Hi, you can ignore this if you want.

[Cactus]

I'm new to this political stuff and I've read nothing on left-wing thought, so if anyone wants to make any doing or reading suggestions they'd be very welcome.

[Q]

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.

What led you to socialist politics? What attracts you in them?

[consuming negativity]

why did you decide to title this thread the way you did and how do you think it reflects on you as a person?

[Sinister Intents]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. If you haven't done any reading, I suggest The Communist Manifesto, the Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Critique of the Gothe Programme, and then read State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin. I also Suggest reading his What Is To Be Done. Read them in this order in fact!

[The Disillusionist]

I can ignore anything, whenever I want. So I don't know why I would treat your thread any differently than any others just because it happens to state the obvious. :laugh:

Anyway, welcome! I recommend reading up on some of the more libertarian leftists as well, like Bakunin and Kropotkin.

[Cactus]

why did you decide to title this thread the way you did and how do you think it reflects on you as a person?
Well I support freedom, so the purpose of the title was to exude that.

[DonQuixote]

I'm new here myself, so welcome! If you're relatively new to Left Wing thought it may make more sense to try and branch out a little in each area to truly discover what appeals to you both intellectually and emotionally. With that in mind, as well as obviously including the suggestions of our fine comrades I would add to your reading list.
1.) Letters to a young Contrarian - Christopher Hitchens.
People often accuse the Hitch of swinging to the Right, but this short work is an excellent piece of independently minded and stunningly written political/cultural journalism.
2.) The Revolution Betrayed - Leon Trotsky.
Whether you agree with Trotsky's, or as I like to call him 'Trotters' read that in a West Country accent, assessment of Stalinism and the Soviet Union this is still a biting and eloquent work of a very angry and very intelligent man.
3.) Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell.
While the majority of people here, including myself, are quite far to the Left of Orwell this small and touching book is a historically revealing text that explores both the Anarchist society of Barcelona and its eventual loss to fascists on the one side and Stalinists on the other.
Feel free to disregard my suggestions if you so wish, nonetheless, I wish you all the best in your intellectual journey.

[Asero]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. If you haven't done any reading, I suggest The Communist Manifesto, the Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Critique of the Gothe Programme, and then read State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin. I also Suggest reading his What Is To Be Done. Read them in this order in fact!

I recommend reading Karl Marx: A Brief Biographical Sketch With an Exposition of Marxism (1), The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism (2), Theses on Feurbach (3), and Principles of Communism (4) before reading what Sinistra recommended.


1 - by Lenin; https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/granat/index.htm
2 - by Lenin; https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1913/mar/x01.htm
3 - by Marx; https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/theses.htm
4 - by Engels; https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

[oneday]

3.) Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell.
While the majority of people here, including myself, are quite far to the Left of Orwell this small and touching book is a historically revealing text that explores

Why do you think we are to the left of Orwell? He went to fight for the worker's revolution, what more do you want from him? :confused:

Maybe there is something from the book I don't remember?

[Cliff Paul]

Why do you think we are to the left of Orwell? He went to fight for the worker's revolution, what more do you want from him? :confused:

to not spy on communists for the British government

[AidanChrist]

For a shorter, easier to read explanation of the basics of Marxism check out the Marxist FAQ set up by the international Marxist tendency. Another great resource is the Marxist education guide made by socialist appeal, a group affiliated with the IMT.

The faq: http://www.newyouth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117&Itemid=60#trotskyism

The education guide : http://socialistappeal.org/resources/educate-yourself.html

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

And, repping the A-team, here's some stuff that:

1. Wasn't written by white men over 100 years ago.
2. Is short, and in plain language.
3. Points toward action, and not toward trying to read Hegel.

Life Without Law: An Introduction to Anarchist Politics (http://www.tangledwilderness.org/life-without-law/)
Work - Community - Politics - War (http://www.prole.info/index.html) (near the bottom of the page)
Toward The Queerest Insurrection (http://www.weldd.org/sites/default/files/Toward%20the%20Queerest%20Insurrection.pdf) (link is directly to .pdf)

[Q]

And, repping the A-team, here's some stuff that:

1. Wasn't written by white men over 100 years ago.
2. Is short, and in plain language.
3. Points toward action, and not toward trying to read Hegel.

Life Without Law: An Introduction to Anarchist Politics (http://www.tangledwilderness.org/life-without-law/)
Work - Community - Politics - War (http://www.prole.info/index.html) (near the bottom of the page)
Toward The Queerest Insurrection (http://www.weldd.org/sites/default/files/Toward%20the%20Queerest%20Insurrection.pdf) (link is directly to .pdf)
Thank you for your suggestions that are based on:
1. Sexism towards white men over 100 years ago.
2. Dumbing down politics.
3. Having disregard for theory.

But then again, what is to be expected from an anarchist?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Thank you for your suggestions that are based on:
1. Sexism towards white men over 100 years ago.
2. Dumbing down politics.
3. Having disregard for theory.

But then again, what is to be expected from an anarchist?

1. Q, you know what sexism is and how patriarchy functions, right?
2. Being able to communicate your politics without layers of obfuscating specialized language doesn't make your politics "dumb". It makes them useful.
3. You wanna theory-show-down, bring it any time. Praxis makes good theory. Theory for theory's sake makes academic careers. And I don't have any degrees.

[Q]

1. Q, you know what sexism is and how patriarchy functions, right?
Yes. I just happen to disagree with how many on the left are using it one-sidedly.

2. Being able to communicate your politics without layers of obfuscating specialized language doesn't make your politics "dumb". It makes them useful.
Since you mentioned Hegel, I'll mention that he's actually barely read on the Marxist left. Perhaps shamefully so. But again I disagree that, in general, those "white man of 100 years ago" are so impossibly to read.

3. You wanna theory-show-down, bring it any time. Praxis makes good theory. Theory for theory's sake makes academic careers. And I don't have any degrees.
There is, of course, a relationship between the two. A one-sided focus on praxis is hardly useful.

[DonQuixote]

Hi Oneday,
In response to your comment I would argue that Orwell was not necessarily a member of the revolutionary Left, many individuals who fought in the Spanish Civil War. To back up this statement I'll quote his wonderful essay, 'Why I write' which was a reflection over his career in general and his politics in particular "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it."

[RedWorker]

I would argue that Orwell was quite obviously a member of the revolutionary left (and even literally a member of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), fighting physically in favour of the workers' revolution in Spain and against the fascists. Whatever his particular political standpoints may be, he is much more revolutionary than anyone in this forum is. Of course, we have to criticize many aspects of Orwell, including his disregard of revolutionary theory. To argue that he was less of a revolutionary than people on here are is, however, ridiculous.

[DonQuixote]

Fighting against Fascism does not necessarily make one a member of the revolutionary left, it makes one an anti-fascist. Orwell did fight in a revolution, that much is certainly true, and it deserves our respect and our praise so in that sense he could have been said to have been a revolutionary when using very literal terminology. His politics in general were not revolutionary, at least not in the same manner as Lenin and co, and he certainly wasn't a Marxist even if he appreciated Marx's analysis of capitalism. The statements he made during his lifetime indicate more than anything else a dual commitment, as the quote I supplied explained, to democratic socialism and anti-totalitarian thought, to ascribe to him revolutionary beliefs that we do not know he had is to ventriloquise the dead, which is in essence to vandalise their memory for our own purposes.