Sharing is hard.. mmmkay?

(but for real, I do my part. I just wish that everyone didn't want so damned much. I have little and would give it all, and have. And do. Often.)

“That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

• George Carlin

This isn’t new either.

That's not enitirely true. The American Dream was (and is) settler-colonialism. Early settlers were promised free land if they killed indigenous peoples living there already, which led to a mostly self-sufficient labor class that could use its self-farmed land as a means to support themselves while bargaining for higher wages. If you were a white man, this dream was attainable, period, even if it meant enslaving and genociding millions of people.

Then came the post-war period. The wartime economy was still fairly planned, and aimed at full employment. Further, the US was emerging as world hegemon and de-facto empire. Imperialism and social safety nets largely expanded due to needing to provide better metrics than the Soviet Union was providing again kept the white men of the US living in the American Dream.

Now that imperialism is decaying, and social safety nets have been gutted along with the fall of the USSR as the main rival power, even white men are starting to fall into genuine proletarianization at large. The US is still a settler-colony, but its one where finance capital has dictatorial control yet imperialism is waning, and where many industries have been hollowed out and shipped overseas because imperialism was more profitable. The US is working its way to its own demise.

Agreed, that was the "advertised" goal, and the overall shape things took once it was set into motion. But looking at things now, in retrospect, I genuinely believe that's just what everyone was told to sell them on the idea, with the actual plan being very different for those who had access backstage, y'know?

I mean, it's much easier to motivate people to uproot their lives (regardless of how abysmal their living conditions were at the time) by promising a Land of Opportunity For Everyone, instead of telling them "yeah, we're a bunch of rich guys who want to get even richer, and we need cheap labour to get things started, then work for us, so that we may accumulate all of the wealth."

My point is that, initially, labor-power wasn't cheap. That's why there were slaves and indentured servants, to make up for the fact that the commodity labor-power was pricier. That's what's so dangerous about settler-colonialism, it "works" for a far larger portion of society, which is why it has led to some of the most horrendous crimes of all time.

It's only now that the system is starting to genuinely unravel, but the US Empire's history as one of the most far-right and brutal countries ever is directly tied to its large settler-colonial class relations.

Well, yeah, it's the pyramid scheme to end all pyramid schemes, not arguing against that. But that was the Dream.

And "not cheap" as in "had a wage," as opposed to not being paid at all as a slave (although there were some costs involved with that as well, so not entirely free - I am not arguing for slavery in any way, I was just boiling down the expenditure). But wealth was clearly still pooled at the top, while most people were no better off than they are now, when talking strictly about wealth distribution ratios.

Edit: the only advantage they had was that land was "free for the taking" (if they were willing to do a little genocide beforehand), but even that ended up pooling around a handful of people once things and people settled in.

The disparity is actually skyrocketing moreso now, and steadily has been for the last century. The New Deal, as a response to the USSR, did manage to temporarily lower inequality, but corporations weren't nearly as monopolized. The status we are in today took a long time, and for hundreds of years, disparity was actually much lower than England and other countries that had started capitalism in earnest. The semi-yeoman worker in the US had bargaining power and land, which slowed down tge process of disparity.

None of this is in defense of settler-colonialism. I bring it up because it points to the class character of the US, and helps explain why it's so far-right and reactionary, as well as why leftist radicalization is increasing rapidly.

Yet again, I agree! But wouldn't you also agree that the system always had this in-built inequality? What I meant to say was that, while it was less immediately obvious at the start, the subsequent pooling and acceleration of said pooling were always going to happen within this system.

And that's why I suspect that this was the plan all along, because it has been visible from the start, it didn't require a retrospective if one was paying enough attention. And those who did got very, very rich.

But even if everyone would have been paying attention*, there would be no room for equality, otherwise the entire pyramid would collapse, taking everyone's "more than" with it.

Yes, I absolutely agree that the disparity we see today is a direct result of the former social relations. The agrarian slave-driven economy in the south was certainly going to result in conflict with the industrial economy based on wage labor in the north, especially as the north needed new wage laborers to expand industrially. Historical progression is a process of endless spirals, tendencies and trajectories accumulate over time until a quantitative buildup results in a qualitative change.

However, I don't see it as something that was intentionally planned. Capital doesn't think that way. Capitalist production is an ever-expanding circuit that must constantly be repeated, anything going against that system of voracious profit gets dashed. Long-term planning is characteristic of socialism, not capitalism, nor the semi-yeoman style of settler-colonial capitalism or slave driven agrarian economy.

This is important, because understanding how we got here today can tell us where we are headed. The historic task of the US proletariat in the age of dying imperialism is to topple the capitalist state and replace it with a socialist state, focusing on decolonization and anti-imperialism. The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born. This is only increasingly possible because the US working class is becoming increasingly proletarianized due to monopolist capture of the land, and imperialism is weakening to the point where we cannot be bribed as much by its spoils.

