- cross-posted to:
- latestagecapitalism@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- latestagecapitalism@lemmy.world
🚧 This reading guide is under renovation! Please see the basic list for the time being!🚧
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 [5 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 introduction 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.
- 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
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who the fuck is scraeming “READ THEORY” at my house. show yourself, coward. i will never read theory
It’s me, please do it… 🥺
Thx, this is a great list!
I can’t emphasize enough how good Socialism - Utopian and Scientific, and State and revolution are. Possibly the best shorter political works in their given centuries.
State and Revolution was what convinced me of communism. Black shirts and Reds radicalized me but State and Revolution educated me and convinced me of the necessity of revolution. I straight up could not define what a state was before I read that 💀
No problem! Wanted to have something of my own to share any time I think it might be wanted, plus with the aftermath of the US election many US liberals are more open to radicalization.
Fully agree on Socialism: Utopian and Scientific and State and Rev, both are some of the most useful for understanding Scientific Socialism and the necessity of revolution.
Thanks for your input!
As a fairly new ML I have read some Engels, Lenin, Parenti and a bunch of essays and articles. I have no ML orgs near me, so I was wondering what else should I do? Should I get involved with non communist orgs that do decent work while I keep reading theory and filling in the gaps of my knowledge? I’m not planning to stop reading but idk, am I too green to do stuff?
If there’s no ML parties near you, then you have a few options! One is to join a national org and agree to start a chapter near you, which is lots of work. I greatly admire those who can do that, but if you’re new to organizing I wouldn’t recommend this at all. The other option is to join decent orgs, keep reading, and try to get involved with your community. You’re never too green to get involved! Just keep up with both theory and practice, they reinforce each other.
Thank you comrade, I’ll do that!
No problem! And good luck! 🫡
Idk, all these books are pretty old and (I think they’ve been written by authoritarians). I say we just wing it and hope for the best. /,s
Lmao (technically several works listed were published within the last 30 years 🤓)
Jokes aside, I really like this person’s essays on Marxism for modern analysis in digestible, bite-sized chunks. I especially love essays like Why do Marxists Fail to Bring the “Worker’s Paradise?” and Socialism Developed China, Not Capitalism because they help counter common idealist arguments against AES states from a contemporary point of view. They also have funky essays like Dialectics and Quantum Mechanics that are just downright interesting if you’re both a Science Nerd and a Marxism Nerd.
Is there a reason that the manifesto is not listed here? I’m guessing because the material contained within is covered by these other texts?
Manifesto is in the basic course, but also because the material is covered in other places.
Can I suggest adding “MATERIALISM AND THE DIALECTICAL METHOD” by M. Cornford. I started reading it and I think it makes a good introduction in dialectical materialism.
I actually have been meaning to look at changing up the philosophy section for Rev 3, and this was one of the candidates. Unfortunately, it isn’t in a format that is easily readable on a phone, like Prolewiki or epubs, and I haven’t read it myself either. If someone were to add it to a site where it is easy to read on phones, then it would be much more compelling to add. Same as Adoratsky’s work on Dialectical Materialism
Okay, I’ll look into that
Let me know if anything comes of it!
If you have any specific books you want made into epubs and uploaded to prolewiki, I can do that. It of course helps if they are already transcribed into text like above on marxists.org.
I haven’t actually seen Materialism and the Dialectical Method transcribed into text, though I’m sure epubs exist of it somewhere. I’ve only found pdfs, like the above link. I wouldn’t want to ask anyone to take on such a large task, but if it’s something you’d like to take on I’d absolutely appreciate it.
Cornforth’s prior mentioned work and Adoratsky’s Dialectical Materialism are the two I’ve been passively looking for. I think they may replace Elementary Principles of Philosophy, or perhaps come after it.
The Adoratsky PDF from redstarpublishers is text. In a PDF format (which is bad), but actual text and not images!
Since you said that, I checked redstarpublishers for Cornforth’s work, and it’s in the same text PDF format! Might be a lot easier to transcribe into an epub for comlib or Prolewiki library entry!
