This seems more like orientalism than an actual thing. The US is set up that way because it values capitalists above all else as a capitalist country, and this system puts them above the law.
Cowbee
joined 2 years ago
What do you mean by China not caring about the individual? Are you referring to how they center the working classes over private interests?
Very well said! The purpose of hierarchy in terms of how useful it is to us in satisfying the needs of all is directly connected to its necessity and efficiency when it comes to larger scales. It isn't just top-down or bottom-up, but both.
I guess I'm curious what distinguishes a textbook from a non-textbook. Both titles above were meant for academic settings, as well as for the average worker and organizer.
Be bigger than that. You don't need to make up what I said, you're more than capable of answering points I made directly.
No, that's not what I said at all, and the fact that you interpreted what I said that way is frustrating.
So you’re saying that eliminating peoples utility bills
Solar isn't going to eliminate people's utility bills any more than nuclear did, nor wind nor hydroelectric. Within the boundaries of capitalism, renewables are still privatized. Solar panels for individual home use are prohibitively expensive for the majority of the working classes everywhere, including the imperial core. If we could eliminate utility bills that would be nice, but that can't happen at scale without socialism.
giving them more resources and hope
Wages are set to cost of replacement of labor, not productivity. Organizing is more effective for winning material gains, as this is what raises the floor, not automation or improvements in productivity. Capitalists will pay as little as they can and suck up as much as they can without organized resistance, even if everyone had solar panels in capitalism.
wont help the revolution and we should disregard renewable energy
Way to jump the shark. I said we need renewables, but the idea that they will meaningfully impact revolution, outside of maybe revolutionary parties using them, is what I'm questioning. Renewables are the future, capitalist or socialist, and pursuing them in capitalism is still worthwhile, just not revolutionary.
That little steps towards a better more equitable world should not be advertised?
No, I just disagree that these steps are feasible for the broad majority of the working classes within the boundaries of capitalism, and are a privledge for better paid workers and above. Little steps are great, but we need to contextualize them with the primary task: organizing.
The proliferation of solar, under capitalism, is still bound by capitalist commodification and exploitation. Solar panels for independent use are prohibitively expensive for the average proletarian, even if they ultimately save in the long run. It's certainly good for fighting climate change, but isn't going to be used for the proletariat's benefit any more than any other technological marvel has been. The working day is still prolonged enough to keep the proletariat out of organizing.
However, this isn't the path to revolution. Not everyone needs to devote time and energy to revolutionary activity, only the major organizers need to. Lady Izdihar made a diagram of Lenin's theory of revolution:
The organizers can incorporate solar as a cost saving measure for infrastructure they set up, sure, I think thay's a good idea. I don't think it will free up the vast majority of people, though. It's the party's job to gain the trust and support of the masses, and the masses' job to be organized and carry out the revolution. This link needs to be there.
Thanks for responding! I'll gloss over the pre-separator portion, there's not much I can meaningfully respond to outside of agreeing that critique of authority is the major reason Marxists and anarchists have different means and ends.
Yes, precisely, that’s why I support no country and advocate for their abolition. This is a “gotcha” for the liberal she’s responding to, but not the anarchist who asked the question.
My biggest issue with this is that it draws no distinctions between worker controlled states and capitalist controlled states, and further ignores the problem of imperialism as the driving contradiction of the global state today.
Actually I agree with you here, namely that she expounded the Marxist argument very nicely, but she could have done that while critiquing, or at least acknowledging, or at least just not painting over anarchist concerns. Like I actually wouldn’t have said anything if she dunked on us because then at least we exist.
Fair enough, but in my view she generally has.
All states are authoritarian, and socialist states are not special just because we slap a hammer and sickle (or a circle-A, or any other sticker) on them. Some are more authoritarian than others (e.g. AmeriKKKa, Pissrael), but I’m not exactly a fan of any of any state, even when they do the right thing.
This, I take extreme issue with. I agree that all states are authoritarian, in that all states are the means by which one class oppresses others, but this itself isn't a problem. Socialist states aren't fundamentally, qualitatively liberatory for the working classes because there's a symbol of communism on the flag, but because the working classes are in charge of the state, and use it to uplift themselves and protect the gains of revolution. Bakunin's quote on the "people's stick" is similarly terrible, it obfuscates the real fact that socialism is objectively, materially liberatory towards the working classes, and that the use of authority to protect this is a good thing.