We aren't here because of some 5-D chess from the old bourgeoisie, nor did the settlers have ignorance of the system. The US settler class was bribed using the spoils of genocide, and its only increasingly true now that there isn't really a semi-yeoman class. The immense brutality of settler-colonialism can't keep the US afloat anymore, nor can imperialism.

I'm just trying to help provide a Marxist perspective, as it genuinely gives us a chance of completing the US proletariat's historic duty. I'm a Marxist-Leninist.

Maybe you're right, maybe I'm just so completely lacking any faith in greedy humans that I now suspect everything was a ploy. I dunno, maybe it's one of the pitfalls of hindsight, that it can easily seem to have intentionality when the string of failures is so smooth and perfect. I mean, at the end of the day, Capitalism is, to my mind, uniquely insidious as a system.

Either way, I really don't want you to think I was disagreeing with you about anything else, whether planned or not, it is most certainly worth learning everything we can from its evolution. As you've said, we need to have the future in mind, because this thing'll be around for at least a bit longer...

Sincerely thank you for the theory! I'm not as versed in these aspects for now, so I don't know where I'd land on the political/philosophical spectrum exactly. All I know is that I sincerely want everyone to have a truly fair chance at life without having to worry about being persecuted for who they are, without having to be relatively rich to afford basic healthcare (I'm including the various hormone therapies here because it's well past time we grew the fuck up and stopped obsessing about other people's genitals, as... uuh... someone smarter than me put it) and without the fear that they may starve or become homeless, ffs... And I also know that what we've been doing so far obviously ain't it...

Modes of production are historical phenomena, guided by technological advancements. Capitalism wasn't a choice, but a result of growing industrial bourgeois production resolving its contradiction with feudal agrarian production. The steam engine is what accelerated this process. Zooming out, capital is the real master of capitalists, capitalists are merely the high priests of capital best guessing at what it wants, but ultimately are slaves to the profit motive and how to best extract it.

And no worries! One thing that's helpful, is that the centralization of capitalism over time is exactly what creates a large class capable of collectively planning and running production in the interests of all. The profit motive destroys the profit motive. I try to maintain revolutionary optimism, doomerism is more of a product of the capitalist class trying to remove revolutionary fervor.

Based on your final paragraph, you'd do well with reading leftist theory! I already said I'm a Marxist-Leninist, I actually made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list if you want to spend some time on theory, but you can explore whatever leftist tendencies you want to. The two biggest umbrellas are anarchism and Marxism, the former being about decentralization and horizontalism, the latter being about centralization and collectivization (to massively oversimplify), and the biggest tendency in Marxism is Marxism-Leninism. If you want to learn more about what makes these distinct, feel free to ask, I used to be an anarchist myself.

Also, if you can, join an org! If you're US-based, I recommend something like The Party for Socialism and Liberation. There are probably other orgs local to you, though, so do some shopping around. Getting organized is the only way out of this mess, and into the new. A better world is possible!

Cowbee [he/they]

2024-11-12 13:19:57

Read Theory, Darn it! An Introductory Reading List for Marxism-Leninism

"Without Revolutionary theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement."

• Vladimir Lenin, What is to be Done? | Audiobook

It's time to read theory, comrades! As Lenin says, "Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle." Reading theory helps us identify the core contradictions within modern society, analyze their trajectories, and gives us the tools to break free. Marxism-Leninism is broken into 3 major components, as noted by Lenin in his pamphlet The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism: | Audiobook

1. Dialectical and Historical Materialism
2. Critique of Capitalism along the lines of Marx's Law of Value
3. Advocacy for Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism

As such, I created the following list to take you from no knowledge whatsoever of Leftist theory, and leave you with a strong understanding of the critical fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism in an order that builds up as you read. Let's get started!

Section I: Getting Started

What the heck is Communism, anyways? For that matter, what is fascism?

1. Friedrich Engels' Principles of Communism | Audiobook

The FAQ of Communism, written by the Luigi of the Marx & Engels duo. Quick to read, and easy to reference, this is the perfect start to your journey.

1. Michael Parenti's Blackshirts and Reds | Audiobook

Breaks down fascism and its mortal enemy, Communism, as well as their antagonistic relationship. Understanding what fascism is, where and when it rises, why it does so, and how to banish it forever is critical. Parenti also helps debunk common anti-Communist myths, from both the "left" and the right, in a quick-witted writing style. This is also an excellent time to watch the famous speech.

Section II: Historical and Dialectical Materialism

Ugh, philosophy? Really? YES!

1. Georges Politzer's Elementary Principles of Philosophy | Audiobook

By far my favorite primer on Marxist philosophy. By understanding Dialectical and Historical Materialism first, you make it easier to understand the rest of Marxism-Leninism. Don't be intimidated!

