Inform me.

[the questionist]

Interesting forum. I saw this place like four years ago but didn't keep up. I check out a wide range of forums with all kinds of political views and this is just one of them. I don't have any particular ideology I follow rather as my user name implies, I tend to question beliefs that people vigorously espouse. This in hopes to increase my own understanding and to maybe help someone else clarify their understanding.

I notice what many people here seem to notice. There is something 'not right' about the world yet I can't put my finger on all the causes though I do have some thoughts that might be worth considering. But my first questions are to the Revolutionary Left community on the internet.

Please lend me some readers digest version answers to the following basic questions. And please , no word salads. Treat me as if I'm some alien from another planet unfamiliar with human thinking and try to explain in the most straight forward way possible. Please not a lot of -isms if it can be avoided just one person having a casual conversation with another.

- I see people use a lot of adjectives to describe themselves. If you are such a person please explain what your adjectives mean in relation to how you look at the world.

- What made you become a revolutionary leftist? What does that mean to you?

- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?

- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?

- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?

- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?

- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?

Sorry for the long post. I would just like to become more familiar with how real people here see the world. Again , try to refrain from word salads and excess adjectives if it can be helped. Remember , treat my questions as if I'm an alien unfamiliar with human thinking. Layman's terms :)

[RedBen]

- I see people use a lot of adjectives to describe themselves. If you are such a person please explain what your adjectives mean in relation to how you look at the world.

- What made you become a revolutionary leftist? What does that mean to you?

- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?

- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?

- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?

- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?

- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?

Sorry for the long post. I would just like to become more familiar with how real people here see the world. Again , try to refrain from word salads and excess adjectives if it can be helped. Remember , treat my questions as if I'm an alien unfamiliar with human thinking. Layman's terms :)

1: Marxist Leninist, i believe in the working class owning the means of production, "dictatorship of the proletariat" meaning rule of the working class, and vanguardism, or a very class conscious people who educate, and defend from counter revolutionaries through education, or any other means.

2: i became a rev leftist because i grew up homeless in chicago, one of the most gang and murder and drug crime riddled cities in the us. i was always pro worker, i used to believe that if you worked hard, you would make it. that is a lie in the current state of things for most people. capitalism is a system that requires oppression and exploitation in order to exist. always an owner, a boss, and a worker... an (under)paid dictatorship. seeing attacks on unions, austerity measures and learning how money creation and debt works made me reject the system i tried tirelessly to make sense of. competition means all but few must lose. inequality is inherent and necessary. slavery requires you house and feed your slaves, economic slavery means they must feed and house themselves.

3: the biggest problem(s) are politics, religion, national identity and the monetary systems, in a nutshell, capitalism and it's delusions that "you will make it cause you are special" is divisive. divided the oppressed fight eachother and their oppressors, instead of just their oppressors.

4: socialism and communism have the same meaning to some and different meanings to others. but one thing is universal, communism is a classless stateless and moneyless society. socialism to some means communism, to some it is the transitional stage between capitalism and communism. there are of course other definitions still.

5: i don't know what revolution would look like. i see dictatorship of the proletariat, common ownership of the means of production. i honestly think revolution is a far way off. i don't see the masses becoming class conscious and simultaneously taking action in the short term, it must be worked toward.

6: how should i know what your life would be like? you'd be completely free to do as you please, i don't know your lifestyle now, and don't know how you would accept or reject complete freedom. a communist state has never existed because communism has no state. communism is peddled be the west as a dictatorship of one person who is absolutely powerful over all their people(kind of sounds like religion no?) this is rubbish.

Last and most importantly, you can't possibly understand communism in a few short words. if you want to know what it is, read hegel, marx and engels. if you can't be bothered to educate yourself you can't be bothered to understand something, fair enough?

[argeiphontes]

- I see people use a lot of adjectives to describe themselves. If you are such a person please explain what your adjectives mean in relation to how you look at the world.


I consider myself a 'libertarian socialist'. Essentially, it's a more precise synonym for anarchism. Conservatives consider this an oxymoron, but 'libertarian' essentially means that any authority has to be justified. People should have a say in decisions in proportion to how much it affects them, not more. Socialism refers to the revolution in the relations of production toward a socially beneficial and democratic orientation. If I believe in democracy, I can't leave out workplace democracy; work is a huge part of life.



- What made you become a revolutionary leftist? What does that mean to you?


In high school I was a Republican. After high school I worked summers in a factory, and that changed my views about the working class. I saw people being exploited by others with no rationale, just because one group owned capital and the other didn't. I began to take critical social theory, including Marxism, seriously instead of just dismissing it. If I weren't an "Armchair Anarchist" it would mean making a serious effort to bring about the society I want, both for myself and others. Capitalists are doing the same thing, just turn on the news.



- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?


Propaganda about what socialism really means; the limited spectrum of debate. If socialism were about taking away freedom, I wouldn't be calling myself socialist.



- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?


