Guilt

[Ahmed]

For all the non prols out there, do you ever feel guilty? I bought a video game today, an even though I got a student discount on it, it wasn't exactly cheap. Then I started thinking, this money could have actually fed some people, and I used it to buy something that I technically do not need.

[Kukulofori]

Usually no, because I take steps to avoiding that stuff. for instance instead of buying a video game, i would pirate it. Entertainment though is as fundamental a need as food or shelter, so don't feel guilty about that.

[RedRise]

I feel guilty all the time. It sucks.:( I buy a paddle pop from the canteen at school and feel bad about it. But hey, as my dad would say 'there's no use crying over spilt milk'
I suppose if you do give money to charity and stuff it's OK.
Still, it's terrible when you realize you've got all these things you don't really need while some kids are starving to death in Africa. But I mean there's only so much you can do.:confused:

[LeninBalls]

You can't boycott capitalism.

[Black Sheep]

For all the non prols out there, do you ever feel guilty? I bought a video game today, an even though I got a student discount on it, it wasn't exactly cheap. Then I started thinking, this money could have actually fed some people, and I used it to buy something that I technically do not need.
You could donate some to your revolutionary organization you belong.If you dont belong in one, join one.

Do not feel guilty, as the poster above said you cant boycott capitalism.Even the simplest task you perform in your everyday life, carries the exploitation of several human beings.
Also,in marxist criteria,every product you use is imbued with the labor value (and thus exploitation) of hundreds of workers.From gathering of 1st materials for that product,manufacturing,transportation,sales,marketi ng, etc etc

Class struggle is not charity,it doesn't mean you should give away your income to the poor.It means you devote an important (the more,the merrier) part of your time and resources to the revolutionary change of society.

Class struggle =/= christianity

[Charles Xavier]

We communists do not preach charity, we preach justice. We do not preach abstaining from capitalism, we preach fighting it.

We aren't against commodity production, we are in favour of it.

[Agrippa]

Spending the money on charity would have saved you the time you wasted playing the video game, however it still would have been as big of a waste of money...

[Искра]

You could buy a gun and do some "propaganda by action" :D

[Agrippa]

Advocating violence on the Internet is stupider than wasting money on videogames.

[Искра]

I was joking... :rolleyes:
But then again... this whole forum advocates violence. I mean "revolutionary left". What's revolution if it's not violence?

[Charles Xavier]

I was joking... :rolleyes:
But then again... this whole forum advocates violence. I mean "revolutionary left". What's revolution if it's not violence?

Okay Officer provocateur.

[Искра]

Okay Officer provocateur.

No officers :)

[Pogue]

What I do is, everytime I buy something, i cut myself, but in the shape of an hammer and sickle.

This way I don't feel guilty, but it does mean I always have to wear long sleeve shirts, which is a downer.

[Niccolò Rossi]

We aren't against commodity production, we are in favour of it.

Who is 'we'? Are we supposed to that this as an admission that Marxist-Leninists do not advocate the abolition of capitalism after all?

Communists fight for the abolition of wage labour and commodity production. However, this does not mean we are against production or consumption in the abstract. Communists do not support anti-worker, guilt-tripping, liberal ideologies of frugality or 'anti-consumerism'.

[LOLseph Stalin]

I do feel guilty sometimes like when I go on a shopping spree or something. Not only that, but I'm supporting Capitalism by doing that(not that you can get away from that though. clothing is essential!). However, putting that money towards charities instead won't make much of a difference anyway. Most charities are either bureaucratic, religious(damn preaching!:mad: "We'll help you if you read our bible".), or just spend way too much of the money donated on advertising and such. However, there may still be oppression and low pay but I guess spending money can help in some ways. It does give companies more money in which to pay their employees with. Of course that doesn't always happen though. Sweatshops exist.

[Revy]

For all the non prols out there, do you ever feel guilty? I bought a video game today, an even though I got a student discount on it, it wasn't exactly cheap. Then I started thinking, this money could have actually fed some people, and I used it to buy something that I technically do not need.

How does playing video games = being a non-proletarian? I think you're relying on stereotypes about working in a factory on a very low wage to make that assessment.

[Holden Caulfield]

I am relatively poor for my country and I piss all my money away,

its not good for men to work in cages, hits the town he drinks his wages

[Manifesto]

Why should we feel guilty? Besides many charities barely even helping the people, when the rich who can afford to give to charities, do not.