1. Friedrich Engels' Socialism: Utopian and Scientific | Audiobook

Further reading on Dialectical and Historical Materialism, but crucially introduces the why of Scientific Socialism, explaining how Capitalism itself prepares the conditions for public ownership and planning by centralizing itself into monopolist syndicates. This is also where Engels talks about the failures of previous "Utopian" Socialists.

Section III: Political Economy

That's right, it's time for the Law of Value and a deep-dive into Imperialism. If we are to defeat Capitalism, we must learn it's mechanisms, tendencies, contradictions, and laws.

1. Karl Marx's Wage Labor and Capital | Audiobook as well as Wages, Price and Profit | Audiobook

Best taken as a pair, these essays simplify the most important parts of the Law of Value. Marx is targetting those not trained in economics here, but you might want to keep a pen and some paper to follow along if you are a visual person.

1. Vladimir Lenin's Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism | Audiobook

Absolutely crucial and the most important work for understanding the modern era and its primary contradictions. Marxist-Leninists understand that Imperialism is the greatest contradiction in the modern era, which cascades downward into all manner of related contradictions. Knowing what dying Capitalism looks like, and how it behaves, means we can kill it.

Section IV: Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism

Can we defeat Capitalism at the ballot box? What about just defeating fascism? What about the role of the state?

1. Rosa Luxemburg's Reform or Revolution | Audiobook

If Marxists believed reforming Capitalist society was possible, we would be the first in line for it. Sadly, it isn't possible, which Luxemburg proves in this monumental writing.

1. Vladimir Lenin's The State and Revolution | Audiobook

Excellent refutation of revisionists and Social Democrats who think the State can be reformed, without needing to be replaced with one that is run by the workers, in their own interests.

Section V: Intersectionality and Solidarity

The revolution will not be fought by atomized individuals, but by an intersectional, international working class movement. Intersectionality is critical, because it allows different marginalized groups to work together in collective interest, unifying into a broad movement.

1. Vikky Storm and Eme Flores' The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto | (No Audiobook yet)

Critical reading on understanding misogyny, transphobia, enbyphobia, pluralphobia, and homophobia, as well as how to move beyond the base subject of "gender." Uses the foundations built up in the previous works to analyze gender theory from a Historical Materialist perspective.

1. Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth | Audiobook

De-colonialism is essential to Marxism. Without having a strong, de-colonial, internationalist stance, we have no path to victory nor a path to justice. Fanon analyzes Colonialism's dehumanizing effects, and lays out how to form a de-colonial movement, as well as its necessity.

1. Leslie Feinberg's Lavender & Red | Audiobook

Solidarity and intersectionality are the key to any social movement. When different social groups fight for liberation together along intersectional lines, the movements are emboldened and empowered ever-further.

Section VI: Putting it into Practice!

It's not enough to endlessly read, you must put theory to practice. That is how you can improve yourself and the movements you support. Touch grass!

1. Mao Tse-Tung's On Practice and On Contradiction | Audiobook

Mao wrote simply and directly, targeting peasant soldiers during the Revolutionary War in China. This pair of essays equip the reader with the ability to apply the analytical tools of Dialectical Materialism to their every day practice, and better understand problems.

Congratulations, you completed your introductory reading course!

With your new understanding and knowledge of Marxism-Leninism, here is a mini What is to be Done? of your own to follow, and take with you as practical advice.

1. Get organized. Join a Leftist org, find solidarity with fellow comrades, and protect each other. The Dems will not save you, it is up to us to protect ourselves. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and Freedom Road Socialist Organization both organize year round, every year, because the battle for progress is a constant struggle, not a single election. See if there is a chapter near you, or start one! Or, see if there's an org you like more near you and join it.
2. Read theory. Don't think that you are done now! Just because you have the basics, doesn't mean you know more than you do. If you have not investigated a subject, don't speak on it! Don't speak nonsense, but listen!
3. Aggressively combat white supremacy, misogyny, queerphobia, and other attacks on marginalized communities. Cede no ground, let nobody be forgotten or left behind. There is strength in numbers, when one marginalized group is targeted, many more are sure to follow.
4. Be industrious, and self-sufficient. Take up gardening, home repair, tinkering. It is through practice that you elevate your problem-solving capabilities. Not only will you improve your skill at one subject, but your general problem-solving muscles get strengthened as well.
5. Learn self-defense. Get armed, if practical. Be ready to protect yourself and others. Liberals will not save us, we must save each other.
6. Be persistent. If you feel like a single water droplet against a mountain, think of canyons and valleys. Oh, how our efforts pile up! With consistency, every rock, boulder, even mountain, can be drilled through with nothing but steady and persistent water droplets.

"Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent."

• Mao Tse-Tung

Revolution. Socialism. Liberation. - Freedom Road Socialist Organization | FRSO

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is a national organization of revolutionaries fighting for socialism in the United States. Our home is in the working class.

