wtf you label me!?

[WileECoyote]

Basically I ran into all this by accident. Im taking a course in college that has to do with stuff like this. Has me thinking what would someone label me on my beliefs. I like to consider myself just "Human" Not a fan of getting labels thrown at me, well I wanna know what I would be labeled as for what I believe. Feel free to ask more questions....

I would like to live in a world that was more fair. It would be runned by the people. When I say that I mean we would come together and make decisions by the majority of a small area like a small town. We would decide together on our own laws. Come to an agreement on how much people should be paid for there labor. (Hate how retarded people have so much money they can wipe there ass with it, and some people dont have nothing to wipe with!) Everyone should have enough money to care for themselves as long as they actually work for it. I think there should be freedom in doing what you want to yourself.

Sum it up, what I hate about america is, I have no say to big decisions like war, My job as an EMT I get payed way less then a McDonalds Manager (Im not greedy but would like enough cash to not stress over bills and such), I cant smoke weed in a resonable manor, Im forced to pay for things I shouldnt have to, Have the choice out of a few douche bags to be president, When I was 18 I could only date people older then me or I would get locked up, The whole way the justice system sucks balls and a bunch of other shit.

Idk I think it would be better without pointless laws, and appointing certain people to make all "our" decisions for us. I should be able to do stuff I enjoy without being hated on. Long as your not goin around taking peoples lives and hurting others for no reason and other shit that should be obvious not to do that actually pisses off the majority of people you should be good to go and live your life as yourself.

Mainly I believe this, BE YOUR SELF AND DONT WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU, DO YOU!

[LOLseph Stalin]

Why worry about labels? They just lead to sectarianism. Just be a leftist.

[Axle]

Why worry about labels? They just lead to sectarianism. Just be a leftist.

This.

You seem like you're vaugely on the left, but I doubt you've had much political exposure. Read around this forum for awhile, get your hands on some Marx/Engels and you'll get a pretty good foundation.

[WileECoyote]

Well I just wonder what some one would classify the way I think. I dont know jack of left and right, thats why im learning. Like I said I dont like being labeled but I would like to know if there is a group I most relate to and learn more about that too. Im always tryin to find a way to feed my mind! I feel im WAY out of touch with politics but I never worried about learning about the people who try and run this world! "sectarianism" new word to learn.

[(A)narcho-Matt]

like the others have said, you seem fairly left. Try reading around some basic theory, dont bother with reading Capital etc straight away. its really boring, the best way to understand some theory is to read other books on that theory. Decide what theory you seem interested in, do you wanna look at marxist theory or anarchist theory or just general anti-capitalist.

A good starting point for anarchist theory is Kropotkins "the conquest of bread" and Alexander Berkmans the "ABC of Anarchism" (availiable free here: http://www.lucyparsonsproject.org/anarchism/berkman_abc_of_anarchism.html )

Just dont be too quick to label yourself, read around a bit and find something you agree with.

[Axle]

Well I just wonder what some one would classify the way I think. I dont know jack of left and right, thats why im learning. Like I said I dont like being labeled but I would like to know if there is a group I most relate to and learn more about that too. Im always tryin to find a way to feed my mind! "sectarianism" new word to learn.

Like I said, you're basically on the left.

But since you don't really know left from right at the moment, your politics are honestly going to be too unrefined for anyone to classify you. Like I said, just get familiar with Marx and Engels first. They're the base of the modern left.

If you need help, there's a reading list for beginners tagged in learning.

[Sam_b]

Why worry about labels? They just lead to sectarianism. Just be a leftist

If we shouldn't worry about labels, why are you suggesting what is in essence a broader label? What is a leftist?

[The Red Next Door]

Protest the right for 16 and 18 years to be together.

[ArrowLance]

Labels are extremely useful tools. It can give a general or specific idea almost immediately to anyone that has learned it. When I say I am Marxist, it gives anyone with any experience with Marx's ideas or anyone with any experience with other Marxists a general idea on my basic principles. Without labels it may be neccessary to explain sundry basic principles you adhere to before moving on to the real topic.

[Cooler Reds Will Prevail]

Based on your limited description, maybe this?

http://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Intercommunalism-Right-Nations-Self-Determination/dp/0954291344

[Chambered Word]

Download yourself some revolutionary leftist texts. Marxists.org (http://www.marxists.org) has alot of them.

Welcome to RevLeft, by the way. :)

[syndicat]

Sounds like libertarian socialism or anarchism of some sort might be more to your liking, given your interest in having decisions that affect you where you live and work be controlled by the people there. you might check:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism

[mikelepore]

I don't think the problem is labels, but the habit of using a label to attaching someone else's whole set of ideas to myself. A label may bring a list of eleven or twenty-seven or whatever "principles" that a person is expected to accept. To generalize, I call myself a Marxist, but I also identify individual sentences in Marx: I agree with one sentence, but I disagree with another one.

[Ovi]

The closest "label" I could think of would be collectivist anarchist. Welcome to revleft by the way!

[Patchd]

Why worry about labels? They just lead to sectarianism. Just be a leftist.
Because whether you like it or not, your political beliefs are probably already represented by a certain trend, so you're automatically a label. Also, it makes life easier when you don't have to type out 3 paragraphs in order to explain your beliefs but can easily sum it up with a word, I don't see what all the fuss with labelling yourself is.

[(A)narcho-Matt]

Yeh labels are important, they allow for immediate recognition of your ideas. However, for someone so new to left and revolutionary ideas it is not a good idea to label yourself so soon. I would suggest that he takes his time and reads up on a wide range of theory, and then when he has found something he is most comfortable with, adopt that label.

[Communist Theory]

If we shouldn't worry about labels, why are you suggesting what is in essence a broader label? What is a leftist?
This.
How do you feel about the soviet union?

[mikelepore]

If we shouldn't worry about labels, why are you suggesting what is in essence a broader label? What is a leftist?


This.
How do you feel about the soviet union?

That's hardly an indicator. The left is sharply divided about the Soviet Union, with judgments ranging from "the best thing in the world" to "the worst thing in the world", and all the shades in between.

*****

The word "left" today means people who believe that social problems are caused by private ownership of the industries, the profit motive, and the division of society into economic classes, and they also reject the kinds of goverments that are based on such a class-divided system. They want to replace the situation with a new system that will be put together for the good of all the people.

However, the left is divided into hundreds of separate interpretations which disagree about the structure of the proposed new system, and disagree about the strategy needed to implement a new social system. These various interpretations on the left address each other with "our goal is more democratic than yours" and "our program of implementation is more workable than yours."

If you join the left, you have no choice but to look around for yourself and choose your own social goal and strategy. Everyone who tries to be helpful by answer these issues for you will be speaking only for their own interpretation, including myself.

[Nwoye]

I like how he comes on here posting about how he hates labels only to have a bunch of people go "oh yeah I feel the same way. btw have you read Kropotkin?"

shameless tendency promotion at its best.

[Chambered Word]

I like how he comes on here posting about how he hates labels only to have a bunch of people go "oh yeah I feel the same way. btw have you read Kropotkin?"

shameless tendency promotion at its best.

Not really, they're just advising him to read some theory seeing as he seems to be new here...