[Ahmed]

I didn't mean give the money to charity organisations or whatnot, I don't do that. When I want to give money I actually fine homeless people and beggars on the street and give them the money directly. Sure, some of them will spend it on booze or drugs, but that's a stereotype, most of them don't. And I didn't assume the proletariat does not play video games, it's just that I am a student, so I didn't even earn that money myself (or get exploited for it if you like). If I were a worker I wouldn't feel as guilty since I earned the money and as a matter of fact I should be earning more since my labour was being exploited by capital.

[manic expression]

There's no reason to feel guilty about having some fun. Plus, guilt doesn't help anyone, capitalism won't care if you feel guilty or not. If you ask me, enjoy your videogame. If you like, you can try to find a part-time job to buy entertainment and clothes and other things (that helps me a lot when I'm at school), but regardless, most students have trouble supporting themselves. Learn what you can for the future, enjoy life when you can and, of course, stand up for what you believe in.

[NecroCommie]

A lot workers buy video-games, me most notably. :cool: You can start feeling guilty when you are buying plasma TV's on a whim.

[What Would Durruti Do?]

Nothing wrong with spending our (little) hard earned money on ourselves. That's what consumerism is all about anyway - buying shit to distract us from our problems.

[Killfacer]

For all the non prols out there, do you ever feel guilty? I bought a video game today, an even though I got a student discount on it, it wasn't exactly cheap. Then I started thinking, this money could have actually fed some people, and I used it to buy something that I technically do not need.

Everyone buys luxury items. If i lived in a cave with nothing but leaves to protect my naked body then i don't think i'd make a very good revolutionary. I'm not saying my buying the Total War games makes me a better revolutionary, but to deny myself some fun etc would be pointless.

At least that's what i tell myself.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

Go buy a big house and a big car if possible and always try your best to have an awesome life. No you wont go to lefty hell for it ,you just wont die bitter and twisted. Being a Communist is about ending exploitation not lowering living standards the issue isnt that yours is quite high but that its not nowhere near high enough and those who freeze to death in council houses or in shacks in India are a testament to how badly we need a system that can supply a general high standard of living.

[LOLseph Stalin]

Nothing wrong with spending our (little) hard earned money on ourselves. That's what consumerism is all about anyway - buying shit to distract us from our problems.

Exactly. It works quite well for those Capitalist pigs selling us the shit. If it distracts people from their problems it can create less people wanting to rebel against the system. Not to mention the endless propaganda and the whole "I don't want Socialism because this fancy product I like will no longer exist" attitude held by some people(at least I have encountered that).

[Sam_b]

Socialism isn't about bringing down everyone's standard of living, its about raising everyone's standard of living upwards, so everyone can do these things once in a while.


Guilt over stuff like this is bleeding heart liberal nonsense.

[Ahmed]

Thank you all, your answers were most helpful. I'm sorry if I should have opened another thread for this but I do not think I need to. What class would university professors as well as people who write for a living, be they journalists or novelists or academic writes be part of? And how are they viewed by traditional communism or the left in general? From my own (very shallow) personal experience, these people tend to be one of the most leftist groups of people.

[Charles Xavier]

Thank you all, your answers were most helpful. I'm sorry if I should have opened another thread for this but I do not think I need to. What class would university professors as well as people who write for a living, be they journalists or novelists or academic writes be part of? And how are they viewed by traditional communism or the left in general? From my own (very shallow) personal experience, these people tend to be one of the most leftist groups of people.

It depends, some writers are bourgeoisie, they own publishing companies and have their own things published, such as Tom Clancy, others are from a working class or a petty bourgeoisie background. Teachers and University professors are working class. But some are quite well paid and have very low class consciousness while others are members of the communist party and active in their union.

But I do not see how academics are more left than the rest of the general population, I find the opposite to be true. I think workers in the industrial and transportation are the most important as they can bring society to a stand still.

[Ahmed]

As I said I speak from very shallow personal experience so I may have just been lucky enough to be exposed to these kinds of professors. My first political science class, the 101, was taught to me by a die hard Marxist professor and he would always speak of communism and the workers and tell us outright that the stuff he should be teaching us is capitalist bullshit. He also called Economics, as taught today, "bourgeoisie pseudo science". Another professor of mine, one of economics, is also a Marxist, although not as radical as the political sci one, and used to dedicate a great deal of time towards teaching Marx, more so than the other classical economists or even the modern ones. My final example is that of an Arabic Literature professor who was also greatly sympathetic towards the struggles of workers and would always make the statement "oppression is the root of evil". All the texts he taught, whether poetry or prose, were political in nature and leftist. In my opinion, academics are one of the more left groups I have ever encountered. Whether they are the most important group though, is another debate.