I don’t necessarily agree with Chomsky on everything, but when he says that American propaganda is much more effective than any other propaganda system in the world he is absolutely spot-on— as an American myself, I can attest to the amount of brainwashing I’ve been subjected to on behalf of the masters of Empire— it took years to “deprogram” myself from all the bullshit mythology that this country is built upon. Not saying all of this to virtue signal or to suggest that I’m somehow immune from being propagandized myself, just want to open up a conversation as I feel many Americans are increasingly unable to differentiate true from false in this current time we’re in— and it could have real material consequences in the future if Americans don’t educate themselves and engage in critical thinking

Has anyone read it? What’s your take?It’s been on my list for a while, just trying what to decide on what’s next. I’m reading Blackshirts and Reds right now and am finding it very interesting and Anatomy of Fascism seems like it would be a good next read (maybe should have been first even?). Taking a “know your enemy” approach right now.

Das Kapital (Abridged) The conquest of Bread State and Revolution

I am a communist, but everyday because the lack of change and seeing the state of the world, I am pushed towards anarchy more and more cause nothing really matters and nothing will change without extreme action. Anyone else in the same boat?

So i have been search for a way to organize in the last year. ive not had the most clean upbringing, drugs and violence where prevelant. started out as a football hooligan and found my comrades from all kinds of cultures and we found socialism togheter, because we have fights againt police alot i learned how to deal with them and had self defense courses with some left groups. but after they found out about our history we got thrown out of the community because maybe sometimes we smoke a joint at the meeting or come drunk to a protest.

sorry for the rant, i really just wanted to get the international perseptition of the behavior inside the movement?

I’m really struggling finding anything, but I want to actually do something. Any help is appreciated!

Let’s go back to the year 1912 in the Russian empire. Every single person who wasn’t a friend of the Tsar or a ruling member of the church, was brutally poor and were slaves in factories and farms with the inability to fight for their basic human rights. Technology that the rest of Europe and the west had were unheard of, and it was abject misery. Fast forward to the year 1920 and the Soviets have successfully seized power and are working to organize the Union and re-distribute the factories and farms into the hands of the workers and are getting representatives from each of the vast diverse communities around the Union into the government.

By 1930, everyone had jobs with great working hours and a democratic say in how their workplace and region operates and the emancipation of women was in full swing. The decades of massive economic and political developments in the USSR is labeled “Stalinist” by liberals and conservatives alike. The linguistic problem with this is not only that it dehumanizes the USSR, but is that Stalin (as far as I understand) had no unique beliefs separate from Lenin and Marx, unlike Mao Tse Tung who did, in fact, have his extra take on the ideology, such as the cultural revolution, that was meant to serve the interests of China’s people. The blanket statement of the “Stalinist regime” has therefore, no linguistic or intellectual properties to it other than to further the liberal’s rather nihilistic understanding of the socio-economic and political spectrum; that is that politics is in the shape of a circle, other than a horseshoe. If we go too far to the left, we’ll end up kissing the boot of Stalin and the same goes for going too far to the right.

It must be understood that Stalinism (‘ism’ being a suffix for an ideological belief) is not real. It is only meant to serve the dangerous and wacky ideology of liberals and the right-wing. What happened in the “golden age” of the Soviet Union, from the mistakes, triumphs, and experiments as a whole had never once, in history, been tried. In this new age, we Marxists face new struggles differing from, and similar to, those the Bolsheviks faced. The most we can do is try and try again.

This (socialism) is a road of struggle to triumph. Likely, it will take decades, maybe centuries to achieve. The years of revolution and socialism to come, will be the greatest test to the human race.

I’ll try keep it simple.

Australian socialist here trying to quit smoking-vaping.

Why are NRT (nicotine replacement therapies) so expensive?

Looking for praxis based approaches here more so than more abstract/superstructure ideas.

Thoughts?

Currently both my physical and mental health aren't in good condition. Everytime I return home from work I am seriously tired and don't have enough energy to do anything which seriously affects my university life as I'm falling behind lectures and doing something as simple as keeping up with the current news. I really want to start reading theory, getting more knowledge about leftist politics and even starting a leftist online page to promote socialism and fight off conservative pro-capitalist propaganda in my native language(Georgian), after that irl praxis. I thought that I could do both but because of my current condition of not taking care of myself for years, I really can't, it's sadly too overwhelming for me. Would it be a morally good choice to abstain from politics entirely focusing on oneself until you're ready or do I "thug that shit out" as kids would say because we don't have enough time for that?

Hi everyone,

I’m making this post because I want your guys opinion on what I think I want to do. You see, I’m tired of the way this country works. I want to see real change, and I’m exhausted thinking about how capitalism is destroying our world. I spoke with my college counselor and I was thinking about going into sociology with a minor in public policy, or a major in public policy with a minor in sociology. Being a communist, I know that if I tried going into the government with this ideology attached, that I would be shunned and shut out by the majority since they’re unaware of the truth. I guess my question is, am I being too ambitious? Do you guys think I should do something else? I just want a better life for everyone, and I don’t know what I should do. I would love your guys opinions so I can formulate my own thoughts

I would like to understand the views of socialist on police and law enforcement and how to reform/restructure the system under socialism. Coming from the United States myself, there are widespread negative views on police, with many people calling for defunding departments. What are your views on how law enforcement should be managed and checked in a socialist system?

Coming from Minskyian/post-Keynesian economics I‘m really curious about the idea of a Libetarian/Market Socialism.

What authors/books should I read?

The thing is, I own a gym and I want to play revolutionary music, but nothing explicitly political. I've been going to gyms for a while now, and they usually play reggaeton, which is either alienating or simply devoid of content. I guess it makes sense: the goal is to get in shape, not to ponder over the songs.

However... now that I have the opportunity, I'd like to play music that motivates exercising and, at the same time, carries a revolutionary message. But it shouldn't be explicitly political (that might scare off customers).

Ideally, someone will go home thinking about something interesting the song said.

The languages or genres of the songs don't matter. They could be rock, rap, electronic, etc. What matters is that they have a revolutionary content and, preferably, not explicitly communist.

I'm planning to read more of his books, having read Literary Theory and Why Marx Was Right. What do Marxists here think of his works in general?