Hello

[Trash Bazooka]

I've been lurking for a while, decided to join so I can jump into some discussions. My goal currently is to read a lot of stuff. I got an e-reader and I downloaded a lot of books: all of the major works from all of the major figures in communism and anarchism, Marx, Engels, Kautsky, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao, Hoxha, and a few other communists, Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta, Kropotkin, and some other anarchists. There's a lot of stuff to read, but I think that in about a year I will be up to speed on everything I need to know about all of the major revolutionary ideologies, and then I'll move on to some other stuff. After I'm done the major reads, I'm planning on going through some of things you can find on the marxists dot org website under subjects: alienation, education, ethics, psychology, working class organization, etc. Then I will move on to reading as much as I can on dialectings and anti-dialectics. After that, all the major books on economics, and after that I'll slow it down a bit. Lots of stuff to read! I'm already well on my way, but there's still a lot left.

I joined, as I said, to hop into some discussions and learn some more. I currently identify as an anarcho-communist, however I'm becoming disillusioned with how we get there. As I roll along with my readings I will discover more and more about what I believe, so I don't think that it's possible to predict what I will end up being when all is said and done. I joined a lot of groups to get more exposure to ideas, and I'll leave them if I decide that I don't believe what they stand for (I hope that's alright).

So that's basically my introduction. I hope this will be a place for me to stay!

[daft punk]

Ok, save yourself a lot of effort. Read some short key pieces by Trotsky.

You could start with

In Defence of October
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1932/11/oct.htm

then read

Platform of the Opposition 1927, just read the into for now.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1927/opposition/index.htm

and maybe this, again it is short, he predicts the collapse of the regime in the USSR
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1935/02/ws-therm-bon.htm

Those will teach you loads in half an hour.

Then post any questions in Learning.

[Trash Bazooka]

I already have the first two you linked to on my list, and thanks for the third one, I added it on there. Cool stuff.

[Sasha]

O Hey hivemind with already 97 posts, sorry but multiple accounts are not allowed..

[MotherCossack]

howde! iam the kernal's mum.
i am pretty new aswell.
it has been most diverting... but be careful that you dont get distracted by the chit-chatters like me!!!!!
ha-ha [now that doesn't sound much like a sinister chuckle does it...?]
i , too, was determined to be a learned member and amaze everyone with my powers but i have found the inevitable draw of the fickle and unimportant all for the sake of a back scratch here or a chuckle there..... too much to resist....


not really i am just bonkers in the nut and rev-left is such fun and often quite instructive?!... certainly i can think of worse ways of passing the time...
beware of opposing ideologies though.... it is laced with poison of a highly inflammatory nature... and you will get very cross.... the sheer pomposity [i love that word] and ludicrous self satisfaction.
oops i am getting carried away...
have fun...