Drace I think you're way off the mark. The evidence against Stalin is irrefutable. He was a horrible dictator and represented the bureaucratic counter-revolution that occurred in Russia following the Civil war of 1919-22.Why did he have to have the party purges in the 1930's, killing off any memory of what Bolshevism stood for, if he and his party was socialist? Because he wasn't, and his 'Socialism in one country' is completely bankrupt. Socialism cannot occur in one country, and Stalin's Russia is no exception. Lenin and Trotsky again and again reiterated the fact that without international revolution, Russia would fall prey either to external imperialist powers or counter-revolution from within. Drace I suggest you read some Tony Cliff eg State Capitalism in Russia, because supporting Stalin's Russia, or Castro's Cuba or Mao's China gives Socialism and communism a horrific name.
There has never been a successful socialist country, simply because of the fact that you cannot build socialism in one country. There have been massively inspiring workers' revolutions, all throughout capitalist history, and Russia is the only example of a victorious workers' revolution throughout a whole country. But with the failure of the German revolution, thanks in most part to the compromising, reformist politics of the German Social Democratic Party, Russia was left isolated in a sea of Capitalism, with a small working class that had been obliterated in the Civil War. In this environment Stalin was able to rise, but only because the basis on which the Bolsheviks ruled, mass participatory democracy through the Soviets or workers' councils, had ceased to exist in any meaningful sense.
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I think communism is altogether wrong. Sure it means everyone gets the same amount of whatever, and no one is left in the dust, but most of the time that just means everyone is poor and poverty is the only thing that is there.
Do you think everyone wins with Capitalism? God no, with millions dying if curable diseases, of starvation when there is abundant food, of imperialist wars driven by competition inherent in capitalism. Kicking out people from their homes in America, forcing tent communities and carparks being full of people living out of their cars, while over 18 million houses stand empty. 18 MILLION!!! This is a world that is sick and twisted, and it is only when ordinary people organise and work cooperatively, together as one and fight for their collective interests that any progressive changes are made. All the luxuries we enjoy today were won off the back of working class struggle (the 8 hour day, the 40 hour week, equal rights for women, etc) and when people aren't collectively fighting for their rights, the Governments and business start scaling back on those victories. In Australia for example, people now work an average of over 50 hours a week, and this is a direct result of the debilitated trade unions and low level of working class struggle.
So in conclusion, yes communism is good, but is misunderstood, becuase as Marx said "the dominant ideas in society are those of the ruling class", and those that control society hardly have an interest in illustrating clearly what Socialism is. It is not Russia, Cuba, China, North Korea, Vietmnam (or Burma, which Ricador seems to think is 'socialist' even though there was a military coup, and not socialist revolution, in 1988) Socialism takes a firm, anticapitalist stance against all forms of oppression, and if you want to see a better world free of injustice, free of crisis after economic crisis, you should get involved with your trade union at work and join an International Socialist Organisation that doesn't support Castro or Kim jong Il, but the majority of people throughout the world.