To me it's synonymous, in that "libertarian socialism" is the real meaning of communism. That means the free organization of workers in a decentralized, federated system of collectives and the elimination of private property. (Not personal property though.) It doesn't mean freedom from work--if you were a hunter-gatherer, you'd still have to put in the work to make the things you need. It's not utopia.



- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?


Revolution refers to a radical change in the social relations of production, the organization of how stuff is produced. Violence is beside the point. The Agricultural Revolution was a radical (i.e. fundamental) change in production of food. Not that it'll be that easy--or slow, hopefully. It might have to be taken by force. But no, it's not close, and that's really unfortunate.

Because capitalism has repercussions on other aspects of society and even on personal psychology, a revolution would also cause changes in other areas. Capitalism distorts people and their relationships, almost exclusively in a negative way, so it's pretty clear that these changes would be positive.



- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?


You work wherever you want, though some undesirable jobs (garbage man or whatever) would have be spread around so nobody was oppressed by them. Instead of getting a job, you join a collective. Maybe there's a listing on craigslist ;) You manage this collective with the other members. In your neighborhood, you are also a member of a consumption collective so that people can coordinate what they produce with what other people want to consume. You only have to work as many hours as it takes to produce what's needed. In a rational society, if there was less demand, everybody would just work less instead of some people having no job and no options to consume.



- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?


If you didn't want to work, you wouldn't become homeless or starve, but you wouldn't have any way to demand any consumer goods since people would expect you to do your fair share to produce the things they needed in return. You could switch jobs or ask for schooling/training to better fit what made you happy. If you need a vacation, then put in enough effort to be able to request one from the consumption council. You can go around preaching the benefits of capitalism all you want, because nobody is interested in worse working conditions or less freedom.

[medgardd]

Interesting forum. I saw this place like four years ago but didn't keep up. I check out a wide range of forums with all kinds of political views and this is just one of them. I don't have any particular ideology I follow rather as my user name implies, I tend to question beliefs that people vigorously espouse. This in hopes to increase my own understanding and to maybe help someone else clarify their understanding.

I notice what many people here seem to notice. There is something 'not right' about the world yet I can't put my finger on all the causes though I do have some thoughts that might be worth considering. But my first questions are to the Revolutionary Left community on the internet.

Please lend me some readers digest version answers to the following basic questions. And please , no word salads. Treat me as if I'm some alien from another planet unfamiliar with human thinking and try to explain in the most straight forward way possible. Please not a lot of -isms if it can be avoided just one person having a casual conversation with another.

If it were all as easy as asking questions and getting answers, than the world of information would be much easier.
Instead of going to forums and asking question, you schould read about the subjects you're interested in.
When you ask questions on forums, you're not sure if the answer comes from an intelectual person, or someone who has just started to educate him/herself on the subject.

So if you want to learn about Communistm or Socialism, than i suggest you start where you are supposed to start.

There are enough books that help the beginners, just look it up. The internet is a great place for pirated books. :grin:

[Lowtech]

I notice what many people here seem to notice. There is something 'not right' about the world

what isn't right is the rich do not produce value and their consumption creates artificial scarcity. This and the economic subjugation they impose on the rest of us is obvious and mathematically observable.



- What made you become a revolutionary leftist?

the fact that capitalism is not an economic system and the realization that neoliberal ideology fails to legitimize capitalism.


- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?

artificial scarcity and the sociology of the rich that produces it.



- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?

the real economic process, free of artificial scarcity produced by a plutocratic class.


- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?

it will change how the rich think. Those of us who produce value think rationally when it comes to the use of value. Hand to mouth is rational; raising the price of a product so you can buy a mansion is irrational.


- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?

all skill sets will be reevaluated and those that are unproductive will be discarded. And productive means that the skill set produces value. Food production, construction and assembly of various things are examples of productive skill sets. If it doesn't produce value, it is not a required skill set. And I say skill set because unlike a job, one can hold as many skill sets as they are interested in. No skill set under socialism will be menial as the menial job is a skill set designed to require little to no education and increases in profitability (not productivity) as positions increase in volume. In fact, anything that consumes more than it produces is unproductive and everything sold at a profit consumes more than it provides.


- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?

the real economic process does not impede on your ability to exercise human rights, however if you chose to economically subjugate others via the profit mechanism, that would not be permitted.

[erupt]

- I see people use a lot of adjectives to describe themselves. If you are such a person please explain what your adjectives mean in relation to how you look at the world.

- What made you become a revolutionary leftist? What does that mean to you?

- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?

- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?

- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?

- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?

- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?

1. I think the adjectives and -isms divide the revolutionary, or radical, left and is counter-revolutionary, albeit not purposefully. All leftists, even Stalinists and Trotskyites, or anarchists or communists, have much more in common than they realize, and the sooner that's realized, the sooner we can begin to get our work done.

2. I became a revolutionary leftist when I became disillusioned with the parliamentary or senatorial method of helping the working class, and I noticed that before I became an adult because the area I live in inside the States was really forgotten about by both sides of the fence.

A revolutionary leftist is one who wants to change the system through revolution, be it peaceful or violent, rather than through legislation in the bourgeois, ruling class government.

