Is communism against ‘human nature’? Would workers in charge inevitably be ‘corrupted by power’? Do communists ‘oppose free speech’? Watch a leading communist answer some more typical right-wing talking points!

A couple of weeks ago, Fred Weston (a member of the International Secretariat for the Revolutionary Communist International) was on the show replying to slanders about communism from Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk and Alice Weidel. But there are plenty more lies to deal with!

Watch Fred face off against Charlie Kirk, Jordan Peterson (again), Peter Hitchens and Donald Trump, defending communists’ ideas and programme from common right-wing lies.

Sources:

Previous episode: 'Communist replies to right-wing LIES', Spectre of Communism, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOQqVXzgt2g

‘The Psychological Benefits of Volunteering’, Mindstate Psychology, https://www.mindstatepsychology.com.au/blog/the-psychological-benefits-of-volunteering  

’New paper reveals impact of first lockdowns on depression and anxiety diagnosis’, University of Bath, https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/new-paper-reveals-impact-of-first-lockdown-on-depression-and-anxiety-diagnosis/ 

‘Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind’ (2007), Colin Renfrew 

‘The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilisation to the Fall of Rome’ (1959), Leslie White

‘The State and Revolution’, V.I. Lenin, https://marxist.com/the-state-and-revolution.htm 

‘We produce enough food to feed 1.5 (times) the global population’, Thin Ink, https://news.thin-ink.net/p/we-produce-enough-food-to-feed-15 

‘Statistics on unemployment and labour underutilisation’, International Labour Organisation, https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/unemployment-and-labour-underutilization/  

‘The 6 Companies That Own (Almost) All Media’, https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/ 

'British state arrests pro-Palestine communist – We won’t back down!', The Communist, https://communist.red/british-state-arrests-pro-palestine-communist-we-wont-back-down/ 

'Free Mahmoud Khalil! Only class struggle can ensure freedom of speech!', Martín las Hoces, https://marxist.com/free-mahmoud-khalil-only-class-struggle-can-ensure-freedom-of-speech.htm

‘Woodrow Wilson and the Decision to Intervene in Russia: A Reconsideration’, Eugene P. Train, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1878747 

Max Hayward quoted in ‘Communists say: capitalism is incompatible with free speech!’, Joe Attard, https://marxist.com/communists-say-capitalism-is-incompatible-with-free-speech.htm 

‘Bolshevik decriminalisation of homosexuality – intentional or oversight?’, Fred Weston, https://marxist.com/bolshevik-decriminalisation-of-homosexuality-intentional-or-oversight.htm

Who was Joseph Stalin and what is the legacy of his leadership? In this episode of the Spectre of Communism, we weigh the evidence, based on historical fact and the principles of Marxist theory, to give Stalinism a fair trial.

The USSR achieved great things, thanks to the superiority of the planned economy. It defeated the Nazis, expropriated capitalism on a sixth of the earth’s surface and built a superpower in just a few decades. Genuine Marxists celebrate all of these accomplishments.

However, we must also acknowledge that there were many mistakes, and many crimes. A line of blood separates Stalinism, by which we mean the bureaucratic counterrevolutionary dictatorship at the head of the workers’ state, from the real principles of Bolshevism and Marxism.

Virtually the entire leadership of Lenin’s party that won power for the Russian workers and peasants in 1917 were killed in the frame ups of the 1930s, along with countless others. Meanwhile, the leaders of the USSR actively wrecked revolutionary struggles abroad and sought alliances with imperialism to secure their positions.

How do we explain this? Jorge Martin, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, makes the case that Stalin and the clique around him were not guided by Marxist theory, but by the narrow interests of defending their privileges and positions. Their outlook was one of empiricism and cynical ‘pragmatism’, which was entirely contrary to the way Lenin built the Bolshevik Party.

But in the end, we are only presenting the evidence: you can be the jury! Let us know what you think in the comments. Is Stalinism ‘guilty’ of betraying the world revolution?

