Actually, this town has more than enough room for the two of us
He/him or they/them, doesn’t matter too much
The wealthy Capitalists that fund the DNC (and GOP, of course) didn’t want it to happen, so it didn’t. The US isn’t very democratic at all.
Arce telling the coup leaders to fuck off to their face on live TV was wild, lmao
Jumping straight into Capital is like going spelunking with no tools or training, it’s Marx’s masterwork but it’s dense and complicated for those not versed in Marxism already, and it isn’t targetting the average person, but economists and scholars. That’s not to say you should never read it, just hold off, for now.
A few great primers for Marxism in general are Why Socialism? by Albert Einstein, The Principles of Communism by Friederich Engels, and How Marxism Works by Chris Harman, in the order I recommend reading them.
Marx did write for the common worker in several texts. Wage Labor and Capital and Value, Price and Profit are short and concise works on Marx’s critique of Capitalism. After that, I’d wrap around to Socialism: Utopian and Scientific to understand the history of Socialist efforts and how Marxism solves the problems they have faced, and touches on Dialectical Materialism, the philosophical framework of Marxism. Add on Critique of the Gotha Programme to see Marx critique a weak Socialist program and advocate for a better method, then swing over to Manifesto of the Communist Party to tie everything by Marx and Engels together and spur revolutionary fervor.
Finally, I would make sure to read Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Lenin. This does not really get into Marxism-Leninism, this is Lenin as a Marxist examining how Capitalism has changed over time to exploit the global south via exporting machinery and predatory global bank loans, absolutely critical for understanding modern Capitalism. If you want to get into Marxism-Leninism, add on The State and Revolution by Lenin as well, but you do not need to at this point.
We are in the Age of Imperialism, specifically its decay. Over time, the global south is becoming increasingly revolutionary and are throwing off the IMF and the US. Eventually this will destabilize the US, the world’s current largest Imperialist power, and give rise to the possibility of a Socialist movement within the US as commodities become more expensive and Material Conditions weaken. This will be due to a decreasing subsidization of cost of living in the US off the labor of workers in the Global South.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Yes, Marx makes it clear what’s wrong with Capitalism, why it cannot last forever, provides a philosophical framework for viewing any problem, conflict, or struggle, and shows how to move beyond our present dystopian state.
Read Marx, it’s comforting.
Definitely seems that way.
I’ve been working through classics and they are usually a bit dated. Dune is goodish, but also I prefer the new movies for their much better treatment of women, the Fremen, and removal of the wierder parts. Neuromancer feels like Gibson wrote it with one hand and has never spoken to a woman in his life.
I remember loving Roadside Picnic a while back. If you want to be incredibly sad, Han Kang’s Human Acts is brutal but beautifully written.
I try to alternate between fiction and theory, helps me digest the theory better while maintaining interest and momentum in reading!
Steam Deck has made a huge difference on my backlog-clearing abilities.
EReaders made a big difference for me. I now plow through books when I used to not be able to read a single novel in a year.
Systems can be bad, and the people who support and work within bad systems are bad, even if they act nice outside of that system.
Living is fun and I have people I love and care for deeply, that make me see the world through alternative angles that deepen my appreciation.
There are people that legitimately try to argue that Star Trek isn’t a representation of an upper-stage Communist society.
America is a one party dictatorship, and in typical American extravagence, it has two of them.