Leftist articles thread

Nyvis

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I tend to read or watch quite a bit of leftist content, and I felt like sharing.

Here's two pieces to start with.


The first is from cosmonaut, a pretty good Marxist blog/podcast, about an analysis of past socialist programs, their failings and a new proposal. The conclusion is somewhat out there (UBI, in my leftism!?) and I'm not sure I agree with it, but it's an interesting way to think.


It's quite a long read but there's a lot to dissect and react to so I really recommend it, we could have a whole discussion about it.


The second is much shorter, and from one of the few admirable US politicians, Lee Carter, about what he thinks the US left is missing.



I'd be happy if we can discuss those articles or share others that caught our eye.
 

I Just Write

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I've read the second article, and it definitely fits the bill for most of my beliefs regarding eroding capitalism's power base. Got to make it possible to sustain a movement without paying back into capitalism's feedback loop, or the system just defaults back to horribleness.
 

Nyvis

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I've read the second article, and it definitely fits the bill for most of my beliefs regarding eroding capitalism's power base. Got to make it possible to sustain a movement without paying back into capitalism's feedback loop, or the system just defaults back to horribleness.

Yeah that's what I thought too. I'm more worried about the mechanisms we need to build it. Is the organization needed to coordinate it on the way? I imagine Carter see it happening through DSA, since he's a member, but they have lacking leadership that went all in on electoralism for Sanders so they'll need to change significantly to make it possible.
 

Strigix

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I like "The Professional Revolution," because it mirrors some thoughts I've had, but it doesn't really break any new ground, as far as it can tell?

We need to establish a power base, an economic and social structure to support the left in the same way that existing economics and society supports the right. This will, of course, not be easy- especially since participating in existing economic structures is not just a default, but a compulsed state of affairs.
 

Nyvis

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I like "The Professional Revolution," because it mirrors some thoughts I've had, but it doesn't really break any new ground, as far as it can tell?

We need to establish a power base, an economic and social structure to support the left in the same way that existing economics and society supports the right. This will, of course, not be easy- especially since participating in existing economic structures is not just a default, but a compulsed state of affairs.

It's mostly ground breaking because it's coming from an elected US official, yeah.
 
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It's an interesting point to put forward and a poignant one. Certainly, finding the time to organise and develop a socialist alternative quickly crashes up against the bulwark of actually being able to afford to live and all the mechanisms of power that prevent normal people from access to decision making whilst the rich see those hurdles simply fall before them.

On the other hand, I once read an interview a newspaper did with Karl Liebknecht at some point in between the start and the end of the first world war. They discussed the possible reasoning around why the Social Democratic Party ended up reneging on previous promises to prevent war and fight for revolution. Liebknecht assumed there were plenty of reasons for individuals within the party personally but also noted that the SPD held millions of Deutsche Marks in property, stakes in businesses, printing presses, co-operatives, and were inherently tied in to the general working of the state and the capitalist system and that worked as an impetus against any serious attempt at radical change.

It must be a very difficult and thin line working class organisations must follow in giving all workers the space and material support to organise as well as trying to ensure that this material support doesn't become a fetter to compel subordination to the general processes of capital.

I do think, in very general terms, that the left in recent years has put a lot of hope into electoral campaigns that have led to disappointment and not enough energy in building networks of working class power on the ground in communities and workplaces for longevity and depth. Probably no-one on this forum gives much of a shit what Trotsky has to say but, to paraphrase the man, he said that a single great revolution is the culmination of a million mundane tasks.
 

Strigix

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It must be a very difficult and thin line working class organisations must follow in giving all workers the space and material support to organise as well as trying to ensure that this material support doesn't become a fetter to compel subordination to the general processes of capital.
I think the goal would be to have a stable supply chain and logistics systems capable of supporting 'the left' and it's continued existence, while at the same time making sure that this supply chain is not itself dependent on the structures of capital and state to continue existing.

I'd say that would be difficult, but not impossible.
 
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I think the goal would be to have a stable supply chain and logistics systems capable of supporting 'the left' and it's continued existence, while at the same time making sure that this supply chain is not itself dependent on the structures of capital and state to continue existing.

I'd say that would be difficult, but not impossible.
One thing I found very distasteful about being a part of a Trotskyist organisation was that a lot of the organisational work ended up revolving around some pretty boring sales work. "How many papers did we sell on the weekend?" "How much fighting fund did we raise?" "Who can pay more subs this month?" etc... My local branch did some good work, at one point we started going to unemployed workers' benefits meetings pretending to be their union representatives in order to get them off the sanctions that the DWP staff would levy upon them, but nonetheless the 'business' of the branch revolved around the money that was exchanging hands. That is not to say that you are envisaging a moribund organisation that exists to pay the wages of a few professional full timers but rather that the capitalist system has a way of intruding on our organising in such a manner that detracts from the real work that we do to improve other workers' lives. That's mainly what I am saying we must guard against.
 

Strigix

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Yeah, the question of how you organize in a way that doesn't allow capitalism to sink it's fingers in is a tough one, because capitalism is incredibly good at sticking it's greedy fingers into everything it can get it's hold on.
 

Nyvis

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One thing I found very distasteful about being a part of a Trotskyist organisation was that a lot of the organisational work ended up revolving around some pretty boring sales work. "How many papers did we sell on the weekend?" "How much fighting fund did we raise?" "Who can pay more subs this month?" etc... My local branch did some good work, at one point we started going to unemployed workers' benefits meetings pretending to be their union representatives in order to get them off the sanctions that the DWP staff would levy upon them, but nonetheless the 'business' of the branch revolved around the money that was exchanging hands. That is not to say that you are envisaging a moribund organisation that exists to pay the wages of a few professional full timers but rather that the capitalist system has a way of intruding on our organising in such a manner that detracts from the real work that we do to improve other workers' lives. That's mainly what I am saying we must guard against.

On the other hand, we'll never get anywhere beyond feel nice charity work if we're purely voluntary organizations with no economic roots. I think the solution is better compartmentalization, maybe?
 

Comrade Sophia

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Nyvis

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Comrade Sophia

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Never heard of those guys before. MLs as in Stalin was okay, apparently. That's a trip.
Yeah they're Hoxhaists so they like Stalin but like at least they're not like CPGB-ML.

Also their flag is amazing.
Flag_of_the_American_Party_of_Labor.png
 

Strigix

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What... is that flag even meant to be?

I get the star and the gear, of course, but that thing in the center- is that wheat? Is it a tree? The fletching, and only the fletching, of an arrow? I can't tell at a glance.
 

Nyvis

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What... is that flag even meant to be?

I get the star and the gear, of course, but that thing in the center- is that wheat? Is it a tree? The fletching, and only the fletching, of an arrow? I can't tell at a glance.

Definitely a cereal of some kind. Probably wheat yes.
 

Strigix

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So, taking from the old traditions of industrial and agricultural symbols?

I feel like that's got to be less good at outreach now, when a majority of the US doesn't identify as either agricultural or industrial workers, than it did back when that sort of symbolism was first coined.
 

Amorous Intent

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So, taking from the old traditions of industrial and agricultural symbols?

I feel like that's got to be less good at outreach now, when a majority of the US doesn't identify as either agricultural or industrial workers, than it did back when that sort of symbolism was first coined.
Clearly, we need a modern symbolism for modern times: the keyboard and delivery truck. :V
 
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