Here’s your EPUB https://comlib.encryptionin.space/epubs/adoratsky/
Awesome, thanks so much! I’ll take a look at reading this soon!
Oh, you’re right, I didn’t even see it was a pdf, I just hovered over and saw marxists.org and thought “must be text”
Yep, thought so too at first when searching for it, it’s one of those things I don’t think anyone has gotten around to transcribing into plain text.
Open for feedback! Want to have this intro list I made as a post I can easily reference with a quick link. I can take this down or edit it if it breaks any rules. Hope I’ve covered all the necessary bases!
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments as well, I’ll do my best to answer. It doesn’t need to specifically be about this list either, it can be a general Marxism question as well!
Also working on a “DLC Pack” for this list for further reading. I’d appreciate any suggestions!
Edit: internationalized the language to not be US-centric (changed “The Democrats will not save us” to “Liberals will not save us” and “Grand Canyon” to “canyons and valleys”).
Edit 2: cleaned up and trimmed extra words that were unnecessary (possible expansion) and added Red Star Caucus and MUG to the org list at @OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml request.
Edit 3: added Pedagogy of the Oppressed and emphasized the Marxist stance on National Liberation and the Right of Self-Determination.
Edit 4: added “Left-Wing” Communism at the request of @yogthos@lemmy.ml
Edit 5: added How to be a Good Communist per the request of a (for now) anonymous comrade.
Edit 6: optimization of link character use thanks to @Edie@lemmy.ml
Edit 7: added Western Marxism Loves Purity and Martyrdom, But Not Real Revolution at the suggestion of @ReadFanon@hexbear.net
Edit 8: Renamed some things, changed to Prolewiki links over Marx2Mao for ease of reading on mobile devices (the target)
Edit 9: Major overhaul and restructuring.
I take umbrage with the predication upon a “leftist” set of principles as I would contend that creates a division at the precipice and denies a shared conclusion drawn upon all parties.
I don’t think, for example, that we should consider flat Earthers and modern science to be equally valid. The same goes for political theory and practice. Dialectical materialism is useful because it helps us know and understand the world, the way it’s developing, and our shared place in history. Division is a natural consequence of the class struggle, and therefore correctly working towards abolishing the class struggle gets nearer to that shared conclusion you speak of.
Why do you consider Colonialism to be such importnat subject so as to make 1/4 of the course about it? Do you reckon it is of any use to a comrade in a country like Slovakia, which has no history of colonialism whether imposed or enforced (or am I mistaken?) And what about modern problems and possible solutions to them? What about the nuclear question, or the rise of surveillance technology?
I recommend checking out the basic study guide for now, as the advanced guide is outdated and under construction. Colonialism is important, as it forms the basis of modern western imperialism and has evolved towards neocolonialism, which impacts the entire world. As for the specific questions of surveillance and the nuclear question, those are great areas of study but are outside of the scope of these limited lists focusing on the foundations of Marxism-Leninism. Those are cool subjects for their own study!
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Having seen you sharing this list multiple times in the comments lately, I have been thinking “man, this should be a proper post”. Great work and thanks for educating us, comrade o7
Thank you for checking it out! Now more than ever is a great opportunity for reading theory and radicalization, so I’ve been sharing it when I can.
Quote from the second link:
The proletariat is that class in society which draws its means of livelihood wholly and solely from the sale of its labour and not from the profit from any kind of capital
So anyone with any sort of retirement plan or a bit of money invested is not part of the proletariat.
The proletariat, or class of proletarians, is, in a word, the working class of the nineteenth century.
Yeah, that tracks. How relevant is it to today’s world, though?
The proletarian can free himself only by abolishing private property in general.
The proletarian frees himself by abolishing competition, private property and all class differences.I wonder how many people today who call themselves “Communist” would actually be fine with that.
It’s our car now, comrade.Good questions!
