Living as a Leftist

[AdLeft]

Sometimes I feel as though advocating for syndicalist or any other leftist principles is pointless. Sure there are people who transition from supporting oppressive ideologies to more genuine leftist ones. However, very few actually do. Instead they go for the "liberal" democrat capitalist views as if it's a better solution. Convincing them is almost futile. :(

All I hear from people is that my political leanings are too "utopian" and that an anarchist system will only fall apart and lead to disaster or defeat. I usually mention the syndicalism that existed in Spain during the Spanish revolution for some time. However after the anarchists lost the war, the system fell into the hands of the nationalists. But again, most people don't care.

And the reality is, I live a comfortable life in the western social democratic world. Yes I believe that the current system is highly oppressive especially to the third world. And yes I believe that a better one is needed. However, with no one really caring, why should I bother? :mad:

From what I can see, the only event that would possibly lead to an anarchist society is total economic collapse. Until then, I'm not sure what my purpose is.

What do you think?

[Tim Cornelis]

You don't go about just having intellectual, abstract discussions about hierarchy and freedom and equality. People will, in the best instance, go "yeah, that sounds nice" but then go about their daily business. It's too 'futuristic', too far removed from their daily lives. You organise. You show what communism can concretely do for them today. Then use that as platform for education.

[consuming negativity]

"You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality." - Ayn Rand

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to positively quote Ayn Rand on RevLeft, but she's right. You can pretend like you don't care, but you do, and you're the only one who is going to be punished by pretending otherwise.

[Ele'ill]

Your observations are correct, there is no hope, nothing might ever happen, everything will probably get worse forever.

[G4b3n]

I am lucky that I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to attend a bourgeois university. Here it can actually appear to be satisfying to live in the abstract, talking with Marxist professors and whatnot. But it still is what it is, pointless. Real leftist action takes place in the streets and in work places. See who is unionizing around your area, see if there is a local IWW, or a decent radical party. (Though the latter is highly unlikely)

[thebishop]

I think this is the importance of struggling for both 'transitional demands', and just generally good progressive reform. It can be a little frustrating when others on the left attack a particular measure as reformist, but I don't see an alternative.

[Rafiq]

However, with no one really caring, why should I bother? :mad:


Because people like you, those capable of possessing consciousness, of approximating our present reality - while the overwhelming majority do not have the time, energy or intuition, are supposed to be the real instruments of the revolution - not the "masses" (it is THEIR revolution) but the intelligentsia. We the intelligentsia have a duty to carry on the class struggle in fields where ordinary people cannot, in philosophy, culture, science and in all domains of the intellect. The problem is that you conceive them to be a vehicle through which your ideas are realized. The reality is that only the opposite is true. Once you approximate this fact - which doesn't amount to dabbling in abstractions, but approximating the problems ordinary people face as relative and not eternal laws of existence, you will understand "why you should bother".

The de-classed intelligentsia is faced with a question: Why concern myself with the class struggle? The answer is quite simple. Because it is not we, the intelligentsia, who are the vehicles of history. One should repeat Paul Robeson - the artist must make a choice - freedom or slavery, and the factors which determine this choice do no matter. A Communist is not bound by the demons of their past - Lenin was brought into the fold perhaps by the death of his brother, Marx because of his affiliation with the Young Hegelians, and various others for other superficial reasons. Do you think that Lenin went on for the rest of his life dedicating himself to the cause because of the sentimentality of losing his brother, as if - somehow, if the Okhrana resurrected him it would compel him to give everything up? No!

If you have been possessed by the ideas of Communism, then this is sufficient unto itself. If you have seen truth and you wish to renounce it - then this ought to take more effort than sustaining your faith. If it is simply too much for you to handle, then we all bid you good luck - but quite frankly the ideas of Communism are eternal and will not disappear even if it commands the dedication of no one. Ours is a historic tradition, a weakened, battered and shriveled one. Our world is a hell - and the strength of Communism is not an IMPOSED idea, but to approximate problems which are - frankly - universally acknowledged problems as ones we can overcome. That we can is the message of Communism, not we must. What ideologically stands in our way? Superstitious metaphysics and the deceitful tongue of the master.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

SHARPEN OUR OFFENSIVE CAPACITY:
PROLIFERATE THE COMMUNE, ZONES OF OPACITY.

