this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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Edit: I'm from the Global South, I should've clarified that on the post. The lesson has been learned.

Many leftist movements, legit or not, call themselves either Trotskyist or Maoist and keep dissing Stalin for his “socialism in one state” policy and “ruining” Comintern and Deng Xiaoping for his “liberal” policies.

I want to know what they are trying to do by distancing themselves from the USSR and PRC while fetishizing Cuba and Vietnam—you'll only hear them talking about the Vietnam War, btw—and following either the guy who lost the power struggle or a literal Marxist-Leninist who supported one of the refused countries and founding the other.

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[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I am asking about both, so I can distinguish them.

[–] Saymaz@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

The dialectically and historically educated Maoists ( most often the MLMs) do not display the type of dogmatism that the China-hating Maoists do.

[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

What is the difference between ML and MLM? Wasn't Mao an ML?

[–] Saymaz@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Yes, Mao was an ML. MLM is thought to be a universally applicable scientific progression of the Marxist theory.

Maoism is viewed as Marxism–Leninism adapted specifically to the conditions of the Chinese revolution (or at least what the Maoists claim to believe).

Maoists tend to prioritize the peasantry or in some cases, the agricultural proletariat over other classes to build a Vanguard. But we all know that we can't just copy-paste revolutions. They are built according to the class condition of the existing society. And Mao did exactly that in the 20th century rural China.