^{admin (Freedom Road Socialist Organization | FRSO)}

Most definitely have a lot of Leftist reading to do! If nothing else, I at least know I'm well Left of Center:))

Now that I've mulled it over some more, I think it feels very intentional to me because I do see a lot of similarities between it and Feudalism, yes! It's like Capitalism is comprised of multiple smaller monarchies, referring to Corporations and any organisation/person with a large amount of capital at their disposal, and thus influence. But, yeah, we're talking orders of magitude of complexity above traditional feudalism, so it would stand to reason that it's most likely just a mathematical whirlpool of sorts. I do agree that capital is the main point of power in Capitalism and that everything else has formed around it.

Which, on a personal side note, is so sad when looking at the big picture! It means that the people in power aren't actually driven by anything concretely Human™, so to speak, they've ceeded full control of themselves and their lives over to the accumulation of something entirely fictitious... It'd be lamentable if it wasn't so damned dangerous...

Thank you so much for the reading list! It's so nice to have a quasi-curriculum for these things! And I probably will drop a line or two once I get started with the reading! Truth be told, I'm at the point where I know enough to understand just how little I know about the subject, so I can't even think of relevant questions at the moment. I've focused more on existential philosophy and such so far, needed to fix myself first:))

As for joining an org, that's in my 2-year plan (life got upended, again, so it's running alongside several other need-to-do stuff). I will lean very heavily into volunteer work, hopefully that'll open up some political networks as well. If nothing else, it is urgently clear that it's time to act as a citizen. Thank Christ we've managed to pull another 4 years of European Union (Romanian)... We have a lukewarm Centrist now, but at least it's not a raging Fascist...

Yep! Marx himself said that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles, after all. Feudalism does have a lot in common with capitalism, but what makes Marx interesting is how he analyzed how capitalism is different. Many leftists of his era were focused on the similarity between capitalism and feudalism, Marx focused on the opposite, how it's different, and this is what propelled him into scientific socialism, socialism as it emerges from capitalism.

And no problem for the reading list! It's designed to be completed in order, and is focused on taking someone freshly radicalized but with no experience with leftist theory, and leave them as someone with a firm grasp on the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism and how to behave as an organized leftist! It also has audiobooks, queer and feminist theory, a good dose of basic history, and more. Since you mentioned philosophy, the 2nd section goes over Dialectical Materialism, so it might be a really good fit for you if that's your current interest! Still read section 1 before 2, but 2 is a fun section once you get there!

And great to hear you plan on getting organized! Really, that's step 1, but obviously not everyone can do so immediately due to life events and whatnot. Just do what you can!

Yep, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, it's much easier to change things if said change is built upon what's useful from the old. No use throwing out the things which actually do work (whether by design or incidentally, doesn't matter, happy accidents are still happy), plus it has the added benefit of maintaining some degree of familiarity, so I would imagine that makes the pill easier to swallow.

I'll most definitely take it in the order given, the new is always prioritised:)) Sounds delectably thorough, my brain will be happy, thank you! And, yeah, that's pretty much the basis on which I've started pulling hard to the Left (used to be Undecided, a.k.a. I'm Severely Depressed And Don't Have The Space For It). Existentialism steered me toward an understanding of what a satisfying life means for the human psyche, which then shoved me into "well, hey! Sounds like something which would be nice for everyone!" Then I finally saw the world for what it is and... yeah...

Completely agreed, change starts from home, always. It looks daunting, but the fact that so many people remember that Fascism is objectively bad, actually, means it's not impossible.

Thanks so much once again, both for the resources and the conversation! And sorry again if I came off as hostile, I've been struggling to manage a hefty case of misanthropy for the past almost-decade.

Awesome, thank you!❤️

Wish I was 20 again, miss pulling all-nighters reading without needing to recoup for half a year afterwards...

Except we're witnessing the entire establishment media publishing the same claims as they did before except they have already been fully debunked by the UN. So now they are posting provably false information.

A 'journalist' who published the new one literally debunked the claims.

I'm not in any way pushing back on that.

But this is also an rw antisemitic trope, to the extent it has its own wikipedia article, and has since 2003.

Search Zionist control of media and you'll find an endless series of righting fascist, white nationalist, and straight up Nazi promotion of the idea (although they use Zionist and Jewish interchangeably, when I recognize that you geneva_convenience, do understand the difference).

Its a painful kind of wrap-around bending of reality that has happened, and I don't disagree with the reality. I'm just pointing out its irony.

The meme is of the format "Is this something it isnt?", which is intended to highlight the irony that now the left is having to make the same claims rw's have made for decades, but now that its real, the rw actually supports the Zionist control of media, and maybe even represents the primary force of Zionism internationally through Christian Zionism.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

What a fucking joke!