No, propaganda is just the intentional dispertion of information to spread views you align with. Non-government groups do propaganda all the time. Secondly, governments are only extensions of a class, they aren’t an independent entity, and as such are thoroughly enmeshed and dependent on the mode of production.

No, this is closer to fantasy than reality, you need to turn off Fox News. Regarding the treatment of Uyghurs, read Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation, and there isn’t excessice state violence against workers organizing for better conditions. In fact, the state most often sides with the workers against capitalists.

China is comprehensively democratic as well, and has high approval rates for it:

Appreciate the kind words, thanks!

Yep, and Statesians regularly engage in indigenous genocide denial and minimize the atrocities of slavery to this day.

The US, of course. Hitler praised the US and the Nazis modeled parts of their economy and politics on strategies the US had already employed on indigenous peoples and black Statesians.

This is just idealism, though. Power isn’t a self-driving end, profit is what’s important in capitalism, and is why socialist economies achieve better metrics even with lower resources. What you’re doing right now is “propaganda,” in that you’re trying to convince me (or others) of your views.

No problem! It’s a fair bit into the list because imperialism is both the number 1 most important contradiction in the world today, and quite an advanced topic when first delving into Marxism. If you already have the list saved, and have the time and willingness, I suggest following it the standard way - it’s much easier to understand when you have the background info!

Can’t agree with Lenin slander, he’s one of the greatest heroes the working class has ever had and one of the greatest theoreticians of all time. That being said, at least we can agree that he was a hell of a writer!

I’d actually say that applies more to volume 2 than it does 1. 1 has lots of literary references, metaphors, and fiery writing, while volume 2 is far more straight and academic. Lenin on the other hand was always spicy with his writing, haha.

Iran is under intense sanctions and is targeted heavily by fascist warmongering, which also stunts social progress. They’d be set back if they fell to western imperialism. You could just as easily point to Cuba, whose family code is now among the most progressive in the world. Meanwhile, you’re advocating for the genocide of Palestinians and siding with fascists. Do some major self-crit, you’re indistinguishable from fascists.

The Politburo was kept in the dark about how bad the famine was getting:

From: Archive of the President of the Russian Federation. Fond 3, Record Series 40, File 80, Page 58.

Excerpt from the protocol number of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist party (Bolsheviks) “Regarding Measures to Prevent Failure to Sow in Ukraine, March 16th, 1932.

The Political Bureau believes that shortage of seed grain in Ukraine is many times worse than what was described in comrade Kosior’s telegram; therefore, the Political Bureau recommends the Central Committee of the Communist party of Ukraine to take all measures within its reach to prevent the threat of failing to sow [field crops] in Ukraine.

Signed: Secretary of the Central Committee – J. STALIN

Letter to Joseph Stalin from Stanislaw Kosior, 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding the course and the perspectives of the sowing campaign in Ukraine, April 26th, 1932.

There are also isolated cases of starvation, and even whole villages [starving]; however, this is only the result of bungling on the local level, deviations [from the party line], especially in regard of kolkhozes. All rumours about “famine” in Ukraine must be unconditionally rejected. The crucial help that was provided for Ukraine will give us the opportunity to eradicate all such outbreaks [of starvation].

Letter from Joseph Stalin to Stanislaw Kosior, 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, April 26th, 1932.

Comrade Kosior!

You must read attached summaries. Judging by this information, it looks like the Soviet authority has ceased to exist in some areas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Can this be true? Is the situation invillages in Ukraine this bad? Where are the operatives of the OGPU [Joint Main Political Directorate], what are they doing?

Could you verify this information and inform the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist party about taken measures.

Sincerely, J. Stalin

Further, quotas were lowered once the Politburo became aware of the extent of famine:

The low 1932 harvest worsened severe food shortages already widespread in the Soviet Union at least since 1931 and, despite sharply reduced grain exports, made famine likely if not inevitable in 1933.

The official 1932 figures do not unambiguously support the genocide interpretation… the 1932 grain procurement quota, and the amount of grain actually collected, were both much smaller than those of any other year in the 1930s. The Central Committee lowered the planned procurement quota in a 6 May 1932 decree… [which] actually reduced the procurement plan 30 percent. Subsequent decrees also reduced the procurement quotas for most other agricultural products…

Proponents of the genocide argument, however, have minimized or even misconstrued this decree. Mace, for example, describes it as “largely bogus” and ignores not only the extent to which it lowered the procurement quotas but also the fact that even the lowered plan was not fulfilled. Conquest does not mention the decree’s reduction of procurement quotas and asserts Ukrainian officials’ appeals led to the reduction of the Ukrainian grain procurement quota at the Third All-Ukraine Party Conference in July 1932. In fact that conference confirmed the quota set in the 6 May Decree.

— Mark Tauger. (1992). The 1932 Harvest and the Famine of 1933

There was no intentional famine.

Yes, actually! I wrote an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, you can skip straight to the “imperialism” section. It’ll be a bit difficult to jump straight there without the other sections, but it won’t be impossible. If you only read one, it should be Lenin’s Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism | Audiobook, which is by far the most clear and important work on the subject. The only problem is that imperialism has developed quite a lot since Lenin wrote it, and the US Empire is now unquestionably the top dog. For more on that, I recommend Michael Hudson’s Super-Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance.

If you only want a quick overview, though, Prolewiki’s article on imperialism is really good by itself.

Not by much, IMO. It is true that non-renewables are being used up, but AI isn’t the answer, and certainly not suicide. The answer is organizing, and moving onto socialism so we can coherently and collectively plan society.

People in countries like China don’t revolt because the system works for them and supports them. It’s ironic that you claim propaganda impacts all of us, while then immediately repeating the most bog-standard anti-communist propaganda straight from the US state department. I highly recommend reading False Witnesses, “Brainwashing”, and Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing” in order to better understand how people think, and how propaganda actually works. Propaganda works by providing justification for what people perceive to materially benefit them, not by simply convincing them of fantasy.

This is wrong, plainly. Fascism is a thoroughly capitalist ideology, no existing socialist state can be classified as fascist. The idea that socialism was simply sabotaged by “elites” ignores the material reality that socialism brought tremendous democratization, decreased disparity, and massive improvements in life metrics for the working class wherever it has been implemented. This is just centrist meandering more than anything.

As a side-note, Animal Farm is chiefly about how much Orwell despises the working class and believes them to be beyond stupid and incapable of governing themselves, destined to be taken advantage of no matter the system. Read A Critical Read of Animal Farm for more on this, Orwell was a homophobic, anti-semetic anti-communist fed that reported on suspected communists to British intelligence.

The large firms and key industries in China are overwhelmingly publicly owned:

Slave labor is illegal in China, and working conditions have continuously been improving year over year for decades. The upper-level comment applies directly to that type of thinking you’re doing here.

The 1930s famine wasn’t forced, though. It was a combination of adverse weather conditions leading to lower crop yields, wealthy farmers called kulaks killing their livestock and burning their crops to “resist collectivization,” and some degree of mismanagement. It’s important to recognize that pre-1930s, Eastern Europe had regular famines as well, and that following collectivization the 1930s famine was the last famine outside of World War II (when the Nazis took Ukraine, the USSR’s breadbasket).

Churchill intentionally caused and extended the Bengal Famine, he hated Indians:

I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.

Anyone pushing their views is propaganda. Propaganda isn’t always a bad thing, propaganda can be good, like antifascist or pro-communist propaganda, or it can be bad, like fascist propaganda.