And exactly what would idealist Anarchists expect from a Proletarian State? Should we lie down and let the Nationalists, Fascists and other Counter-Revolutionaries undo Socialism? It's called "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" for a reason. Because we must crush our enemies, repress Bourgeois thought and stomp out Capitalism through years of forced Socialism.
That aside. I have PLENTY of criticisms of Stalin and the Soviet Communist Party during the Soviet Era. But many of those events, actions and policies I had the most issues with and had attributed to Stalin himself, when I dug further into historical record and really made an effort to study it, I discovered were very often the policies Stalin himself fought his own Party leadership over, but lost the debate or came to a compromise with the Party. Also, often those same policies were being pushed by the Revisionist camp of the Party by leaders like Krushchev.
Even putting that aside. It's not like I don't understand the Anarchist view. I was an Anarcho-Syndicalist for years. But after years of studying Marxist theory, Lenin, and others; yes including Stalin (I believe everything is worth reading with history and Revolutionary theory), after especially tracing where many of the stories about "crimes" committed by Stalin went straight back to Bourgeois Historians and Academics, CIA plants in journalism, poor investigations of evidence, exaggeration of events, or even using Nationalists and open Fascists as sources. At that point I realized much of what I'd been taught about the Soviet Union and especially Stalin was complete bullshit.
It's also common to attribute many of the effects of Western intervention such as economic punishment of the Soviet Union including Sanctions, trade blockades, covert and even overt support for Nationalist terrorist groups that led to many of the conditions that today are described as "violent repression" by Stalin against "his own people". But what exactly are you supposed to do when you have a successful Revolution, and in response you have Imperialist Powers joining together to sponsor insurrection, Counter-Revolutionary propaganda, terrorism and guerilla warfare in your newly liberated territories?
Maybe you'd have the Communist Party just shrug it off and let Capitalists, Nationalists, Fascists, and other Counter-Revolutionaries chip away at your territory piece by piece?
No, you have to fight back. And yes, that is inherently messy business. Innocent people will die. Innocent people will suffer. But you can't just accept the disintegration of your Nation because someone might get hurt.
And this is where Anarchist idealism clashes with Marxist Materialism. I completely understand your point of view. It was my own point of view for over a decade. But I've come to believe Statelessness is impossible to achieve immediately post-Revolution. I think it will take generations to achieve Statelessness and I believe that because I see daily how Bourgeois thought and ideology infects the Working Class like a disease.
If we abolish private property, abolish Capitalism and abolish the State tomorrow, the Working Class will just rebuild it with a new Ruling Class the next day. They know nothing else.
I've come to believe Marxism-Leninism offers a strategy for how to deal with Bourgeois ideology and reflexivity, and that's by constructing a strong version of State Socialism under single-Party rule. I think that's the very reason why ML Revolution is the most commonly successful form of Revolutions to date. It offers a Revolutionary theory, a Strategy, and clearly defined goals with tactics on how to achieve it.
The Soviet Union was just the first incarnation of a Marxist-Leninist State, and it was encumbered by material conditions unique to Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe in the early 20th Century. An ML State will not look the same today as it did in the Soviet Union in the early to mid 20th Century.
We have a Centuries long tradition of democratic norms that wouldn't just magically disappear post-Revolution. Does 21st Century Capitalism or Bourgeois Democracy look like it did 300 years ago?
Socialism is no different. Our current time and place will deeply effect the shape a Proletarian democratic State will take. And again, here I have plenty of criticism of Stalin and the Stalin Era Communist Party, but they were the first to attempt to build Socialism and of course mistakes were made. That doesn't mean that Stalin's achievements and contributions to Marxism should be shunned or ignored.
There's plenty to criticize and much more that was contributed by Stalin and the early Soviet Communist Party. I'm not going to pretend those contributions don't exist because of some Western aversion and anti-Stalinist paradigm that makes any critical analysis of Stalin untouchable. Nor will I pretend the History we're all taught ISN'T full of lies and Bourgeois propaganda.
