Stalin’s Ghost Haunts Capitalism

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

Stalin’s Ghost Haunts Capitalism
A Riposte to Stephen Kotkin’s ‘Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941’, by Raj Sahai

Stalin’s ghost haunts the U.S. ruling class today, as the specter of Communism did European rulers in 1848. As significant sections of the U.S. population are beginning to take a second look at socialism, the U.S. ruling class needs scholars, like Princeton University historian Stephen Kotkin, to convince them that socialism is not for them. In this talk Raj Sahai will examine Kotkin’s anti-communist theses and his conclusions on the Soviet history of this crucial period.

Background:

Princeton University historian Stephen Kotkin is writing a monumental 3-volume biography of Joseph Stalin. Kotkin’s is the latest in a large number of books on Stalin, starting with Isaac Deutscher in 1949, so why yet another book on Stalin? Kotkin says Stalin represents a “Gold Standard” in “Personal Dictatorship”, and more archival documents are now accessible, so now a definitive biography of Stalin can finally be written. Published in 2015, volume-1 was titled ‘Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878 - 1928’. Volume-2, published in November 2017, is titled ‘Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929 – 1941’. In this Kotkin describes in great detail the three major developments in this crucial 12-year period: Collectivization of Agriculture 1929-1933; The Great Purge1936-1938; and diplomacy and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact signed in August 1939. Germany invaded U.S.S.R. on the early morning of June 22, 1941.

Stalin’s ghost haunts the U.S. ruling class today, as the specter of Communism did European rulers in 1848. Over the past three decades, the lives of the majority of workers in the US have become increasingly more precarious due to automation and export of industrial jobs to low wage countries that have reduced industrial well-paid jobs and pushed the workforce towards low wage, often temporary work. Presidential election in 2016 showed a significant section of the U.S. population beginning to take a second look at socialism. The other developing trend is white-nationalism – in another word, Fascism.

In this talk Raj Sahai will examine Kotkin’s anti-communist theses and his conclusions on the Soviet history of this crucial period.

Sun, Jan 28, 2018 – 10:30am-12:30pm
Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library
6501 Telegraph Ave, Oakland (just North of Alcatraz Ave.)
FREE - but hat will be passed for donations to ICSS & NPML

About Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
A weekly discussion series inspired by our respect for the work of Karl Marx and our belief that his work will remain as important for the class struggles of the future as they have been for the past.

For info or to subscribe to our weekly announcements,
Call Gene Ruyle at 510-332-3865 or email: cuyleruyle [at] mac.com
For our full schedule, go to icssmarx.org
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