this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2026
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The manifesto is literally written for time-poor and ignorant (non derogatory) workers to read and talk about to their illiterate comrades. It is so accessible and answers almost all the top misunderstandings/key issues.
You don't need to struggle through capital and Hegelian philosophy to grok class relations to the means of production.
Also people should have a squiz at other really accessible stuff like the conquest of bread and quotatoins from Mao and form some rounded opinions instead of borrowing them from half serious and dubiously credentialed internet comments.
Reading is good! political education is empowering! You can understand the key conflicts in the world, you can understand these god-awful traps we find ourselves in that lead to cycles of repetitive misery. Russian proles in 1920 managed.
A hundred years ago, we were reading the Manifesto and Conquest of Bread out loud on the workshop floor for all the illiterate workers to hear.
Today, ya can't even get anyone on this godforsaken website to read a one paragraph Red Sails article.
How many dozens of times have we had a 100+ comment post filled with people incorrectly arguing about foundational stuff that's clearly laid out the first 5 pages of the Manifesto?
How to get the working class engages and educated as to their position and power is something people always struggled with but it is a little bleak that a lot of the success was in a time when many people couldn't read or afford books. Yet now people carrying powerful omnidevices around that can literally read them to you seem to struggle harder.
Politics isn't some fucking aesthetic, it is a body of social behaviours happening all around you that you actively participate it whether you want to or not. It is absolutely appalling how disengaged and self-disempowering people are. Our oppressors rely on us willingly shackling ourselves, there are not enough gaolers in this shithole to keep us in line if we just decide to work together!
Maybe we need to start putting people on timeout until they demonstrate that they've actually read the Manifesto in full?
Maybe a badge for participating in a regular book club or something. Idk what lemmy supports.