Marxism, Socialism, and Communism: Lenin
The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast
Hillsdale College
4.6 • 621 Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
On this episode of The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast, Jeremiah and Juan discuss the forces that lead to the rise of the Soviet Union before introducing the lesson.
In “Marxism, Socialism, and Communism,” professors of history, politics, and economics look at Marx’s life and writings, the misery and brutality in the Soviet Union, the atrocities of communist China, and the proliferation of Cultural Marxism in America. They explore how many ideas animating American politics today are rooted in Marxism, and yet how they differ from Marx’s thought. By taking Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and the Frankfurt School seriously, we can see the injustice and evil inherent in all strands of Marxism. We also better understand the critiques of communism made by Mises, Hayek, and Solzhenitsyn. We are, therefore, better equipped to defeat it.
Tsarist Russia was prospering and growing, but Nicholas II was weak-willed. He allowed himself to be badgered into entering World War I and into abdicating his reign after the February Revolution. The weak provisional government was easily overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution despite the Bolsheviks’ lack of popular support. Lenin was a thorough Marxist who introduced extreme and brutal reforms.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Hillsdale College Online Courses podcast. I'm Jeremiah Regan, joined as always by my friend. |
| 0:15.3 | Juan Davalos, and we're back with Marxism, socialism, and communism. On to episode number two today, the revolutionary Lenin. |
| 0:23.5 | Yeah, so last time we learned about the theories of Marx, who as our listeners now know, |
| 0:28.3 | is German, not actually Russian. |
| 0:31.2 | And we see these theories put into practice almost 70 years after he came up with them. |
| 0:37.1 | That raises the first point, which is Marx's ideas were not popular. |
| 0:41.2 | We get the idea that communism is kind of like power to the people, but that's never really true. |
| 0:46.8 | It's only the spoiled children of the elites who are attracted to the theories of Marx, |
| 0:53.1 | and that was what happened in Russia and led to the |
| 0:55.4 | Russian Revolution. It's a fascinating story what happened in Russia, because you had a good |
| 1:00.2 | government under the Tsars and some really good things happening there. And unfortunately, |
| 1:06.7 | then Tsar Nicholas II comes in, and he's sort of a weak leader, somebody that's really not |
| 1:12.7 | leading the country. |
| 1:14.8 | You know, he's essentially forced into World War I, and then he abdicates his reign. |
| 1:20.4 | And that's when the Bolsheviks attack. |
| 1:22.6 | You know, we can all see that in states and the places we work, that whenever you have a weak |
| 1:29.8 | leader or a vacuum of leadership, that's when everybody like pounces on it. |
| 1:35.4 | Yeah. And as Dr. Connor points out in the lecture, Nicholas was a good man, a good father, |
| 1:41.9 | but not only was the war thrust upon him, but even the Tsar ship |
| 1:46.0 | was thrust upon him. He wasn't someone who sought power. And entering the war was the |
| 1:50.5 | worst thing he could have done. Just think of it from a practical perspective. You take the |
| 1:56.3 | hardy and courageous, the brave young Russians, the kind of people that help provide stability in a |
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