993 Gulags are scars, but they cannot be taken as concomitant inevitable evils of Communism/Marxism/Socialism. Lenin, Stalin and Mao might have failed. Yet Marxism cannot be irretrievably buried without further experimentations

Here is a link to : Click here to go to https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/my-life-in-a-gulag-the-horror-of-stalins-prison-camps/. . The title of the news report is: A survivor on desperate hunger, the fight to survive – and why she fears Russians just want to forget. Author's name is: James Bartholomew. Name of the newspaper, in which it appeared: Spectator.co.uk. The narrator in the Author's interview, Tatiana, clearly depicted the horrendous atrocities that took place during the Stalin's Rule. Tatiana herself was born in the prison. Her twin brother, who was also born in jail died in jail, owing to "Lack of clothes, lack of food, lack of medicine". An allocation of 140 gms. of bread, for the whole family-- consisting of one mother and two children. Her father was serving two ten year terms of sentences. At the end of the second term he was expecting a release. But he was again sentenced to a third ten year term. Hearing about it, her father died out of depression. When Tatiana was six, she and her mother were released. After growing up, Tatiana worked in State Bank of USSR, for 36 years, and retired. She was proud of her service in Bank. Probably, scared, she never shared her past history with anybody.

Related Links

Click here to go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag, and study the history of Gulags in the erstwhile Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.).. The following quotes from Wikipedia.org gives a reasonably good interpretation of what took place in Gulags during the Erstwhile Soviet Regime, particularly that of Stalin.

"...Even more broadly, 'Gulag' has come to mean the Soviet repressive system itself, the set of procedures that prisoners once called the 'meat-grinder': the arrests, the interrogations, the transport in unheated cattle cars, the forced labor, the destruction of families, the years spent in exile, the early and unnecessary deaths.

The word Gulag was not often used in Russian — either officially or colloquially; the predominant terms were the camps (лагеря, lagerya) and the zone (зона, zona), usually singular — for the labor camp system and for the individual camps. The official term, "corrective labor camp", was suggested for official politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union use in the session of July 27, 1929.

ybrao-a-donkey's personal perceptions which are not intended to be imposed on others

Gulags need not result from Rule of Proletariat (Workers' Rule). Unfortunately Workers' Rule, was not experimented in USSR or China, or the East Europe. In the name of 'Dictatorship of Proletariat', they have perpetrated, (and are perpetrating) heinous dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. In Dictatorships and Totalitarian Reigns there will be no Rule of Law. There will be no place for Natural Justice and Equity. Coteries rule the roost. Sycophancy is recognised as Efficiency and Effectiveness. Dictators entertain sycophants because, they cannot survive and feel comfortable amidst knowledge, virtue and wisdom. Ignorance of Workers is a bliss for cunning leaders who get transmogrified into whimsical Tyrants, supported by their coteries.

Vocabulary help for the verb 'transmogrify' and the noun 'transmogrification'

transmogrify (third-person singular simple present transmogrifies, present participle transmogrifying, simple past and past participle transmogrified)

(transitive) To completely alter the form of.

(intransitive) To completely alter one's form. Related Link: Click here to go to https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transmogrify

Coteries not only help the first leader to become a tyrant, but also they will / can kill their own creation 'the tyrant' or convert him into a manikin to present him as a figurehead, for the atrocities perpetrated by him. Lenin seems to have been made into a dictator and a tyrant by his successor Stalin. Embalming and Preserving the dead body of lenin in a special mausoleum, naming cities as 'Leningrad', erecting huge statues all over the Empire, all these seem to be strategies and techniques adopted by coteries and sycophants. Stalin's coterie members and successors too seem to have followed the same methods.

Who transmogrified Mao Ze Dong into a Dictator of China?

Propaganda campaigns made Mao Ze Dong a Hero, and dictator. Landlords were oppressing and repressing Chinese peasants and laborers. Propaganda presented Mao as a God. Poor too started believing that he was a God. They thought that Mao had solutions for their poverty, but Mao had his own set of ambitions. Initial excess obedience to the decrees of dictators can lead to their taking the people for granted, and make them impose more orders, making the lives of people not only more miserable, but also make them subject to detentions without trials, tortures in prisons and labor-camps (gulags).

