why dont you read books?

[Blanquist]

lots of you guys openly admit that you haven't read many books, you admit you only read one article by trotsky and a couple books by lenin.

how can you then be so opinionated? why not learn, read books. and then form your opinions?

i think marxists should seek historical truth and always learn.

read trotsky, read all of it, then bash it how you see fit, until then there is no merit. how can you confidently speak on problems of world-historic significance without knowing the most basic facts?

[The Douche]

lots of you guys openly admit that you haven't read many books, you admit you only read one article by trotsky and a couple books by lenin.

how can you then be so opinionated? why not learn, read books. and then form your opinions?

i think marxists should seek historical truth and always learn.

read trotsky, read all of it, then bash it how you see fit, until then there is no merit. how can you confidently speak on problems of world-historic significance without knowing the most basic facts?

Cause it takes time and/or skills that people don't have. Also, there are just things nobody wants to read, like trotsky.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I think most of the posters here are fairly well read, at least as far as I can tell. There has been a fair amount of discussion on the Marxist and anarchist classics.

Oh yeah...before I forget.. Trotsky's books and articles are awesome-a must read for anyone on the revolutionary left.

His History of the Russian Revolution is both the greatest book ever and the greatest book capable of ever being written.It is popular with many people on this forum.

[Landsharks eat metal]

Most revolutionary works aren't available to me anywhere besides online, and I have trouble focusing on things on a computer screen for some reason. And my parents would get pissed off if I was printing hundreds of pages just to read. And I think reading this stuff would be a lot easier if I had someone to discuss it with in depth. Revleft is great, but I usually feel like I'm annoying people if I'd have a bunch of questions about things. I'd rather have someone in real life I could talk to about it.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

lots of you guys openly admit that you haven't read many books, you admit you only read one article by trotsky and a couple books by lenin.

how can you then be so opinionated? why not learn, read books. and then form your opinions?

i think marxists should seek historical truth and always learn.

read trotsky, read all of it, then bash it how you see fit, until then there is no merit. how can you confidently speak on problems of world-historic significance without knowing the most basic facts?

Weird,looking at your ideas, I always suspected you would be someone who doesn't read. :rolleyes:

[Luc]

reading Trotsky wouldnt be seeking historical truth :closedeyes:

:p

i agree with cmoney i takes a lot of time and some of us dont got it also (atleast for me) readings kinda hard, especially Marx

[bcbm]

i read a lot, just not leftist crap

[Comrade Samuel]

It's probably not so much of the "I don't feel like it" maybe a bit more of the "We have tedious and repetitive jobs, bills to pay, children to take care of, classes to take, chores and odd jobs to do and people to talk to" and for that I could totally understand why people would pass up "Marxist literature volume VXII extra dull edition" for whatever time killer they should prefer when the day is through.

That's not to say choosing not to read is something we should try to make a habit of but it makes perfect sense why people may not.

[Pretty Flaco]

i read all the time when i text :rolleyes:

[Book O'Dead]

lots of you guys openly admit that you haven't read many books, you admit you only read one article by trotsky and a couple books by lenin.

how can you then be so opinionated? why not learn, read books. and then form your opinions?

i think marxists should seek historical truth and always learn.

read trotsky, read all of it, then bash it how you see fit, until then there is no merit. how can you confidently speak on problems of world-historic significance without knowing the most basic facts?

Books are for limp-wristed nellies that get their opinions from intellectual namby-pambies! (please excuse the froth & spittle).

Not really. Just kidding.

I agree with your assessment and can only explain the present state of things as being the product of extreme youth.

I suspect that at least half of Revleft's population is made up of adolecent wankers who are still getting their opinions from comic books and Youtube videos. You wouldn't want these habitual lizard shakers to get hold of good books to splatter them with pent-up semen, would you?

Have pity on these poor intellectually benighted boys and on the books they might damage!

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Takes time, it is vital to being a revolutionary but it is an affair which goes along at a snails pace. I often wish someone could take Capital and make it into an action movie with lots of explosions and corny references; imagine a Marx explaining the concept of value while bashing in the teeth of a oil baron...now that's entertainment!

[ВАЛТЕР]

Reading is for nerds...

:cool:


I have many of the books, and I read over them prety often, but I really don't have time nor energy to sit and read at the end of the day. I am too exhausted from training and studying.

[wsg1991]

Reading is generally boring activity , i seek any MP3 available
example : Hegemony or survival for Noam Chomsky was much easier to complete by using MP3 available on piratebay , just 20 minutes each day when i am going to University \ hospital and getting home , or getting to Gym

i don't think i might complete it if i read PDF

[Bronco]

Mainly because a lot of it is quite boring, time consuming and sometimes hard to get my head around. Just generally quite frustrating to read, I find I go through phases of whether or not I can be bothered to read leftist theory

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Mainly because a lot of it is quite boring, time consuming and sometimes hard to get my head around. Just generally quite frustrating to read, I find I go through phases of whether or not I can be bothered to read leftist theory

The best way may be to find something you are most interested in.Theory can be tedious at times.I enjoy reading myself.History is my favorite genre. Philosophy is important but I do find I have to struggle though much of it.

