Actually, this town has more than enough room for the two of us
He/him or they/them, doesn’t matter too much
Marxist-Leninist ☭
Interested in Marxism-Leninism? Check out my “Read Theory, Darn it!” introductory reading list!
I’m not Dessalines, but as the curator of the other list, I can do my best to answer.
When you say that Marxism has become “brutal and distorted,” I think you’re operating from a mindset and understanding rooted in Western culture and education. I would say, based on my research and reading into AES (Actually Existing Socialism), these countries such as Cuba, the PRC, and the former USSR all apply Marxist understanding and methods to amazing effect.
The Red Scare never ended, and being aware that it existed isn’t enough to actually understand what AES is like. The history of AES, and the conditions within those countries, is not reported faithfully or honestly in the West, so it is very difficult. That doesn’t mean they are perfect, but it means they are real, and come with real victories for the Working Class.
That’s why the opening sections of my reading list include Blackshirts and Reds as well as Dr. Michael Parenti’s 1986 lecture, these 2 really give an eye-opening look into the mythology and demonization of AES in the west, and how that process is intentional and persists to this day.
To circle back to your question, Marxists are hopeful because Marxism works, we know this and see it happening. We learn from the mistakes our predecessors made and we promise to carry their work forward.
As a final side-note, regarding the Nazis: it was the Red Army that did 80% of the fighting against the Nazis. We have Marxists to thank for the defeat of the Nazis, and we can do it again.
Deeply silly. Will we see the return of plague doctors?
Wait for the Bubonic Plague to drop 🔥
Extremely strange.
I know, normally the racist trolls do it for the engagement, not to immediately delete upon getting pushback. It’s odd, this is entirely different.
Spot-on with how and why to engage and when to drop.
You should read False Witnesses, it explains a phenomena you’re touching on here. People normally don’t actually care if what they believe is true, they want to feel virtuous and license themselves to believe the unbelievable in order to do so. I think you’ll find the essay interesting.
Is the idea to discuss stoicism? Apply it to different concepts like news, politics, gaming, sports, art, etc? If it’s the former, a comm should be fine, if the latter an instance may make sense but I don’t know if there would be an audience for it.
Certainly not discussing it online.
I haven’t seen any, but that’s extremely strange. Sometimes we get trolls that spam racist memes on many accounts for a couple days at a time before getting bored of playing whack a mole as the moles, this might be a similar situation.
I try to be patient.
Went into that account out of curiosity, and you’re 100% correct, this is just awful transphobia constantly.
You can also browse Hex with a Hex account, still.
Almost certainly.
NATO encirclement implies encirclement. Why do you think Russia is going to war in the first place? I don’t trust everything Russia says, I think de-Nazification is a convenient narrative given the presence of Azov and other groups, but isn’t the driving factor of the war (though is part of it). NATO encirclement is a known tactic, as NATO has origins as an anti-Communist, pro-Imperialist group that was formed to attack the USSR, and had Nazis such as Adolf Heusinger in charge. This is readily available information, from Operation GLADIO to Heusinger’s Nazi past.
Why do you think Russia is going to war? What do they gain at the costs associated with the war?
What part of NATO encirclement is “ridiculous?” Even if I agreed with you that it is “ridiculous,” clearly Russia thinks it isn’t, which means the motives are still there for Russia to continue pursuing its goals until Ukraine gives in.
This feels more like you dodging having to grapple with that reality than anything else.
There’s also the factor of the Euromaidan coup, NATO encirclement of Russia, and the Ukranian shelling of Donetsk and Luhansk at play. Russia, more than anything, wants Ukraine to either be fully demillitarized or forced into NATO neutrality, and has the means to continue whether Ukraine wants it to or not. If Russia genuinely wanted to, it could keep going until Ukraine is just Russian territory, but I doubt that will end up being the case.
It isn’t a moral problem, but a question of who holds the cards. Ukraine can make its loss more devastating for both sides, but has no real path to victory. It is better to sue for peace before more damage is done and lives are lost, clearly Russia is fine to continue as long as it needs to in order to secure its interests.
Generally, the DPRK is seen similarly to Cuba, they would be doing far better if the US Empire wasn’t sanctioning them directly to cause harm. As for Stalin, it depends on what you’re talking about, the Great Purge had no more than 700,000 condemned to death, and that doesn’t mean every one of them was actually executed. Stalin certainly wasn’t a saint, but at the same time he wasn’t worse than Hitler and killed 10-20 million like the Black Book of Communism would have you think.
Ultimately though, Marxism isn’t “become DPRK” or “be Stalin.” I think you have to study Marxism more to understand why those questions largely don’t matter for building Socialism. I suggest you read Blackshirts and Reds.