this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Communism
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omg i just had the misfortune of wandering into this thread, https://lemmygrad.ml/post/806853 i am so glad we have our own space where we can safely laugh at these fools. omg.
That whole thread:
hmm, I wonder who controls the socialist state
No one should control the state because there shouldn’t be a state. If there is a state then there’s oppression.
Agreed, now let's abolish the state through developing the material conditions necessary for it to happen instead of just saying "STATES BAD!!" online :^)
Oppression of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat, absolutely; the point is to eventually eliminate the bourgeois class. When class distinctions no longer exist, the state will, by definition (a tool for oppression of one class by another), cease to exist. How would you go about abolishing the state while classes still exist, or abolishing classes within a bourgeois dictatorship?
The issue is that where there is a state, definitively there will be still social classes - those with power within the state, and those without. If your position is "we can't abolish the state until there are no class divisions" then you've got an infinite loop.
Obviously with the way the world is there is no way to go straight from the current situation to communism, but the goal is still the abolition of the state, and so many leftists seem to get angry with the concept that we should (and have to) abolish the state. That's all I am saying - reading any deeper into my comment than that isn't recommended!
I'm not sure if anyone is getting angry that you're saying the state must be abolished. MLs fundamentally agree with that. It's what revolutionaries are aiming for.
The criticism is that you seem to be saying that revolutionaries cannot use the state because it's an incoherent notion:
By this do you mean to say that the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat is logically contradictory? That it won't work? You seemed to agree, above, that you don't think that's the case (i.e. you think the state can be used as a tool), but here you appear to be saying just that?
It may be helpful here to reiterate the dialectical element of Marxism-Leninism. It's not a step-by-step sequence of events. First one, then the other. It's a dialectical development.
The plan isn't to seize the state, then to use the state to abolish classes. That won't work. It's anti-dialectical.
The idea is that by seizing the state and wresting control over the means of production from the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie will become redundant and whither away. This will take a long time. The state is needed to keep the reactionaries in line in the meantime.
It's taken China over half a decade to start the process and most of the rest of the world hasn't even begun the task yet. The DotP and the abolition of classes and the state are one process. They're interrelated.
Have you read State and Revolution or 'Better Fewer But Better' by Lenin?
As an ML I actually agree with you, the state is a weapon and i would like to see it one day outlive it's usefulness and wither so that communism can be achieved. However, it's a weapon that you absolutely cannot discard until capitalism has been destroyed, and until then, unilateral disarmament is guaranteed suicide for a revolutionary movement.
As is blind faith in a revolutionary movement's ability to wield such a weapon in the interest of the proletariat and towards communism. Seems like a lot of people in this thread are forgetting Mao's critique of the USSR.
"The revisionist Khrushchov clique abolish the dictatorship of the proletariat behind the camouflage of the "state of the whole people", change the proletarian character of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union behind the camouflage of the "party of the entire people" and pave the way for the restoration of capitalism behind that of "full-scale communist construction". - Mao - marxists.org
But is this not equally true for China today?
It is not.
It's as much analysis as you can expect from the userbase of Tumblr lite.
Tumblr lite, or tumblr alt right?
Let's be fair to them, at least they aren't reactionary. Still, unfunny "uwu" memes mixed with Lockheed Left behaviour does not paint a much more enjoyable scene.
Lockheed Left is reactionary though.
Holy shit what an insufferable group.
"Define Tankie"
Who defines a buzzword with a buzzword ffs.
Also! (Paraphrasing)
'scuze me what the fuck? Who here says genocides are cool and good actually? We are like the first fuckers to point them out and scream about them???
And even more!
Now that's dose of Anarcho-Debilizm let me tell you. "Just press the communism button Xi and we'll succeed no problem! They will just let us exist and everyone will love each other :3"
And it just still keeps going!
Motherfuckers I read too much compared to your sorry asses.
Yeah it was torture. I tried to keep it civil and lighthearted and actually engage but they are so programmed it's almost knee jerk comment reaction at this point.
Also fun and great that so many Lemmy instances won't federate material that threatens their worldview. I mean, I'm 100% anti Nazi anti fascist and anti authoritarian but what does that even matter right? How dare I say there might be a different way to view say Cuba China Vietnam or North Korea...
Their education:
I refuse to believe there's actually 1.6gb of anarchist literature in existence that's not supplemented with lots of random unpublished PDFs and saved blog posts that are rife with poor grammar and spelling errors.
"I have" doesn't mean "I've read", what a pretentious dumbass.
In the second part of this pic she tells the reader not having read any of it.
it's real lmao
Hilarious how she doesn't even have a problem admitting it's all a matter of fitting the edgy cyberpunk aesthetic of blue hair, computers, skateboards and slapping stickers around. All about individual image and no political dedication.
And I can understand listening to theory audiobooks instead of reading them, although I think it's worse as it's harder for you to re-read lines and take notes, but... While skateboarding? Can you imagine yourself attempting to make any sense of a Das Kapital audiobook while playing basketball? Probably just to be able to say "yeah i've already read it" and nothing else. Once again, all about aesthetics.
the brainworm infestation has proved devastating
And I had the misfortune of not resisting to participate in it. Do not recommend.
oh dear. I told myself i wouldn't engage. (narrator: but he engaged). Just trying to gently nudge an anarchist towards materialist analysis, i'll try resist getting sucked into any arguments for my own sake.
Like moths flying into a bug zapper: we know it will hurt, but we just cannot help it.
Thank you for your service comrade o9