But actually, my argument is that a lot more things that states are authoritarian, including some anarchist projects, and that authoritarian tendencies are something we all need to continuously root out of every aspect of existence.
What gives rise to "authoritarian tendencies?" Hierarchy isn't inherently bad, in my opinion. Organizational structure often creates managerial positions out of necessity and efficiency, not out of a human desire to dominate, and at the scales of production and distribution that can most effectively satisfy the needs of everyone with the least amount of labor these become crucial for mitigating disaster and facilitating smooth logistics and production.
States are meant to be permanent and unbounded. If you want me to consent to be a part of your group, literally no matter how small, even a chess club, you gotta have bounds on the authority I have to grant you as a member, and you gotta be dissolvable. And not just on paper, but in reality.
States are not meant to be "permanent" or "impermanent." States are meant to uphold a given ruling class. The basis of the state is in class struggle, and when the basis of class is eliminated, so too does what we think of as the "state," as instruments of class oppression. To do so, we need to collectivize all of production and distribution, gradually. With equal relations to production and distribution, there is no class, and thus no basis for class struggle.
And I’m not even against “drastic” measures, we should be fucking destroying the bourgeoisie as hard as possible and if that makes me an authoritarian then I’m fine living and hopefully dying as an anarcho-hypocrite. Like I’m simply not interested in tolerating a future where we coexist with bourgeois nations for any amount of time, and IMO any project saying “we’ll coexist with the capitalists” (e.g. CNT at the end of the Spanish Civil War) is an indicator that the project has failed.
I think what's happening here is you're placing your ideals over what is materially achievable. There simply is no means to instantly destroy all of the bourgeoisie, unless you mean to nuke the world and hope an anarcho-primitivist society takes its place in the ashes. You cannot liquidate a class by killing them, but by sublimating the process of production and distribution, just like the bourgeoisie did when overtaking the aristocracy. The process of collectivization is gradual, not instang, and that means we will have to exist in the same world as the bourgeoisie, even if we spend that existence constantly struggling against them and trying to erode the basis of their existence through collectivization.
Another issue is that, despite the terrible things I personally want to do with my hands to the bourgeoisie, it isn’t in the best interests of the working class to actually be the most violent, most drastic versions of ourselves — in particular, in ways that pollute our future (i.e., establishing permanent, centralized, top-down, unbounded States). In my view, any communist project (anarchist, statist, or otherwise) is going to be polluted with the stench of the violence and terror that capitalists imposed on the world before it. We need to be constantly vigilant and work against those old haunts. One of those haunts is, in my view, the appeal to authority.
All societies are stamped with the old, but gradually work out those contradictions over time, dialectically. There isn't a fatalism in any future society by virtue of rising from capitalism. Further, socialist states are both top-down and bottom-up, it's both/and, not either-or, and the states themselves are transitional, not permanent. This idea of permanence itself is against reality.
I appreciate you answering, and I am not trying to be rude or mean, even if I sounded harsh on some of what I said. I do want to ask, above all else, have you studied dialectical materialism at all? Much of your analysis goes against how the world works in practice, and I think studying dialectical materialism would help greatly with reframing your analysis and giving you a deeper understanding of your own critique.
I've seen some "socialism is when the government does stuff" folks think the Nazis were socialist due to using strong state power, ignoring completely that this was in service of private interests.
Both are studied in schools, how are they not textbooks? What's the technical distinction?
He didn't predict it, but he did begin to analyze imperialism, which is why it has lasted longer than he thought it would, and which Lenin continued on. Capitalism in Marx’s age was far worse for the average laborer than the current western labor aristocracy feels. Child workers were packed like sardines into tiny rooms and forced to work over 10 hours a day, Capital Volume I describes this vividly. However, Marx only lived to see the beginnings of imperialism, which Lenin observed, and watched the imperial core export suffering to the global south and bribe its proletariat into complacency with the spoils. That’s why Imperialism, the Current Highest Stage of Capitalism is listed in the meme alongside Capital.
Further, Lenin did not live to see the consolidation of the world’s competing imperialist power into one unified international dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, helmed by the US Empire, with subservient vassal states. This happened post-World War II, and the decay in this “super-imperialism” is what is driving present conditions forward.
Shamelessly stolen from r/MarxismMemes
Want to get your feet wet with Marxism-Leninism? Check out the intro Marxist-Leninist reading list I made.
Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.
— V. I. Lenin
In the dying capitalist hellscape we occupy, it can often seem hopeless. However, a better world is possible. We can move on from the destitution, genocide, and privation of today's society and move onto one where we consciously decide to take a scientific approach to production. We can direct society in such a fashion that satisfying the needs of the people is the goal of production, and not satisfying the bottomless avarice of a handful of billionaires. What we need is socialism. What we need is Marxism-Leninism.
Who is this guide aimed at?
Anyone wanting to begin their journey into the world of leftist theory and organizing.
How long will this guide take to follow?
Aimed at about 60 hours of active reading time. This can be stretched out over a year, or condensed into a few months of hard study, depending on your availability.
Section 0a: The Case for Marxism-Leninism [4hr 19 min]
In the 21st century, with global capitalism in crisis, now more than ever an alternative is needed. Why should we look to Marxism-Leninism, specifically?
- A. Einstein's Why Socialism? | Audiobook
[20 min]
From the unique scientific perspective of a legendary physicist, the case for taking a coordinated, planned, and scientific approach to production and distribution.
- R. Day's Why Marxism?
[26 min]
The case specifically for Marxism-Leninism as the basis of social organizing and revolutionary practice.
- M. Parenti's "Yellow Parenti" Speech
[1 hr 33 min]
The importance of revolution in uplifting people's lives across the 20th century.
- M. Parenti's Blackshirts and Reds | Audiobook
[2 hr]
A litany against anti-communist mythos, an examination of the real successes and struggles in the USSR, and an analysis of fascism.
Section 0b: Self-Education [15 min]
When beginning to study a new subject, it's important to frame why studying said subject will be useful, as well as how best to go about studying.
- Ho Chi Minh's Why Do We Have to Study Theory?
[11 min]
Practice alone is insufficient for developing a solid understanding of effective methodology.
- N. Krupskaya's General Rules for Independent Study
[4 min]
Best practices for how to get the most out of study, through active engagement with theory.
Section 1: Fundamentals of Marxism [2 hr 6 min]
Let's begin with some gentle overviews to form a base to build upon in the later sections.
- V. I. Lenin's The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism | Audiobook
[10 min]
The core fundamentals of Marxism.
- F. Engels' Principles of Communism | Audiobook
[1 hr 11 min]
The FAQ of communism. Quick to read, and easy to reference.
[~45 min]
A history of Karl Marx and the framework he created.
Section 2: Philosophy [6 hr 17 min]
By far the most critical subject to firmly grasp within Marxism-Leninism is the philosophy of dialectical materialism, the main tool by which Marxist-Leninists interpret the world so as to more effectively change it.
- G. Politzer's Elementary Principles of Philosophy | Audiobook
[2 hr 46 min]
A gentle and thorough introruction to dialectical materialism and how it came to be.
- Mao Zedong's On Practice | Audiobook & On Contradiction | Audiobook
[2 hr 16 min]
Directed towards guerilla fighters of the People's Liberation Army, this pair of essays equip the reader to apply the analytical tools of dialectical materialism to their every day practice.
- T. Weston's Introduction to Marxist Dialectics
[~1 hr]
An in-depth exploration of the fundamentals of Marxist dialectics.
- K. Marx's Theses on Feuerbach | Audiobook
[15 min]
Spend some time using what you have just learned, and actively engage with each of Marx's 11 theses here. This is the true germ of dialectical materialism, and proper study avoids falling into vulgar materialism.
Section 3: Economics [3 hr 37 min]
The Law of Value is the bedrock of the Marxist analysis of capitalism. Understanding how it is that capital behaves and functions will help us identify its contradictions, which we can exploit.
- N. Frome's An Extremely Condensed Summary of Capital
[20 min]
A basic introduction to the Law of Value. By no means a replacement for Capital, but will suffice for now.
- K. Marx's Wage Labor and Capital | Audiobook & Value, Price and Profit | Audiobook
[2 hr 17 min]
Best taken as a pair, these essays simplify the most important parts of the Law of Value.
- I. P. Wright's Marx on Capital as a Real God
[~1 hr]
An unorthodox approach to analyzing capital as a material expression of control systems.
