MAOISM STARTER

I realized I don't know any Stalinists, but I've encountered plenty of Maoists.

What makes Maoism better than other authoritarian forms of Communism?

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In short: "Stalinism" = Marxism-Leninism
Maoism/Mao Zedong-thought = Marxism-Leninism applied to the specific characteristics of China

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maoism is marxism-leninism with a dash of anti-authoritarianism

for example, the communist party of the soviet union viewed itself as an organic outgrowth of the masses, giving the party infallibility. in practice it was a "top down" tyranny, as shown by kronstadt and the suppresion of labor unrest

the "mass line" basically says that while the party is infallible, it is still accountable to the masses. any semblence of a "top down" apparatus should be violently expelled. this is where you get bomb the HQ shit

I don't know if it's better or not but the distinguishing feature is that it's less historically / economically determinist and places as much (if not more) emphasis on the "subjective factors" i.e. revolutionary consciousness and willingness to engage in revolutionary action. Having a correct ideological consciousness is decisive.

Obviously this is very beneficial in a guerrilla war without a centralized command structure. It's important for the guerrillas to have a common manner of thinking (and thus acting) in which they may be functioning as an arms cell in a remote part of China for months or even years without much communication with party central.

Also waaaay more peasant based and more nationalistic, given the idea that the main threat to communism in China was not from within but from without (imperialism). Very anti-urban mentality, anti-bureaucratic. This isn't say he was un-Marxist but China's peculiar conditions and its nationalistic populism influenced his Marxism.

The same goes for the "mass line," which is probably the most important contribution from Maoist theory. It says that communist cadres should become the pupils of the masses before they become its teachers. That is the bedrock of what becoems a "people's war."

This is a big difference from straight Leninism, which argues that a vanguard of revolutionary intellectuals organized in a disciplined communist party should impose consciousness on a "spontaneous" proletarian mass movement, and peasants acting as a kind of auxiliary. Mao, however, did not much care for the urban working class (there wasn't much of one in China) and also differed in the role of the party and didn't have as much faith in it as Lenin did.

You should watch some videos of th Cultural Revolution for the enormous messianic scale of it:

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"bomb the HQ" is strongly contrary to democratic centralism. I see it as one of Mao's biggest and worst deviations.

Probably the best Marxist revisionism there is. I would have liked it more if Mao wasn't crazy and he didn't frequently bring the country in utter chaos, but besides that I love it.

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Dunce cap for your boss

Good Post.
There are so many important aspects. The mass line is important, the conception of anti-imperialist Revolution under the banner of 'new democracy', and of course the cultural Revolution.
But i would say the most important aspect is peoples war. Peoples war, which is supposedly universally applicable, is a huge shift in revolutionary strategy. It cuts out all parliamentary activity, which i actually agree with.
"Without a people's army, the people have nothing."

Isn't it obvious? Maoism did not result in its invalidation or defeat, thus, it is truthful, as зractice Is the criterion to measure truth