So whats the end goal?

[dudeitseddy]

Well I joined RevLeft not so long ago and I am now interested in leftist ideas. I'm deep into marxism and most of the stuff in this site now. Problem is now im beginning to feel lost in all this, as if it is an utopian fantasy that will never come true. I see the world as it is and see it very difficult for a revolution. Ive tried to become ignorant as I used to be and try to just go along with the capitalist system but that hasnt worked... I feel to guilty about knowing and not doing anything. I know all of us here love learning about these things. But will any of this every happen? How do we do it? I know i shouldn't let politics affect my personal life but this has been bothering me lately a lot. I try to discuss it with my parents but they just tell me I cant change the world and I'm to idealistic and that I should just graduate from high school, go to college, become a doctor(which i actually want), and get married, be successful...blah blah blah the usual stuff. The only part I want there is the doctor part because I truly want to help people. But I know I cannot be happy doing it in the capitalist system of today. I have just seen and learned too much about capitalism and imperialism to just live on. What should I do? I don't want to be the Marxist hippy who just indulges in reading about it. I want to see the change in the world. Sorry if my post sounds stupid...but i had to say it.

[FreeFocus]

Doctors Without Borders is a great organization, not necessarily a leftist revolutionary group but they save people's lives in areas affected by war, famine, etc. Look into them.

Perhaps go into the field and argue for a progressive association of doctors that takes a radical view of the causes of diseases, and that eliminating disease requires the elimination of capitalism and the environmental ills and everything that it entails.

There's plenty you can do in the field of medicine/health/science.

[dudeitseddy]

Thanks. I've heard about this organization. But how long must it take for everyone to realize these things?

[Charles Xavier]

Well you've probably read a lot of things around there and its easy to get lost if you don't know what to study and what to look for.

And there is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful and get married have kids, a house, a car, jumbo TV. While some anarchists will claim only those who eat out of dumpsters are revolutionaries are really only wanting to get acceptance for eating out of dumpsters.

The only problem we Marxist have is someone's success being built off of someone else's work.


Marxists actively fight to advance social conditions for working people. And no if you are alone and struggle in an isolated way, you will not change the world. But the struggle is not always and primarily not a military struggle. The armed struggle is a very minute point in working class struggle and it is only used from the transfer of power from Owners to workers. So its easy to say looking at the world that nothing is changing if looking for armed struggle is your idea of class struggle. But on the whole the work is very dynamic victories are being won for working people and lost. From lowering tuition to wage increases, from factory occupations, to nationalization, from electoral victories to national liberation movements. And things change at varying paces, its the dynamics of life.

What I would recommend is to read on Dialectical Materialism to understand more on this.

But a marxist just doesn't learn by reading. The reading is done to learn how to struggle and you struggle to learn! The Marxist reading is to answer questions that come up in practice.

We marxists aren't preachers we are organizers.

[MarxSchmarx]

If you want to be a marxist MD, fine go for it. Che Guevara was an MD.

When you get that degree, go work in the barrios of Venezuela or a refugee camp in Jordan or the Congo, or the inner cities of North America or the immigrant suburbs of Paris where your services will be of use. Actually, you should be doing this as soon as you begin your college career. As soon as you begin higher education, or earlier, work for a clinic for poor people. Put that work on an equal pedestal as your course work.

There, you will talk to your co-workers about the injustices of capitalism, you will be in constant contact with the people who bring to you their deepest concerns, you will see first hand how class society destroys the human body as much as the human spirit. You will appreciate that your professional obligations are no different than a retail clerk's working hours, and you will organize your workplace, write propaganda in your off-time, and network with other leftists just like the rest of us do.

Our struggle is composed of people from all walks of life - journalists, factory workers, medical professionals, retail clerks - we all have to make a living, and find time outside of our jobs to advance the cause. Stick around and you'll see why we all think it's worth it in the end.

[dudeitseddy]

Thats a really good idea. But how do I go about going to other countries to work? I dont think my parents would be happy about that

[punisa]

Well I joined RevLeft not so long ago and I am now interested in leftist ideas. I'm deep into marxism and most of the stuff in this site now. Problem is now im beginning to feel lost in all this, as if it is an utopian fantasy that will never come true. I see the world as it is and see it very difficult for a revolution. Ive tried to become ignorant as I used to be and try to just go along with the capitalist system but that hasnt worked... I feel to guilty about knowing and not doing anything. I know all of us here love learning about these things. But will any of this every happen? How do we do it? I know i shouldn't let politics affect my personal life but this has been bothering me lately a lot. I try to discuss it with my parents but they just tell me I cant change the world and I'm to idealistic and that I should just graduate from high school, go to college, become a doctor(which i actually want), and get married, be successful...blah blah blah the usual stuff. The only part I want there is the doctor part because I truly want to help people. But I know I cannot be happy doing it in the capitalist system of today. I have just seen and learned too much about capitalism and imperialism to just live on. What should I do? I don't want to be the Marxist hippy who just indulges in reading about it. I want to see the change in the world. Sorry if my post sounds stupid...but i had to say it.

