A starting point

[p0is0n]

Hello.

I am looking for a starting point into marxism. I have matured much politically over the years and learned many things, thanks in no small part to this website, but there are still many terms and concepts I do not grasp, things that I am genuinely interested in learning. Mind you that I do not possess any kind of special education, nor do I posses titles, doctorates, diplomas or a well versed academic vocabulary, thus I feel like works such as Capital are out of my league for the time being at least.

Where does one begin?

[Comrade Samuel]

When I got started it was always "start with the manifesto kid!"

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

This however this is a far better starting point, best of luck and welcome to the forum!

[Ostrinski]

I will refer you to the user Q's blog (http://www.revleft.com/vb/blog.php?b=7728) as he has a pretty good start up list for newcomers. I'll post some of them here, leaving off some of the more contentious titles ;)

Basic Marxist programmatic thinking:
The Communist Manifesto (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm).
Critique of the Gotha Program (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/index.htm).

On economy:
Wage labour & Capital (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm).
Value, price and profit (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1865/value-price-profit/index.htm).

The State
The state and revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/)

On Marxism as a science:
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm)

[Geiseric]

I reccomend new comrades to check out Principles of Socialism by Engels. Its a much better intro than the communist manifesto, the intro is magnificant though.

[Geiseric]

The P of S is really short and less poetic than the CM as well in my opinion, its much more straightforward. Vol. 1 of capital is also a must.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

In terms of some short, introductory stuff, I'd highly recommend:

The Reproduction Of Everyday Life - Fredy Perlman
This was written before Fredy's orientation toward an "anti-civilization" project (inspired heavily by Camatte). It's a pretty good intro to the way that labour reproduces capital, and is probably good to read alongside Marx's Wage Labour and Capital.

Wage Labour and Capital - Karl Marx
That awful dry economic crap that some people think is the most important part of Marx's writing. Whatever. In any case, this is a lot shorter than the first volume of Capital.

Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse Tung - Mao Tse Tung
So, this isn't "short" per se, but because it comes in a convenient pocket size, and because it's divided in to digestible sections by subject, it's great to shove in your back pocket. From there, you can just read a few pages at a time when you're in the washroom, on a bus, or otherwise have a few minutes to kill. Whether or not you're "in" to Mao, his ideas were an important animating force of one of the greatest communist upsurges in history. Plus, it's nice to read something that isn't by a white guy, right?

Witches, Midwives and Nurses - Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
A little bit of feminist revisionist history is a good step toward not turning yourself into the type of Marxist whose organizing always seems to be a sausage party. As a bonus, probably the most readable of anything on this list.

[p0is0n]

Thank you for your many and insightful responses. I will most def. check out the suggestions. Has anyone heard of the ABC of Communism by Bukharin? What are your thoughts on this? I was gifted it some time ago and started reading it but stopped after a while and then forgot about it. If my memory serves me right, it was quite easy to read.

[jookyle]

The Principals of Communism by Engels is better and more helpful to understanding marxism than ABC is. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

After that I would suggest reading The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Marx. It gives an explanation of capitalism, communism, marxist analysis etc. I believe by reading this, you will develop a great and educated foundation of marxist thought. It's not the easiest of read at parts if you're not used to that kind of "academic writing" and you may have to read the same passage over a few times but it's worth it. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm

[Lowtech]

many great sources are already mentioned. however, remember that communism as a singular concept only exists as written by Marx himself.

Lenin and his legacy does not represent communism at all.

and capitalism is simply a social construct (and ideology that supports it) designed to facilitate economic subjugation via artificial scarcity. artificial scarcity itself is mathematically observable when commodities are sold above production cost and when workers are underpaid so that their labor may become profitable.

terms such as profit, market value, capital and surplus value are only useful in observing a market based, capitalist, economy, they in fact truly represent only one single phenomena, artificial scarcity.

at it's most simplistic, communism is the realization that artificial scarcity has no economic/mathematical validation. the rest of course is elegant explanation of how artificial scarcity produces all social inequality.

[The Idler]

Oxford University Press
Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction by Colin Ward
Communism: A Very Short Introduction by Leslie Holmes
Socialism: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Newman
Marx: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer
Engels: A Very Short Introduction by Terrell Harver

Icon Books/Pantheon/Totem
Introducing Marx by Rius
Introducing Marxism by Rupert Woodfin and Oscar Zarate

Graphic Guides
Marx's Das Kapital for Beginners by Michael Wayne, illustrated by Sungyoon Choi (Steerforth)
The Communist Manifesto Illustrated: Chapter 1 by George Rigakos (Red Quill, 2010)
The Communist Manifesto Illustrated: Chapter 2 by George Rigakos (Red Quill, 2011)
The Communist Manifesto Illustrated: Chapter 3 by George Rigakos (Red Quill, 2012)

[piet11111]

I would not recommend Capital as an introduction as that would be similar to teaching someone to be a mechanic before getting his drivers license.

[subcp]

'The Class Struggle in France' is pretty straight forward.

[Lowtech]

I would not recommend Capital as an introduction as that would be similar to teaching someone to be a mechanic before getting his drivers license.

We aught to "modernize" the material and simplify it into quick bites of information more easily shared and understood.

[The Idler]

We aught to "modernize" the material and simplify it into quick bites of information more easily shared and understood.
Marx's Das Kapital for Beginners by Michael Wayne, illustrated by Sungyoon Choi (Steerforth)