Anarchism or Socialism? Quotes

“The point is that Marxism and Anarchism are built up on entirely different principles, in spite of the fact that both come into the arena of the struggle under the flag of Socialism. The cornerstone of Anarchism is the individual, whose emancipation, according to its tenets, is the principal condition for the emancipation of the masses, the collective body. According to the tenets of Anarchism, the emancipation of the masses is impossible until the individual is emancipated. Accordingly, its slogan is: 'Everything for the individual.' The cornerstone of Marxism, however, is the masses, whose emancipation, according to its tenets, is the principal condition for the emancipation of the individual. That is to say, according to the tenets of Marxism, the emancipation of the individual is impossible until the masses are emancipated. Accordingly, its slogan is: 'Everything for the masses.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“Strikes, boycott, parliamentarism, meetings and demonstrations are all good forms of struggle as means for preparing and organising the proletariat. But not one of these means is capable of abolishing existing inequality. All these means must be concentrated in one principal and decisive means; the proletariat must rise and launch a determined attack upon the bourgeoisie in order to destroy capitalism to its foundations. This principal and decisive means is the socialist revolution. The socialist revolution must not be conceived as a sudden and short blow, it is a prolonged struggle waged by the proletarian masses, who inflict defeat upon the bourgeoisie and capture its positions.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“History teaches us that the class or social group which plays the principal role in social production and performs the main functions in production must, in the course of time, inevitably take control of that production.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“The present system is a capitalist system. This means that the world is divided up into two antagonistic camps, the camp of a small handful of capitalists and the camp of the majority - the proletarians. The proletarians work day and night, nevertheless they remain poor. The capitalists do not work, nevertheless they are rich. This takes place not because the proletarians are unintelligent and the capitalists are geniuses, but because the capitalists appropriate the fruit of the labour of the proletarians, because the capitalists exploit the proletarians. Why is the fruit of the labour of the proletarians appropriated by the capitalists and not by the proletarians? Why do the capitalists exploit the proletarians and not vice versa? Because the capitalist system is based on commodity production: here everything assumes the form of a commodity, everywhere the principle of buying and selling prevails. Here you can buy not only articles of consumption, not only food products, but also the labour power of men, their blood and their consciousness. The capitalists know all of this and purchase the labour power of the proletarians, they hire them. This means the capitalists become the owners of the labour power they buy. The proletarians, however, lose their right to the labour power which they have sold. That is to say, what is produced by that labour power no longer belongs to the proletarians, it belongs only to the capitalists and goes into their pockets. The labour power which you have sold may produce in the course of a day, goods to the value of 100 rubles, but that is not your business, those goods do not belong to you, it is the business only of the capitalists, and the goods belong to them - all that you must receive is your daily wage which, perhaps, may be sufficient to satisfy your essential needs if, of course, you live frugally.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“Социализм делится на три главных течения: реформизм, анархизм и марксизм. Реформизм (Бернштейн и др.), который считает социализм только отдаленной целью и ничем больше, реформизм, который фактически отрицает [c.294] социалистическую революцию и пытается установить социализм мирным путем, реформизм, который проповедует не борьбу классов, а их сотрудничество, – этот реформизм изо дня в день разлагается, изо дня в день теряет всякие признаки социализма, и, по нашему мнению, рассмотрение его здесь, в этих статьях, при определении социализма, не представляет никакой надобности.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“Стержнем современной общественной жизни является классовая борьба. А в ходе этой борьбы каждый класс руководствуется своей идеологией. У буржуазии есть своя идеология – это так называемый либерализм. Есть своя идеология и у пролетариата – это, как известно, социализм.

Либерализм нельзя считать чем-то цельным и нераздельным: он подразделяется на различные направления соответственно различным прослойкам буржуазии.

Не является цельным и нераздельным и социализм: в нем также имеются различные направления.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“Socialist society presupposes an adequate development of productive forces and socialist consciousness among men, their socialist enlightenment. At the present time the development of the productive forces is hindered by the existence of capitalist property, but if we bear in mind that this capitalist property will not exist in future society, it is self-evident that the productive forces will increase tenfold. Nor must it be forgotten that in future society the hundreds of thousands of present-day parasites, and also the unemployed, will set to work and augment the ranks of the working people; and this will greatly stimulate the development of the productive forces.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?

“As you see, the point is not which class today constitutes the majority, or which class is poorer, but which class is gaining strength and which is decaying.”
― Joseph Stalin, Anarchism or Socialism?