Ask me questions about anything

[Ismail]

In this thread people can ask me questions about.... anything.

Any idle discussions or random statements are liable to get removed or split into their own threads.

[Madriporpoise]

What are your areas of expertise within Marxism? Are there subjects in which you consider yourself underinformed and are trying to improve your knowledge of?

(I won't make dumb jokes in this forum as it's an opportunity to put a good foot forward for the public.)

This post has been edited by Madriporpoise: Aug 15 2019, 08:23 AM

[Ismail]

QUOTE (Madriporpoise @ Aug 15 2019, 01:22 PM)

What are your areas of expertise within Marxism? Are there subjects in which you consider yourself underinformed and are trying to improve your knowledge of?

Philosophy is my weakest point. I'm also not good at any detailed military stuff.

I don't really have an "expertise" (like I'm not an actual historian) but I've read tons of books and articles about numerous countries and parties, and have read many things by Marx, Engels, Lenin, and other authors.

[Westar]

This was better when it was in PMs.

[Ismail]

QUOTE (Westar @ Aug 15 2019, 02:13 PM)

This was better when it was in PMs.

But no one can see private messages.

[Imposter101]

What degree of power and influence do the national bourgeois have in China? And does the Chinese government still place an emphasis on class struggle?

[Madriporpoise]

What do you think of American Marxist parties past and/or present, and what would you do differently if you had your own party?

[Trotsky]

Do you have any stances on the conflict in Israel, or the PKK ;o

[HUNDmiau]

Why is marxism so bad and doesn't accept anarchist superiority?

[Cain ate Abels ass]

Opinion on Post-Marxism

Left-Communism? Bordiga?

[Ismail]

QUOTE (Imposter101 @ Aug 15 2019, 03:02 PM)

What degree of power and influence do the national bourgeois have in China? And does the Chinese government still place an emphasis on class struggle?

My knowledge of present-day China isn't great. As I've said elsewhere though, capitalist elements came into being at the decision of the CPC, and plenty of articles on Western websites argue that the wealthy in China are largely required to be loyal to the CPC (although this also gives plenty of opportunities for corruption.)

The CPC still argues that class struggles exist, but as far as I know it takes a view similar to Mao that relations between the national bourgeoisie and workers in China can be a non-antagonistic contradiction if handled correctly.

QUOTE (Madriporpoise @ Aug 15 2019, 04:00 PM)

What do you think of American Marxist parties past and/or present, and what would you do differently if you had your own party?

The Socialist Labor Party helped popularize Marxism in the US, but under Daniel De Leon it was notoriously sectarian and rapidly dwindled into irrelevance after the October Revolution.

The Socialist Party was a mixture of Marxists, Christian Socialists, and a lot of self-described socialists who came in from the Populist movement of the late 19th century. Like the SLP it helped popularize Marxism, but unlike the SLP it often exhibited opportunism, e.g. many members advocated scapegoating Asian immigrants and some (like Victor Berger and Ernest Untermann) openly advocated white supremacy. Most of the Marxists in the party left after the October Revolution.

The Communist Party did a lot of good, but its dependence (ideologically, financially, and to an extent even organizationally) on the CPSU and Soviet state was an obvious handicap, since many of its policies were adopted merely because the Soviets wanted them to do so, rather than any objective analysis of American conditions.

QUOTE (Trotsky @ Aug 15 2019, 06:16 PM)

Do you have any stances on the conflict in Israel, or the PKK ;o

Palestinians ought to have their own state. Whether this means a single state in the area or a two-state solution (if the latter is actually viable) has to be decided by the Palestinian people above all.

I can't comment on the PKK since I haven't really read about them.

QUOTE (HUNDmiau @ Aug 15 2019, 08:55 PM)

Why is marxism so bad and doesn't accept anarchist superiority?

QUOTE (infantada @ Aug 15 2019, 09:50 PM)

Opinion on Post-Marxism Left-Communism? Bordiga?

I don't know what "Post-Marxism" is supposed to be.

Left-Communism is bad; Lenin gave most of the reasons for why it was bad. Bordiga quickly became irrelevant once he broke with the Comintern, and took obviously silly positions (e.g. in the immediate aftermath of WWII he argued that anti-fascism was foolish because the US, Britain, and USSR would themselves now become fascist.)

[Cain ate Abels ass]

QUOTE (Ismail @ Aug 15 2019, 05:18 PM)

Left-Communism is bad; Lenin gave most of the reasons for why it was bad.

Picture of a baby

*pops out of the womb*

Yo maybe we should dismantle the capitalist mode of production dudes

[Ismail]

If you want me to go into more detail on specifics, feel free, it's just that "what do you think of left-communism" isn't going to cause me to write an essay on every part of it I find disagreeable.

[Cain ate Abels ass]

I don't identify with left-communism or even know much about it beyond the core tenants so I wouldn't even really know what to do with such an essay.

When it comes to the experiment of the Soviet Union it seems like various people ascribe different death dates depending on their tendency

Whether it was doomed the moment it became clear that proletarian revolution wasn't going to take hold anywhere west of Belarus, during the decline/death of Soviet Democracy and banning of factions, Trotsky's exile, or Khrushchev's rise.

Personally I think some of those explanations make more sense than others, and I'm more curious of a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist's view on that than anything

This post has been edited by infantada: Aug 15 2019, 06:41 PM

[Ismail]

QUOTE (infantada @ Aug 15 2019, 11:38 PM)

Personally I think some of those explanations make more sense than others, and I'm more curious of a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist's view on that than anything

Well to me the death of the Soviet experiment took place on December 25, 1991.

The "experiment" went through various periods. You had the first few months after the October Revolution, then you had War Communism, the NEP, the Stalin era, the Khrushchev era, the Brezhnev era, and then of course you had Gorby, and each of these periods had their own distinct "phases" (e.g. the USSR in 1930 had all sorts of differences from 1950, even though Stalin was in charge in both cases.)

Different ideologies are more interested in different periods than others, but to just say something like "after [insert year/month/day the USSR is dead to me" is kinda silly.