Your post is not stupid, its brilliant ! What you've just wrote was something that many of us first felt when discovered that we are marxists/socialists.

If it actually were "just" politics, nothing special - BUT socialism is much more then politics. As you already see, its a state of mind. And yes, it will make you feel like crap many times.
Because you live in a system where you feel everything has already been predetermined for you.

When you really become a socialist you won't be able to just switch off your brain and make yourself forget that while you currently enjoy general necessities like food, water, clothing and shelter - millions do not !
Socialism is in direct correlation with your humanism, as Che Guevara said "you need to have love" if you want to be a revolutionary.

Male, female, gay, straight, black, white, European, Asian... these all stop to exists when you think about the global revolution.

The fact that you feel the way you do is because there actually isn't much you can do as of right now. Socialism is a very very hard concept if you really want to learn it the way it needs to be. It will take years, so don't feel rushed.
Please take your time, examine the mistakes that were made in the past - in countries like Yugoslavia or USSR.

Consider your new ideology as a great step forward for yourself as a person, think about it - out of millions of ignorant citizens you managed to see through it, you understand the way government/propaganda/capitalism works behind the scenes.
Use your current knowledge and build upon it.

Do pursue your career and education, become a doctor, don't anyway tell you different. Education is everything in socialism, its the most powerful tool and weapon.
Dont blame your folks for not understanding your aspirations, they lived their lives in a society that promotes "common sense" - facts that tell us that politicians are more capable, that homeless are a perfectly normal phenomena etc.

More you talk with non-socialists, more you'll feel that we are chasing for a utopia, but take note of what I just wrote about "common sense".
You can be 100% sure that there will be a revolutionary turmoil in your lifetime.
And when the time comes, better to know what exactly is going on.

Till then - learn, question, debate, deny, ask and adopt your life towards what you feel is right.
If you ask me, the sooner we all free ourselves from fake glamour, unnecessary "needs", we'll live a better life and the revolution will be the final spark.

It takes time to deny everything that has been served to you for your entire life, it aint easy to discard everything over night, although some will disagree.

Take me for example, I grew up in a small (population under 500) very traditional catholic village. Even today I feel somewhat nervous publicly proclaiming myself as an atheist ! I think you get my point :)

[Decolonize The Left]

Well I joined RevLeft not so long ago and I am now interested in leftist ideas. I'm deep into marxism and most of the stuff in this site now. Problem is now im beginning to feel lost in all this, as if it is an utopian fantasy that will never come true.

Revolutionary leftism is not solely an idea for the future - it is a perspective on existence. It is a class perspective and from this perspective it reaches many conclusions.


I see the world as it is and see it very difficult for a revolution. Ive tried to become ignorant as I used to be and try to just go along with the capitalist system but that hasnt worked... I feel to guilty about knowing and not doing anything. I know all of us here love learning about these things. But will any of this every happen? How do we do it?

It is happening right now. Look no further than yourself, here on this forum, interested in leftism and having productive discussions with others. Together we learn, grow stronger.

It is always happening, for the goal of revolutionary leftism may be the revolution, but the revolution is not a single event - it is a development. It is the development of class consciousness and the progressive movement towards solidarity through organization within the working class.

Nothing more, nothing less.


I know i shouldn't let politics affect my personal life but this has been bothering me lately a lot.

Wrong. Politics is not 'the government, legislature, policies, etc...' Politics is everyday existence; it is how you treat other people; it is your personal philosophy; it is how you conduct yourself; it is life.


I try to discuss it with my parents but they just tell me I cant change the world and I'm to idealistic and that I should just graduate from high school, go to college, become a doctor(which i actually want), and get married, be successful...blah blah blah the usual stuff. The only part I want there is the doctor part because I truly want to help people.

Do not discount your parents, for they certainly love you dearly; they merely come from a different perspective. You need not obey them to respect their willingness for you to be happy.

Being a doctor is a fine idea, though you will certainly need to attend college and graduate school in some form or another.


But I know I cannot be happy doing it in the capitalist system of today. I have just seen and learned too much about capitalism and imperialism to just live on. What should I do? I don't want to be the Marxist hippy who just indulges in reading about it. I want to see the change in the world. Sorry if my post sounds stupid...but i had to say it.

Your post is not stupid.

Here is my final thought: Happiness comes from meaningful existence.

Make your existence meaningful, so meaningful that no one can take/destroy that meaning, and you will be happy (not all the time, but enough).

As I noted, revolutionary leftism is a development - such a development can be enacted at all times. Talk to people, discuss these issues, act according to your own law, and never forget your class. Do so, and you will find that Marxism is closer than you think.

- August