UpholdTimMosley

3y

I'm basically rebuking the idea of socialism in one country as well as communism being a party affair. At least that's what I'm attempting to do.

UpholdTimMosley

3y

i know China hasn't achieved communism, the CPC itself has said as much

But how does Socialism in One Country then turn into a stateless society? I don't agree with Trotskyist "permanent revolution", but I also don't agree that a century of "building socialism" is a practical solution either.

ARCADE GOON

3y

This is very controversial, I can't write it all on my phone. Marx basically means dialectics in terms of motion and contradiction.

We often say: A person is either dead or alive. Technically it isn't true. Heart death and brain death are different. Furthermore, some of your bodily functions continue, and maybe for a split-second, some cells are alive and some are dying. Dialectics is about viewing those contradictory moments, viewing those transitions and motions. If you understand that, you can better understand what life and death mean in biological terms.

This is tied back to economics. Capitalism has only existed for 300 years or so. Before we had feudalism in Europe. So if you understand the transitional phase between feudalism and capitalism (often called mercantilism), you can understand capitalism better and why it works the way it does, for example why the bourgeoisie exists. Similarly, you can make educated guesses about the transitions that arise out of capitalism into the new system that will follow out of it.

The seed from which this transition grows are the contradictions of capitalism. Climate change; automation, falling profit rates, growing monopolies, alienation of workers. Ultimately these will accelerate the demise of capitalism. This doesnt mean that socialism will be its necessary replacement. But communism in the Marxist Leninist sense is the project of guiding and accelerating this transition consciously for the benefit of the working masses.

It's more complicated than this but I think this is a good start.

@Synopsis

americana

3y

Those are the “state=power” “government=coordination” mish mash right

ARCADE GOON

3y

Socialism in one country is not really an ideology but more a reaction to history. The German revolution failed because the Social Democrats killed Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht and sent the proto-fascist Freikorps to take care of any revolting workers. So when it was apparent that Germany would not revolt, the Soviets realized that world revolution won't happen. Socialism in one country was basically just an excuse to appease the West and get them off their backs while the country rebuilt (and then while it prepared for WW2 - Stalin knew early that Hitler was out for war, which is also why he bought time using the Molotov-Ribbenkopf pact). Otherwise the West could have went against the USSR and said they are exporting revolutions. Mind you there was not a single other socialist country in the world at the time.

ARCADE GOON

3y

No sensible person claims that Western countries with different histories can be carbon copies of the USSR, nor does anybody want to replicate the USSR step by step.

You can be a Marxist-Leninist and still say: The USA needs more co-ops etc. - if you read Lenin, you will see they were pragmatic in their actions and steadfast in their beliefs. I dont see it as a contradiction to promote lets say democratic confederalism while being a Marxist Leninist if that is what your country needs

UpholdTimMosley

3y

I love Lenin lol

And that's my point. I'm not principally AGAINST Marxism-Leninism. I'm against the idea of replicating a USSR-styled revolution in 2021, mostly because I don't think it would be materially possible to do given the surveillance state

I advocate for Democratic Confederalism not because "muh evil red fash tankies" but because like, I do not believe that we can withstand another war ecologically, and the reactionary element in the US is so strong that the country would likely collapse if a vanguard revolution were attempted, followed by an uprising of fascism

KOL Meezy Mestizo

3y

Synop saw actual in-depth discussion of theory/philosophy and said

UpholdTimMosley

3y

That's fair

I'm just worried about people who are trapped into like, statist realism. I'm not an anarchist per se, but a lot of people seem very happy about continuing the existence of the nation-state, which will then necessarily mean communism will never arrive

Sloth

3y

The polarity between @ARCADE_GOON 's political posts and g&g posts

UpholdTimMosley

3y

I guess I was referring to class consciouness then, being built through a dialectical process

How does one build class consciousness for people who, regardless of the conditions they're part of, refuse to accept the truth? There's numskulls ITT who probably make table scrap wages and lived through last year, and are living through this year, who still believe in the present bourgeoisie system. What do we do about a sizable population of willfully ignorant people then, who actively do not want to achieve class consciousness?

ARCADE GOON

3y

This is a stretch imo

We can call ourselves communists bc this is the end goal

There are socialists who dont believe in communism

Furthermore the terms are blurry, Marx and Lenin use them differently

It's best not to get into semantics IMO

Synopsis

3y

weird concept i know but if arcade is talking to OP and they are having a discussion, there is no rule that says i or anyone else has to interfere in it

Sloth

3y

The polarity between @ARCADE_GOON 's political posts and g&g posts

deadacc

3y

duality of man

ARCADE GOON

3y

Marxism Leninism is a political ideology, not a play-by-play book. Just like two liberal-led countries can have different politics, so can ML-led states.

I think ur mistake is being only acquainted with online MLs. In real life, nobody says we need October Revolution tomorrow bc nobody is that delusional. Ppl advocate for short term measures we can achieve + education for long term goals if they organize IRL.

ML is still the most viable and potent strain of communism i would say, and basically all the communist developments afterwards were an answer to it.

Sloth

3y

The polarity between @ARCADE_GOON 's political posts and g&g posts

ARCADE GOON

3y

That is the million dollar question. You can fill books answering it.

Basically, I would advocate for an offline strategy. The media spectacle is so big that you cannot win it, so you have to avoid this battle altogether. The goal is to short circuit the brains of grillpilled normies: "Wait, the communists are devil boogeyman, but the communists in my city help the homeless, the workers, the tenants? Maybe the news is lying to me."

The strategy is:
1. Electoral politics
2. Labor organization
3. Short-term single-issue activism and protests
4. Social organization like clubs, libraries sports...
5. Charity/mutual aid

Educate - agitate -organize

A single person cannot do this, so it's good to find one niche and stick with it.

Often times, peoole get stuck at #1 (the DSA) and ignore #2 - #5. And #4 is the most dead one. There used to be "red sports clubs", red bars/pubs and so on. I think we need to build legitimate social networks in real life again to get a base from which you can get manpower for the rest.

ImAUsernameLike

3y

socialists who don’t believe in communism are just confused

ARCADE GOON

3y

Marx writes about the different types of socialists in his day in the Manifesto:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch03.htm

UpholdTimMosley

3y

Yeah I am only acquainted with online MLs lmao

I live in a really conservative town