Today marks the forty-forth anniversary of the death of J.V.
Stalin on March 5, 1953. Both Stalin and the first-ever socialist
society in the world built by him are the targets of the most
vicious anti-communist campaign on the part of U.S. imperialism
and all of world reaction. It is important to question why this
is the case.
Today, the entire world is in utter economic and political chaos
and there is chaos and anarchy in all other spheres. All the
promises that a "free market economy" and "ideological and
political pluralism" would be the harbingers of prosperity for
all once "communism was overthrown," have been proven to be
hollow indeed. Far from setting anything right, the financial
oligarchy is pushing the world backwards towards medievalism at
an increasingly rapid rate, attacking everything progressive with
the aim of forever closing society's door to progress.
The unprecedented crisis, the widespread anarchy and chaos
and the unabashed medieval retrogression are profound indictments
of what have been called "destalinization campaigns." Far from
achieving democracy and freedom, all countries compelled to carry
out "destalinization campaigns" are facing new forms of
enslavement and exploitation.
Leaving aside all the calumnies and slanders against J.V.
Stalin, the truth remains that what Stalin fought for has to be
fought for all over again if the workers and oppressed peoples of
the world are to achieve real national and social liberation.
Propagandists do their utmost to divert attention from the real
achievements of socialism which ends the exploitation of persons
by persons, by spreading all kinds of nonsense about the failures
of what they call a "command economy" and "one-party state".
There are no such things as "command economies" or "one-party
states" in the manner they are spoken about. What was built under
Stalin's leadership for the first time anywhere in the world was
a socialist society in which the motive of production was the
satisfaction of the ever-increasing material and cultural needs
of the people. The political structure of such a socialist state
was the rule of the working class and other working people who
provided freedom and democracy to themselves and exercised their
dictatorship over the remnants of all overthrown exploiting
classes.
The socialist Soviet Union of the working class and other
working people opposed imperialism and all reaction and
sympathized with and supported all struggles for national and
social liberation. The anti-colonial movement developed rapidly
under the influence of the revolutionary tide which developed as
a result of the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union at
that time. Such a Soviet Union was able to smash the Hitlerite
Nazi invaders and liberate the whole of eastern Europe and other
countries.
Those who manipulated the discontent against the
pseudo-socialist states which developed after the death of
Stalin, in which the restoration of capitalism was causing great
difficulties for the people, promised that "destalinization"
would provide the people with freedom and democracy, economic
prosperity and other rights. Which former so-called Stalinist
country has seen any such results? The declaration of a "state of
emergency" in Albania speaks volumes of what is happening in that
country. And what about all the countries which were never
so-called Stalinist? What is happening there? It is not only in
the former Soviet Union and countries of eastern Europe where
stories abound of bourgeois parties rigging elections, the
influence of the financial oligarchy, mafia and other criminal
elements in the polity, economic crisis and repression.
What these self-serving "destalinization programs" achieved
was the restoration of fascists and their collaborators, of
revenge-seeking elements, of capitalist and imperialist
exploiters. It is clear as clear can be that the working class
and the broad masses of the people in the former Soviet Union and
countries of eastern Europe have to carry out socialist
revolutions in their countries if they are to provide themselves
with freedom and democracy, economic prosperity and other rights.
The experience of socialist revolution and construction under
the leadership of Stalin will stand the workers and peoples of
the entire world in good stead, rather than the negative
experience of capitalist restoration which has created disaster
for the peoples of the former Soviet Union and people's
democracies.
Communists call upon the working class and broad masses of
the people not to be deceived by the reactionary anti-communist
propaganda against Stalin. The issue is to look into their own
conditions and work to open the door for the progress of the
society, without getting diverted by the anti-communist
self-serving propaganda of the imperialists and reactionaries.
The real issue is to carry out the socialist revolution and
construction with the working class in the lead, on the basis of
contemporary Marxist-Leninist thought. The life and work of J.V. Stalin
will always have a place of honor in the annals of socialist revolution
and construction and in the struggle for national liberation.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
