09 NOV 2015 by ideonexus

 The Russian Religion of Spaceflight

The space programme was presented as the result of the great work of the proletariat. The Moon, a 1965 film by Pavel Pavel Klushantsev, presents a future in which Soviet people live a life of peace and progress on the colonised moon, thanks to the technological advances capable under communism. We had made it to the stars and, as the saying went, “there was no bearded old God there”. Only science. Only the Soviet system. Space themes were woven into everyday life, into endless festivals ...
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02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus

 Patriotism VS Nationalism

Can a Communist, who is an internationalist, at the same time be a patriot? We hold that he not only can be but must be. The specific content of patriotism is determined by historical conditions. There is the "patriotism" of the Japanese aggressors and of Hitler, and there is our patriotism. Communists must resolutely oppose the "patriotism" of the Japanese aggressors and of Hitler. The Communists of Japan and Germany are defeatists with regard to the wars being waged by their countries. To b...
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Mao appears to be arguing for balance and for the rejection of certain kinds of patriotism that hurt the homeland, as what he sees in Germany and Japan of the time.

02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus

 Ultra-Democracy

Education in democracy must be carried on within the Party so that members can understand the meaning of democratic life, the meaning of the relationship between democracy and centralism, and the way in which democratic centralism should be put into practice. Only in this way can we really extend democracy within the Party and at the same time avoid ultra-democracy and the laissez-faire which destroys discipline. "The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War" (October 1938), ...
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An interesting concept from the perspective of Mao's socialism, a democracy that goes too far and becomes corrupt under its own (greed?).