Marx's writing is great but I've had to read each piece several times to get it all. Trotsky is a good read, clear and accessible. Gramsci is a killer to get though not made easier because his style is so elliptical and he seems to vary the meaning of his own terms.Rosa Luxemborg's stuff is good but her Accumulation of Capital isn't easy to get though.

[Sasha]

Why read about the revolution when you could live it...

And I'm not kidding, while there are some, but very few, theoretical works I would call a influence my initial revolutionary conciousness was mostly formed by ending up on the wrong end of a police club to often and the satisfaction felt when i got the opportunity to hit back, sure some books helped to clarity and aim but even those where mostly history books and (auto)biographies, I'm 30, active in the radical left movement for 16 years and besides some short works (bonano, tiqqun, unabomber manifesto, lotta continua) haven't read any theoratical works and unless i suddenly end up with some serious jail time i don't plan to change that.
In fact im sure that the fact that the autonomous movement here has thousands of supporters and "communist" groups have dozens has a lot to do with that we have parties and riots while they read marx...

[Bronco]

The best way may be to find something you are most interested in.Theory can be tedious at times.I enjoy reading myself.History is my favorite genre. Philosophy is important but I do find I have to struggle though much of it.

Marx's writing is great but I've had to read each piece several times to get it all. Trotsky is a good read, clear and accessible. Gramsci is a killer to get though not made easier because his style is so elliptical and he seems to vary the meaning of his own terms.Rosa Luxemborg's stuff is good but her Accumulation of Capital isn't easy to get though.

Yeah I quite like reading history (I'm studying it lol) but I always feel I should read more theory, specifically more Marx, although his writings are what I normally find hardest to get through especially when I have to do it on a computer screen. Been meaning to read some Trotsky too but I struggle to find the time & motivation

[Ocean Seal]

Because I spend my time reading through too much shit on revleft.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

I read a fair lot to be honest. One has to when studying for a Bachelor's degree. Sadly, I don't have as much time as I would want to read Marxist literature, but then the summer vacation always helps.

PS: Trotsky-haters be hatin'.

[o well this is ok I guess]

Cause it takes time and/or skills that people don't have. Also, there are just things nobody wants to read, like trotsky. Cmon man Trotsky isn't any worse than any other garden variety Marxist-Leninist.

er, which is pretty bad. But it's unfair to single out Trotsky.

[Aloysius]

I read, it's just that it's mostly fiction. I've read the Manifesto, didn't do much for me.
I just know that there's some fucked up shit in this world, and I know that I've got to do something to stop it.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

I have been reading a lot lately, but with a new woman in my life, I've been devoting a lot of my time to her.

[wsg1991]

i think a 30 minutes commitment each day is very possible , we are just lazy

[ed miliband]

Why read about the revolution when you could live it...

And I'm not kidding, while there are some, but very few, theoretical works I would call a influence my initial revolutionary conciousness was mostly formed by ending up on the wrong end of a police club to often and the satisfaction felt when i got the opportunity to hit back, sure some books helped to clarity and aim but even those where mostly history books and (auto)biographies, I'm 30, active in the radical left movement for 16 years and besides some short works (bonano, tiqqun, unabomber manifesto, lotta continua) haven't read any theoratical works and unless i suddenly end up with some serious jail time i don't plan to change that.
In fact im sure that the fact that the autonomous movement here has thousands of supporters and "communist" groups have dozens has a lot to do with that we have parties and riots while they read marx...

but then isn't the autonomen movement (at least in germany) now heavily associated with marx study circles? lol

[L.A.P.]

but then isn't the autonomen movement (at least in germany) now heavily associated with marx study circles? lol

One word: Negri

[The Young Pioneer]

By the time I'm out of classes for the day, there's only enough time to smoke, eat, and watch stupid shit on Hulu for five hours before going to sleep.


Take that, literature.

[SHORAS]

This thread is a clear indication that we need re-education camps NOW

[Rafiq]

Any shit head can write a book. The ones worth reading are judged as such in a matter which is quite simple.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[MustCrushCapitalism]

Because reading is bourgeois and reactionary. It must be abolished, and replaced with Marxist theoretical picture books.

[Luc]

Because reading is bourgeois and reactionary. It must be abolished, and replaced with Marxist theoretical picture books.

this, why cant this be real??? :(

[¿Que?]

I tend to read a lot of things on the internet. I think the internet has enough information for me to make informed opinions. Many times the books you are referring to are available online, and I'll take some time to read a chapter or two. As for reading a book front to back, unless you are talking about fiction, it's usually not a very effective way to learn. The best way to absorb the material is to read the most important sections first, and then if you have the time and effort, read the rest. This usually involves reading the introduction and conclusion and maybe some other sections relevant to your specific interest.

