this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
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I have the opportunity to pitch a book at my leftist book club. What is a book to help counter anti-ML attitudes from people who lean more anarchist and/or have a strong opposition to Lenin/Stalin? (hexbear.net)
submitted 4 days ago by TheDeed@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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My circles tend to be very anti Lenin or anti Stalin, most of them are anarchists or left leaning people who have a pretty strong opposition to MLs. I would like to have a dialogue with them or least give them some tools so that they can have a good background with which to critique ML even if they don't change their mind and become MLs.

Bonus if it includes info about the Bund in relation to Lenin & the Bolsheviks or information about Jews in the Soviet Union or ML Jews in general - most of us are Jewish, and a lot of strong opposition is rooted in the Jewish experience of those eras and strong emotional and ideological affinity to the legacy of the Bund.

These don't quite cover the Jewish experience as much but, some books or articles top of my mind for at least countering anticommunism are:

  • Western Marxism Loves Purity and Martyrdom, But Not Real Revolution
  • Blackshirts and Reds

Would love to hear yalls thoughts.

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[–] marxisthayaca@hexbear.net 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If you pick the right book, you can introduce ML principles and ideas, in a way that doesn't rehash whether Stalin or Lenin were good – you and I know they were. But, if we are talking entry level/baby marxists, getting them acquainted with current challenges and organizing in ways that are effective feels more important at this time.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 4 points 4 days ago

I suppose I'm looking at it differently to you, in my opinion, if they refuse to actually learn about past socialist leaders and projects, they'll also never learn about the mistakes of past socialist movements, and in turn will most likely make those same mistakes. And learning about Lenin and Stalin doesn't "just" teach them about these historical figures, it also helps teach them how to categorise and understand information and how a lot of information about socialism is heavily manipulated by capitalists. I just don't think you should coddle baby leftists and let them keep their brainworms, it won't make them into good communists, it will only make them into shitty impotent socdems.