The communist manifesto isn't a "bible" of communism, the "10 planks" were Marx and Engels' immediate demands

based off the conditions surrounding the revolutions of the 1 !0's, it's not a checklist for "real communism"" #t was written as a response to a specific situation and while it does act as a good introduction to aspects of communism it also needs to be kept in mind that it was meant to radicali$e people in a particular time and place" %gain, it is not a "communist bible"" There is no such work"

Marxism isn't a closed s&stem based off ever&thing Marx wrote or an&thing like that" # defined Marxism before as'

(a growing)changing economic)sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic in*uir& based upon a materialist interpretation of historical development, a dialectical view of social change, and an anal&sis of class+relations within societ& and their application in the anal&sis and criti*ue of the development of capitalism" Marxism encompasses an economic theor&, a sociological theor&, a philosophical method and a ,revolutionar&, view of social change"

Marxists don't seek to dogmaticall& follow the works of other Marxists, but rather to learn from real life practice and follow a revolutionar& method that's been developed)built upon to better inform them for future struggles" This doesn't mean that there are "no rules", that &ou can't hold that there are definite theoretical stances that define someone as being Marxist or not, or that there's no metric for what a proper Marxist stance is, but it does mean we oppose idol worship" Man& Marxist thinkers have been brilliant and incredibl& prescient ++ contributing greatl& to both general Marxist theor& and political movements of their time ++ and ever& one of them was wrong -or mistaken. in several wa&s as well -about general things or even things related to movements of their time." The& also were all limited b& the times the& lived in ++ some of their ideas were correct for where)when the& were, but not for some other times)places" /olding all of Marxism to the predictions of one of its thinkers for a specific place)era is like holding modern evolutionar& biolog& to having to fit the words of 0arwin" #t 1ust makes no sense"

%s for &our comment on the 2334 ++ no communist would claim that the 2334 achieved the mode of production called "communism" ++ meaning a classless, stateless, mone&less societ&" #nstead, the 2334 represents the first time in histor& where there was a proletarian revolution and establishment of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" roughl& along lines Marx and Marxists expected, and where, for the first time in histor& on a large scale, a group with scientific understanding of the historical process -Marxists. were in power and consciousl& implemented policies based on this understanding to

change their societ&"

"True 5ommunism" is a phrase t&picall& used to represent an ideal ++ one that realit& can't live up to, at least not an&time soon" 6eople who talk about this and sa& things like "real communism has never been tried" miss the point entirel&" 4ather than face the gritt& realities of revolution and building socialism, man& people would rather simpl& den& all historical attempts and appeal to some future perfection without reall& specif&ing how we'll get there" The problem is not that 3talin misread Marx, or that if we 1ust properl& explained to ever&one the idea of a communist societ& we'd all 1ust be living in one tomorrow ++ this is idealism" Marxists understand that "people make histor&, but not in circumstances of their own choosing" ++ meaning that people in an& given time are limited b& the conditions the& find themselves in" 4eal revolutions don't happen in a vacuum" The& have to face man& problems, internal and external, some uni*ue to where)when the& are and other prett& universal ones including but never 1ust limited to' internal reaction, foreign invasion, food)suppl& shortages, etc all while tr&ing to enact policies to fundamentall& alter the economic basis of their societ&" There are bound to be mistakes, stalls, reversals, and man& other problems, especiall& when breaking so much new ground" 4ealit& in general is mess&, imperfect and violent, and revolutions doubl& so" "True 5ommunism7" t&pes, in their haste to disregard real life communist endeavors because of their problems, also throw out -and 1oin in the denouncing of. their numerous great successes" %n&wa&, we've discussed this man& times, here are some past threads &ou might find helpful'

89hat is)has been the closest to a true, Marxist communist societ&:; -http'))www"reddit"com)r)communism101)comments)1<dnw1)what=ishas=been=the=close st=to=a=true=marxist).

89h& does communism have to be global to succeed:; -http'))www"reddit"com)r)communism101)comments)1<gl!o)wh&=does=communism=hav e=to=be=global=to=succeed).

89hat does it mean exactl& to be 'as radical as realit& itself': ; -http'))www"reddit"com)r)communism101)comments)1k>mah)what=does=it=mean=exactl &=to=be=as=radical=as).

8#s "2sing the 3oviet 2nion as an example of 5ommunism is like using the 0emocratic 4epublic of ?orth @orea as an example of a 0emocrac&"":;

-http'))www"reddit"com)r)communism101)comments)1!t0$x)using=the=soviet=union=as= an=example=of=communism).

# also suggest using the search function in the sidebar, &ou can find a lot more stuff on 0AT6, the 2334 etc"

%lso, # don't reall& feel like addressing all of the "10 planks" and how the& relate to the 2334 ++ it would re*uire some in+depth explanations -hard to fit an&thing but sill& strawpeople into images, eh:., but basicall& the "10 planks" are not a communist program, the& weren't the program the communists in 4ussia were following, and tr&ing to bend things done in the specific situation in 4ussia from 1B1<+1BB0 to see how the& fit unmet desires of communists for revolutions in the 1 !0's is a kind of pointless exercise"