Marxism and ‘Really Existing Socialism’

What is the connection between the Soviet system, as developed under Stalin and as modified since his death, and the socialism envisaged by Marx? That there are differences is, of course, both obvious and inevitable, and this for several reasons. Firstly, Marx nowhere systematically set out any ‘blueprint’ of a socialist future, and indeed considered such exercises to be futile and even reactionary. His refusal to give any detailed description of a future world was no doubt part of his sincere conviction that his ideas on socialism were quite distinct from those whom he called utopian socialists. Secondly, Marx has been dead for over a hundred years, and even his most fervent and uncritical admirers would agree that this great man could not foresee all that was to come, computers to nuclear weapons included. Quite evidently he would have modified his doctrines in the light of experience, including the experience of socialist planning. Thirdly, since he could not modify his doctrines after his death, we must, unless we are incurable dogmatist believers, perform this task ourselves: which of Marx’s ideas on socialism appear to be contradictory or unreal, given the experience of ‘really existing socialism’? Only then might it be possible to develop a critique of such socialism in Marxist terms.