What Am I?

[Poppytry]

OK firstly I would just like to say that I'm new to this website.

OK so Ive had this problem for the past two years now.. I simply cannot figure out what I stand for in the political world. As my knowledge in politics and history (I study both at A2 level, and will go on to study Politics at university) has grown I have constantly asked my self what I believe in and where I stand on the political spectrum from left to right. My teacher said to find out what you believe go through the elimination process and first eliminate what you are against.

I am against..

- Strongly against all forms of Israeli Government and their treatment of their Arab nations and in particular the Palestinians. I honestly don't see a difference between the Warsaw ghetto in 1942 and the Gaza Strip.

- American economic imperialism and how they manipulate the international community through sanctions until they follow the US model. I personally applaud countries such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela and in particular Chavez for standing against the bully that is American foreign policy.

- Certain international organizations such as the United Nations Security Council and NATO. I find it hysterical that the victors of a war that was fought over 60 years ago still form an elite club where they pretty much control and act upon international issues. A Veto by one and the entire policy is scrapped (The US has Vetoed around 32 times on issues regarding Israel). The whole idea of the UNSC just undermine the UN and its internationalist ideals. They chose in 1991 to go to the aid of resource (oil) rich Kuwait but chose not to act in 1994 in defense of resource poor Rwanda where consequently around a million lives were lost. NATO in my opinion is an out of date gang united to face Russia. Every act of defiance Russia holds towards NATO I support.

I do on the other hand believe in...

- Free health care for the entire population
- Very high Income Tax rates on people on six figure salary's
- A welfare system for the unemployed and instead of the state just being suckered by people who choose not to work the state should find jobs appropriate for the applicant and if they refuse to work then there allowance should be cut
- Free public transport
- Maximum 2% of GDP to be spent on defense (saving billions)

Based on these I think its fair to say I'm a socialist, however I'm unsure yet if I'm a internationalist or a nationalist. which i suppose is the underlying factor.

When and how did you guys realize you were 100% Anarchist, Communist or Socialists?

[Absolut]

Ive always felt drawn to socialism in general, but I wasnt really sure about the whole avantgarde-party-thing, and when my dad gave me an introductory book to anarchism it just clicked. That was a few years ago, I think I was 16 or 17.

[revolution inaction]

your a liberal not a socialist, you mention nothing about workers control of production and the things you say you are in favour of are just about making capitalism a bit nicer, or not in the case of the welfare thing. You are also a nationalist because you say

I personally applaud countries such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela and in particular Chavez for standing against the bully that is American foreign policy.

I became a anarchist gradually as i learnt about it and discovered it either matched what i thought already or was much better, i became a communist when i figured out how communism would work in practice.

[bellyscratch]

I'd say try not to label yourself anything yet. If you haven't already make sure understand the different ideologies on the left and key theorists by reading up on them. Make sure you are open minded to the different points of view.

Also, keep active on here and try discuss in a wide range of topics, read about what people have to say and never hesitate to ask questions if you don't understand something.

Also, try get active in political groups on the issues you are interested in if you're not already as it would be a good place to meet other politically minded people. So since you're anti-zionist then maybe something like Palestine Solidarity Campaign would be good. But I'd suggest not rushing into a political party just yet until you have a better idea of what your own politics are. There will be certain groups that try to recruit anyone they can and from personal experience its not a good idea to rush into it.

But just make sure you read as much as you can

[Pinko Panther]

Well, you do sound like some kind of socialist. To figure out what kind, I would read some books on communism, socialism, anarchism, etc. But I wouldn't worry too much about it. The left has a history of sectarianism that can not continue if we wish to have a successful revolution. So just do some reading and you will probably find that your opinions will evolve even more.
Also, many people here are not 100% Communist, Socialist, or anarchist. Personally, I am an anarcho-communist, which is a mixture of anarchism and communism.

[LOLseph Stalin]

For starters, I recommend reading these: http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm
http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm

If you agree with the stuff in those links then most likely you're a Communist. :)

[ZeroNowhere]

Well, you do sound like some kind of socialist.
No, they sound like a reformist. They want capitalism, merely a 'nicer' capitalism. "We Socialists are not reformers; we are revolutionists. We Socialists do not propose to change forms. We care nothing for forms. We want a change of the inside of the mechanism of society, let the form take care of itself." So no, not a socialist.


Every act of defiance Russia holds towards NATO I support.
Not even close to a socialist.


Also, many people here are not 100% Communist, Socialist, or anarchist. Personally, I am an anarcho-communist, which is a mixture of anarchism and communism.
No, it's a form of anarchism, and hence a form of communism. Even if some people would claim that mutualism is 'not communist' (I would say that it is), they'd still say that anarcho-communism is 100% anarchist and 100% socialist. Also, communist and socialist are synonyms.


If you agree with the stuff in those links then most likely you're a Communist.
Well, technically, Engels ended up saying that he was wrong about quite a bit of stuff back then due to the fact that the means of production had not yet been advanced far enough for socialism, and M+E later abandoned the 'Ten Planks' in the Commie Manifesto (though note that these did not define socialism at all, they were measures intended to be unstable and to function under capitalism, until they would necessitate the abolishment of capitalism. Using them as an ends would merely lead to, as Engels pointed out elsewhere, a form of capitalism, and an unstable one at that, which would probably quite soon revert to the usual, so that wouldn't make you at all a socialist), calling it "antiquated", and with Engels later stating, "Yet our programme is a purely socialist one. Our first plank is the socialisation of all the means and instruments of production. Still, we accept anything which any government may give us, but only as a payment on account, and for which we offer no thanks."