I'm sayin' it in a silly way, but I stand by it.
Don't just flap your gums at people - start creating the spaces which are capable of carrying out collectivization. Mutual aid networks, networks of communication, neighbourhood committees which are capable of taking on basic tasks of maintaining a functioning neighbourhood, etc.
People don't listen to gum-flapping about communism in the workplaces or schools or neighbourhoods because it really does seem utopian and impossible in those spaces as they now exist. However, if we look at Quebec, where the forms of organization suited to taking shit over are being developed, people do listen.
That's the thing: What people are doing is almost always going to be a step ahead of what they're saying/thinking, because its only the doing that creates the conditions for understanding/articulating what is being done.

I did it and it blew my mind. :lol:

[AdLeft]

Because people like you, those capable of possessing consciousness, of approximating our present reality - while the overwhelming majority do not have the time, energy or intuition, are supposed to be the real instruments of the revolution - not the "masses" (it is THEIR revolution) but the intelligentsia. We the intelligentsia have a duty to carry on the class struggle in fields where ordinary people cannot, in philosophy, culture, science and in all domains of the intellect. The problem is that you conceive them to be a vehicle through which your ideas are realized. The reality is that only the opposite is true. Once you approximate this fact - which doesn't amount to dabbling in abstractions, but approximating the problems ordinary people face as relative and not eternal laws of existence, you will understand "why you should bother".

The de-classed intelligentsia is faced with a question: Why concern myself with the class struggle? The answer is quite simple. Because it is not we, the intelligentsia, who are the vehicles of history. One should repeat Paul Robeson - the artist must make a choice - freedom or slavery, and the factors which determine this choice do no matter. A Communist is not bound by the demons of their past - Lenin was brought into the fold perhaps by the death of his brother, Marx because of his affiliation with the Young Hegelians, and various others for other superficial reasons. Do you think that Lenin went on for the rest of his life dedicating himself to the cause because of the sentimentality of losing his brother, as if - somehow, if the Okhrana resurrected him it would compel him to give everything up? No!

If you have been possessed by the ideas of Communism, then this is sufficient unto itself. If you have seen truth and you wish to renounce it - then this ought to take more effort than sustaining your faith. If it is simply too much for you to handle, then we all bid you good luck - but quite frankly the ideas of Communism are eternal and will not disappear even if it commands the dedication of no one. Ours is a historic tradition, a weakened, battered and shriveled one. Our world is a hell - and the strength of Communism is not an IMPOSED idea, but to approximate problems which are - frankly - universally acknowledged problems as ones we can overcome. That we can is the message of Communism, not we must. What ideologically stands in our way? Superstitious metaphysics and the deceitful tongue of the master.

Wow this was well articulated!

I think most people have a herd mentality and feel safer staying with the status quo. Fortunately there are people like me and you who actually think outside the box!

Thanks for everyone's replies!:)

[#FF0000]

I think most people have a herd mentality and feel safer staying with the status quo. Fortunately there are people like me and you who actually think outside the box!

Well don't get ahead of yourself. We might have just picked a different herd.

[BIXX]

Op should read the sic journal


http://sicjournal.org/issues/

[mushroompizza]

If anyone asks tell them Anarchism is working well in the Zapatista Chiapas and it has been working well since the 1990s.

[Commujism]

Sometimes I feel as though advocating for syndicalist or any other leftist principles is pointless. Sure there are people who transition from supporting oppressive ideologies to more genuine leftist ones. However, very few actually do. Instead they go for the "liberal" democrat capitalist views as if it's a better solution. Convincing them is almost futile. :(

All I hear from people is that my political leanings are too "utopian" and that an anarchist system will only fall apart and lead to disaster or defeat. I usually mention the syndicalism that existed in Spain during the Spanish revolution for some time. However after the anarchists lost the war, the system fell into the hands of the nationalists. But again, most people don't care.

And the reality is, I live a comfortable life in the western social democratic world. Yes I believe that the current system is highly oppressive especially to the third world. And yes I believe that a better one is needed. However, with no one really caring, why should I bother? :mad:

From what I can see, the only event that would possibly lead to an anarchist society is total economic collapse. Until then, I'm not sure what my purpose is.

What do you think?

