/30/the-german-industrialists-who-aided-and-abetted-the-nazi-regime Political persecution of communists by Nazi regime:White, Joseph Robert (2009). "Introduction to the Early Camps". Early Camps, Youth Camps, and Concentration Camps and Subcamps under the SS-Business Administration Main Office (WVHA). Lenin on Stalin and the Soviet bureaucracy:https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1923/mar/02.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/dec/testamnt/index.htm