Greetings!

[esanders]

Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to be here. I'm so glad I found these forums, and I think I'm going to enjoy talking to like minded (and opposing) people!

I'm a big fan of Marx, and I'm very interested in American and world politics. I have sort of my own set of ideology based on Marxism, progressivism and American "liberalism". I try to apply my ideals in ways which can appeal to the public. Even though they might find me a bit extreme, I think much of their fears are from anti-communist indoctrination. I think if they open their eyes and think about how wonderful a classless society can be, they can realize the truth (as we see it).

I also just started my own political blog, which is something I've been wanting and dreaming of doing for the last three years. I just got it online yesterday, and have a couple pages and posts. I'm still holding back some of my writing that I've been working on for years. I want to finish editing and fixing it up. So I made some "quickies", just sort of spontaneously, and I've even gotten a little bit of good feedback and opposition! I'm very excited about it. I'd appreciate it if you guys would be willing to have a look and comment on things. Here's the URL:

tideofchange.wordpress.com

Any comments and suggestions, even criticism will be greatly appreciated!

Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of the community, and I hope to meet some like-minded friends and even engage in some debate! Cheers! :D

[Q]

Welcome :)

Could you expand a little on your blend ideology? How are you a "liberal" for example?

[4 Leaf Clover]

Welcome comrade. I think you should not be afraid to dig into Marxism deeper , and of course discover the world of class struggle, materialism etc... And you shouldn't be afraid either of radicalizing your ideas because of public opinion.

[Widerstand]

Welcome :)

[Jalapeno Enema]

Welcome

[esanders]

Thanks for the warm welcome! By the way, I just love how people actually say "comrade" here -- and I know that just drives the righties nuts! :laugh:

Well... I sometimes find it difficult to apply words to myself and ideology. I think there's also a big weakness in the left-right spectrum, and it's widely misunderstood (especially in America). So I'll try to do my best here.

My ultimate belief is in the concept of a classless society -- and I would like to see the entire world someday joined together in a single sort of "semi-utopia" (as close to a "utopia" as we can realistically come). But I also believe that requires a strong, centralized state. No offense to you guys who disagree, but I think anarchism is a counter-productive idea. Without a powerful centralized government, people will be able to overturn the system and again enslave the people with unbridled capitalism. I believe that greed is just an inherent part of human nature, and we must not forget that and be able to manage it. Just put two little kids and one big, smart kid in a room with a bag of candy, and see who gets it all! That's why I have some rather authoritarian feelings, because I think it's necessary to prevent the resurgence of capitalism and keep society intact.

But don't mistake this as me wanting to start arresting everyone who disagrees or killing people. Not at all. Only in a future where a unified, Marxist society exists would I advocate peacefully silencing opposition (such as by keeping them off of TV). Only then would it even be appropriate. By then, the world will have accepted and will love the collectivist, classless world we have created, so we wouldn't need capitalist preachers trying to divide society or brainwash children. And I think the best way to get to this point is to move step by step. Work with mainstream politics, instead of trying to overthrow them by violence. If we get violent, we only let the capitalists win! I think governments like the Soviet Union were somewhat on the right track, but it was spoiled by some brutality (the purges), individuals who got too rich and powerful ("closet-capitalists" as I call them) and the wasting of money on foreign conquest (Afghanistan) and the "Cold War".

So while I'm pretty radical inside my own head, I try to embrace and work with mainstream politics and public opinion. I think we should kill capitalism softly through reform, small steps in the right direction and continued change through converting the masses. This is why I support mainstream left-wing politicians, like President Obama. I think the man is a brilliant leader, and he's doing just what we need him to where he is able. But in today's society, he can't just try to throw out social class and redistribute wealth -- that could even cause a war. So I support his small acts of social welfare, social justice and economic policy. He's moving us in a positive direction and getting the public to see that it just works. I also think that as we on the left can move further and further towards our dream, it will create a sort of "vacuum" in the center -- even the rightists will have to shift left and that will improve society as a whole. This has happened before (French Revolution, for example).

Anyway, enough of my rambling! I'm glad to be here, and hope we all have a good time!

[Impulse97]

Greetings Comrade.:hammersickle::trotski::hammersickle:

[RedHal]

Thanks for the warm welcome! By the way, I just love how people actually say "comrade" here -- and I know that just drives the righties nuts! :laugh:

Well... I sometimes find it difficult to apply words to myself and ideology. I think there's also a big weakness in the left-right spectrum, and it's widely misunderstood (especially in America). So I'll try to do my best here.

My ultimate belief is in the concept of a classless society -- and I would like to see the entire world someday joined together in a single sort of "semi-utopia" (as close to a "utopia" as we can realistically come). But I also believe that requires a strong, centralized state. No offense to you guys who disagree, but I think anarchism is a counter-productive idea. Without a powerful centralized government, people will be able to overturn the system and again enslave the people with unbridled capitalism. I believe that greed is just an inherent part of human nature, and we must not forget that and be able to manage it. Just put two little kids and one big, smart kid in a room with a bag of candy, and see who gets it all! That's why I have some rather authoritarian feelings, because I think it's necessary to prevent the resurgence of capitalism and keep society intact.

