this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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I'm pretty left, yada yada whatever, y'all seem to know things I wanna know. Curious where you get your info and such and so on. Idk show me stuff, I wanna depropagandize myself.

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[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Wanna clarify this isn't a troll post, I genuinely do wanna learn and don't know where to start

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Do you like youtube videos or do you prefer to read? There's some good stuff for both formats, just good to know what you find more receptive for yourself.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I love to read but YouTube videos are great too. Realistically I'm probably more receptive to YouTube videos because they are easier to digest but I'm also instinctively more suspicious of them for some reason

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 9 points 2 years ago

Second Thought is a great socialist youtube channel that does a lot of these intro type videos, mostly in the 20 min range.

this is a good one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwyjlmEAcYM

[–] sovietknuckles@hexbear.net 4 points 2 years ago

If watching Twitch streams is your thing, HasanAbi is great. He often covers news before it's MSM has written about it. I'm in his chat every day, including right now

https://twitch.tv/hasanabi

[–] D61@hexbear.net 7 points 2 years ago

LunaOi and NonCompete have some decent YT vid channels that don't get enough love.

[–] LanyrdSkynrd@hexbear.net 17 points 2 years ago (3 children)

This is an easy and informative read. It's basically a FAQ about communism.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

[–] Vampire@hexbear.net 13 points 2 years ago

This is the correct answer.

Everyone says The Communist Manifesto, but this is more requireder reading. It is more lucider.

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 10 points 2 years ago

2nd this. Its the best piece of classic theory to start with

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

Damn, we really do live in a society

[–] D61@hexbear.net 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

https://mega.nz/folder/3GBC1SIZ#zyFsn3bRGxOG1sy-2dOfVA

~~Behold... the Hexbear theory archive... that nobody uses.. because almost nobody knows its exists.~~

Never mind, all the folders seem to be empty. At least the titles are relevant, you'll just have to look for them individually on Libgen or something.

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 16 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What is your current general sense of actually existing socialist countries (current or historical)? This might be a good place to get a better understanding of some concepts.

Also take a look over here for some of the basics topics if you need to gauge your political development: https://hexbear.net/c/librehab

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Generally speaking I think I view china negatively but that's probably because I live in America and honestly don't know much about it. Sinophobia etc etc. But honestly until recently the only other socialist country I even knew existed was Vietnam.

I think more authoritarian governments just make me a bit nervous.

[–] ChestRockwell@hexbear.net 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Comrade, you need to get on board with the Cuba pill. Listen to Blowback Season 2 and embrace the fidel-cool

I'll just say that Blowback, in general, is great for the Imperialist brainworms. While season 1 is Iraq, which most people "know", the following seasons are really incredible in developing some of the insanity that amerikkka has engaged in over the 20th c.

[–] epicspongee@hexbear.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Seconding Blowback, I'm six episodes in and went from "Hmm I feel icky about Cuba" to "Holy fucking shit I can't believe we would do that to them, I unequivocally support Cuba"

[–] ChestRockwell@hexbear.net 5 points 2 years ago

The news from Cuba is even better since the season aired. Their constitution is now more progressive to LGBTQ people than amerikkka

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think more authoritarian governments just make me a bit nervous.

This a juicy target for deprogramming your propaganda. That phrase is kind of a vague disparagement that doesn't hold much meaning once you become aware of the intrinsic violence (and authority to use violence) that is common in the 'developed world'. The big shift is to reconsider your understanding of freedom and liberty of people. Just the fact that the USA has by far the largest prison population (nevermind the extreme per capita metric) really demolishes this concept as framed by pro-capitalist propaganda.

Just keep asking questions, and we'll do our best to set you on a path to better awareness of material conditions.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Don't get me wrong, I hate it here. Corporate ownership and control scares me just as much as powerful governments. I am very knowledgeable about how bad it is where I live but I'm not very knowledgeable about how to make it better or how much better it might be in other places with other systems.

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 13 points 2 years ago

The thing to understand is that under current capitalist formation, government is at service of capital. This is why the 'auth govt' is considered scary to the capitalist status quo. Nevermind that 'freedom govt' still does all the same things that is claimed of the 'auth govt' just with the interests of capital in mind.

I can guarantee there is a more democratic systems in place within the 'auth govt' than the duopoly of political power capital provides to US citizens in aggregate. This is how the 'temporarily impoverished' brainwashing is so useful to the status quo. "If you do socialism, you can never be the big boss with all the toys and perks" says the capitalist propaganda. This is the 'authority' that you are supposed to fear. The authority to override the interests of capital, and instead seek out the interests of the masses of people.

This is a big shift in thinking, so don't feel bad if it doesn't 'click' with you right away.

[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)
[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I want you to know this video utterly shattered my world view when I watched it.

[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Lol, awesome. That's what Blackshirts and Reds did for me. Very much recommend reading/listening to those books on the list I linked. Actually, can you see the comment I linked? Lemmy can be funny about comment accessibility on deleted posts.

If you're not much of a reader, check out parenti's other vids and make sure to listen to the Blowback podcast. season 2 is Cuba and 3 is Korea, they're also very eye opening. If you want, I can drop you some more vids.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Lol, blackshirts and reds was the first leftist book I read and I have listened to all 4 seasons of blowback. I'm currently reading capital

[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 1 points 8 months ago

Oh lol you're on your way then. stalin-approval

Season 5 of Blowback is on Cambodia. I just listened to episode seven this morning, fascinating stuff.

[–] Maoo@hexbear.net 11 points 2 years ago

Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti

[–] President_Obama@hexbear.net 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Last year I read a bunch of books on various leftist topics and made a post featuring them all, each with a small review, so you can read that for some inspo

I should prob make a new post and include the new books I've read since then

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

For trans stuff, try Leslie Feinbergs Trans liberation beyond pink and blue

[–] Florist@hexbear.net 1 points 2 years ago

Check out the book series Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution by Hal Draper