redstar2000
7th August 2003, 00:09
It's the question I hear more than all others combined; someone has developed some familiarity with the tools of Marxism, wants to do "something useful" to advance the revolution, and has no idea what that "something" might be.
And, of course, since I don't know you, I have no idea what you "should" do, either. But here are some things to think about.
First, a message that some will find reassuring and others depressing: as a Marxist, you know that any single individual will not make that much difference in "how things turn out" one way or another. In a population of more than six or seven billion, there will be plenty of volunteers for every social role.
Consequently, you can freely please yourself without worry that you have somehow neglected some "essential task" that will derail the revolutionary process. If it truly is essential, there will be others who will do it and who will be pleased to have the chance to do it.
Secondly, you must be honest with yourself about your personal material conditions. For example, if you are a 120 lb. computer nerd who is bored to madness by repetitive labor, you are not going to be an effective organizer in an industrial setting. On the other hand, if academia seems to you to be an utterly sterile word-factory, student and teacher organizing is not for you.
In fact, you may not be any kind of "organizer" at all...you may be one who brings needed technical skills, artistic skills, literary skills to the movement. In a real communist movement, there is no "special hierarchy" that says this person is a "better" revolutionary than that person because this person does X while that person can "only" do Y. (And if you happen to observe this kind of status game being played, seriously reconsider your membership in that group...it is probably only verbally communist.)
Given your own talents, abilities, skills, preferences, characteristics...you must look for--or even make--your own "niche" in the broad revolutionary movement of the working class. It must feel "right" to you in order for you to keep at it for decades, or even a lifetime. Because that is what is really crucial to being a revolutionary. Many have set forth--"with a flourish of trumpets"--to perform some dramatic revolutionary task...and in a year or two, quietly returned to the capitalist camp with their tail between their legs. It is possible that they did do something that was briefly useful...but that is nothing compared to a lifetime's patient effort to undermine the capitalist system.
And that, thirdly, is another crucial aspect of real communist activity: whatever you do must serve to undermine the functioning or the credibility or the legitimacy (or all three!) of the capitalist system. There are many efforts to "do good" in this world...but the only ones you should be interested in are the ones that do "good" by attacking the power of "evil". Simply "doing good" is quite acceptable to the ruling class; they've even been known to pretend to be doing it themselves while the cameras were on. From a communist standpoint, real "good" is a relentless and sustained attack on the capitalist system itself...in whatever form is consistent with your individual abilities and opportunities.
Fourthly, watch out for appeals to "self-sacrifice" or "willingness to endure hardship". These are rhetorical symptoms of what one communist called "the Aztec theory of revolutionary activity"--you know, you drape yourself over the altar and cut out your own heart as an offering to "history". You may, under certain circumstances, do something that is considered "heroic"...but never allow yourself to be rhetorically intimidated into such behavior. Even if you escape unharmed, you will (rightfully) feel "used"...and, thereafter, will either quit revolutionary politics altogether or become a cynical user of others yourself.
And be equally wary of those who portray revolutionary committment as some sort of monkish neo-puritanical "life" of utter deprivation or "iron" self-discipline. The "fleshly" pleasures of life, in moderation of course, are a natural part of human existence...even for communists. Just ask Engels, he'll tell you.
Fifthly, it is enormously helpful but not necessary to be a part of a communist group, formal or informal. A "good" group can bring out the best in you, can develop your capacities and capabilities far beyond what you thought possible. But sometimes people join "bad" groups because they feel like "a communist must be in a group, by definition." A "bad" group, of course, is a group that might be "communist" in words but is usually something much less in practice...a private club, a church, etc. Being in one, at its worst, is roughly like having a really shitty, low-paying job...and drives people out of revolutionary politics faster than any repressive measures by any government.
And lastly, is it possible to have "a regular life" and be a revolutionary? I suppose it might be, but it puts a severe strain on your politics if you try to do that. Part of you is trying to "shove" the present into the future while part of you is trying to integrate yourself into the present. Someone with a spouse, children, mortgage, etc. is under tremendous pressure to conform and submit to the prevailing social order; it is far more difficult to maintain an attitude of unrelenting hostility and persistent opposition under such circumstances. Marx himself, late in life, remarked that a revolutionary should never marry. He had a point.
But don't forget: have fun! What we communists are trying to do is immensely serious and important and all that...but, if properly done, should be enormously enjoyable as well. To know that you are playing a constructive role, even a very small one, in the greatest era of human civilization--the end of class society--should please you no end.