[Pogue]

I'd say your a social democrat (OP).

[Cohacq]

You sound a lot like me when i first started. I had alot of the same opinions as you, and after alot of reading (both here and alot of other links) and discussion, i came to the position I am now, a communist with a lot of familiarity with the anarchists.

[Poppytry]

I'd say your a social democrat (OP).

What I failed to include above is that I'm not a huge fan of democracy.49% Is a lot of disappointed people. However today let alone 49% its more like 65%.. for example the elected government of Britain during the may 2005 elections was Labour with 35.2% of the vote and a pathetic 61.4% turnout. So how the hell is that democracy? More people vote AGAINST yet they get elected?

Although some would argue that that is just the first past the post system and it is necessary to form a strong government as proportional representation forms weak coalitions. Proportional representation to me sounds more like democracy as every vote counts but like I mentioned before it just forms weak coalitions which cannot function.

However I would be a hypocrite if I was to say I wanted to live under a totalitarian government as I take certain aspects of my life for granted such as the use of the internet and traveling. I know this is not the case with all dictatorships but I do believe that it is a very slippery slope and can rapidly end with this. Evidence showing one man rule is possible with a good outcome is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk possibly Fidel too if he was able to run his country properly without having to face the difficult economic sanctions set by the US.

[InTheMatterOfBoots]

What I failed to include above is that I'm not a huge fan of democracy.49% Is a lot of disappointed people. However today let alone 49% its more like 65%.. for example the elected government of Britain during the may 2005 elections was Labour with 35.2% of the vote and a pathetic 61.4% turnout. So how the hell is that democracy? More people vote AGAINST yet they get elected?

Although some would argue that that is just the first past the post system and it is necessary to form a strong government as proportional representation forms weak coalitions. Proportional representation to me sounds more like democracy as every vote counts but like I mentioned before it just forms weak coalitions which cannot function.


Ultimately they are all forms of representative democracy though and this means that they carry the inherent weakness of representative democracy - they are actually very unrepresentative. I don't think that the remedy for this is to go in the opposite direction, i.e. one-man rule and dictatorship. Democracy can work, it just needs to be applied at a grassroots level to give it true meaning. Ordinary people actually making decisions about the control of their workplace or neighbourhood, not the puppet show you get between political parties.

[Raúl Duke]

OK firstly I would just like to say that I'm new to this website.

OK so Ive had this problem for the past two years now.. I simply cannot figure out what I stand for in the political world. As my knowledge in politics and history (I study both at A2 level, and will go on to study Politics at university) has grown I have constantly asked my self what I believe in and where I stand on the political spectrum from left to right. My teacher said to find out what you believe go through the elimination process and first eliminate what you are against.

I am against..

- Strongly against all forms of Israeli Government and their treatment of their Arab nations and in particular the Palestinians. I honestly don't see a difference between the Warsaw ghetto in 1942 and the Gaza Strip.

- American economic imperialism and how they manipulate the international community through sanctions until they follow the US model. I personally applaud countries such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela and in particular Chavez for standing against the bully that is American foreign policy.

- Certain international organizations such as the United Nations Security Council and NATO. I find it hysterical that the victors of a war that was fought over 60 years ago still form an elite club where they pretty much control and act upon international issues. A Veto by one and the entire policy is scrapped (The US has Vetoed around 32 times on issues regarding Israel). The whole idea of the UNSC just undermine the UN and its internationalist ideals. They chose in 1991 to go to the aid of resource (oil) rich Kuwait but chose not to act in 1994 in defense of resource poor Rwanda where consequently around a million lives were lost. NATO in my opinion is an out of date gang united to face Russia. Every act of defiance Russia holds towards NATO I support.

I do on the other hand believe in...

- Free health care for the entire population
- Very high Income Tax rates on people on six figure salary's
- A welfare system for the unemployed and instead of the state just being suckered by people who choose not to work the state should find jobs appropriate for the applicant and if they refuse to work then there allowance should be cut
- Free public transport
- Maximum 2% of GDP to be spent on defense (saving billions)

Based on these I think its fair to say I'm a socialist, however I'm unsure yet if I'm a internationalist or a nationalist. which i suppose is the underlying factor.

When and how did you guys realize you were 100% Anarchist, Communist or Socialists?

A social democrat with, perhaps strong, anti-imperialist tendencies. Yes you are quite "internationalist."

I realize I was an anarchist at the age of...17?
Although it was more like "I'm labeling myself anarchist, going to read up more about it (i.e. thus I join this site), I agree with some of the basic principles/etc"...I would say I became a very confirmed anarchist by 18-19.

[mikelepore]

Based on these I think its fair to say I'm a socialist,

I would emphasize that socialism doesn't mean the accumulation of some of socialism's advantages, such as free health care. Socialism means control of the industries and services through the democratic participation of the people, and then, as a result of having that participatory control, those advantages, among other changes, would be adopted.

.......................................


When and how did you guys realize you were 100% Anarchist, Communist or Socialists?

I know the exact moment when I became a socialist. It happened abruply on a rainy Friday afternoon while I was waiting for a bus. Someone gave me something to read which demonstrated that the causes of wars are usually material interests, such as the acquisition of markets, trade routes, and raw materials, but then ideological reasons for wars ("preserve freedom", etc.) are cited in an artificial way to make the policies appear to be acceptable . The reasoning was too clear to ignore. I had no choice but to immediately reverse my opinions about various social systems. (That happened in 1968 :o)

[Nulono]

anarcho-communis[m] ... is a mixture of anarchism and communism.
Gee, really?