We note that comrade G. Furr gave a speech to Nepalise comrades-and this was reprinted by ID Communism on January 18, 2025
“The Crisis of Soviet History of the Stalin Period and What We Should Do About It
* Speech delivered by Prof. Grover Furr to Nepalese communists, 21 December 2024”
Let us have a look at “The Most Important Reason” section of this speech:
-I-
“Stalin and the Struggle for Democratic Reform
“But there is another reason. We need to understand why the Soviet Union did not build socialism, and then go on to develop in a more and more egalitarian, democratic manner towards communism. This was certainly the goal of Lenin and Stalin, of millions of working people in the Soviet Union, and of hundreds of millions of working people around the world who looked to the Soviet Union with hope. I have already mentioned the fact that in 2005 I published a two-part article titled “Stalin and the Struggle for Democratic Reform.””
“Stalin and the Struggle for Democratic Reform” contains many problems; two of the most important ones are:
1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTY AND STATE UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF PROLETARIAN STATE
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/notes/the-relationship-between-party-and-state-under-the-conditions-of-proletarian-state
2. CENTRAL STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/notes/central-state-and-local-government
That article(s) of comrade G. Furr is full of the propositions on how to restore capitalism in the USSR.
The two mentioned above are directly taken from Tito- Kardelj and their self-management strategy, that is the strategy of restoration of capitalism in Yugoslavia.
No wonder comrade G. Furr openly declares here that “the Soviet Union did not build socialism”. Any party that follow the ideas contained in “Stalin and the Struggle for Democratic Reform” could not build socialism-communism. But can certainly restore capitalism where socialism has been built.
-II-
“Question everything.”. “ Where they went wrong?”
“We can never learn the lessons that the history of this, the first workers’ state, has to teach us, if we are blinded by lies. The only way we can learn what the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin did that was right, correct, and what they did that turned out to be wrong, incorrect, leading not towards communism but back towards capitalism – the only way we can hope to learn these lessons is if we are in possession of the TRUTH about Soviet history.”
“and what they did that turned out to be wrong, incorrect, leading not towards communism but back towards capitalism”
This approach we know from some place or other. Let us come back to it.
“This is all false. So, first, we must prove to ourselves and to each other that it is false. Then, we must convince others that it is false. But we can’t stop there. We have to go on, to study both what it is that the Bolsheviks did that we should imitate, and what errors the Bolsheviks committed that led them off the road to communism, and that the communist movements of the future must learn from and avoid.”
“what it is that the Bolsheviks did that we should imitate, and what errors the Bolsheviks committed that led them off the road to communism”
This approach we know from some place or other. Let us come back to it.
“Therefore it is vital that we study the Soviet experience! If we fail to do this, at best we run the danger of making the same errors that the Soviets did, and ending up back at capitalism.”
“the same errors that the Soviets did, and ending up back at capitalism.”
This approach we know from some place or other. Let us come back to it.
“Unless we figure out where they went wrong — ALL of these figures — then we are doomed to be the “farce. ” And that would be a crime — OUR crime. So we have to look with a critical eye at ALL of our legacy.”
“So we have to look with a critical eye at ALL of our legacy.”
This approach we know from some place or other. Let us come back to it.
“Karl Marx’s favourite saying was: “De omnibus dubitandum”— Question everything. Marx would be the last person in the world to exclude himself from this questioning.”
“Question everything. Marx would be the last person in the world to exclude himself from this questioning.”
This approach we know from some place or other. Let us come back to it.
When we come back to all these, what is comrade G. Furr proposing that we do?
He is proposing that we question everything. That we cast a critical eye on everything that Lenin and Stalin did! (Nay more what K. Marx himself did)
-III-
Do we have examples of comrade G. Furr questioning everything; finding where “they went wrong”.
We do.
We can see it in his article(s): “Stalin and the Struggle for Democratic Reform”.
We have noted those above. When Comrade G. Furr cast a critical eye on our policies, on Stalin’s policies he comes up with bourgeois, Trotskyite-Titoite distortions of our policies.
-IV-
Let us read from our work on “British Road To Socialism” or rather let us read from comrade Stalin.
4.1.3: THE ROTTEN LIBERALISM TOWARDS THE TROTSKYITES, AND THE TIOTISTS WHO WERE THE NEW TROTSKYITES WOULD LEAD TO DEFEAT:
“Trotskyism has long since ceased to be a faction of communism. As a matter of fact, Trotskyism is the advanced detachment of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, which is fighting against communism, against the Soviet regime, against the building of socialism in the U.S.S.R.
That is why liberalism in the attitude towards Trotskyism, even though the latter is shattered and camouflaged, is blockheadedness bordering on crime, on treason to the working class.
That is why the attempts of certain "writers" and "historians" to smuggle disguised Trotskyist rubbish into our literature must meet with a determined rebuff from Bolsheviks.
That is why we cannot permit a literary discussion with the Trotskyist smugglers.
But what do the Voloseviches care about the facts of Lenin's life and work? The Voloseviches write in order, by decking themselves out in Bolshevik colours, to smuggle in their anti-Leninist contraband, to utter lies about the Bolsheviks and to falsify the history of the Bolshevik Party.” (Stalin, Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism, Letter to the Editorial Board of the Magazine "Proletarskaya Revolutsia" 1931)
“As you see, the editorial board made a mistake in permitting a discussion with a falsifier of the history of our Party.
What could have impelled the editorial board to take this wrong road?