Sources:

‘Revolution Betrayed’, Leon Trotsky https://marxist.com/classics-the-revolution-betrayed.htm

‘Stalinism and Bolshevism’, Leon Trotsky https://marxist.com/stalinism-bolshevism-trotsky.htm

‘Marxism and the National Question’, Joseph Stalin https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1913/03a.htm

‘The April Theses (The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution)’, V.I. Lenin https://marxist.com/the-april-theses-the-tasks-of-the-proletariat-in-the-present-revolution.htm

‘Is Socialism in One Country Possible? A reply to the YCL’, Spectre of Communism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdIM6mnoBrM

‘What is the Permanent Revolution?’, Spectre of Communism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z44RMQMJlRQ

‘How the Spanish Revolution was betrayed’, Spectre of Communism, https://marxist.com/podcast-how-the-spanish-revolution-was-betrayed.htm  

‘Lenin and Trotsky: What They Really Stood For’, Alan Woods and Ted Grant, https://marxist.com/lenin-trotsky-stalinism-johnstone.htm

‘Once Again: The USSR and its Defence’, Leon Trotsky, https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/11/ussr.htm

‘Stalin’s responsibility in the creation of Israel and its disastrous consequences’, Fred Weston, https://marxist.com/stalin-and-the-founding-of-israel.htm

Did communism kill 100 million people? Was Hitler really a communist? Is there no difference between Lenin and Stalin? Right-wing pundits and politicians always throw blood-curdling statistics and historical ‘facts’ to prove that communism is pure evil, while capitalism is the best system that could ever exist. In this video, leading communist Fred Weston takes on three popular right-wing commentators, and separates fact from fiction.

Some of these reactionary culture warriors have made entire careers out of ‘proving’ that communism could never work; and has caused chaos, death and misery whenever it has been tried. There are whole libraries of history and political theory books filled with bile ‘proving’ that communism is synonymous with terror and dictatorship. Elon Musk, the richest man on earth with the ear of the President of the USA, spends nearly all of his time demonising socialism and boosting right-wing politicians on the social media platform that he owns. 

Especially in times such as these, with inequality, war and poverty rampant, the capitalists need to smear and discredit any possible alternative to their rotten system: revolution and communism most of all. But looking at the facts not only demolishes these slanders, it reveals that capitalism is the deadliest system ever to exist, responsible for death on a scale that dwarfs even the most outlandish anti-communist propaganda.

Watch as Fred takes on Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, Alice Weidel and Jordan Peterson, answering their reactionary lies with communist facts and logic! 

Skip to:

00:04:32 Ben Shapiro: “Capitalism is the best possible system and communism killed 100 million people.”

00:32:53 Elon Musk and Alice Weidel: “Hitler was a communist.”

00:52:28 Jordan Peterson: “Lenin was no better than Stalin.”

Sources:

Deaths from poverty under capitalism:

https://www.cdc.gov/global-water-sanitation-hygiene/about/about-global-hygiene.html

https://www.wfp.org/news/world-wealth-9-million-people-die-every-year-hunger-wfp-chief-tells-food-system-summit

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-caused-by-vaccine-preventable-diseases-over-time

https://www.unicef.org.uk/campaign-with-us/child-health-report/ 

Declassified Soviet figures on gulag deaths and purge victims:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/10/russia.lukeharding 

Eyewitness account of Trotskyist at Vorkuta:

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isr/vol24/no03/vorkuta.htm 

The truth about the Black Book of Communism and the Black Book of Capitalism:

https://jacobin.com/2025/01/black-book-communism-courtois-history

https://libcom.org/article/interview-black-book-capitalism-robert-kurz 

Hitler on Marxism and communism:

https://famous-trials.com/hitler/2529-1923-interview-with-adolf-hitler 

Capitalist’s support for Hitler:

https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/hitler-millionaire-backers-how-german-elite-facilitated-rise-nazis-third-reich/ 

https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/04/30/the-german-industrialists-who-aided-and-abetted-the-nazi-regime 

Political persecution of communists by Nazi regime:

White, Joseph Robert (2009). "Introduction to the Early Camps". Early Camps, Youth Camps, and Concentration Camps and Subcamps under the SS-Business Administration Main Office (WVHA). 

Lenin on Stalin and the Soviet bureaucracy:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1923/mar/02.htm 

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/dec/testamnt/index.htm