Etular
30th September 2011, 18:39
Good day, fellow left-wingers! I'm Dan, a 16-year-old gay student from Carlisle, Cumbria (a small, barely-heard-of county in England). Most information about me can be found in its most basic via looking at my profile - I'm a Vegetarian based upon my ethical choice not to eat meat, I'm tee-total and non-smoking - holding a great disdain for both recreational drugs and the seeming "quick-fix" culture Americans tend to follow, I'm a Pacifist due to my disdain of violence/war etc. and personal ethics, I'm an Environmentalist due to my love of nature, I'm an Egalitarian/Socialist for reasons I will go into more depth about below and I've fallen in love with Norway due to the fact that, in my eyes, it seems closest to my ideal of Socialism than any other country thus far.
As far as my Political Beliefs are concerned, I'd define myself as a "Liberal Democratic Marxist" and Egalitarian, if I were to limit myself to labels. The closest example I can currently provide to my ideal is that of the World Socialist Movement, which advocates the removal of the monetary system overall - forcing people to, in that situation, either work together without the hindrance of money, "tax", "debt" etc. or starve to death if they choose not to. I, personally, would like to hope they choose the former - producing based on people's needs rather than for the sake of monetary value. As such, I'm a fairly avid reader of the Socialist Standard magazine. There are one-or-two points of the WSM I disagree with, however, which has led me to start writing up my own "manifesto" that I started a year back and I'm mid-way through writing (I'll post a few beliefs possibly at a later date).
I haven't read many Marxist books as of yet, but I have read Propaganda by Edward Bernays, and have acquired (but have yet to read) Mark Curtis' Web of Deceit, William Morris' News from Nowhere and Machiavelli's The Prince.
Religiously, I'm a Unitarian Universalist in both the traditional and modern sense - I believe that (as a Unitarian) The Prophet (in the traditional sense, Jesus) was not a divine figure, and that too little emphasis is being placed upon his good actions in comparison to his so-called "divinity". As such, instead of focusing on his death, we should pay more attention to his life and seek to try to emulate his kindness in our everyday lives. As a Universalist, I believe in no "Hell". Period. Everyone goes to Heaven, if there is such a place, as no "loving God" would condemn anyone to eternal torture. As a modern Unitarian Universalist, I believe that all religions should be equally respected - and that people should be taught to find and/or choose their own religion rather than be forced into one at birth. As such, I'm also a huge believer in both diversity and civil rights.
As for the FAQ questions:
Where are you from, whats the leftist scene there like?
Here in Carlisle, the leftist scene is pretty minimal at best. I wouldn't know where to look, quite frankly, if I wanted to find fellow Marxists. There are people attending the local college etc. that support The Socialist Party of England and Wales, but outside there I have no idea. The Socialist Party of Great Britain (which is a member of the WSM, as is the party most closely related to my beliefs) holds no foothold in the area whatsoever.
What branch of leftism do you subscribe to?
Mentioned above.
How did you become a leftist?
How did anyone? :lol: I have a friend whom is a strong supporter of Stalinist Russia, who told me about Communism - and it grew from there. I searched into it, agreed with some of it, found Marxism, Democratic Socialism and, finally, the World Socialist Movement.
Since then, I've tried looking into everything from Salvador Allende to Arbenz to Guevara to Bookchin - the whole lot.
I must ask, is it common to despise everything America stands for after searching up about Socialism? :rolleyes:
As far as my Political Beliefs are concerned, I'd define myself as a "Liberal Democratic Marxist" and Egalitarian, if I were to limit myself to labels. The closest example I can currently provide to my ideal is that of the World Socialist Movement, which advocates the removal of the monetary system overall - forcing people to, in that situation, either work together without the hindrance of money, "tax", "debt" etc. or starve to death if they choose not to. I, personally, would like to hope they choose the former - producing based on people's needs rather than for the sake of monetary value. As such, I'm a fairly avid reader of the Socialist Standard magazine. There are one-or-two points of the WSM I disagree with, however, which has led me to start writing up my own "manifesto" that I started a year back and I'm mid-way through writing (I'll post a few beliefs possibly at a later date).
I haven't read many Marxist books as of yet, but I have read Propaganda by Edward Bernays, and have acquired (but have yet to read) Mark Curtis' Web of Deceit, William Morris' News from Nowhere and Machiavelli's The Prince.
Religiously, I'm a Unitarian Universalist in both the traditional and modern sense - I believe that (as a Unitarian) The Prophet (in the traditional sense, Jesus) was not a divine figure, and that too little emphasis is being placed upon his good actions in comparison to his so-called "divinity". As such, instead of focusing on his death, we should pay more attention to his life and seek to try to emulate his kindness in our everyday lives. As a Universalist, I believe in no "Hell". Period. Everyone goes to Heaven, if there is such a place, as no "loving God" would condemn anyone to eternal torture. As a modern Unitarian Universalist, I believe that all religions should be equally respected - and that people should be taught to find and/or choose their own religion rather than be forced into one at birth. As such, I'm also a huge believer in both diversity and civil rights.
As for the FAQ questions:
Where are you from, whats the leftist scene there like?
Here in Carlisle, the leftist scene is pretty minimal at best. I wouldn't know where to look, quite frankly, if I wanted to find fellow Marxists. There are people attending the local college etc. that support The Socialist Party of England and Wales, but outside there I have no idea. The Socialist Party of Great Britain (which is a member of the WSM, as is the party most closely related to my beliefs) holds no foothold in the area whatsoever.
What branch of leftism do you subscribe to?
Mentioned above.
How did you become a leftist?
How did anyone? :lol: I have a friend whom is a strong supporter of Stalinist Russia, who told me about Communism - and it grew from there. I searched into it, agreed with some of it, found Marxism, Democratic Socialism and, finally, the World Socialist Movement.
Since then, I've tried looking into everything from Salvador Allende to Arbenz to Guevara to Bookchin - the whole lot.
I must ask, is it common to despise everything America stands for after searching up about Socialism? :rolleyes: