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Opportunism

2024-06-25T10:57:07Z

2405:201:3B:705D:CEB:FDC0:68DA:895E: Grammar fixes

Lenin defined '''opportunism''' [[Library:The collapse of the Second International|simply as:]] "an alliance between a section of the workers and the bourgeoisie, directed against the mass of the proletariat." This commonly expresses itself with workers, the [[proletariat]] allying with the [[national bourgeois]]. Famously, many socialist parties during World War II, such as the [[Kpd|German KPD]], sided with their nation's capitalists instead of being against the war like Russia's more successful communist party, the [[Bolsheviks]].

Opportunism is a type of [[Revisionism|revisionist]] tendency that involves sacrificing the long-term interests of the [[proletariat]] in favor of short-sighted and momentary interests, usually of a minority section of the working class,<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|year=1915|title=The collapse of the Second International|chapter=|section=|quote=Opportunism means sacrificing the fundamental interests of the masses to the temporary interests of an insignificant minority of the workers or, in other words, an alliance between a section of the workers and the bourgeoisie, directed against the mass of the proletariat.|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/csi/vii.htm}}</ref> or even for personal gain.<ref>{{Citation|author=Andy Blunden|title=Encyclopedia of Marxism|chapter=Opportunism|publisher=Marxists Internet Archive|mia=https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/o/p.htm#opportunism}}</ref> Opportunists constantly change their political position to exploit certain circumstances according to the political climate, without firm and solid principles behind their words and actions.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|year=1906|title=The Russian radical is wise after the event|quote=The opportunist does not betray his party, he does not act as a traitor, he does not desert it. He continues to serve it sincerely and zealously. But his typical and characteristic trait is that he yields to the mood of the moment, he is unable to resist what is fashionable, he is politically short-sighted and spineless. Opportunism means sacrificing the permanent and essential interests of the party to the momentary, transient and minor interests.|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1906/oct/18.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|year=1902|title=What is to be done?|quote=Once again Parvus’ apt observation that it is difficult to catch an opportunist with a formula has been proved correct. An opportunist will readily put his name to any formula and as readily abandon it, because opportunism means precisely a lack of definite and firm principles.|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/appendix.htm}}</ref> It often involves the upper strata of the [[proletariat]] allying with the [[bourgeoisie]] against the rest of the proletariat.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vladimir Lenin]]|year=1915|title=Opportunism, and the Collapse of the Second International|quote=The economic basis of “social-chauvinism” (this term being more precise than the term social-patriotism, as the latter embellishes the evil) and of opportunism is the same, namely, an alliance between an insignificant section at the “top” of the labour movement, and its “own” national bourgeoisie, directed against the masses of the proletariat, an alliance between the servants of the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie, directed against the class that is exploited by the bourgeoisie. Social-chauvinism is a consummated opportunism.|publisher=Marxists Internet Archive|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/dec/x01.htm}}</ref>

==Right opportunism==
Right opportunism is a [[Revisionism|revisionist]] struggle within the [[Marxism-Leninism]] movement. Right opportunism is the watering down of the movement by switching its goals from system change, like with the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] to incremental and reformist goals. Under capitalism, all rights won by workers are in a constant state of decay, liable to be taken away as soon as cracks in pro-worker movements emerge.
==Left opportunism==
Left opportunism is separated from right opportunism in the aspect that, unlike right opportunism, which often includes a 'turning away' from Marxist theory, left opportunism commonly includes the extreme adherence to particular parts of [[Scientific socialism|scientific socialist]] thought, and not to the creation and defense of applied Marxism, as seen in [[Socialist state|socialist states]]. Left opportunism often is at the expense of [[praxis]] (the practice of revolutionary theory), creates [[dogmatism]] (the rigid adherence to particular revolutionary ideas, even if they are not suited to one's material conditions), and promotes factionalism (the division of the revolutionary movement). Left opportunism is most commonly seen with the [[Left-communism|left-communists]], [[Maoism|Maoists]], and [[Hoxhaism|Hoxhaists]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Paul Saba|year=1979|title=Left opportunism, not dogmatism|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-6/silber-pb-2.htm|publisher=Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line|trans-lang=English}}</ref>

== Factionalism ==
Factionalism is nothing more than the undisciplined collaboration of a group of individuals who, for reasons other than legitimate ones grounded in sound theory, design a plan outside the general view of the party and then agree to act in concert in order to accomplish this plan. In the [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] this has occurred two major times. The first being lead by [[Earl Browder]], the second being led by [[Sam Webb]].

== See also ==

* [[Left-communism]]
* [[Dogmatism]]
* [[Revisionism]]

== References ==
[[Category:Marxist theory]]
<references />
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]

Crisis in the Kremlin

2024-06-25T10:11:27Z

2405:201:3B:705D:CEB:FDC0:68DA:895E: Made page for CITK

Crisis in the Kremlin may refer to the 1991 turned-based single-player nation-building strategy game with managerial aspects or its 2017 remake. Both games see the player in the role of General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].

