I have to flesh it out but I keep being struck by the contradictory nature of American elections and how frankly nonsensical it all is and it returned me to this (from Wikipedia)

Gallup principal economist Jonathan Rothwell concluded, in a 2020 analysis and economic impact study of the PIAAC results collected during 2012 - 2017;[55] commissioned by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy,[56] that the United States could increase its annual GDP by 10%, adding $2.2 trillion in annual income, by enabling greater literacy for the 54% of Americans reading below a sixth-grade level nationwide.[57][58] The analysis noted that, of the 33 OECD nations included in the survey, the U.S. had placed sixteenth for literacy, and surmised that about half of Americans surveyed, aged 16 to 74, had demonstrated a below sixth-grade reading level.[55]

If this and similar studies are accurate it means a significant number of Americans can read what’s on a page and repeat it back to you, but couldn’t tell you what it means or draw anything from it. If it is the case that people can read but not understand than no wonder Americans are so clueless - they’re thinking at the level of twelve year old children.

I think coming out of this election one of the things we should be doing is organizing for the collective education, both political and general. It’s no wonder that communists of yore prioritized workers schools, study groups, newspapers, etc. Illiteracy is a tool of the imperialist because it allows people to wallow in ignorance and uncritical thought. We should be organizing study groups (and schools where possible) for the people in our lives to study, appreciate, and create not just theory but also art, music, literature, etc. of both the expressly political and seemingly apolitical varieties. As long as we are engaging with people and challenging them to think for themselves they will come closer to socialism.

These groups can also serve as the basis for actual organizing which is the second thing that we as a society need to learn. We must make change if we want it, politicians and bureaucrats will not do it for us. This is especially true in the workplace where workers have come to rely on government intervention or legal contracts for far too long into a time when capitalists do not care and will only respond to actual labor action.

US Democracy is officially dead now (according to Blue MAGA rhetoric), so maybe they are receptive to revolutionary agitprop again. BLM uprising occurred during Trump’s first term, so just need an issue to unite people under to mobilize again.

Blue MAGA has been running into the arms of right-centrism for a while, so it will be interesting to see where the new faultlines emerge. Effective leftist rhetoric needs to draw a clear line between Democratic Party and real leftist organizing separate from Dem machine. As long as libs keep thinking Dems are the only viable org in US politics, real leftist orgs will continue to be considered ineffective in the lib brain.

The rhetorical trick is to convince libs that Dems have failed by their own framing, and that means to try something else. Libs that can’t accept this were never going to be leftists anyway.

Just a reminder to tell your fellow liberals that they didn’t fail anyone. They were failed by DNC leadership

• Holy shit this worked REALLY REALLY WELL. STRIKE NOW COMRADES (shoutout to @Sickos)
• I also had good luck with this so far.

I’ve also had success with: “The disenchantment with the Democratic party will pave the way for a true 3rd party that represents regular folks instead of rich donors.”

Another thread: Lit for your weeping lib neighbors

EDIT: I also slip in that half the voters didn't vote in 2020, and that this cycle looks no different, and that the party with a ground game has an opening that neither party is using.

:posting: :posting: :posting:

Don’t mind me just banging the sign again…

:posting: :posting: :posting:

Liberals are outnumbered 2-to-1 by non-voters. 50% of the electorate did not vote in 2020, so if they aren’t doorknocking they are not serious.

From and talking about 3rd parties

that workers’ candidates are nominated everywhere in opposition to bourgeois-democratic candidates. As far as possible they should be League members and their election should be pursued by all possible means. Even where there is no prospect of achieving their election the workers must put up their own candidates to preserve their independence, to gauge their own strength and to bring their revolutionary position and party standpoint to public attention. They must not be led astray by the empty phrases of the democrats, who will maintain that the workers’ candidates will split the democratic party and offer the forces of reaction the chance of victory. All such talk means, in the final analysis, that the proletariat is to be swindled.

previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously… previously…

That is a great idea. We should be doing all we can to provide solutions for the dissolutioned at the moment

More modern theory would be a godsend no matter what work you decided to update.

antimaterialist french anarchism is the best i’ve got to offer you. anything sufficiently materialist is too threatening and too much historical reading for treat demons that will make them feel uwu sad

We should write an updated Communist Manifesto for 2024.

I work in a university and have some curriculum Input even though I’m a non tenure track faculty. We are reworking the textbook this year and I’m one of the writers. Curent stuff is very libbed “rhetoric is like the courts, look at this good lib decision” shit.

Needless to say I’m gonna cook because the courts won’t save the libs now. The “what is to be done” framing is going to be front and center.

“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.

2. 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. You can also watch the famous “Yellow Parenti” speech.

Section II: Historical and Dialectical Materialism

Ugh, philosophy? Really? YES!

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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!

12. 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. The Democrats 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 the Grand Canyon. 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

I think this article I shared earlier in the week on /c/history is a pretty good piece to send to people, especially those at least sympathetic towards socialism. It outlines how the abolitionists actually managed to achieve lasting change in the United States, despite its 2 party system and powerful slave-owning aristocracy.

Basically it lays out what was done by the abolitionists to achieve a better world. That could help us start a serious discussion on what is to be done in our time.

The Abolitionist Dirty Break by Ben Grove

From the introduction of the piece:

How can a small movement challenge the Leviathan? How can it find strength in its independence? How can it topple a power that seems omnipotent and achieve a revolution?

In 2024, these tasks may seem hopelessly difficult to socialists in the United States. But defying the powerful has never been easy, and we will always have lessons to learn from our predecessors. One of the most important, yet also misunderstood, is the American abolitionist movement.

It’s easy enough to celebrate abolitionists for their righteous principles: activists of every stripe invoke their legacy. Yet abolitionists and their Radical Republican allies were more than just moral idealists. They were also cunning revolutionary strategists. Using principled independent politics, they successfully attacked America’s slaveholding oligarchy and the two-party system that protected it. Their insights and debates have tremendous relevance for modern socialists, because abolitionism helped to ignite the most important revolutionary rupture in U.S. history: the Civil War and the downfall of chattel slavery.

And these were the conditions that their movement built itself in:

By the 1820s, a two-party system of Whigs and Democrats was developing, nurtured by the brilliant New York politician Martin Van Buren. Van Buren’s explicit goal was to use the excitement of party politics to distract the masses from more dangerous conflicts over slavery. Whigs and Democrats would have fiery conflict and genuine power struggles—but both sides suppressed opposition to America’s true ruling class: the planters of the South, the Slave Power.

[REDACTED] - Matt Christman, 2018

dune

what’s treat deamons?

red sails did a modern translation a while back

ps another hexpost put a r*ddit link to a neoliberal post with the tittle “what is to be done” and i was incredibly disorientated.

I’m serious down to help write new theory with other terminally online comrades.