But don't mistake this as me wanting to start arresting everyone who disagrees or killing people. Not at all. Only in a future where a unified, Marxist society exists would I advocate peacefully silencing opposition (such as by keeping them off of TV). Only then would it even be appropriate. By then, the world will have accepted and will love the collectivist, classless world we have created, so we wouldn't need capitalist preachers trying to divide society or brainwash children. And I think the best way to get to this point is to move step by step. Work with mainstream politics, instead of trying to overthrow them by violence. If we get violent, we only let the capitalists win! I think governments like the Soviet Union were somewhat on the right track, but it was spoiled by some brutality (the purges), individuals who got too rich and powerful ("closet-capitalists" as I call them) and the wasting of money on foreign conquest (Afghanistan) and the "Cold War".

So while I'm pretty radical inside my own head, I try to embrace and work with mainstream politics and public opinion. I think we should kill capitalism softly through reform, small steps in the right direction and continued change through converting the masses. This is why I support mainstream left-wing politicians, like President Obama. I think the man is a brilliant leader, and he's doing just what we need him to where he is able. But in today's society, he can't just try to throw out social class and redistribute wealth -- that could even cause a war. So I support his small acts of social welfare, social justice and economic policy. He's moving us in a positive direction and getting the public to see that it just works. I also think that as we on the left can move further and further towards our dream, it will create a sort of "vacuum" in the center -- even the rightists will have to shift left and that will improve society as a whole. This has happened before (French Revolution, for example).

Anyway, enough of my rambling! I'm glad to be here, and hope we all have a good time!

wow there are still left wing obamanites still riding his nutz?!:laugh:

[Manic Impressive]

But I also believe that requires a strong, centralized state. No offense to you guys who disagree, but I think anarchism is a counter-productive idea. Without a powerful centralized government, people will be able to overturn the system and again enslave the people with unbridled capitalism. I believe that greed is just an inherent part of human nature, and we must not forget that and be able to manage it. Just put two little kids and one big, smart kid in a room with a bag of candy, and see who gets it all!Thing is in a classless stateless society where the community works for each other not against each other there would be enough sweets for each child. It is scarcity which causes greed, if we eliminate scarcity which is caused by capitalist over-production and waste then we eliminate the greed. Human Nature is a load of bollocks and it's a cop out argument for distracting away from the real problem.
The terminology in this article isn't great but I think it explains it quite well.

Sociology is often defined as "The study of society; human social interaction". This field considers social structures, both Cognitive and Material. An example of a Cognitive Social Structure is the established institution of religion and how its operation affects the collective awareness. For instance, Prolife Christians share a disposition that human"life" is a separate element of nature and that killing an unborn fetus is wrong. Concurrently, the competition based capitalist system has proponents putting forth ideas such as how competition is the most productive social state that humans can engage in.
Material Social Structures, on the other hand, are very obvious and they exist in the form of corporations and governments, each having a strong influence on society. Of course, all Material Social Structures bleed over into the Cognitive realm, for they always have an ideology behind them.
Now, a common sociological issue has to do with "Human Nature" and its effect in a collective sense. For instance, most people have been taught that human beings are naturally competitive with each other, along with the assumption that social stratification or hierarchy is also a "natural human tendency".
This is a fallacy.
If you look to, say, a pack of lions, you will see social hierarchy and violent competition for food in most cases. This comparison is what leads people to think it is a natural occurrence in human society as well (war, greed, ego, etc.). What is overlooked however, are the Environmental Conditions present in each case. The pack of Lions exist in a world of Scarcity. They do not have the ability to create traps for food, nor is food accessible in an 'on demand' basis. They have to hunt and fight with each other. This creates competition naturally, for in order to survive, the lions MUST be aggressive with each other. In turn, hierarchy is developed for the strongest of these lions wins the most, and in turn exert their dominance in a stratified way.
Likewise, in our current Human Society, the exact same thing is going on. Humans have been living in the same sort of scarcity since the dawn of existence. However, as time has gone on, we have become more and more "civilized" due to our ability to Create. Unlike the Lions, humans are able to create tools and set in motion processes that free the human being from a particular chore or problem, reducing Scarcity.
Given this "insight" we then see that on a fundamental level that if scarcity could be eradicated, then human behavior would undergo a dramatic change, moving away from competition, dominance and stratification.
Likewise, outmoded ideologies that do not stand up to the test of time, such as theistic religion, compound this myth that humans/society are built a certain way. For example, the Catholic ideology states that humans are "born with sin".
This is absurd, outmoded and based on a primitive understanding of human behavior.
There is no difference between a Ghandi baby or a Hitler baby... it is the environment that shapes the person and hence the society (and vice versa).
Therefore, true Sociological change will come from removing the conditions that cause the aberrant behavior patterns which pollute our societies. Prison, Police and Laws are mere patchwork and, in fact, tend to make things worse over time.
Ultimately, it is going to take a redesign of our culture to change human behavior for the better.You've got a lot of bourgeois propaganda in your last post, it's not your fault it's what has been spoon fed to you by the state since you were born as we all have. You've got a lot of learning to do.


Damn I seem like a real arse hole and I'm usually so nice :tt2: It's just the human nature argument is like a red rag to a bull with me:D