SO CALLED DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THOSE OF EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, and ANZ, CAN ALSO BREED TYRANTS

Who created Guantanamo Prison Camp? United States of America, with tacit co-operation of Cuba.

Here is a quote from the Wikipedia.org, from which the above image was obtained. Click here to go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp, and study the 21st Century Gulags in our so-called Democratic Iconic countries.

"...At the time of its establishment in January 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the prison camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes. In practice, the site has long been used for indefinite detention without trial. ..."

Current and former detainees have reported abuse and torture, which the Bush administration denied. In a 2005 Amnesty International report, the facility was called the "Gulag of our times." In 2006, the United Nations called unsuccessfully for the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to be closed.

Something which fails because of some gross misuse by the pioneers and harbingers, need not be condemned into proverbial Biblical hells. In Biblical hells, there may not be resurrections and retrievals. According to Indian mythologies and scriptures, a person's condemnation to a hell will not be eternal and perennial. As soon as the effects of past evil acts/sins (called 'pApa karma') get exhausted, the suffering souls get cleansed, and will have to face a rebirth. In the same manner, a person's enjoyments in heavens are not intended to be eternal and everlasting. They will only be transient to the extent that as soon as the effects of their virtuous acts (called 'puNya karmAs') get exhausted, they have to move to hell (if not already undergone through), or else will have to be reborn on Earth.

This yb-donkey is not a believer in the concepts of virtues or sins (they are difficult to define), and the existence of heavens and hells. This example is given just to indicate that nothing is condemnable for ever. Re-experimentation is possible, while trying to prevent repetition of past mistakes. Marxism cannot be abandoned because for highly and densely populated countries, Capitalism and Neo Liberalisms cannot provide solutions of EQUALITY.

To come back and continue adding / deleting / modifying. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

935 Russian Diaries of the period 1917-53 can help in identifying what might happened during and after the Bolshevik Revolution 1917

Though I am not a blind admirer of Bolshevik Revolution 1917, as a believer in the benefits of True Complete Socialism, having identified it for examination as a possible alternative for the stupid Capitalism, I am trying to write here a few blog posts on why the World 2017 is viewing the Russian Revolution 1917 and its experiments with Communism / Marxism / Socialism as total failures. For this purpose only, I have downloaded 45 volumes of the Collected Works of Vladimir Lenin the main leader of the Bolshevik Revolution 1917. I have examined some of the Volumes. I shall put through here, some of my observations / feelings / impressions. In the meantime, it will be worthwhile, to provide a link to a news item, that historians are trying to place diaries of the Soviet Citizens of that crucial period of World History online. I perceive that when compared to the Collective Works of Lenin, the diaries of USSR/Russian Citizens of the period 1917-1953, however obscure individuals those Citizens may be, their recordings will become more reliable, primarily because Lenin's Collected Works published by the Soviet Govt. Agencies of those days, might have, sufficiently been, sanitised by a need to hagiographically eulogize Lenin and Stalin. The Russian Citizens of those years, might have had some fears of persecution if their diaries were to be caught by the Stalin's Agents. Hence, I have decided to try compare Lenin's writings with what the Russian Citizens 1917-1953 wrote, privately for themselves and their families, with no intent to publish them.

We shall start with an AFP news report, published by theHindu.Com: Click here to go to http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/between-the-lines-historians-put-stalin-era-diaries-online/article17693846.ece. One particular paragraph, in this report, is specially and sufficiently interesting, hence I am quoting it here, followed by yb-a-donkey's views, which are nt intended to be imposed on others:

At the same time, most were living in overcrowded accommodation and felt hungry most of the time.

“It’s quite rare for someone to eat till they are full,” Mr. Venyavkin said.

