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Caffeine Onegin
7th October 2013, 23:32
Hello everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself.

I've been vaguely anti-capitalist for a few years now but over the past several months this stance has solidified into a more coherent revolutionary perspective. I've done my time studying different tendencies across the revolutionary Left over the years but am revisiting everything as my purpose for research shifts away from mere curiosity to more active participation in the struggle against capitalism. I am hoping that participation in the conversations here will help me crystallize my political stance.

I'm currently engaged in an in-depth study of the history of Trotskyism in America. I stumbled upon this forum while researching the Socialist Equality Party (Note: I will not be joining this party even if I commit to the Trotskyist tendency, thanks largely to information I discovered here at revleft). I wouldn't call myself a confirmed Trotskyist, or even a definitive Marxist as of yet, but I can say with some confidence that I will probably end up in some Marxist camp or another.

I intend on studying Council/Left Communism after completing my reading on Trotskyism. I am still working through the implications of Leninism's conception of the revolutionary party.

Other interests include Russian literature and American poetry. Actually, literature in general is my biggest "hobby."

I would say more, but there is work to be done! Also I promised to drink some whiskey with my friend.

Cheers.

Alan OldStudent
7th October 2013, 23:40
Welcome. It sounds like you're taking a well-considered approach and won't buy any idea unless it makes sense to you.

Regards,

Alan OldStudent
The unexamined life is not worth living--Socrates

The Garbage Disposal Unit
7th October 2013, 23:42
Hey / Welcome!
I spent a couple days in Bloomington last summer - it was mostly really nice, except for some kid who thought they were too cool/queerer-than-thou.

Have you done Rosa Luxembourg yet, or are you counting her as part of the "left communist" position?

Anyway, welcome!

Thirsty Crow
7th October 2013, 23:48
Soooo, the big question, Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky? :lol:

Just kidding. There's a shitload more to Russian literature than the classics of realism.

Welcome to the forums :)

Q
8th October 2013, 07:26
Welcome :)

If you have political questions, you can ask them in the Learning forum. That's why it's there after all!

If you have questions about your account, don't hesitate to send me a PM or ask here.

There are many shades of political thought on the left. You may find representatives all around :)

Caffeine Onegin
8th October 2013, 15:16
Welcome :)

If you have political questions, you can ask them in the Learning forum. That's why it's there after all!

If you have questions about your account, don't hesitate to send me a PM or ask here.

There are many shades of political thought on the left. You may find representatives all around :)

Thank you very much for the welcome! I should be annoying the vets with questions in the Learning forum soon!


It sounds like you're taking a well-considered approach and won't buy any idea unless it makes sense to you.

Regards,

Alan OldStudent
The unexamined life is not worth living--Socrates

This is most certainly the approach I am taking. I don't want to simply adopt any principles based on faith; I intend on mentally working through it all and coming to my own conclusions. As of now I'm heading down a Marxist path.

I am thoroughly enjoying this process.


Hey / Welcome!
I spent a couple days in Bloomington last summer - it was mostly really night, except for some kid who thought they were too cool/queerer-than-thou.

Have you done Rosa Luxembourg yet, or are you counting her as part of the "left communist" position?

Anyway, welcome!

Bloomington is a weird place!

And no, I haven't delved into Luxembourg yet. I'm kind of including her in the Left Communist camp, but I know it is probably a little more complicated than that. Delving into her writing is without a doubt next on my list. I intend on reading her before delving into some of the writers listed in the Left Communism section of the MIA (which apparently I cannot link to as of yet.)


Soooo, the big question, Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky? :lol:

Just kidding. There's a shitload more to Russian literature than the classics of realism.

Welcome to the forums :)

Dostoevsky. And it's not even close. (I'm a die-hard Dostoevsky fan...my username was almost 'Karamazov').

Thirsty Crow
9th October 2013, 14:53
Dostoevsky. And it's not even close. (I'm a die-hard Dostoevsky fan...my username was almost 'Karamazov').
Ding ding we've got a correct answer :lol:

But an interesting figure of realism who gets omitted all too often is Turgenyev. Really nice prose.

Quail
9th October 2013, 20:07
Hi, welcome to Revleft :)