"Marxism Versus Liberalism: An Interview with H.G. Wells" by Josef Stalin. Audiobook of 1934 Text.

[@joaocena2281]

Stalin explains the most basic principles of Marxism to a wall, for 30 minutes.

[@SephStuff_]

when he said “think of Rockefeller” as ‘one of the good ones’ i died a little 😂

[@michaelslowmin]

This should be shown to anyone who says Stalin was just an insane, bloodthirsty butcher. He had a deep understanding of how capitalism works and was able to enunciate it clearly and plainly. He wasn't the orientalized barbarian that he's often painted as in the west.

[@rantsolot]

Unfortunately I thought this way too, but, then I looked at the Reddit thread of this interview from r/interestingasf and saw all the replies saying things like "It's impressive how articulate Stalin is and how well he argued his points. It's all empty phrases knowing who he was." And things to that tune.

[@weebgrinder-AIArtistPro]

What a great exchange. Particularly Stalin's words. Also the way it starts off as basically 'Hey, Stalin, what's up?' "Not much." 😂

[@hangonsnoop]

Stalin comes across as being very patient and understanding in this exchange.

[@timeWaster76]

Well then maybe history has been unfair... to Stalin... the progressive. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag

[@bilgerat420]

I also laughed when Wells suggested trusting cops. Lol

[@ristekostadinov2820]

23:50 Yoo Stalin was spitting bars almost 90 years ago, telling liberals that they shouldn't discuss anything with the fascist. Spoiler alert, they still try to reason with them 🤣🤣

[@SocialismForAll]

They share a fundamental interest: keeping capitalism alive.

[@Bloodinhoo]

@@SocialismForAll Rothbard himself throws the game: "the intelligence argument will become useful to defend the market economy...racialist science is properly not an act of aggression or a cover for oppression of one group over another [but] an operation in defense of private property against assaults by aggressors." The liberals supported nazi-fascism throughout the Europe. It's laughable that we should allow them to rebrand. Fascism is nothing more than the emergency button of capitalism.

[@gogodaal7273]

HG wells was the first idealist vaush

[@themarxistthinker2599]

As a French comrade, it warms my heart to see that scientific communist ideology is still fertile in the minds of many of our young American comrades!

[@michaelplz9069]

American comrade here and its channels like this that help educate the people 🫡

[@Leggiebeans]

A few years ago I thought Stalin was this horrible monster (I'm american, you know anti-Stalin propaganda is standard here). Thanks to this fantastic channel and others I have been watching, my view has changed. Thank you for the videos you make. Stalin was a great man.

[@DarkstarCountess]

I have this conversation every time I talk to anyone I know it feels like, thank you for the upload.

[@M2rsh]

"It seems to me that I am more to the left than you Mr Stalin" LMFAO

[@666Metalbassist]

This is just a summary of every debate between libs and Marxists lmao.

[@AxmedBahjad]

Stalin was more realistic and debater than Wells. Wells didn't know what he was talking about. Stalin 7 Wells 1.

[@SocialismForAll]

Agreed.

[@AxmedBahjad]

@@SocialismForAll and your reading was brilliant. Thanks for sharing it.

[@nowhereman6019]

I was thinking throughout this whole video "Has Wells even read Marx?" So many of his points are just those of an unread, overly optimistic liberal who doesn't understand larger systemic issues or their root causes.

[@nickheather3624]

Or ... Stalin 60,000,000 Wells 0

[@MAGICatBEN]

Stalin DESTROYS HG Wells with facts and logic.

[@reversedragon3]

Wells: I think technocratic Menshevism is basically a road to socialism and when we've all been opposing it with Bolshevism, we've been doing it wrong. What do you think? Stalin: How many times do I need to explain the concept of the proletariat

[@rysenheimer]

It's surreal listening to a renowned figure like H.G. Wells make these nincompoop arguments

[@SocialismForAll]

Eh, look at Stephen King today lol

[@nowhereman6019]

Renowned =/= Intelligent

[@liamf2300]

that happens with a lot of super smart people if you try to talk to them about marxism, they just don't know anything about it.

[@jphillip.p2318]

3:55-4:08 is one of the most influential lines I’ve probably ever heard. It’s a quote that if you throw it at either an American conservative or lib, it’ll shake them to both of their cores and is an explanation why our current system, literally doesn’t work. (Because not everyone does lol)

[@georgekostaras]

Man this hits hard today

[@SocialismForAll]

IKR it's literally dozens of conversations I've personally had over social media

[@donkeydanny2114]

Amazing One of the best things I've listened to all year Thank you

[@mrpieceofwork]

Stalin: "The substitution of one social system for another is a complicated and long revolutionary process" 88 years later...

[@ProletarianPower]

Wells: "socialists should be bros with cops."