Mr. Venyavkin is: a 35-year-old historian Ilya Venyavkin, who is writing a book about diaries from the 1930s.

this blogger yb-a-donkey's views

About congested accommodation

Though the accommodation provided by Lenin-Stalin-Trotsky Triumvirate during 1917-1953 to their Citizens might have been 'meagre', 'overcrowded' we may have to accept it as an unavoidable reality because 'accommodations' for an entire Nation of impoverished and deprived Population, cannot be created overnight or in a few years. This problem of scant, crowded, and unaffordable accommodation exists even in countries of 2017 which are considered as most Prosperous, such as Japan and United States. In Japan, many workers live in rented spaces what are known as bunker beds. Senior Citizens of Japan, are reported to be preferring to commit minor crimes so as to go to jails which in their view are better than the dungeons outside. In our Great World Ruling country of Uncle Sam, we find its citizens living under fly- overs, living in subways, living in their own cars/station wagons, living in Churches. Of course, two wrongs cannot make one right. Failures of Capitalism, cannot justify the failure of Bolshevik Leaders.

About "rare for someone to eat till they are full"

Let my readers compare the following two scenarios:

Socialist Sharing of Poverty	Capitalist Overeating
Citizens sharing hunger of fellow-citizens, though involuntarily, for a limited period, till circumstances improve, can be considered as something noble.	In 2017, we have several countries, which have scenarios, where 10% rich and super-rich overeat, do little exercise and suffer from metabolic diseases like diabetes, obesity etc., and 90% of their citizens lead a life of precarious existence, unable to earn two square meals a day.
It is not clear whether erstwhile USSR was able to solve this problem between 1954 and 1991.	After 1991 Soviet Union disintegrated, and its Constituents turned to Capitalism. Is there any largE scale improvement either in Accommodation or in availability of food? I do not think in Putin's Russia 2017, there is ample food OR adequate uncrowded accommodation for all its Citizens.

To continue adding / deleting / modifying. और जोडने के हैं। ఇంకా జోడించాల్సినవి ఉన్నాయి.

917 Lenin Stalin Relations- A look from Vol. 45 of Lenin's Collected Works

I know that these particular posts of mine which relate to Communism / Marxism will not be read by anybody / or read by a very few people in this unipolar world, yet I cannot resist writing about these, in spite of knowing pretty well that this 21c. world considers Communism and Marxism as outdated theories, and in India RSS (Rashtria Swayam Sevak Sangh--a cultural organisation, according to themselves) loathes Communists. One can always say that Lenin and Stalin were dead long back, and are a part of a history, with only archaeological / or museum value. But, yet, the fact remains that as long as POVERTY CONTINUES TO HAUNT THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD, the search for an alternative Socio-Economic Theory will have to continue. If Communism / Total Socialism (not fabian-gradualist variety) / Marxism is fraught with grave evils of loss of individual freedoms, initiatives, creativities, then something else must be explored. Till such a time, the third alternative is found out and successfully tried, Leftism will remain as a desirable objective to the monstrous Capitalism.

Why a study of Lenin-Stalin Relations, is important? Telugu language: లెనిన్ స్టాలిన్ సంబంధాల అధ్యయనం ఎందుకు ముఖ్యం?

Ans: While Late Karl Marx dreamt of an ideal World of Equalities, Lenin is to be given credit for trying to introduce Marxian Theories, into the practical arena. In the process, there might have been some teething troubles. There might have taken place some grave errors, causing misery to millions of people. It is necessary to study all / or at least a bulk, of such omissions / commissions / shortcomings, as a sine qua non for a successful retrial or re-experimentation with the CMS (Communism, Marxism, Socialism) Theories, so as to avoid miseries to masses, misuse of authority-and-power by unscrupulous persons, and make CMS acceptable not only to majority, but at least to 99% of the people. Even in CMS, dissent can never be oppressed / suppressed, even if such dissent is only from a 1%. The deciding factor will have to be, whether what the 1% says has any sound reasoning and desirability in what they say. Though absolutely 100% peaceful introduction of change is not possible, as all the people cannot be satisfied at all times, yet we cannot have some barbaric or savageous justice. We cannot replace a cruel system like Capitalism, with another system say Marxism, through equally cruel methods. Methods are, and ought to be as important as the goals.

