Hello all

[NineOneFour]

Hey all, atheist social democrat hiding out in the deep red (and not in a good way) state of Texas. I say social democrat, but I'm deeply distrustful of large institutions such as large governments, corporations, businesses, churches. Okay, I'm also deeply distrustful of small corporations and small churches as well.

Glad to be here. Hope you'll welcome me even if I'm not as far left as some of you all!

:)

[Agent Ducky]

You'll probably restricted to Opposing Ideologies because that's what happens to social democrats, but welcome anyways :D

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Welcome to RevLeft!

I suggest taking a peek at the History, Politics, and Theory forums (and Learning).

Here you'll find everyone from Marxist-Leninists to Trotskyists to classical Marxists to Anarchist-Communists and, more broadly, Libertarian Socialists (which includes Anarchists, Left-Communists, and some Marxists, but excludes Lenin's branch of Marxism and, by extension, excludes Trotskyism, Stalinism, Maoism, and Hoxhaism). I personally fall into the Anarchist Communist category ... a bit redundant, though.

Like Agent Ducky said, the mods will probably restrict you to Opposing Ideologies, but I suggest sticking around even if that does happen. You'll find a lot of good discussions going on here! I guarantee it. Kind of like the guy in the Men's Wearhouse commercials.

[NineOneFour]

Potentially true that I will be stuck in OI. I'm very much in favor of Workers Councils, and not opposed to worker-owned cooperative businesses, so I'm not sure where my ideology really puts me. Is there a poll or anything that could identify to which ideology I lean? I also wrote a thesis on the Paris Commune of 1870.

I state I am a social democrat usually as a reflex action since I am left of American liberals for the most part, and 99 percent of the forums out there don't understand or are even aware of the different leftist ideologies.

Not sure where I am, really, but hoping to find a home somewhere on here.

[Ozymandias]

I'm actually from Texas myself! The Northern Dallas region.

[NineOneFour]

I'm actually from Texas myself! The Northern Dallas region.

You have my sympathies. ;)

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Potentially true that I will be stuck in OI. I'm very much in favor of Workers Councils, and not opposed to worker-owned cooperative businesses, so I'm not sure where my ideology really puts me. Is there a poll or anything that could identify to which ideology I lean? I also wrote a thesis on the Paris Commune of 1870.

I state I am a social democrat usually as a reflex action since I am left of American liberals for the most part, and 99 percent of the forums out there don't understand or are even aware of the different leftist ideologies.

Not sure where I am, really, but hoping to find a home somewhere on here.
Any sort of test is going to be inaccurate. My only practical suggestion is to learn as much as you can. In the process, your own tendency will form. Whether this is an adherence to one single pre-existing theory or a blend of compatible theories will be up to you.

However, if you take the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/) test and you end up well into the third quadrant (bottom-left), chances are you'll fit in here just fine. The details can be worked out later. Just ignore the libertarian-authoritarian false dichotomy, or at least only take it at face value. It should be something along the lines of totalitarian-libertarian, as a revolution is inherently authoritarian, even a revolution in the anarchist tradition. Granted, this depends on how you define authoritarian and libertarian. And don't forget, overall, that test is biased towards capitalism.

[Brosip Tito]

Welcome to revleft, I guess these are some basic questions to help sort your ideology out:

Do you believe in the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system?

Do you believe the working class should be in control of the means of production (factories, land, profits, etc.) as well as in control of political power?

If you believe in the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, do you believe that we can immediately become a commnist society, or that we need to use the state apparatus to organize the economy and society, and defend against counter-revolution?

[NineOneFour]

Any sort of test is going to be inaccurate. My only practical suggestion is to learn as much as you can. In the process, your own tendency will form. Whether this is an adherence to one single pre-existing theory or a blend of compatible theories will be up to you.

However, if you take the Political Compass test and you end up well into the third quadrant (bottom-left), chances are you'll fit in here just fine. The details can be worked out later. Just ignore the libertarian-authoritarian false dichotomy, or at least only take it at face value. It should be something along the lines of totalitarian-libertarian, as a revolution is inherently authoritarian, even a revolution in the anarchist tradition. Granted, this depends on how you define authoritarian and libertarian. And don't forget, overall, that test is biased towards capitalism.

Where does
Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.49
put me?

:D

[NineOneFour]

Welcome to revleft, I guess these are some basic questions to help sort your ideology out:

Do you believe in the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system?

I hope it can be reformed nonviolently, but I am not certain it can.


Do you believe the working class should be in control of the means of production (factories, land, profits, etc.) as well as in control of political power?

I honestly do not know the answer to that. I do think in theory that they should, but I know that most of us do not have the knowledge to run a business successfully and compete against multinational corporations.

So, I think it's more moral, I am unconvinced it is practical.

I do definitely want at least part ownership, such as worker councils that they have in the Netherlands, France, and Germany, where workers sit on the board, etc.


If you believe in the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, do you believe that we can immediately become a commnist society, or that we need to use the state apparatus to organize the economy and society, and defend against counter-revolution?

Well, if I'm anything I'm a socialist, not a communist, so I can't really answer that one. The latter, I suppose. Conservatives will always be around and currently make up an alarming percentage of the population, so there would have to be some practical organization around.

I'm not much for ideologies, I'll say that right now. I want to know what works and what's pragmatic, while giving the most power and control to the masses.