Communism Today

[Red Warrior]

I know a lot of people who are detractors of communism because they are ill-educated. I am not saying we should reform communism, but would it be beneficial to write a new Communist Manifesto to better explain the purpose of our movement, condensed and able to explain Marxism, Leninism, collectivism, anarchist communism, and so on. This would not replace anything, but rather act as a supplement and a broad statement of what our beliefs and goals are.

[NGGuerrette]

I would partake in that. I agree with you, Communism is very misunderstood nowadays. I wouldn't mind helping write a new Communist Manifesto, so to speak.

Who were you expecting to write this? Was it just a general idea or rather an idea you wish to put into action?

[Remus Bleys]

"ill-educated"

[Tim Cornelis]

There's dozens and dozens and dozens of articles, essays, and books about those topics already.

[sirz345]

Agreed, keep it the same idea but make it so it is easier to understand, let me know if this project gets going, I'd love to help out. (I'm a bit of a writer in my spare time)

[StreetsRunRed]

I keep running into the notion that communist governments slaughtered millions of its own people, ran into food shortages and millions died in famines, and they all collapsed from within in relatively short periods of time. How do we argue against this?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I keep running into the notion that communist governments slaughtered millions of its own people, ran into food shortages and millions died in famines, and they all collapsed from within in relatively short periods of time. How do we argue against this?

To be fair, some governments headed by self-described communist parties did experience some of this (though "a short period of time" seems somewhat relative). Of course, there are lots of things to unpack in that.
For one, it's also true of many countries which are unashamedly capitalist.
Secondly, that a party has called itself communist doesn't necessarily mean that it is interchangeable with another party using the same (or a similar) moniker.
Third, there is the question of authenticity. While all of the capitalist countries that have had famines, death squads, and so on have been undeniably authentically capitalist, the question of whether or not socialist countries have practiced socialism is heatedly debated. That's not to excuse communists from responsibility by any means: I think it warrants owning up to. "Well, *we* did it wrong. The Soviet Union didn't become a stateless, classless society." - The thing is, that's not a very strong argument against trying to make a stateless, classless society any more than early failures in aviation are an argument against airplanes.

[Црвена]

I keep running into the notion that communist governments slaughtered millions of its own people, ran into food shortages and millions died in famines, and they all collapsed from within in relatively short periods of time. How do we argue against this?

If you're a Stalinist I'm not sure how you can respond because in my opinion this proved the failure of Stalinism, but pretty much every other tendency thinks that the "communist," states, whatever they were, weren't communist. How you respond depends on whether you blame the material conditions of the attempted socialist states or the authoritarianism of Marxist-Leninist practice for the failure of these states. Since the USSR was the first state that attempted to be socialist, all the following so-called Marxist revolutions used the same tactics, resulting in dictatorships in all of those countries, so the argument that communism failed multiple times is invalid.

[Црвена]

Anyone who looks for communist theory can find tons. What we need to do is make people look for it, by bringing about class consciousness and consciousness of capitalism's evils and proving misconceptions wrong through successful organisation along communist lines. I think the most severe loss to the communist movement wasn't the rise of all these misconceptions about communism through the Red Scare and all that, but the way that we became disintegrated with oppressed people's struggles. We need to return to our fight for workers' rights and freedom, prove that our movement is relevant and become the voice of the proletariat once again. Only then do we have any hope of getting people interested in our theoretical alternative to capitalism.

[The Idler]

Every communist or socialist party since Marx has written its own manifesto. Many of them try to address their interpretation of misconceptions about communism or socialism. Why do we need another one on top of these?

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

What's the definition of insanity again? :rolleyes:

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I keep running into the notion that communist governments slaughtered millions of its own people, ran into food shortages and millions died in famines, and they all collapsed from within in relatively short periods of time. How do we argue against this?

Can you make an omelet without breaking eggs?

[#FF0000]

Well, I don't think OP's wrong. Seriously are there any marxist texts that are remotely readable these days? I have such a hard time pointing people to texts that are friendly to laypeople.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

Well, I don't think OP's wrong. Seriously are there any marxist texts that are remotely readable these days? I have such a hard time pointing people to texts that are friendly to laypeople.

True but then it's like what's more accessible and what's just stupid? Like sacrificing content for convenience or whatever? Idunno.

[#FF0000]

True but then it's like what's more accessible and what's just stupid? Like sacrificing content for convenience or whatever? Idunno.

I think we can have the content but simplify for an introduction or something. I mean, the IWW's One Big Union pamphlet is probably the best thing I ever saw in that regard. I think it'd be very easy to take something like that and flesh the concepts it touches upon out a lot more.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I think we can have the content but simplify for an introduction or something. I mean, the IWW's One Big Union pamphlet is probably the best thing I ever saw in that regard. I think it'd be very easy to take something like that and flesh the concepts it touches upon out a lot more.

That's because the I double Dubz is awesome and legit. I also agree.

[Ritzy Cat]

I think we can sacrifice content for convenience. Start with the kids. Release picture books to American children showing a series of pictures: Red white and blue block, black block, red block. Then show a series of pictures of Obama, a razed White House, and an endless field of smiling workers.

???

[Rafiq]

Writing a new communist manifesto entails a living, breathing communist movement to already exist. If there is no spectre haunting Europe, what's the point?

[Red Warrior]

Writing a new communist manifesto entails a living, breathing communist movement to already exist. If there is no spectre haunting Europe, what's the point?
Scotland, in a way, is an exception. Their movement for independence is spearheaded by the Scottish National Party, a nationalist (ehh...) and democratic socialist party. While they may not revolve around Marxist socialism, the idea that the spark of revolution burns on brings light even to the darkest corners. While the flame may have died down, it is our job to stoke the flames, to feed it. "The revolution is not an apple made to fall when it is ripe."