In all honesty, I probably should read more than I do, but I don't think that qualifies me from having an opinion.

EDIT: Oftentimes, that reading method may not work, if the material is not well organized.

[The Machine]

nvm thought this was chit chat

[The Machine]

but yeah i read a lot of books just not communist literature except for like orwell

[o well this is ok I guess]

and watch stupid shit on Hulu for five hours Man that's unhealthy
At least play minecraft or something

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I read a lot but that doesn't really mean that I'm going to be that much smarter than the next guy does it? Is the revolution really going to be made of people who spend all day reading Trotsky? What does Trotsky think of swearing, it seems vital to the revolution! A lot of this stuff people understand on a very basic by themselves anyways, I don't know of a coworker who doesn't think they're not getting fucked over by the bosses for instance, they don't need to be told this by Trotsky to feel it.

[Sasha]

but then isn't the autonomen movement (at least in germany) now heavily associated with marx study circles? lol


One word: Negri

Nah, even in Germany the majority of the new autonomen is in my experience non specified anarchist/anti-authoritarian, in the netherlands and denmark this has always been the case.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I read a lot. Not much leftist stuff though. I read a lot of non-leftist stuff and try to cram that info into my narrowly perceived ideological preconceptions.

[black magick hustla]

i read a lot of articles, journals, short stories, and blogs. i used to read huge tomes before, then idk. i want to start again doing that though.

[roy]

i try to read, i swear... it's just super boring

[Manic Impressive]

I was going to post what I've been reading then I thought better of it. None of us have anything to prove, especially to someone who hasn't even demonstrated that they have a good knowledge of the basics of Marxism. Sorry if that's a bit harsh but people who walk around with their noses in the air deserve to fall over now and again.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Besides, who really needs to read everything Trotsky wrote to disagree with him? I've never read Reagan or Hitler or Mussolini, but I know I disagree with them on a massive scale, and so does everybody here. I don't have to read Mein Kampf to know that.

[Sasha]

Contrary to most trotsky (everything besides his fascism pamflet) I actually read mein kampf, its safe to say adolf was a better painter than writer... :D

[o well this is ok I guess]

i read a lot of articles, journals, short stories, and blogs. i used to read huge tomes before, then idk. i want to start again doing that though. Man I used to be ok with huge tomes
Now I fucking can't stand anything over 600 pages

[The Young Pioneer]

Man that's unhealthy
At least play minecraft or something

Sense of humour; you no has it. Right now, War and Peace is on my night-stand with the bookmark halfway through it. But it's summer, I'm in a language intensive all day, and when the homework finally gets done that's the last thing I wanna pick up.


If I have to answer the thread seriously...

I read a little of everything, meaning I'm not super-versed in leftist crap nor any other form of crap. 'Cept Dostoevsky. I've read almost all his works by now. But yeah, I still like to smoke better, so still unhealthy. ;)

[Comrade Jandar]

I suspect that at least half of Revleft's population is made up of adolecent wankers who are still getting their opinions from comic books and Youtube videos. You wouldn't want these habitual lizard shakers to get hold of good books to splatter them with pent-up semen, would you?

Habitual lizard shaker.Wait...What?

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Habitual lizard shaker.Wait...What?
Masturbation, which I see nothing wrong with...

[Comrade Jandar]

Your speaking to the choir, I had just never heard it referred to in such a colorful way.

[#FF0000]

i need a more comfortable place to read but i don't have room for one

[Pretty Flaco]

Your speaking to the choir, I had just never heard it referred to in such a colorful way.

watch out, he bites ;)

[Prometeo liberado]

lots of you guys openly admit that you haven't read many books, you admit you only read one article by trotsky and a couple books by lenin.

how can you then be so opinionated? why not learn, read books. and then form your opinions?

i think marxists should seek historical truth and always learn.

read trotsky, read all of it, then bash it how you see fit, until then there is no merit. how can you confidently speak on problems of world-historic significance without knowing the most basic facts?

You want a history of the advent of Cooking as Entertainment in the U.S.? Ill give it to you, though I think you'd find it a bore. Maybe it's your perception of what people do read and what you consider the proper amount that is the problem here. Different ways of looking at things can yeield amazing results in one's quest for "historical truth". Turn that looking glass the other way around for starters.

[Tim Finnegan]

Speaking only for myself, I read quite a lot of stuff, I just don't read a ton of political lit. It's better to cast your net wide and get a bit of independent perspective than let somebody else do all the critical thinking for you.

[Prometeo liberado]

I have evolved to the point where I merely stare down a book until it gives up the info I need. I call the Chuck Norris effect.:mad:

[Yuppie Grinder]

Because reading is bourgeois and reactionary. It must be abolished, and replaced with Marxist theoretical picture books.

What's up Pol-Pot?

[#FF0000]

i miss blanquist