Section 4: Scientific Socialism [6 hr 12 min]
Scientific socialism takes an analytical approach to development and class struggle. We aim to understand the laws governing development so that we can become the masters of production, and develop in a planned fashion.
- F. Engels' Socialism: Utopian and Scientific | Audiobook
[1 hr 32 min]
Engels introduces scientific socialism, explaining how Capitalism itself prepares the conditions for public ownership and planning by centralizing itself into monopolist syndicates and cartels.
- K. Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme
[47 min]
Dissects a weak socialist program and elaborates on the dictatorship of the proletariat, as well as the early socialist stage and higher communist stage.
- V. I. Lenin's The State and Revolution | Audiobook
[2 hr 8 min]
Further analyzes the necessity of revolution and introduces the economic basis for the withering away of the state.
- H. P. Newton's In Defense of Self-Defense
[10 min]
The working class must be able to defend itself from violent reaction, it can't jump from state to non-state overnight.
- N. Frome's How is it to be Done?
[20 min]
What does building socialism in the real world actually look like? How do we get from capitalism to socialism to communism?
- R. Day's The Case for Socialized Ownership
[23 min]
Highlights the importance of collectivized and planned production from an economic, scientific, and efficency standpoint.
- Deng Xiaoping's Marxism is a Science
[40 min]
The struggles and contradictions in existing socialism, and the process of building to higher and more developed stages, can only be accomplished by taking a scientific and analytical approach.
[12 min]
Addresses competing interpretations of the Law of Value with respect to the transition from capitalism to communism.
Section 5: Imperialism [8 hr 48 min]
Capitalism didn't collapse in Europe, it found new ways to survive, chiefly by exporting capital. This current protracted evolution of capitalism into imperialism is the primary contradiction facing the global march to socialism.
- V. I. Lenin's Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism | Audiobook
[2 hr 39 min]
The formation of imperialism, as well as general characteristics of its behavior.
- K. Nkrumah's Neocolonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism
[4 hr 39 min]
Over time, imperialism has managed to export the bulk of the contradictions in the global north to the global south.
- Cheng Enfu's Five Characteristics of Neoimperialism
[~1 hr 30 min]
The characteristics of the moribund US Empire, and its use of the dollar to dominate the global south in the current era.
Section 6: Colonialism [16 hr 14 min]
Understanding the ongoing national liberation movements in the global south, as well as the problem of settler-colonialism, is crucial for understanding the mechanisms of modern empire.
- Ho Chi Minh's The Path Which Led Me to Leninism
[4 min]
Decolonialization is fundamental to Marxism-Leninism.
- F. Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth | Audiobook
[4 hr 48 min]
A Marxist understanding of nationalism in the global south.
- J. Katsfoter's To Stop Marx, They Made Zion
[22 min]
The genocidal history of the settler-colonialism of Palestine, from its origins to today.
[~7 hrs]
Analysis of the dark, bloody history of settler-colonialism in the US Empire.
- P. Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed | Audiobook
[4 hr]
A fiery pedagogy for those wretched of the Earth.
Section 7: Feminism [2 hr 3 min]
The historic oppression of women needs to be recognized and fought against.
- H. P. Newton's The Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements
[6 min]
All sections of the working class must uplift each other, and not use homophobia or misogyny against capitalists, as it attacks our comrades as well.
- A. Kollontai's The Social Basis of the Woman Question
[45 min]
A Marxist counter to the existing bourgeois feminist movement, explaining why feminism needs Marxism, and Marxism needs feminism.
[~30 min]
An exploration of the state of the feminist movement and the importance of intersectionality as it relates to combatting oppression.
- J. Freeman's The Tyranny of Structurelessness
[42 min]
Throughout the history of feminist struggle, the struggle against formalized organization has been counter-productive and led to less efficient effort and increased problems with elitism, while groups with formalized structures have had far more success and open dialogue.
Section 8: LGBTQIA+ [4 hr 22 min]
We must correctly push for queer liberation, unflinchingly.
- L. Feinberg's Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue
[2hr 39 min]
When different social groups fight for liberation together, they are emboldened and empowered ever-further.
- V. Storm & E. Flores' The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto
[~40 min]
Breaks down the basis of misogyny, transphobia, and homophobia from a Marxist perspective.
[63 min]
Trans liberation and communism go hand-in-hand.
Section 9: Party Work [5hr 12 min]
You can't build communism by reading it into existence. Roll up your sleeves, and get to work.
