Part of This Series of Posts:
Back in 2020 Left Twitter exploded after a user posted that U.S.S.R. 2 was incoming. Little did they all know that this was far more than just a meme.
To begin I will dispell some common myths, to start, Russia is not imperialist. To suggest so is to side with NATO. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and throughout the 90’s, Russia was subservient to the West, today it is a strong ally of other anti-imperialist states such as Iran, Syria and China. However there has been a power struggle within Russia, for example Medvedev of United Russia wanted to overthrow Libya, while Putin did not, had Putin been in power then the overthrow of Gaddafi could have been prevented. Since Putin returned to the helm, Russia has not capitulated in such ways and has been firmly anti-imperialist. Another lie about Russia is that it is fascist, in fact every fascist, nazbol and neo-nazi party is banned. Neo-nazi skinheads were cracked down upon hard. Russia is also a country of dozens of ethnicities who are all proud Russians and united around the flag. Chechnya is essentially an independent Islamic emirate within Russia and from the Soviet era all the other ethnic groups such as the Tuvans enjoy a great deal of autonomy.
According to the words of Vladimir Putin himself, since 2020 Russia has been in an NEP. The process of moving towards a socialist state began in 2020 with the establishment of a new NEP. Russia is still capitalist, specifically state capitalist with a strong market sector similar to China but it could be argued that Russia is currently a Dictatorship of the Proletariat:
– DOTP -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11
A recent example of Russia being a DOTP was when Putin at the start of the special military operation in Ukraine scolded the bourgeoisie for not falling in line. Russia deals with their bourgeoisie similar to China, with an iron fist.
Putin has called for further state planning:
– Planning -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8
Three-quarters of the economy is owned by the state, while there is also strong and vibrant small and medium medium sized firms in a market sector which have been promoted by the state as alternatives to foreign oligopolies.
The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov has high praise for Putin and has even suggested that he should become leader of the party. This suggestion does not come from an empty vacuum, Putin has actually for the last several years not been apart of United Russia and has been antagonistic towards the party. He has instead supported Fair Russia (in the last election) who had talks of joining in a coalition with the Communist Party. Putin has also on multiple occasions praised Communism and Communist figures of the past.
Russia is now sovereign, it could be said that this war is Russia’s declaration of independence from the globalist system. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the declaration of the uni-polar world, Russia has been on the losing side, throughout the 90’s Russia was looted by the West, only with the emergence of Putin did Russia start to fight back. The very willingness to defy the United States and engage to liberate Ukraine from Neo-Nazi Banderites and NATO (4th Reich) shows that Russia has defiantly broken free completely from the grip of the West. Russia has taken soveriegnty of all sectors previously controlled by the West. Companies that have pulled out have seen property nationalised, no longer will profits flow to Wall Street and London from Russia. The sanctions are accelerating the process of Russia moving towards socialism. The Russian bourgeoisie who as I stated earlier are under a heavy thumb are under the threat of having their property returned to the people. Putin declared the ‘oligarchs’ are traitors who have betrayed the people. Russia has also taken control of it’s internet, providing it’s own certificates, bypassing the U.S. hegemony of the internet and soft imperialism. Western big-tech companies have been banned, we saw Facebook lift bans on calls to violence against Russian people, and we saw every other mainstream platform quickly fall in line with the agenda of Western imperialism. They were all quickly banned for extremism. This step of independence can be seen as the emergence of the multi-polar world.
I actually find comrade’s viewpoint extremelly interesting, to say the least. First, he didnt claim that Russia is socialist, he said that Russia is moving towards socialism. Second, i believe we should think a little bit more on what the “dictatorship of the proletariat” is, or could be.
Firstly, DoP requires the existence of a proletariat. This means that a ruling class still exists, otherwise the proletariat wouldnt be called “proletariat” but something else (productive forces maybe?) , in a process of transformation. It also requires a dictatorship and a dictator, who will actually supress and repress somebody, but IN FAVOR of the proletariat. This somebody has to be the totality of the capitalist ruling class? Couldn’t it be a part of it, under certain historical circumstances? (late stage capitalism that we are now eg?) That somebody couldnt be also various more “progressive” minorities that want more freedom? Anarchists and the deeply individualistic ideology they bear is only a small example, and there is experience of that. Putin himself can surely be considered a dictator (at least in terms of western democracy), being in power so many years, yet his peoples seem to love him. Of course a lot probably hate him as well, but we need to see who they are, and that NOT through the western liberal point of view, but through a close, carefull and openminded observation of the Russian society. The fact that he doesnt present himself as a socialist, means nothing, because what matters is what he does for the people of his country, i would say. It is misleading to try to strictly apply terms that were coined in a specific historical context, on a different historical context, because we might miss the substance of the actual happening.
I am not arguing that Russia is going towards socialism, but i believe this particular matter is extremely important, and we should rather open the conversation, instead of close it. Comrade offered a thought out of the box and we should more seriously consider on it.