Anarchism isn't a political system; it's a perpetual tendency toward collective freedom and autonomy of the individual from authority.

People are right to call the realization of an anarchist society utopian: anarchism isn't a fixed ending, nor is it simply a means toward an end; it's a means with no end, because freedom is boundless.

The anarchist Renzo Novatore summed it up nicely:


You are waiting for the revolution? Let it be! My own began a long time ago! When you are ready (god, what an endless wait!) I won’t mind going with you for a while. But when you stop, I shall continue on my way toward the great and sublime conquest of the nothing!

Any society that you build will have its limits. And outside the limits of any society, unruly and heroic tramps will wander with their wild and virgin thought — those who cannot live without planning ever new and dreadful outbursts of rebellion! I shall be among them!

And after me, as before me, there will be those saying to their fellows: “So turn to yourselves rather than to your gods and idols. Find what hides within you and bring it to the light; show yourselves!”

Because every person who, searching his own inwardness, extracts what was mysteriously hidden therein is a shadow eclipsing any form of society which can exist under the sun!"

[Commujism]

Sometimes I feel as though advocating for syndicalist or any other leftist principles is pointless. Sure there are people who transition from supporting oppressive ideologies to more genuine leftist ones. However, very few actually do. Instead they go for the "liberal" democrat capitalist views as if it's a better solution. Convincing them is almost futile. :(

All I hear from people is that my political leanings are too "utopian" and that an anarchist system will only fall apart and lead to disaster or defeat. I usually mention the syndicalism that existed in Spain during the Spanish revolution for some time. However after the anarchists lost the war, the system fell into the hands of the nationalists. But again, most people don't care.

And the reality is, I live a comfortable life in the western social democratic world. Yes I believe that the current system is highly oppressive especially to the third world. And yes I believe that a better one is needed. However, with no one really caring, why should I bother? :mad:

From what I can see, the only event that would possibly lead to an anarchist society is total economic collapse. Until then, I'm not sure what my purpose is.

What do you think?

Anarchism isn't a political system; it's a perpetual tendency toward collective freedom and autonomy of the individual from authority.

People are right to call the realization of an anarchist society utopian: anarchism isn't a fixed ending, nor is it simply a means toward an end; it's a means with no end, because freedom is boundless.

The anarchist Renzo Novatore summed it up nicely:


You are waiting for the revolution? Let it be! My own began a long time ago! When you are ready (god, what an endless wait!) I won’t mind going with you for a while. But when you stop, I shall continue on my way toward the great and sublime conquest of the nothing!

Any society that you build will have its limits. And outside the limits of any society, unruly and heroic tramps will wander with their wild and virgin thought — those who cannot live without planning ever new and dreadful outbursts of rebellion! I shall be among them!

And after me, as before me, there will be those saying to their fellows: “So turn to yourselves rather than to your gods and idols. Find what hides within you and bring it to the light; show yourselves!”

Because every person who, searching his own inwardness, extracts what was mysteriously hidden therein is a shadow eclipsing any form of society which can exist under the sun!" .

[Sibotic]

If they believe in something just because it's there, without any real reason, then they can shift away like the wind just as much. We don't rely on electoral illusions such as the veil of uncertainty, nor electoral means, and in any case no election has yet been decided by people's personal beliefs thought over in detail by themselves, so the result is indifferent. People aren't too enthusiastic about the ruling system, apparently, in fact they basically agree that communism would be better - which makes them communists, of the utopian variety which implies that the next step for them would be to understand history and society generally and hence become Marxists - you don't keep it around by people who are indifferent and largely negative about it, even the British government's supporters when faced with the cuts couldn't think of anything better to justify themselves than Stalinist rhetoric, try that during the 20th Century and they'd be sharkbait. What's the issue here, if your issue is that something is ethically correct but you're asking why you should believe in it and act on it given this, then perhaps you should go to Oxford or Cambridge like one of the recent British politicians who act like mindless idiots and are so as well, which might help you out.

Surely how you usually approach life isn't to think that you should do something ethically right and then do something else, perhaps communism would be important in ensuring that you live like a human being would, hopefully.

[Comrade Jacob]

I had a thread like this; "I want to give up". Advocating socialism is rather pointless and will most likely go nowhere but do you know what will go nowhere...doing nothing.

2cliché4u