-
Yes and no. This is class reductionism, a dogmatic approach to Class distinctions, however you are getting to where the Petite Bourgeoisie and Proletariat start to solidify. The Proletariat must labor to live, the Petite Bourgeoisie must labor to live too, but work using Capital they own. ie, workers vs small business owners. Having some 401k investments does not make you petite bourgeoisie, you still fund your livelihood off of your labor and your labor alone. There are elements of Labor Aristocracy and other, more complicated parts of class dynamics, especially with respect to Imperialism, but that concept can be shelved for now. You’ll come to it later if you stick with this list, and it will make more sense then.
-
Class dynamics are still relevant today. The proletariat includes office workers, but also still includes the factory workers overseas who still produce everything! The Global North didn’t move beyond factories, but exported most of them to Global South countries the Global North can exploit even more. Parenti makes his case for this in the last section of Blackshirts, the next book on the list.
-
Every Communist accepts abolition of Private Property. A fully socialized economy is publicly owned and centrally planned. This means no private property. No, Communists are not saying you can’t have a toothbrush or gaming PC of your own, that’s why they distinguish between Private, Public, and Personal property. There are many Communists that want all or almost all transportation to be publicly owned, yes, but that comes with proper city planning and infrastructure to allow for it to be practical.
Hope that helps!
-
The proletarian frees himself by abolishing competition, private property and all class differences.
I wonder how many people today who call themselves “Communist” would actually be fine with that.
It’s our car now, comrade.Communists seek the abolishment of private property — property owned by capitalists used to extract surplus value from workers, like real estate, corporations, IPs, etc. Not personal property which is property you use yourself, like your house (even if it’s rented from a capitalist; they should not own your house as private property in the first place) or your car.
It’s all explained in the books listed.
Has 12 been removed?
Found a new link here https://www.mlreadinghub.org/study-materials/reading-list
I like this list, I’ve read through it all myself, but a comrade did point out that it has google analytics which spooks me out for a communist site. Just be careful with that, it was actually part of why I made my own list.
Oh I was linking because it includes the two Mao books.
I also am not a fan of that. What’s that communist reading website that has everything? Is it Marxist.org or something
Marxist.org generally has worse translations of equivalent texts on marx2mao, which is why I prefer it.
Thanks! Wish they would do SSL certs
I made the comlib mirror for that reason
Should I switch all the links over to the comlib version? Not really sure what that entails on your end, though I don’t know the impact of this list on your site traffic either lol
🔥🔥🔥🔥 it finally dropped 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Getting excited about a reading list.
Us commies sure are nerdy sometimes.
I should finally order paper for printing that darn book…
Haha, I added audiobooks (sourced by a helpful comrade I think wishes to be anonymous) so if that’s more convenient, take advantage of it!
Hate audiobooks even more than digital ones lol but I really do appreciate the effort thank you and the anonymous comrade!!
To each their own! That’s the benefit of providing options!
Just wrote this somewhere else. Maybe this is where it belongs: Good impulse to read theory, but 150y/o theory is not where I’d advice people to start. At least the german originals of what you recomend there are fairly hard to read. Plus they lack the development of marxist theory that happened since then. For example Gramscis thoughts or critical theory are so freakin important for marxism to be applicable to this society being far more diverse than good’ol working class in the factory vs. Monopoly man capitalists. I’m sure there is updated marxism and introductions available in english. (Dunno, Harvey maybe? Mayo?)
Also “how to conduct yourself as a leftist” sound strict af and kinda deterministic.
Plus there is no need to give stalin’s voice that kind of space.
I appreciate your input! From what I’ve curated, I picked a good mix of modern works like Blackshirts and Reds and foundational works, because they are relevant and necessary even today in my opinion. Since it’s an intro reading list, it’s difficult to include every good work, if you want, you can comment a suggestion of what to remove and what to take its place.
As for the “how to conduct yourself” bit, it’s just good general advice like suggesting to keep reading theory, getting organized, be persistent, etc. All generally useful skills even for non-leftists, but again, feel free to leave feedback in the comments of how you would change it and I’ll consider it.