- J. V. Stalin's The Foundations of Leninism
[2 hr 2 min]
Marxism-Leninism is the living and evolving Marxism that has tested theory to practice for over a century.
- V. I. Lenin's What is to be Done? (Abridged)
[70 min]
The fundamental tasks of the revolutionary party.
- Liu Shaoqi's How to be a Good Communist | Audiobook
[~1 hour]
If we are to be successful, we must work to better ourselves, and do good party work.
- Liu Shaoqi's On the Party: Concerning the Mass Line of Our Party
[~30 min]
The mass line is the fundamental tool of maintaining a direct link between the working class and the vanguard, without falling into tailism or commandism.
- Liu Shaoqi's On the Party: Democratic Centralism Within the Party
[~30 min]
Democratic centralism turns an amorphous but radicalized working class into a solidified force to overwhelm its enemies. It takes the greatest strength of the proletariat, its mass, and aligns it in a unified direction.
Section 10: Self-Conduct [2 hr 39 min]
We cannot be dogmatic, or let the perfect socialism in our heads be the enemy of socialism in the real world.
- V. I. Lenin's "Left-Wing" Communism | Audiobook
[1 hr 47 min]
As organizers, we must do our best to engage where the working class is at, and not let the perfect socialism in our heads be the enemy of our own practice.
[17 min]
Marxism in western countries is often clouded by those who seem to only support socialism that failed, the "pure" socialist movements unsullied by the very real struggles involved in building socialism over a lengthy period of time. This perfect vision of socialism in our heads becomes not just the enemy of our practice, but also that of socialists in the global south that fought and died for a better world.
- Zhou Enlai's Guidelines for Myself
[1 min]
Simple and straightforward virtues for any good cadre.
- Xi Jinping's Water Droplets Drilling Through Rock
[4 min]
Tenacity is what creates valleys and shifts mountains. Through our connected struggle, even if the odds seem overwhelming, we all contribute to bringing about a better world.
- Ho Chi Minh's On Revolutionary Morality
[~30 min]
We must combat the notion of putting self-interest above that of our collective struggle. It is through collaboration that we emancipate all, not just ourselves.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you completed your introductory reading course! Now, if you haven't already, get organized. The Party for Socialism and Liberation, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Red Star Caucus are all good Statesian options. Pick whichever decent org is most active in your area regardless of where you live.
Be industrious, and self-sufficient. Take up gardening, home repair, tinkering. It is through practice that you elevate your knowledge. Learn self-defense. Get armed, if practical. Be ready to protect yourself and others. Try to use FOSS if you can. Go vegan!
We will win.
Resources
a. Theory
ProleWiki - A robust library and wiki for Marxism-Leninism.
Red Sails - "Woke ML-MZT Criterion Collection with home videos thrown in"
Comrade's Library - Excellent source for .epubs
Qiao Collective - Connecting western diaspora with Chinese political commentary
b. Podcasts
Blowback - Anti-imperialist podcast about the crimes of the US Empire.
Rev Left Radio - Marxist-Leninist podcast centering theory, history, and current events
c. News
Liberation News - PSL's newsletter
Fight Back! News - FRSO's newsletter
Naked Capitalism - Economic newsletter centering capitalism's decay
On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He didn't always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!
Some significant works:
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Critique of the Gotha Programme
Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)
And, of course, Capital Vol I-III
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
On April 22nd, 1870, Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov "Lenin," hero of the Russian Revolution, and architect of the world's first Socialist state, was born. His contributions to the Marxist canon and to the revolutionary theory and practice of the proletariat throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of imperialism, the right of nations to self-determination, and revolutionary strategy have played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He also loved cats!
Some significant works:
Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism
The Right of Nations to Self-Determination
Materialism and Empirio-Criticism
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
For good fun, here are a few of Lenin's most important contributions to Marxist theory, I highly recommend all of them (but Imperialism especially).
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (must read for any Leftist wanting to understand modern Capitalism, Anarchists included!)
Dr. Michael Parenti 1986 Lecture "Yellow Parenti"
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
But that expropriation of the Third World—has been going on for 400 years—brings us to another revelation—namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!
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I don't make assumptions based on race, though, and your insistence that I do is plain libel. You completely misunderstood my point, and no matter how much I further elaborate on it, you try to flip it into being my problem when you invented a strawman to argue against.