The Euro-American world views Joseph Stalin as a despicable tyrant, though may not be on par with Adolph Hitler. But, Stalin was used by the same Euro-American World, as a co-warrior against Nazis and Hitler in World War 2. Euro-American World has the audacity of using and condemning anybody at its whims and fancies.

Prima facie, one gets an impression that during the life of Lenin, his words and orders seem to have prevailed, while Trotsky seemed to be Lenin's favorite, and Stalin wanted to be Lenin's successors. Hence, we may need to study Lenin-Stalin relations, and about the contributions made by Stalin, during the reign of Lenin, and also examine whether / why Stalin deviated from the path of Lenin.

The following letter from vol5 of Collected Works of Lenin, was written on 5th March 1923. Lenin addressed this letter to Stalin, marked it PERSONAL, TOP SECRET, PERSONAL, and endorsed copies to Comrades Kamenev and Zinoviev. This endorsement might have become necessary, because they had already come to know about Stalin's rude talk. Lenin started this letter with "Dear Comrade Stalin", and closed it with " Respectfully yours, ". That means, Lenin was very cordial and courteous, even when he had to handle some subject which is somewhat unpleasant.

Dear Comrade Stalin:

You have been so rude as to summon my wife to the telephone and use bad language. Although she had told you that she was prepared to forget this, the fact nevertheless became known through her to Zinoviev and Kamenev. I have no intention of forgetting so easily what has been done against me, and it goes without saying that what has been done against my wife I consider having been done against me as well. I ask you, therefore, to think it over whether you are prepared to withdraw what you have said and to make your apologies, or whether you prefer that relations between us should be broken off.

Respectfully Yours,

ybdonkey's views not intended to be imposed on others

Lenin passed away on 21st Jan. 1924., i.e. approx. nine months after writing this letter. It is not clear whether the relations between Lenin and Stalin had improved during the intervening period of 5-3-1923 and 21-1-1924, either on personal sphere, or on political sphere. Political sphere is more important. We have to explore.
To continue, adding / deleting /modifying. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

911 Why Lenin and Stalin were callous to the Famines in U.S.S.R., during their Reigns?

Lenin is regarded as the Greatest and the First Leader who had tried to implement the ideas of Marxism / Communism / Socialism, in a very large country of Continental Size like Russia (erstwhile Soviet Union- U.S.S.R. stretching from Riga to Vladivostoc). Stalin, is also regarded very highly in India, in spite of his dictatorial tendencies. Many parents in India, named their children as Stalin. For example, the name of the Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly, India, is 'Stalin'. What stuns me very much is, a study of the History of the Soviet Union of 1917-53, gives me an impression that both Lenin and Stalin were apparently callous to famines, and food shortages in Russia, and millions of people died during their Rule. The same was the position in the so called Communist Ruled 1959 China, of the Mao ze Dong fame. It is strange that in India, there are groups which advocate violent Revolutions and Upheavals in the name of "Maoism", and they call themselves 'Maoists'. Were all those famines, just exaggerations of bourgeoisie media propaganda machinery of Europe and America? It can't be 100%, though some exaggerations might have taken place.

To continue adding / deleting / modifying. This issue of the Failure of Communist Regimes in Russia and China, is a 10,000 page subject. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది. ఇది అంతం కాదు, ఆరంభమే.

799 (Part 1/10) of Lenin-Trotsky-MNRoy-Open Source Management and, Management of Truly Socialist Economy and Society

Here is a link to Sourceforge.net/blog/handling the banes of open source management, which depicts the problems associated with Open Source Management. click to go to Sourceforge.
Open Source Management, and Management of True Complete Socialism has some similarities. Managing a truly Communist / Socialist / Marxist economy amidst dozens of Capital countries blinking and glittering around with their goodies of luxury cars, casinos, film festivals, facebooks and twitters, may be more complex and complicated when compared to running repositories and patrons of Open Source Management, in the arena of Computer Operating Systems and Software. Open Source Management, prima facie, is not a lucre-accumulating vocation. Unless persons and institutions are endowed with some supreme commitment to their goals and ideals, there is a risk of their getting fatigued and tired in the midway. Like metal fatigue, fatigue of "providing something free over long term" without expecting cognizible rewards is greater-greater-greater than an acrobatic feat of walking on a thin wire across Niagara falls.