As for the comment on Stalin, nowhere are his works listed, can you elaborate on what you mean?
nowhere are his works listed
A pity, at least the Foundations of Leninism should be included, at the very least the 6th chapter because this topic is where real problem lies for all liberals and succdems, and it leds them to assume proimperialist positions.
I mean i understand normies fear the name of Stalin, but it is really very critical point and a crucial addition to Lenin’s “Imperialism…”
I believe I covered the National Question sufficiently by including The Wretched of the Earth, though I am open to tweaking the list. The reason why I did not include Foundations of Leninism, on top of the general fear of Stalin, is because I believe it to be redundant and have successfully covered all of what Stalin covers in it in other, more in-depth works. Additionally, I am light on room in the list character limit, so I would have to swap it out or trim the intro/conclusion. Even further, I would rather include Marxism and the National Question over Foundations of Leninism, if my goal is to answer the question of the importance of National Liberation.
Do you have a suggestion for what could be swapped out?
Your list isn’t even that long, and both are short too, especially that you included works like Wretched or Lavender which are 300+ pages.
Yes. Again, I believe that Wretched answers the National Question already, and in more depth than either Marxism and the National Question or Foundations of Leninism. I specifically included Lavender and Red to showcase that liberatory struggles for marginalized groups are more effective when allied with other liberatory struggles.
Again, I am fighting the character limit, and trying to make a list that doesn’t scare away liberals. Including a work by Stalin absolutely is make or break for many liberals, period, meaning no theory ends up getting read. If you can make the case that Wretched alone cannot solve the National Question, or that it is good for me to trim some areas of the text body meant to guide and encourage the reader along, I am more than happy to consider it.
I agree that it is important to stress National Liberation as a means to prevent pro-Imperialist stances from forming, which is why I am seriously considering what you’re saying, but you haven’t explained why Wretched is insufficient. I understand that the works I have listed are longer, which is part of why I believe my list to be more comprehensive, even if it is merely an introductory list.
I won’t even disagree, except the point we can’t dance around Stalin for long. Probably not for more than few seconds it take any lib to ask question about him.
That’s a fair point, though I will point out that Blackshirts does a good job of that already, and is the second item in the list. It’s not like I need to have Losurdo as required reading IMO when the emphasis of applying correct analysis, supporting revolutionary movements, anti-Imperialism, and getting organized should lead people to correct conclusions even without reading Stalin’s work, which is mostly summarization of other work.
I’ll consider what you’ve said, thank you. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
I am fighting the character limit,
You can get a few characters by changing
comlib.encryptionin.spacetoc.encryptionin.spaceOh, thank you! I’ll make the edits in a bit.
Edit: just did it, thanks so much!
Okay sorry regarding stalin i mixed that up. It’s in the other reading list in the comments here.
On “conduct yourself” dunno, maybe this boils down to writing style. But the ML sort of theoretical style plus the horrors of undemocratic socialist history do make it important to stress the emphatic (as in: since critical theory and french subjectivity theory we debunked “individual freedom”, but still need to keep it as a goal) part of personal freedom & choice. That wording above doesn’t show that kind of self reflection imo.
Gramsci! The concepts of hegemony and “senso commune” (sry dont know english translation) are essential to analyse current events. Also this protects lefties from babbling about classes in a way that alienates them from everyone just observing whats going on.
(Senso commune and gramscis notion of intellectuals also offers a neat way through the whole “get educated since otherwise you fundamentally don’t understand your own life”- rhethoric dilemma/arrogance issue)
You need secondary literature for gramsci though. He left 3000 pages of unstructured notes from fascist prison. You don’t wanna go through that. Unfortunetly I have no idea of english publications. Barfuss & Jehle Einführung is nice, in case you speak german.
Appreciate the clarification regarding Stalin.
