Uploaded October 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Paul D'Amato, one of the most well known contemporary marxist promoters, tells us "There's no doubt that what they tried to set up in Russia was socialism" then immediately admits socialism's failure by saying "It was also one of the poorest industrialized countries in the world, and their hope was 'we can start here, but we can't finish here.'" Then he goes on to say "Socialism has to be made on abundance. Without abundance, all the old crap will revive, in spite of the desires and wishes of the revolutionaries themselves. And that's what happened in Russia. In spite of the wishes and desires of the revolutionaries, the workers, the ordinary people who tried to set up the new society, revolution failed to spread, and Russia remained isolated. You can't have socialism built on the collapse of industry and mass starvation." He then goes on to blame the counter revolution armies of the US, Great Britain, France, and Japan for being too powerful for socialism to overcome. He also speaks about how someone like Stalin used the rhetoric of socialism "to justify a system of state control of property, which had moved very far away from what it is that the revolutionaries had wanted in the first place."... "Russia was an attempt to create socialism in impossible conditions."
He never explains how a country with vast amounts of oil, minerals, land, and other resources is somehow starting off from a disadvantage.
This was the keynote presentation at Portland State University's "Socialism In The Air" conference, held on April 30th, 2016.
Paul D'Amato, one of the most well known contemporary marxist promoters, tells us "There's no doubt that what they tried to set up in Russia was socialism" then immediately admits socialism's failure by saying "It was also one of the poorest industrialized countries in the world, and their hope was 'we can start here, but we can't finish here.'" Then he goes on to say "Socialism has to be made on abundance. Without abundance, all the old crap will revive, in spite of the desires and wishes of the revolutionaries themselves. And that's what happened in Russia. In spite of the wishes and desires of the revolutionaries, the workers, the ordinary people who tried to set up the new society, revolution failed to spread, and Russia remained isolated. You can't have socialism built on the collapse of industry and mass starvation." He then goes on to blame the counter revolution armies of the US, Great Britain, France, and Japan for being too powerful for socialism to overcome. He also speaks about how someone like Stalin used the rhetoric of socialism "to justify a system of state control of property, which had moved very far away from what it is that the revolutionaries had wanted in the first place."... "Russia was an attempt to create socialism in impossible conditions."
He never explains how a country with vast amounts of oil, minerals, land, and other resources is somehow starting off from a disadvantage.
This was the keynote presentation at Portland State University's "Socialism In The Air" conference, held on April 30th, 2016.
