#communism

Russian cosmism, emerging at the end of the 19th century and resurging in the early 20th century, is a philosophical and cultural movement with a broad theory combining religion, ethics, and natural philosophy.

Đổi Mới refers to economic reforms in Vietnam initiated in 1986 aimed at transitioning from a command economy to a socialist-oriented market economy, introducing private ownership and a stock exchange.

Vietnam’s economic system is termed a socialist-oriented market economy; it’s a multi-sector market with state direction aimed at developing socialism ultimately, stemming from the Đổi Mới reforms of 1986.

At the end of the Korean War, only a third of Chinese POWs returned to Communist China; the majority went to Nationalist Taiwan, marking a propaganda achievement.

People throw around terms like socialism, Marxism, communism, and Stalinism as though they are interchangeable. But they are distinct schools of thought that largely build on each other.

In 1988, English art dealer James Birch exhibited Francis Bacon in the USSR. In this book, Birch tells this story.

Putin’s rise to power was backed by a nexus of KGB, oligarchs, and criminals, not with a goal to return to communism, but to restore security services’ prominence.

This is an interesting story about a British family living in China during the Cultural Revolution.

An interesting conversation from 1989 from a mailing list, discussing the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In the Soviet Union, even vacation was regulated by the Party.

Totalitarianism aims to eliminate free thought, transforming citizens into an “unthinking machine.” It doesn’t merely seek compliance, but rather seeks to break the will of individuals until resistance is impossible.

Monica Macias was just seven when her African despot father left her under the guardianship of Kim Il-sung. A fascinating story about growing up in North Korea.

A fascinating story about Madame Mao and her influence on Communist-era Chinese culture and art.

An interesting story about the history of avoiding censorship or persecution through the use of more cryptic icons for protest.

“The Grapes of Wrath” was a movie from the 1930s that criticized capitalism by showing how workers were exploited. The movie was called “socialist” or “Marxist” by some, and was criticized by farming unions and government agencies. But when it was shown in the Soviet Union, the viewers were surprised that even poor people in the US could save enough money to buy a car, which led to its banning.

A supermarket visit didn’t bring down the Soviet Union, but this is an interesting story nonetheless.

This linked graph shows that the economy is no longer the most covered topic in CCP party congress. Security has taken over.

This study explores the impacts of the Chinese Communist Revolution on wealth disparity. While it did equalise wealth in the short term, in the long term, the same families who were on top before the revolution ended up on top again.

This website contains translated books, magazines, and other publications from North Korea — an interesting resource for anyone morbidly interested in DPRK propaganda.

Great read from Hitchens storying his trip to North Korea.

This book delivers exactly what it promises — a condensed overview of Soviet history.

Richter explains how he ended up getting stoned with an officer from the DPRK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs — unexpected tale from beyond the DMZ.

It seems that in places where religion and government was the biggest obstacle for feminism, communism had a massively positive impact. However, in places where the biggest obstacle was prejudice or culture, it did very little to help. In fact, it may have supressed feminist movements that would’ve otherwise taken off.