Photo above: M.N. Roy's 1920 encounter with Lenin, the Supreme Boss of Bolshevik Revolution and 1920 Soviet Union, and probably World Communism of the day. In this group photo, Trotsky and Stalin were apparently not present. We cannot read much from their absence, but this is just an observation out of curiosity.

OPEN SOURCE MANAGEMENT

The Open Source Movement, is to a large extent influenced by the problems faced by Computer-users with the incarcerating Operating System Windows of Mr. Bill Gates, and the commercial software churned out by business organisations. While there is nothing wrong with doing genuine, honest and legitimate business by discovering and innovating gadgets and widgets, Windows and their Associate Developers indulging in restrictive methods. Imposing some restrictions on distribution or usage, when software and/or code is provided free, is understandable, making these restrictions eternal, too cumbersome, preventing people from using the software purchased by them after paying through their necks and throats, could not be swallowed by user-society. From it generated, the groups of suffering users, searching for "Open Source". Such was their suffering, they even offered to spend a substantial part of their own time, money, and resources, for the cause of the Open Source Movement.

Like phoenix from ash emerged, the Linux Operating System from the Unix, to challenge the monopolies of Windows, Internet Explorer, and other commercial and proprietory software makers. Gradually, with the help of volunteer developers, Open Source Movement matured into a true challenger to Microsoft, Adobe and their ilk. Debian, Debian forked Ubuntu, Ubuntu forked Linux Mint, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Porteu, etc. operating Systems have started enjoying good support from users and have become substitutes for Windows.

In promoting the Open Source Movement, development and distribution of Open Source Packages, pioneers and leaders like SourceForge, Launchpad have rendered yeomen services by giving shelter and bandwith to the packages. From my own personal experience, I do not know, how many dollars ( I do not have such dollars and hence I might have been forced to forego, or indulge in use of pirated software) I might have been compelled to shell out elsewhere to download the bulky and bloated Windows packages both from so called genunine and dubious websites. As a person of small means, I can only express my gratitude to Launchpad, SourceForge, and many other Linux developers and donors which made the Open Source Movement a true challenger to some Commercial-Proprietory sharks.

Sameway, Open Office, Abhiword, LibreOffice have become good substitutes for MS Office.

BENEFITS OF USING OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

1. free of payment. Those who have money can voluntarily donate.

2. Those who are interested, can study the source code also, and improvise upon it for own use, and also distribute the improvised packages under the GNU public license system. Those who make such improvements can also contact the original developers and contribute to the development of the original software.

3. Most linux software, by and large, is virus-free and virus-resistant, unlike windows where if we download and install one package, thousand other things like bootsector viruses, file-proliferators, unsolicited unwanted tool-bars in the web-browsers will appear and make our work a hell as it is difficult to get out of the intrusions.

The SourceForge blog article linked by me above, discusses in length the pros and cons associated with Open Source Management. Apart from those discussed above, there is also the primary problem of finding out monetary resources for day to day work, such as payment of bills of rents, minimum salaries, electricity, computer hardware, bandwidth, etc. etc.

TRUE COMPLETE SOCIALISM

In our previous blogposts, I have already discussed some of the features which I have tried to attribute to the True Complete Socialism of my dreams or fantasies. Before, we can discuss some more of them, it is necessary for us to have a look into recent comments about the pirouetting ambulations and peregrinations of the socialist movement in United Kingdom. Here is a very thought-provoking article by Peter Hitchens in Spectator dated 20th Aug. 2016.