First, offering advice on how to conduct yourself as a Leftist isn’t some spooky command. In the list I made, I literally say “to take with you as practical advice.” This practical advice includes joining a leftist organization (the bare minimum to be a leftist in practice and not just in theory), read more theory, fight white supremacy and queerphobia, be more industrious, learn self-defense, and be persistent. None of these get in the way of “personal freedom” in my opinion. My goal is to create Communists that want to change society and work to do so, not just intellectuals that want to endlessly critique society, and my list reflects that. If you have problems with individual bits of advice in that list, feel free to let me know.
Secondly, regarding your claims of Marxist-Leninist theory and “horrifyingly undemocratic” AES states, I do recommend you read the essay Why do Marxists Fail to Bring the “Worker’s Paradise?” It’s important to contextualize AES states, their successes and failures, properly. For further reading, Soviet Democracy by Pat Sloan is a good historical account of the Soviet Democratic System, warts and all.
As for Gramsci, I am not at all opposed to including his writings, but my list is focuses on getting the most out of the least. I would need to remove a work and find a concise secondary work, in English. I can include his writings in my “DLC Pack” further reading list I am making. The target audience for my list is English-speaking, I made it in the context of the aftermath of the US election and am targeting disenfranchised liberals who may benefit from theory.
I appreciate your feedback however, and will add Gramsci as a suggestion for my DLC list.
Thanks. I read the tayangyu essay, and kinda liked it, but it didn’t really answer my questions…
Isn’t the author leaving the framework of dialectical thinking when they dismiss the relevance of ideas almost entirely in favor of material economical factors?
As in: Couldn’t have the development of productive forces happened with more participation?
Wouldn’t than the emergence of a democratic or collective subject have been faaaar more likely, even though and because people would have been confronted with the limits of economic development, as agents, not just as objects of that one and only party’s decisions?
Good question! The answer is that there were democratic structures in place in the Soviet Union. That’s the purpose of adding Soviet Democracy as a historical reference to be taken alongside the essay. These structures were not all powerful or fully democratic, I am not pretending the USSR was perfect. I am instead, however, contextualizing the earlier part of the essay, the line
Sometimes people respond to this by pointing to the democratic benefits Marxist-Leninist countries have provided. However, we would be fooling ourselves to pretend any Marxist-Leninist country created anything coming close to a “workers’ paradise.” That’s not to say there were not huge gains for workers, don’t get me wrong, but criticism of the inadequacies of workers’ democracy in these countries should be taken seriously and responded to honestly.
When contextualized, Soviet Democracy was both a massive stride yet held back and incomplete by the real Material Conditions and level of development of the Productive Forces, leading to real setbacks and real weaknesses in said democratic structures.
I think it was not only those material conditions but also a deterministic ideology or maybe just power hungry leaders. (Good cue for taking the democracy part very serious from the beginning, because non or semi-democratic structures attract and create dictator-subjects, and projecting yourself outside that dialectic is as naive as it is arrogant)
Shooting thousands (or hundreds of thousands, as my hasty wikipedia research suggests) of the opposition, both left and right, is no matter of slow industrialization.
Admittedly I’n not fit in soviet history, but the combo of “oh they had democratic infrastructure” and secret deportation, incarceration and murder of even leftist opposition doesn’t sit right. And honestly, calling that “not perfect” feels like violation of emancipatory writing of history and way of living.
You’re free to make your case for it being because of “power hungry leaders,” though you’d have to grapple with the very real fact that Stalin tried to resign on 4 separate occasions and have his position eliminated. I’m not saying you’re wrong, it very well could have been a thirst for power, but you’ve done nothing to support your thesis, nor to prove that the Soviet model was non-democratic or semi-democratic. Moreover, you don’t define what “semi-democratic” means, nor what “democratic” is, and where that threshold lies.
To borrow your own words, using hasty Wikipedia research rather than attempting to better understand Soviet history before making authoritative claims is “as naive as it is ignorant.” You would do well to read the history books I listed before trying to make an argument on structures and events you don’t fully understand. I mean no offense by this.
The idea that the USSR was just a group that killed all opposition betrays that the USSR, as far as states are concerned, acted more leniantly towards violent opposition groups than other comtemporary states, as a quick example of how a simple manner of framing betrays the very real context of a situation.