== 1991 Version ==
The original version of the game was developed in 1991 by Barbu Corporation and Spectrum Holobyte, having been published by the latter. The player assumes the role of the [[Reformism|reformist]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the [[Nationalism|nationalist]] [[Boris Yeltsin]], or the [[Marxism–Leninism|hardline]] [[Yegor Ligachyov]]. Lasting from 1985 to 2017<ref>https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/st.8.1-2.7_1</ref>, the player must handle various administrative tasks, from policy reform to managing the budget. Once in a while, the player may face a 'crisis' which is initiated by a phone call from one of the four government branches - the [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of Ministers]], the [[Committee for State Security|KGB]]/[[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Military]], [[TASS]], or the [[Soviet Foreign Policy|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]. Angering any side too much might result in a [[August Coup|coup d'etat]] or vote of no confidence.

=== Historical Revisionism ===
The game engages in severe [[historical revisionism]], falsely claiming that [[Joseph Stalin]] possessed a cult of personality despite him having condemned the "Great man" in a 1923 speech<ref>https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1933/02/19.htm</ref>. Moreover, the [[1989 Tian'anmen Square riots]] are represented as a noble democratic protest violently suppressed by the Chinese government instead of an attempted Statesian colour revolution.

=== Pro-Capitalist Bias ===
The game extremely favors [[Capitalism|capitalism]], with any attempt to preserve the [[Socialism|socialist]] [[planned economy]] resulting in the complete collapse of the USSR's Gross National Product and depletion of public approval, even though the centralized economy is what allowed the rapid growth within the country in the first place<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran, Thomas Kenny|year=2010|title=Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union|chapter=|page=63|pdf=https://ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceaj5ucph44bjwyhlhsbycckr3ts76zbucn2hbrea32tltcd4s5ekg?filename=Roger%20Keeran_%20Thomas%20Kenny%20-%20Socialism%20Betrayed_%20Behind%20the%20Collapse%20of%20the%20Soviet%20Union-iUniverse.com%20%282010%29.pdf|publisher=iUniverse.com|isbn=9781450241717}}</ref><sup>:63</sup>. Chuck Moss - "an unreconstructed [[Ronald Reagan|Reaganite]]" - wrote in ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1992 that Crisis in the Kremlin "drives the player toward establishing a free market, and both political and social liberation". He claimed that it was impossible to survive past 1988 emulating Gorbachev's historical decisions in the game, also pointing out that countries like [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[People's Republic of China|China]] did not attempt [[liberal]] reforms and survived into the modern age.<ref>https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100</ref>

=== Future Predictions ===
If the player manages to survive past December 1992, they may occasionally be greeted with extra events entailing predictions for the future. Some of them have come true, such as [[Federal Republic of Germany|German]] domination of the [[European Union]], a [[Iraq War|Second Gulf War]], and a [[War in Afghanistan|Second Afghan War]]. Others have a possibility of happening in the next few years, such as another war of aggression against Cuba or [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|Korea]].

== 2017 Version ==
[[Kremlingames]] released a remake of the game in 2017 - on the 100th Anniversary of the [[October Revolution]] - under the same name. Unlike the original version, this game lasts from 1985 to 1991 with one turn representing one half-month. The game introduced additional factions, adding [[Stalinists]], [[Maoism|Maoists]], and [[Soviet Futurism|technocrats]]. Having been developed by a team of Russian developers, the game takes a more nuanced view of politics in the Soviet Union, albeit with some flaws of its own.

=== Idealism ===
The game allows the player to not only preserve the USSR and the [[Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance|Warsaw Pact]], but also expand it. If the player allows the counter-revolutionary [[Trotskyists]] to take over the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]], it is possible to establish socialist governments around the world through [[Permanent Revolution]] and even dismantle the [[United States]] in less than six years <ref name=":13">{{Citation|last=Васильев|first=Никита|date=March 30, 2017|title=Обзор Crisis in the Kremlin. А как вы развалите Советский Союз?|trans-title=Review of Crisis in the Kremlin. How do you destroy the Soviet Union?|url=https://www.igromania.ru/article/28897/Obzor_Crisis_in_the_Kremlin_A_kak_vy_razvalite_Sovetskiy_Soyuz.html|website=www.igromania.ru|publisher=Игромания (Igromania)|pages=60–61|language=ru|type=|isbn=9785040586073}}</ref>. Although the Soviet Union could have performed better in the [[Cold War]], the claims and strategies used are eerily similar to those mentioned in [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev's]] ''Communism In 20 Years'' speech.

== References ==