Dictatorship of the Proletariat: Dictatorship
First or Communist First?
It is often said that a tyrant like Stalin or Mao was not truly ruling in
the spirit of communism. They were dictators, not Marxists. One
might suggest that Stalin was a dictator primarily, and secondary to that
claimed Marx as his inspiration. Historians may argue this, some will
give proof of his interest in socialism well before he consolidated power,
others his interest in power and lack of theoretical treatises. But there
were many dictators during communism: Lenin was an avid Marxist theorist and
his powers were dictatorial, as with Mao. Before ever taking power, all
Marxists spoke of the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” The fundamental
question should be: can you have communism without a dictator? The answer
is no.
Stalin controlled everything because that is the definition of Marxism. In
order to have "communism", Marx said that you must first have
Socialism defined as being centralized control over the means of production -
e.g. by the state.
State control over the means of production requires centralization of the
economy; and direction of the economy by this central body. You can't have the
state own the means of production (e.g. factories, work sites, agricultural programs,
etc) and not make decisions as to what the workers are paid and how much of
each thing is produced: because of the following logical process:
1. If the state tries to allow a decentralized process it would ask each unit
(factory, farm etc) to provide a listing of workers and wages and costs and ask
for funds. But then each unit would ask for as much as he could try to justify in order to pay the highest wages and buy the most goods -
he would overestimate his needs even if he meant well. This would lead to a
budget that the state could not afford. Even with the best of intention, it is
inevitable that the resources, being limited, could not cover the funds of
individual units, paid by the state which is the owner of the means of
production, if they were allowed to ask for any price.
2. This leads to the necessity of some planning by the state as to how much
funding it will give to each unit. If the state provides equal funds to all the
individual units, allowing them to choose how to spend it, in order to keep it
somewhat decentralized, the following occurs: some units will hire fewer
workers, some more. Some units will pay more or less to various kinds of
workers, as they see fit. Some units may only hire 10% of what other units hire
and some may only produce 10% of what other units produce. If units can choose
what to produce, there may be much replication of production of certain goods,
and some production of goods that aren't desired at all: this can happen
because the units are not dependent on sales of the goods they produce, seeing
as they are paid by the state either way.
3. So, the central body must then decide how many workers should be hired at
each unit, what they should be paid, what they should produce and how much of
it. If they want to keep providing the funds they see as required to each unit,
they must also decide what price the goods should be sold for. It is the only
way to attempt some rationalization of the production process.
4. Once the state decides what workers are paid and where they work, what
products are produced, what price is paid, and all the rest of this economic
process - all decisions are in some way affected by the state. Newspapers are
state run because all production is owned and directed by the state. The only employer
- the state, decides where you work because your talents must be properly
utilized by the state as it directs economic activity. This also means that
where you live is decided by the state. What you eat is decided by the state as
it decides both your wage and the contents of your grocery store and the
prices.
If where you live, what you eat, where you work and what you read are all
decided by the state: it controls everything. This wasn't Stalin's doing, it
was the doing of his choice of economic system, which was the choice of the