I think that they were impelled to take that road by rotten liberalism, which has spread to some extent among a section of the Bolsheviks. Some Bolsheviks think that Trotskyism is a faction of communism — one which makes mistakes, it is true, which does many foolish things, is sometimes even anti-Soviet, but which, nevertheless, is a faction of communism. Hence a certain liberalism in the attitude towards the Trotskyists and Trotskyist-minded people. It scarcely needs proof that such a view of Trotskyism is deeply mistaken and harmful. As a matter of fact, Trotskyism has long since ceased to be a faction of communism. As a matter of fact, Trotskyism is the advanced detachment of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, which is fighting against communism, against the Soviet regime, against the building of socialism in the U.S.S.R.”
(Stalin; Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism; Letter to the Editorial Board of the Magazine "Proletarskaya Revolutsia" 1931;The magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia, No. 6 (113), 1931)
British Road To Socialism
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/british-r2s/british-road-to-socialism
Who, in this case, are so liberal minded towards comrade G. Furr? “Stalinists” of all sorts. They are just like our comrade G. Furr. They do not learn the abc of our policies (Lenin’s and Stalin’s policies) but cast a critical eye on them, question everything and come up with outright distortions of abc of our views (Lenin and Stalin’s views).
-V-
Comrade G. Furr want to refer us to K. Marx as regards questioning everything. And yet abc of K. Marx’s teaching, that is the abc of dialectics says that one should consider at what time and for what aim a certain quote one is referencing is used.
What is K. Marx talking about?
Is he talking about questioning proven science? Of course not!
K. Marx is talking of questioning science, which is full of questionable propositions. He as you know was setting up the materialist basis and dialectical method for all sciences!
In those days you could not progress an inch without questioning everything!
But if you want to question Lenin’s teaching, teachings that gives us science, Lenin’s most important scientific conclusions, if you question these you are a distorter of science, and if comrade G. Furr is encouraging us all to question Lenin and Stalin, well as comrade Stalin noted years ago, he is a Trotskyite smuggler of distortions of science-and we are not going to let him get away with it-and we are not going to let his liberal “Stalinist” comrades get away with it either!
If comrade G. Furr wanted to be of use to science, he should have referred the comrades to comrade Stalin’s defence of Lenin, his defence of Bolshevism.
Let us cast a critical eye on things. On the distorters of our teachers’ teachings!
-VI-
4.1.1: ONE CAN NOT TURN BOLSHEVISM, AND THE LEADERS WHO FORMULATED BOLSHEVISM INTO A MATTER OF DISCUSSION:
“I cannot refrain from protesting against the publication of Slutsky's article in your magazine as an article for discussion, ….. the question whether Lenin was or was not a real Bolshevik, cannot be made into a subject of discussion.
That means that you intend once again to draw people into a discussion on questions, which are axioms of Bolshevism. It means that you are again thinking of converting the subject of Lenin's Bolshevism from an axiom into a problem requiring "further analysis." Why? On what grounds?
Fraudulent manoeuvres must be branded as such and not made a subject of discussion.”
(Stalin; Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism; Letter to the Editorial Board of the Magazine "Proletarskaya Revolutsia" 1931;The magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia, No. 6 (113), 1931)
The attack on Stalin was a clearly Trotskyite activity for the basis of Trotskyism is enmity of Stalin. This is visible in its Titoite version too. And behind this enmity lies the open enmity towards building of communism in the USSR-and people’s democracies.
Any compromise in this issue is a compromise in our line and thus is a first step in the destruction of our cause.
Who would not know this?
Trotskyite traitors. That is who!”
British Road To Socialism
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/british-r2s/british-road-to-socialism
-VII-
As to the draft program he refers but do not make available for all, here it is:
DRAFT PROGRAMME OF THE ALL-UNION COMMUNIST PARTY (BOLSHEVIKS) CPSU(B) 1947
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/dd4en-resources/party_theory_program_strategy_tacktics/1947_Draft_Programme_of_the_CPSU_B_E_Book.pdf
We have, thanks to our Cypriot comrades, the Russian origins and machine translation of this program-and few other most valuable books.
As a Russian speaker, I wonder if comrade G. Furr could go through it and correct it-and I wonder if he could do same thing for the 1953 Economy Political Hand Book, as well as a number of other books printed between 1945 –1953.
Now that would be of use to all to learn their Bolshevism.
As to casting a critical eye on this program-which was for discussion, of course, one should cast a critical eye on it-especially now that full automation has progressed so much.
InterNETed A Marxist look into the Future With Computers
http://www.directdemocracy4u.uk/dd4en-resources/Internetted_AMarxistLookintotheFutureWithComputers.pdf
But we already have “critical eyes” set on not just this draft program but its main tenet: that is building of communism in one country!
All sorts of “Stalinists” have cast their critical eye on it and declared that building of communism in one country is an anti-Marxist proposition.
This objection to the building of communism in one country is directly related to the theories of restoration of capitalism. Those who oppose the building of communism in one country (one way or another) are actually engaged in pushing the ideas for the restoration of capitalism-they are covering things up for the Titoite-Trot enemies of building communism, these restorers of capitalism. (They carry their no socialism in one country to no communism in one country)
We refer comrades to the “discussion” on this issue.
BUILDING COMMUNISM IN ONE COUNTRY
CONTENT
Let us say that he would smash all that to smithereens and disprove the criminality of Stalin yet again.