Click to go to Specator.co.uk. This article is also available at DeccanChronicle.com. Hard copy can be found in the print addition of DC dated 24th Aug. 2016 immediately after the Editorial page.

Honestly, I do not KNOW much about Trotsky. When I was reading about Late Manavendra Nath Roy (popularly called M.N. Roy) who was one of the pioneers of Indian Communism, some years back, I came across the name of Trotsky. I have some sympathies for Trotsky, because he lost his life in the hands of the power-mongering dictator Joseph Stalin.

Earlier, I had great respect towards Lenin, as a leader who has given a "practical effect" and "implementation" to the theories of Late Lenin. But a part of that was blunted and dented, when I learnt through history that Lenin did not hesitate to enter into treaties with the Adolph Hitler of his early rule. I am unable to write anything about it right now, because my own knowledge of Lenin is limited. But, after learning about Lenin's entering into pacts with Hitler, one question frequently lingered in my mind: "Had Lenin lived to the end of the World War II", would Lenin have acted / reacted to Hitler's manoeuvres and massacres, in the same manner as Joseph Stalin?". I could not reconcile to a possibility that Lenin too would have reacted in the same manner as Stalin. Personally, the horizon of my knowledge is limited, I view that Lenin and Stalin seem to have similar behavioral patterns. I seem NOT HAVE much adoration for Trotsky or M.N. Roy, probably because, I have started considering every writing about living powerful persons / or deceased celebrities/halo bearers as hagiographic exaggerations, thus requiring much search and research to accept them as facts.

Here is one quote from Click to go to http://www.sacw.net/article11101.html . This is said to be a narration by one of the pioneers of INdian Communism- Late Mr. M.N. Roy, about his first encounter with Lenin, the Supreme boss and founder of USSR after the Bolshevik Revolution.

"... Danton and Lenin are the two greatest revolutionaries of modern times, and Danton was also a romanticist. The soul of the Great French Revolution was killed when jealousy of the hypocritical High-Priest of Reason sent Danton to the guillotine. Like his great predecessor, Lenin also had the audacity to call for moderation before the cup was drained to the dregs, before it was too late. He had no rival, though Trotsky might pretend to imitate Robespierre’s fanaticism after Lenin’s death, if he had the chance. Therefore, had not the cruel hand of a natural death removed him prematurely Lenin might have turned the course of the revolution to a more fruitful direction. The New Economic Policy was the signal. Its unfoldment might have headed off the subsequent relapse into terrorism and coercion, which destroyed the utopian ideal of Communism. But Trotsky’s Left opposition compelled Stalin to kill the Dantonist spirit of Lenin. The two contenders for the succession to Lenin together did for the Russian Revolution what Robespierre had done for the French. ..."

ybrao-a-donkey's humble observation

We have seen the fiasco of Communism in Vietnam, which went through ghastly battles in rivers and swamps, and massacres in the hands of French Colonialists and the American air and chemical warfare. What did Vietnam learn after going through the hell? Nothing. Today, Vietnam is hand in glove with U.S.A. inviting American Multi Nationals into its land. Of course, Vietnam can always have an excuse of defending themselves from the military and territorial ambitions of China. Like a calf of a kangaroo which hides in the belly-pouch of its mother, Vietnam seems to find security in the guard of U.S., forgetting the past injuries. If this is the retrogression level of a country like Vietnam which had earned much reputation and sympathy from the World, what can we or what should we expect from the Socialist Parties of U.K., France, or the Socialist Facades of Mr. Bernie Sanders.

TAIL PIECE धूमकेतु తోకచుక్క

In India, priests and discoursers, whenever they cannot defend or explain a philosophy or phenonmenon effectively, they take shelter by calling it "VISHNU MAYA" (Glorious and Illusive Ways of Lord Vishnu). For the time being we shall also, self-amusingly SAY, that Communist Parties and Socialist Parties turning dictatorial, and bourgeoisie parties occasionally behaving like Socialist Parties as a part of their Vote Bank politics, also have some strains of Vishnu Maya or ISvar lIlA.

To continue. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.