It does me.
http://www.sawu.org/redgreenleft/YaBBImages/smoking.gif
___________________________
U.S. GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
___________________________
"...a disgusting and frightening website"
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.sawu.org/redstar2000)
A site about communist ideas
And, of course, since I don't know you, I have no idea what you "should" do, either. But here are some things to think about.
First, a message that some will find reassuring and others depressing: as a Marxist, you know that any single individual will not make that much difference in "how things turn out" one way or another. In a population of more than six or seven billion, there will be plenty of volunteers for every social role.
Consequently, you can freely please yourself without worry that you have somehow neglected some "essential task" that will derail the revolutionary process. If it truly is essential, there will be others who will do it and who will be pleased to have the chance to do it.
Secondly, you must be honest with yourself about your personal material conditions. For example, if you are a 120 lb. computer nerd who is bored to madness by repetitive labor, you are not going to be an effective organizer in an industrial setting. On the other hand, if academia seems to you to be an utterly sterile word-factory, student and teacher organizing is not for you.
In fact, you may not be any kind of "organizer" at all...you may be one who brings needed technical skills, artistic skills, literary skills to the movement. In a real communist movement, there is no "special hierarchy" that says this person is a "better" revolutionary than that person because this person does X while that person can "only" do Y. (And if you happen to observe this kind of status game being played, seriously reconsider your membership in that group...it is probably only verbally communist.)
Given your own talents, abilities, skills, preferences, characteristics...you must look for--or even make--your own "niche" in the broad revolutionary movement of the working class. It must feel "right" to you in order for you to keep at it for decades, or even a lifetime. Because that is what is really crucial to being a revolutionary. Many have set forth--"with a flourish of trumpets"--to perform some dramatic revolutionary task...and in a year or two, quietly returned to the capitalist camp with their tail between their legs. It is possible that they did do something that was briefly useful...but that is nothing compared to a lifetime's patient effort to undermine the capitalist system.
And that, thirdly, is another crucial aspect of real communist activity: whatever you do must serve to undermine the functioning or the credibility or the legitimacy (or all three!) of the capitalist system. There are many efforts to "do good" in this world...but the only ones you should be interested in are the ones that do "good" by attacking the power of "evil". Simply "doing good" is quite acceptable to the ruling class; they've even been known to pretend to be doing it themselves while the cameras were on. From a communist standpoint, real "good" is a relentless and sustained attack on the capitalist system itself...in whatever form is consistent with your individual abilities and opportunities.
Fourthly, watch out for appeals to "self-sacrifice" or "willingness to endure hardship". These are rhetorical symptoms of what one communist called "the Aztec theory of revolutionary activity"--you know, you drape yourself over the altar and cut out your own heart as an offering to "history". You may, under certain circumstances, do something that is considered "heroic"...but never allow yourself to be rhetorically intimidated into such behavior. Even if you escape unharmed, you will (rightfully) feel "used"...and, thereafter, will either quit revolutionary politics altogether or become a cynical user of others yourself.
And be equally wary of those who portray revolutionary committment as some sort of monkish neo-puritanical "life" of utter deprivation or "iron" self-discipline. The "fleshly" pleasures of life, in moderation of course, are a natural part of human existence...even for communists. Just ask Engels, he'll tell you.
Fifthly, it is enormously helpful but not necessary to be a part of a communist group, formal or informal. A "good" group can bring out the best in you, can develop your capacities and capabilities far beyond what you thought possible. But sometimes people join "bad" groups because they feel like "a communist must be in a group, by definition." A "bad" group, of course, is a group that might be "communist" in words but is usually something much less in practice...a private club, a church, etc. Being in one, at its worst, is roughly like having a really shitty, low-paying job...and drives people out of revolutionary politics faster than any repressive measures by any government.
And lastly, is it possible to have "a regular life" and be a revolutionary? I suppose it might be, but it puts a severe strain on your politics if you try to do that. Part of you is trying to "shove" the present into the future while part of you is trying to integrate yourself into the present. Someone with a spouse, children, mortgage, etc. is under tremendous pressure to conform and submit to the prevailing social order; it is far more difficult to maintain an attitude of unrelenting hostility and persistent opposition under such circumstances. Marx himself, late in life, remarked that a revolutionary should never marry. He had a point.
But don't forget: have fun! What we communists are trying to do is immensely serious and important and all that...but, if properly done, should be enormously enjoyable as well. To know that you are playing a constructive role, even a very small one, in the greatest era of human civilization--the end of class society--should please you no end.
It does me.
http://www.sawu.org/redgreenleft/YaBBImages/smoking.gif
___________________________
U.S. GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
___________________________
"...a disgusting and frightening website"
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.sawu.org/redstar2000)
A site about communist ideas