[@RC-jt3zv]

Wells was an idealist, and as Stalin pointed out, presupposed with his postulations that man is by nature good. Idealism is good, in as so far as it lays a foundation which, if the study that follows is genuine and productive and such prior presuppositions are reevaluated in the study of theory, can prove a solid inspiration for further study. The curtesy on display by Stalin in this interview is refreshing and commendable, as it is not always easy to rebuke a misinformed mind and still maintain healthy respect. Despite his railing against communist methods and propaganda, Wells fails to grasp the current material circumstances which had become nearly universal then and almost certainly universal by now, which ironically showed how dated and archaic "social realist" (diet brand democratic socialists) ideology was even by those times. Anyways, thank you for the audiobook and the effort you put into the channel!

[@SpiritRed]

" I am more to the left than you, Mr. Stalin." -H.G. Wells- Ok there, bud.

[@Dyojee0822]

I enjoyed the question and answer style of this audiobook! Good video

[@M2rsh]

Literally me talking to Americans when politics come up

[@nowhereman6019]

Wells: "Take *[insert now hated greedy capitalist here],* he was greedy, but look at *[insert now hated greedy capitalist here]* or *[insert now hated greedy capitalist here],* they're not so bad. I'm farther Left than you, Stalin!"

[@77SeaLions]

"It seems to me that I am more to the left than you, Mr. Stalin" 😂😂

[@HongQiMin]

That part killed me, especially when he said "we shouldn't be focusing on class conflicts, we should be uniting the classes together" Mussolini agrees!

[@eve36368]

this reminds me of the debates between post-feminism vs intersectional feminism

[@SocialismForAll]

There certainly are more radical strains of feminism as well as liberal ones. The liberal ones encourage solidarity among women across class lines, which is a major no-no for Marxists!

[@pugface7730]

Great read. American capitalism used a very clever strategy to absorb the social impacts of the revolutionary cycle of 1917 and the capitalist crisis. Giving partial concessions to the working class, allowing for some (important) reforms for social welfare and redirecting their revolutionary fervor into a collaborationist system for “common good” or the “good of the nation” that did not challenge the underlying power structure. Also led to a vast expansion of militarization and imperialism as a way to finance this system of social welfare, while most of the loot still ended up in the hands of the ruling class. In my view, the advent of neoliberalism was a when the bourgeoise felt comfortable enough in their positions to stop conceding ground to labor demands and go back on the offensive.

[@daniellamprecht1566]

Common Stalin W

[@animexamera]

Thanks for recording!

[@ideologically_uncharged8069]

Thanks for the audiobook. It's one of those works that are relatively short, simple, and very relevant to modern discussions. Especially with the shock value of just having either Stalin or Wells as a participant. Wells calling to support the police was hard to read. I felt regretting not reading it 2 years early because during my post-radicalized baby commie phase I was out there trying to radicalize many liberals and there I was hit by a famous historical figure almost 90 years ago expressing value that many liberals today still hold.

[@SocialismForAll]

Yeah it's incredible how basically all of modern politics was settled a century ago. We Muricans and allied peoples need to break through the anti-communist veil and connect with it!

[@nukelewman]

Wells point about insurrection and there not being tyranny in the west is him demonstrating his bias as a white, wealthy western intellectual. This is also demonstrated because he hyper focuses on the intellegencia and completely ignores the conditions of the working class. Stalin on the other hand recognizes the primary importance of the working class

[@Heundeullim]

I laughed along with you when you got to the police part lmao

[@olegbroichenko352]

Then Stalin 1: Wells: 0 Today Liberalism 1: Marxism: 0

[@kosmosfaber6534]

Was this before or after the Business Plot? Stalin with prophetic abilities

[@ideologically_uncharged8069]

After it, apparently. The interview was dated to 23 July 1934 while the Business Plot was stated to be around 1932-1933, but Stalin did still predict basically how the US supported the coups by right-wing dictators at Indonesia (1965) and Chile (1973) for example.

[@DontBeAScab314]

This is a very good text.

[@SephStuff_]

omg wells sounds exactly like modern day socdems

[@SocialismForAll]

It will take a revolution to end this

[@judithpusey]

Such a fan of Stalin! Must have been brilliant living under his regime - everyone equal, living the dream.

[@obsessivefanboy]

I thought Wells was a socialist himself but I guess not considering this interview 😭

[@SocialismForAll]

Well, he was a "socialist" in that lukewarm, Second International, liberal-reformist, opportunist way

[@kosmosfaber6534]

@@SocialismForAll he was a Fabian, non?