3. The biggest obstacle in the world today is capitalism, and therefore neo-colonialism and economic and social imperialism. The biggest obstacle to the radical left is in-fighting and sectarianism tied with the stigma of the radical left's terminology.

4. Socialism means that the ownership of the means of production is transferred from the ruling class to the working and under class, for the benefit of all rather than a choice few.

Communism is the complete realization of this, and has never been accomplished before.

5. I envision a revolution as a realization of the working and under class of their situation and their action to change that situation for the better.

Revolutions, specifically of the proletarian type, depend on national, cultural, and social situations and the progress of class consciousness so some are closer to fully realization than others.

After the transfer of power from the elites to the working and under class, the revolution continues; the organization of the new society begins.

Any revolution, be it reactionary or revolutionary, changes social structure, but we, as the revolutionary left, should attempt to educate the working and under class so as to change their class consciousness, but changing "how people think" is impossible; our thought processes as humans can't change, only our ideas can.

6. Your life would change for the benefit if the revolution were implemented correctly.

You would work if you were able, in the field you were most passionate about; if illness or injury were to prevent you, the rest of society would support you. Remember, however, no one in this new society should, would, or could live above their means.

7. Of course, there is no such thing as a utopia, but not fitting into the new society would be unlikely, unless you wanted more than what everyone else receives. However, you would be given access to the means of of emigrating somewhere you feel more at home. You could live how you choose as long as it doesn't affect others, and you could most definitely live with whom you wanted, unless of course your occupation wouldn't permit it, but that would happen in any society, of course.
---

If there are any words I used you don't know yet, just ask me. Also, if my answers too long, I apologize; I did it to the best of my ability.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

- I see people use a lot of adjectives to describe themselves. If you are such a person please explain what your adjectives mean in relation to how you look at the world.

I believe that all aspects of social existence can stand to be improved. Personal freedoms, while ostensibly at high levels in Western bourgeois-democratic societies, are in fact more circumscribed by economic and political realities than most realise. Freedom doesn't mean much when one is destitute or in opposition to something that a bourgeois government really, really wants.

Instead, I advocate for systems that combine ultra-democracy with a scientific approach towards management of the material and technological aspects of society.


- What made you become a revolutionary leftist? What does that mean to you?

I became a revolutionary some time in my early teens, and have been since. While opposition to imperialist occupation of Iraq by the USA was what started me off, ever since then every indication I get is that the current socioeconomic system is invalid, unjust, and quite simply not fit for its supposed purpose. The entire edifice is rotten to the core and needs to be ripped down and replaced.


- The biggest obstacle in the world today is ____________?

The accumulation of capital and productive power in the hands of a minority in society. The undue influence resulting from this accumulation distorts large swathes of society in their favour.


- Please describe to me what socialism means to you and what communism means to you?

Socialism is an ideology that promotes the formation of a society where production is socialised, rather than being in the hands of individuals or for-profit entities. Communism is an ideology that promotes the formation (usually but not always through a popular revolution) of a society in which there is no money, production is completely under the control of the workers, and in which there are no meaningful economic differences among the population.


- How do you envision a revolution? Is it close upon us? What happens after the revolution? Does it change how people think or just social structure like governments and economy?

A revolution happens when enough of those among a population feel that they have exhausted all other options, when all other avenues for social change have proven fruitless or futile. It is the job of socialists and communists during such periods to agitate and educate, to encourage as many workers as possible to have the wherewithal to seize the means of production and the confidence to become a new, transient ruling class able to start establishing a classless society.

Is it close? Nope. Communists and socialists are doing a piss-poor job, the working classes are demoralised but not yet desperate enough to start truly questioning the assumptions of bourgeois democracy (and even when they do, that can be dangerous if they turn to fascism), despite the fact that the global capitalist system is becoming increasingly burdened with it's own contradictions.

My view is that by the time a revolution comes around, people have already changed their thinking to a significant degree. If the revolution is successful in installing new organs of working class power, then those organs will subsequently shape the thinking of workers. Think of it as a reciprocal process.


- If the revolution was successful and the revolutionary left society emerged as a result how would I fit into that in terms of how would my life be different? Do I work and if so , where?

I dunno, what do you want to do? Most people seem to fucking hate their jobs under capitalism. Part of the point of establishing a socialist or communist society is that you wouldn't have to deal with that, at least.

If there are tasks which nobody likes but which are considered socially necessary, then there needs to be an equitable system in place to spread the workload among the population. I'm thinking the systems should use jury service or the lottery as models. This strikes me as a better approach than one of those which is popular today, i.e. paying undocumented immigrant workers a pittance to scrub and clean and garden etc.


- If by some chance I did not find myself really fitting into the post revolution world what happens to me? What options would I have? Could I live how I chose and with whom I chose?

It depends on why you're "not fitting". In the case of a global communist society you'd be more or less out of options, although I suppose there would be nothing preventing you from going off to live in the woods or something like that.

If communist society isn't global, then I suppose you could live elsewhere.

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I hope this is informative.