Dumb
17th April 2011, 23:22
I've been around a couple weeks, but figured I might as well introduce myself. (I'd written up a little statement thing-a-ma-jig on Wordpad, but never got around to finishing or posting it.) Anyway, I've identified as a leftist since November 2010, and I do, indeed, promise that I am not a fascist.
Looking back at the positions I'd taken as a high school student seven or eight years ago, you could say that my instincts have always been leftist. However, growing up in a county that went to George W. Bush with 62% of the vote in 2004 will go a long way in beating that out of you. (Not to mention almost all of my dad's involvement in evangelical missionary activities to "save" the souls of post-Soviet eastern Europe. Yeah, fun stuff, that.) That being the case, I repressed my inner Marxist, engaged in some reformist politics of the Paul Wellstone/Russ Feingold variety, and quietly reminded myself throughout my university years that communism was impossible to implement.
And, indeed, things were looking quite good for liberal reformists while I was at university. Yeah, sure, the Democrats started out spineless, but they were out of power! You needed to vote for them first, and THEN they could do what they promised! Democrats won Congress in 2006, then proceeded to extend those majorities in 2008 while adding the White House to their conquests. (Woo hoo, I suppose.) Ever since Barack Obama's inauguration in January 2009, though, I gradually realised that the Democrats never had any intent of following through on a middle-class agenda, let alone a working-class agenda.
The last straw for me was Obama's pre-emptive capitulation on the Bush tax cuts, at a time when even John Boehner was publicly stating that he'd let the top bracket reductions expire if he had to. So far, I figured that everything else considered, at least the Democrats were moving us in some sort of progressive direction; spineless, unambitious, and out of touch as they may be, at least they were sort of on my side. While I should have realised this years ago, it took the Bush tax cut deal last year to open my eyes and see that the Democrats were actively working against the working class. At that point, it came down to a matter of either: (A) being a liberal, asking for something you don't want, and getting exactly that; or (B) identifying as a Marxist, probably not getting the anti-capitalist victory I'd truly wanted deep inside, but at least doing something for it.
Meanwhile, I landed a full-time job in suburban purgatory, and realised that the Bill of Rights has no meaning the second you walk through the office door.
This past Thanksgiving, I met a then-member of the Socialist Workers Party in the UK while wandering about through Omegle.com. She explained to me the basics of her Marxist ways, and I thought it sounded like what I'd been working out in my own head. Since then, with a lot of input from my Mentor in Communism, I've delved into many classics of Marxist theory (What is to Be Done, The Mass Strike, etc.) while exposing myself to more current commentators such as Chris Harman and Slavoj Zizek. While I lean towards Trotsky, Luxemburg, "libertarian socialism" and whatnot, I ultimately identify as a pan-leftist in search of an organisation.
It is a pleasure to join you all, and sorry for the belated novel.
Looking back at the positions I'd taken as a high school student seven or eight years ago, you could say that my instincts have always been leftist. However, growing up in a county that went to George W. Bush with 62% of the vote in 2004 will go a long way in beating that out of you. (Not to mention almost all of my dad's involvement in evangelical missionary activities to "save" the souls of post-Soviet eastern Europe. Yeah, fun stuff, that.) That being the case, I repressed my inner Marxist, engaged in some reformist politics of the Paul Wellstone/Russ Feingold variety, and quietly reminded myself throughout my university years that communism was impossible to implement.
And, indeed, things were looking quite good for liberal reformists while I was at university. Yeah, sure, the Democrats started out spineless, but they were out of power! You needed to vote for them first, and THEN they could do what they promised! Democrats won Congress in 2006, then proceeded to extend those majorities in 2008 while adding the White House to their conquests. (Woo hoo, I suppose.) Ever since Barack Obama's inauguration in January 2009, though, I gradually realised that the Democrats never had any intent of following through on a middle-class agenda, let alone a working-class agenda.
The last straw for me was Obama's pre-emptive capitulation on the Bush tax cuts, at a time when even John Boehner was publicly stating that he'd let the top bracket reductions expire if he had to. So far, I figured that everything else considered, at least the Democrats were moving us in some sort of progressive direction; spineless, unambitious, and out of touch as they may be, at least they were sort of on my side. While I should have realised this years ago, it took the Bush tax cut deal last year to open my eyes and see that the Democrats were actively working against the working class. At that point, it came down to a matter of either: (A) being a liberal, asking for something you don't want, and getting exactly that; or (B) identifying as a Marxist, probably not getting the anti-capitalist victory I'd truly wanted deep inside, but at least doing something for it.
Meanwhile, I landed a full-time job in suburban purgatory, and realised that the Bill of Rights has no meaning the second you walk through the office door.
This past Thanksgiving, I met a then-member of the Socialist Workers Party in the UK while wandering about through Omegle.com. She explained to me the basics of her Marxist ways, and I thought it sounded like what I'd been working out in my own head. Since then, with a lot of input from my Mentor in Communism, I've delved into many classics of Marxist theory (What is to Be Done, The Mass Strike, etc.) while exposing myself to more current commentators such as Chris Harman and Slavoj Zizek. While I lean towards Trotsky, Luxemburg, "libertarian socialism" and whatnot, I ultimately identify as a pan-leftist in search of an organisation.
It is a pleasure to join you all, and sorry for the belated novel.