libcom threads are so long

[black magick hustla]

i've been trying to get active in libcom, buit its so hard because they have really long threads so i dont really know where the discussion is going. also they have a 10 pg long thread about "abstract vs concrete labor" what the fuck.

a lot of good people post in libcom but also a lot of it seems really longwinded and it seems the demographic is older than the one in revleft. like more people i agree with post in libcom but revleft seems a bit more fun.

[ZeroNowhere]

Some of the better posters there (Dave C and Mikus, especially) did reduce their activity recently, and since then the discussions haven't seemed quite as good. Currently it seems a bit like a less active Revleft.

[Android]

a lot of good people post in libcom but also a lot of it seems really longwinded and it seems the demographic is older than the one in revleft. like more people i agree with post in libcom but revleft seems a bit more fun.

This is a interesting point - the libcom.org admin group are pretty much all young workers in the late 20s or at least that is my impression. While you are right that a large proportion of the posters are old timers - i.e. those who were around for the struggles that happened in the 80s.


Some of the better posters there (Dave C and Mikus, especially) did reduce their activity recently, and since then the discussions haven't seemed quite as good. Currently it seems a bit like a less active Revleft.

Yeah, that is my impression too, the discussions definitely are not as good as they used to be with those awesome IMO political economy threads with 'jura', 'dave c', 'mikus' and 'Angelus Novus'. but I think libcom.org goes through these cycles of intense discussions and then relative quite.

[Quail]

I've made an account on libcom, but haven't posted anything yet. It seems more intimidating than revleft for some reason. Probably because I've been posting here for ages and I don't recognise/know any of the posters on there.

[Il Medico]

I once tried making an account. I couldn't post for some reason, and the forum format was completely unfamiliar.

[Magón]

I thought of joining because they had some good topics, but never got around to it. Libcom is definitely less trollish than here. At least with the threads I've looked around in. Most of the time though I just read their various articles and stuff.

[Android]

I've made an account on libcom, but haven't posted anything yet. It seems more intimidating than revleft for some reason. Probably because I've been posting here for ages and I don't recognise/know any of the posters on there.

Yeah, Revleft and libcom.org are really different.

In that libcom.org is limited to posters who share similar politics (i.e. internationalism, anti-unionism) and a lot of the regulars know each other in real life and the fact that libcom.org is pretty UK-centric with a lot of the posters being based in and around London. Whereas RevLeft is obviously more eclectic politically, most users just know each other online and a lot more people come here who are new to radical politics in all its forms in order to learn and discuss without necessarily be part of a particular political current / tendency.

These differences obviously have an the effect of producing differing board cultures, which might why you finding libcom.org "intimidating" and have not felt like like posting on libcom.org. Although there has been an effort made by the admin group in the recent past to make sure regulars are nicer to newbies LOL.

[Zanthorus]

Zanthorus' quick and easy guide to posting on libcom:

1) Read Das Kapital. If you have to read it in English go for the Ben Fowkes translation, but being able to read it in the original German is preferable.

2) Develop a unique interpretation of Marx on the basis of your reading. Make sure to contradict Second International Marxism as much as possible, or at least what people will generally regard as Second International Marxism. Bonus points if you can link your interpretation to the work of unknown Marxist theorists who worked in the Soviet Union in the mid-20's and were subsequently purged for failure to conform to orthodoxy.

3) Remember that anyone who disagrees with your views is attempting to assert 'Engelsism' or SI Orthodoxy in flagrant contradiction to the obvious developments in Marxism produced by Left-Frankfurt-critical-social-value-form-anti-Hegelian Marxist currents, and remember that Marx's political stances are in no way based on his critique of political economy (Also that anyone who calls Marx's analysis 'economics' or 'political economy' rather than the critique of political economy is secretly an Engelsist-Kautskyist-Plekhanovist Second International Orthodox Marxist).

Seriously though I quite like libcom, but I do find the slowness at which discussions move to be dissapointing. Though perhaps that is inevitable on a sight which confines itself to a more narrow range of views.

[Tablo]

I read a lot of the libcom articles, but i don't ever post there. I feel like I would have to find the time to actually start reading theory again to contribute in any way to their discussions. Revleft just seems more laid back. Then again I mainly post in chit-chat these days.

[Ele'ill]

Often when I'm searching for stuff on google I get libcom threads that are disappointingly short.

[Tablo]

Often when I'm searching for stuff on google I get libcom threads that are disappointingly short.
That's my biggest problem with libcom. I find an article on a really interesting topic I can't find anything else about, and it turns out to only be a couple paragraphs.

[Q]

I only sparsely go to libcom and never bothered to sign up. They'd probably hate me anyway.

[Android]

I only sparsely go to libcom and never bothered to sign up. They'd probably hate me anyway.

Probably yeah. Although 'IrrationallyAngry' a member of the CWI in Ireland used to post there and more recently a supporter of the EDL popped up.

[Q]

Probably yeah. Although 'IrrationallyAngry' a member of the CWI in Ireland used to post there and more recently a supporter of the EDL popped up.

Wow, yeah, I'm totally comparable to an EDL member after all, thanks :p

But don't they ban the non-libertarians? Or have something like OI?

[Zanthorus]

There are a few libcom members who are not Anarchists or even adequately describable as 'libertarian communists'. It seems to attract a wider but still vaguely 'ultra-left' crowd. I don't think they would ban you for being CWI (They don't appear to have an OI forum), I've argued in favour of the Bolsheviks and the signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty on there without being banned, and there is a user 'Alexander Rockwell' who appears to believe in support for the Stalinist regimes on the grounds of 'anti-imperialism', although you'd probably get a lot of flack for defending your political positions.

[HEAD ICE]

someone post the 'grandiose penis' picture

[Android]

Wow, yeah, I'm totally comparable to an EDL member after all, thanks :p

Yeah, should have prefaced that comment. It was not intentional.

Zanthorus beat me to it on them not banning non-libertarians and the non-existence of a OI sub-forum. And he is right that you more then likely get some flack / be mocked, would be surprised if they banned becuase I think DNZ has posted there before.

[HEAD ICE]

i think bobkindles posted there in the past as well

[Os Cangaceiros]

i wish that bobkkkindles still posted here. I miss his giant essays.

[Red Commissar]

i think bobkindles posted there in the past as well

What? LET ME SEE

[Devrim]

But don't they ban the non-libertarians? Or have something like OI?

No they don't. They did eventually ban the EDL member, but generally they try and discuss with people rather than banning them. It works surprisingly well actually.

Devrim

[nuisance]

I'm on there. I like the anarchist/libetarian focus to discussion there. That said it is easily one of the most enfuriating forums I've come across, since many of the posters on their know what they know very well and so are terribly dismissive of other accounts they are not even very informed on. Along with this there is a very strong backlash against anarchists who do not have a strong workerist perspective, previously leading to members denouncing the Anarchist Blackcore (ABC) and so on. Ironcially this is occasionally because they see themselves as the approachable face of anarchism...despite creating one of the most elitist, alienating, pointy-headed forums on radical politics on the net. Can be good fun though!

[Il Medico]

Hey Dev, would I get banned if i made another account? Never could figure out how to get my old one working and don't remember what it was.

[Devrim]

Hey Dev, would I get banned if i made another account? Never could figure out how to get my old one working and don't remember what it was.

I can't see why you would. They don't have a banning mania like some sites do.

Devrim

[bailey_187]

I can't see why you would. They don't have a banning mania like some sites do.

Devrim

Indirect shots fired!




(but i agree, too many people get banned/restricted here)