On Marxism v Leninism (v socialism)...

Thought I'll record this in my journal, an email I sent to my kids and nephews, coming of age in this Trump world -

there have always been confusions, about marxism versus leninism (versus socialism and communism).  most people don't know or care about splitting hair on what the difference(s) are, if any.  this short overview serves to highlight some of the main differences. 

while aspiring to some higher ideal of socialism and communism, the proposition of marx/engels versus lenin (and much worse so, stalin) lies more in the actual execution of it.  this was where the notion of constant "class struggle" (????) came from, so infamously and notoriously played out during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s in china under chairman mao, but in the end, even mao was just perpetuating an elite ruling class (aka dictatorship) over the working mass (the proletariat class) even to the present day china, which was advocated by lenin a century ago.

as we know now that communism and socialism don't work on a large scale (as evident in the collapse of the soviet empire of USSR, repudiating the whole socialist experiment in the past century), all that is left now around the world, is some variants of capitalism, be it state-owned (directed) capitalism like china, or the more free-wheeling capitalism (as favored by US), and some combination of both, as practiced by more pluralistic countries in europe and in canada.  

but as the widening gap of wealth between rich and poor is getting worse around the world, we know that the basic premise behind marxism is still quite alive and well.  the question is, HOW to address that workers exploitation and to attain a more equitable society, with or without resorting back to socialism.  we know for a fact that most, if not all, people do not want socialism in its pure form.  yet, capitalism, in its purist form, is not the answer either.

quite recently, i watched a documentary "The Men Who Built America" (featuring robber barons in the century past, including vanderbilt, rockefeller, carnegie, ford, jp morgan, along with edison and tesla).  the documentary isn't the best, but the conclusion of it, was very interesting.  it precisely illustrates how the different notions that the abovementioned link had played out in US at the turn of the 20th century, of how these robber barons ruthlessly built their empire, treated workers very poorly, and then became "enlightened" (rockefeller and carnegie, in particular, became significant philanthropists, with their foundations doing work even to the present day).  the talk of ford, via the innovation of both Model T, manufacturing process, and the practice to "spread the wealth", which was effectively the start of the middle class expansion in US, was particularly interesting.  it was precisely this "spreading of wealth" that became beneficial to both the employer/industrialist (ford) and his employees, so much so that people have come to the belief that being a worker does not automatically mean being exploited, and they can still lead a decent life. this notion has become the premise of the "American Dream" before and since WWII, that if u work hard, u can succeed.  this was true in the days when US in the post-WWII days, but as the manufacturing sector falters, there goes this American Dream.

we should note that china (the chief beneficiary of the offshoring of US manufacturing might) has never achieved the level of enlightenment the same way ford had delivered to his workers in the decades past.  granted that the living standards in china were very low 30 years or so ago before Deng Xiaoping opened the door of china, and having a factory job back then had indeed become a ticket to attending "middle class" in china, but such gains (as much as it is in US) had stalled.  young people in china in general don't want dirty factory work, the pay is not high enough (well, from today's standards), and there is not enough "middle class" jobs in other white-collar sectors that allow them to segue their way into an even better standard of living (as seen in the west). the copycat notion of the "China Dream" (as Xi has shamelessly copied from the "American Dream") could well be setting itself up for failure.  case in point:  just look at what happens to the rise and fall of US factory workers.  china has replicated the success of the manufacturing sector in 30 yrs, that had taken US almost 70 yrs to attain.  much as china has copied the model, the process, the technology from the west in its rush to the top, china has also been mindful of the failures that US had suffered.  from here on out, as china's economy is pretty much on equal footing with US now, with china being number 2 in world economy already, there is no longer a "playbook" that china can copy from. 

we do know that, when it works, it works well.  but as a society, as a country (and i'm talking about ANY country, not just US), can people afford to wait for some enlightened billionaire philanthropist(s) to come along, like ford and carnegie did, to deliver the working mass from "living hell"?  (well, "living hell" is more hyperbole at this point, but in the century past, workers' working and living conditions were really like hell.)  most people don't want to wait, which is the reason why they opt for Donald Trump.  that's the reason why even if trump is so out of touch with the working poor (given his immense wealth), people still put their trust in him, for in trump, those voters who are hoping trump is the "elightened one."

i sure hope they are right, though i'm not holding my breath.

-mom