[@SocialismForAll]

He was in the Fabian Society at one point and then left them although he did still consider himself a socialist afterwards.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

@Socialism For All I want to ask a question that perhaps you could illuminate. I've been thinking about what the primary differences are between Revolutions and the natural breakdown of social systems that lead to Civil War (it's outcome determining whether it ends in Revolution or Reactionary Backlash). It has been rolling around in my mind lately that the thing that makes Revolution in the Global North difficult is the relatively harmonious nature of the social ideological structure (not that everyone believes the same thing, but that social ties between people are not brittle on an ideological interpersonal level) and as such societal breakdown is less likely. While material comfort and social isolation and alienation certainly play a part in maintaining this, is it not entirely the case that ideological breakdown can negate this in people and cause an unrestrained social upheaval? I am reminded of Zizek's observations on the collapse of Yugoslavia, on how near the end the societal basis for upholding the system had basically disappeared from popular consciousness and apathy had taken it's place, I also remembered this while watching Hakim's video on how even the incident with the "Man & The Bottle" helped with the social degradation of the Yugoslav project; a thing that wouldn't have been the case if proper social bonds existed. This also would concur with the Trotskyist Allan Woods and his multi part series on the English Revolution being more spurred on by Religious insult by the Monarchy than entirely material conditions based concerns. Is not a precursor to Revolution the weakening of the collective social ideological structure of the old order until an irreparable split must occur? Or, to put it more bluntly, is the reason why we've never seen a Revolution in the Global North because, ever since 1917, there has never been a Civil War in any of those countries on a major scale; even if their was, their would need to be a solid contingent of dedicated Marxist-Leninists (equivalent) on the side that wins for a Revolution to even have a ghost of a chance?

[@SocialismForAll]

I'm not familiar with all the references you cited, but to take this: "I've been thinking about what the primary differences are between Revolutions and the natural breakdown of social systems that lead to Civil War (it's outcome determining whether it ends in Revolution or Reactionary Backlash)." Revolutions are changes in which class is the ruling class. Opportunities for revolution often coincide with weak points in the existing/outgoing order. It's a question of when the revolutionary class is strong enough as an overall force to overcome the existing order. Therefore, it takes organizing/strength building on the part of the revolutionary class and exploiting moments of weakness in the ruling class. Wars between rulers of the existing order are often such weak points, and sufficiently organized revolutionary classes, can use them to mark the end of that existing order. If such an effort is attempted and fails (in the many forms in which that can happen), the outcome is usually reactionary backlash as the existing ruling class tries to rally its own strength to prevent another attempt at revolution.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

@@SocialismForAll Thank you. It came to me when I thought about how things like the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (in it's popularity) overturned a huge chunk of US citizens sentiments to being against Slavery; so much so that the Slave Plantation Owners commissioned "Anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin " novels in hopes of counteracting the social shift, they failed. Sorry for taking up your time, I just couldn't get it out of my head.

[@SocialismForAll]

@@noheroespublishing1907 No problem, totally am here to facilitate & participate reasonable (non-trolling) discussion of socialism and class struggle. As far as what you were saying about Yugoslavia, I wouldn't necessarily go by Zizek, but there definitely was a lot of people sort of spacing out on socialist militancy in the later days (70s, 80s, etc.) in eastern Europe and the USSR. You could call it the extended consequences of revisionism and a failure of the world revolution to continue, so stagnation resulted. See Parenti's "Blackshirts and Reds" (on the channel) for more.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

@@SocialismForAll So, basically stagnation leads to the apathy that facilitates the social instability. I wonder how far along the United States is on this timeline?

[@jawadkazmi5327]

Gem

[@barbrokjelkerud]

Mycket snyggt att ni har lagt in respektive foto så det stämmer med den som talar!!!

[@mrpieceofwork]

OMG "the technical intelligentsia" being "revolutionary" got us cryptocurrency! What a shitshow!

[@SpiritRed]

Interesting piece. A good clarification at the end regarding what reformism is vs. What revolution is. Thanks. P.s. H.G. Wells is so fnck8ng cringe.

[@xuaevorpnitsuj]

19:34 communist common sense

[@timeWaster76]

So is this supposed to make me run out and vote for Bernie ?

[@ericbailey1182]

what are you talking about? Bernie is a capitalist

[@timeWaster76]

@@ericbailey1182 LOL.... you sure could be right ... Stalin would have labeled him an opportunist. .

[@yungyahweh]

I didn't realize he was on the ballot this year

[@nikasamwkusvili9345]

how did you get here my man

[@dwaynekeenum1916]

@@timeWaster76Bernie isn’t a socialist lol

[@TheBoondocksRioters]

HG Welles “I reject this classification of mankind into rich and poor”. Stalin ” …what the f**k did you just say?”

[@aby110]

Interesting to see that the talking points of libs in defense of capitalism haven't changed one bit.

[@SocialismForAll]

Exactly, because capitalism hasn't/cannot change.

[@timeWaster76]

@@SocialismForAll From that stayemnt You don't know anything ...

[@michaelslowmin]

@@timeWaster76 Your username is very apt.

[@timeWaster76]

@@SocialismForAll Has anything change much in the world the has 70 years ? Liberalism supports individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, private property and a market economy.

[@Musterprolet]

@@timeWaster76 Yes, capitalism got even worse. Pandemic, Imperialism, climate destruction, mass poverty, psychological diseases, mass diversion, media biased news and still liberals like you, who try to label this society as "free". Free to suppress other people's life

[@MegaOstiaputa]

The goat daddy stalin.