This house believes that Stalin was not a socialist

1.'Pro says Socialist and communist are not synonymous. I contend that they are synonymous. Thesauruses are in agreement as dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, and the Oxford dictionary all agree that Communist and Socialist are synonyms. Even Pro's link on the difference between Communism and Socialism states the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.' Well, terms used interchangeably are also hard and concentrated[1], does that mean they're synonymous? 2.'Pro states "Stalin may have been a communist by definition, however, his policies were not in line with marxist socialist theory." He also stated "Again, Stalin was, by official definition, a communist." My opponent admits that Stalin by definition is a communist, and as it is clearly evident that communist and socialist are synonyms per multiple dictionaries/Thesauruses. It is indisputably clear that Stalin was a socialist. The resolution is obliterated.' As I said, they're not synonymous and as stated before, the title was ill-conceived (please re-label it: Stalin's policies were not in line with socialist policies) 3.'Pro says "I admit, the debate topic was wrongfully worded. I should have called it 'Stalin's economic and social policies were not in line with marxist-socialist theory' I will indulge my opponent and continue our debate even with the Resolution being negated.' Thank you. 4.Pro says "Frederick Engels did not write Das Kapital or Critique of the Gotha program after all." As well as "Fredrick Engels lived in a time when homosexuality was widely believed to be a disease." "The Communist Manifesto is an 1848 publication written by economic and political theorists and social scientists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels." I maintain that Friedrich Engels did in fact write "The Communist Manifesto" with Karl Marx and lived in the same time as Marx. I also will restate that he "condemned homosexuality in association with pedophilia." It matters not which era he lived, this still shows that a indisputable Socialist was against homosexuality. Thereby separating the issue of ones opinion regarding homosexuals and being a socialist. Very well, this argument shall be negated. However, Karl Marx, the founder of socialism, wrote in a letter to Karl Ulrichs that his socialist theory supports the emancipation of homosexuals.[2] 5.'My opponent says "I was not referring to collective farming in general, I was referring to the Stalinist model of collective farming." Lets see what was said in round 1 by pro "Stalin supported collective farming, which was akin to subsidized farming, an aspect only found in a completely capitalist nation." It seems fairly clear that my opponent was referring to collective farming in general.' Again, an ill-conceived statement. I should have been more careful. I understand if you wish to negate this argument and you are justified in doing so. What I meant was that Stalin's model of collective farming was more akin to business subsidization, again, I apologize. 6.'Pro says "Con's source seems to defeat his argument. 'In theory, the revolutionary vanguard is not intended to be an organization separate from the working class," Lots of things in "theory" are not intended to be a certain way, and when realized become so. For example, in "theory" Christianity is supposed to be peaceful, yet many atrocities have been committed by those who profess to be Christian. This is virtually true of any religion/ideology. In "theory" things are often different than in "practice." I maintain my argument that Stalin was implementing a vanguard.' Lenin never fully realized his vision for the Soviet Union (having died two years after the end of the civil war). The vanguard is a marxist concept, it is not meant as an elite. Stalin implemented it as such, this proves that under Stalin the hierarchy of autocratic tzarist Russia remained.[3] 7.'Pro says "Marxist theory states that the workers should control the means of production. Sure, you could make the claim that no nation was truly socialist if that is the standard." I agree, and to apply that to this debate. By the standard set, no country, or person would be a "true" socialist. However, Stalin fits the definition as well as anyone else and is therefore as much a socialist as is possible.' The resolution of this debate is on whether or not Stalin was a socialist. Socialist theory states that the working class should own the means of production. Stalin did not implement this, therefore, he is not a socialist. I believe that Jugoslavija got closest to the Marxist theory of worker-owned-means of production. Tito's self-management theory and the theory of associated labor(profit sharing policies and worker-owned industries initiated by him, Milovan Đilas, and Edvard Kardelj).[4]Most socialist nations were soviet satellites and had the same policies as the soviet union, that's why the workers didn't own the means of production in those nations. In Jugoslavija, they did. 8.'Conclusion: Stalin established and maintained a country that implemented a theory that "'A theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole." In the community, yes, not the state. The community being the workers. Definition of community: 'a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, SHARE government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage'[5] References: [1]http://www.thesaurus.com... [2]http://en.wikipedia.org... [3]http://en.wikipedia.org... [4]http://en.wikipedia.org... [5]http://dictionary.reference.com...