Greetings from Ireland

[Galbatorix994]

Hello everybody,being new to this forum,I have decided to introduce myself.my name is David and I live in Dublin,Ireland.Politically,I am a leftist who believes that every nation must pursue the development of socialism in a unique fashion befitting its own circumstances.Ideologically my beliefs are closest to Muammar Al-Qadhafi's Third Universal Theory (as described in 'The Green Book').Though I am young (currently in my teens),I hope to help inspire a new generation of revolutionaries and to combat the disinformation campaign of the west concerning anti imperialist and socialist states.I vehemently oppose capitalist and rightist ideologies (and most nations following them) while also being staunchly against anarchy and opposing overly hardline forms of communism such as Stalinism and Maoism.I hope to discuss various subjects with and befriend members of this forum.

[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.

[Armchair Partisan]

Hi!

Odd that you are an anti-Stalinist but have sympathies for the Green Book. (Or maybe it isn't that odd, but seems that way to me.) Could you explain what it is that you particularly like about the Third Universal Theory, and what your opinion is about the actual Libyan government that Gaddafi presided over from 1969 to 2011?

[Galbatorix994]

Hi!

Odd that you are an anti-Stalinist but have sympathies for the Green Book. (Or maybe it isn't that odd, but seems that way to me.) Could you explain what it is that you particularly like about the Third Universal Theory, and what your opinion is about the actual Libyan government that Gaddafi presided over from 1969 to 2011?

The main features of the Third Universal theory are as follows:
-Its stance against private ownership of the nation's assets
-Its belief that everyone is entitled to a home and other basic amenities
-The Jamahiriyah:I believe that all socialist single party states ought to eventually transition to direct democracy,allowing local communities to better express their desires
When it comes to Libya under Qadhafi,I believe that Qadhafi brought socialism to Libya,improving the living standards of all of its inhabitants greatly.He nationalised a commanding stake in the nation's oil industry while keeping the west at bay and having cordial relations with the Warsaw pact (while it was in existence).I believe that Qadhafi's Libya played a key roll in sustaining left wing national liberation movements worldwide.I also admire Qadhafi's efforts to unite unite and improve Africa.I believe that his main mistakes were his (fatal) rapprochement with the US and UK and his decision to cancel Libya's nuclear program.

[Aslan]

Interesting... we seem to share many same views on direct democracy. But I'm more of an internationalist.

Welcome to Revleft!

[RedKobra]

Welcome friend. Never met a Qadhafi'ist before. Look forward to many interesting discussions.

[Armchair Partisan]

The main features of the Third Universal theory are as follows:
-Its stance against private ownership of the nation's assets
-Its belief that everyone is entitled to a home and other basic amenities

So far, that describes any social-democratic welfare state or socialist republic, nothing special there.


-The Jamahiriyah:I believe that all socialist single party states ought to eventually transition to direct democracy,allowing local communities to better express their desires

That principle sounds good, but then the question must be asked: how will these single-party states transition to direct democracy? In particular, whose interests lie with making such a transition? Because we have seen several examples throughout history where a "workers' party" that claimed to rule over a workers' state without actually giving economic and political power to the workers just ended up forming a new ruling class.


When it comes to Libya under Qadhafi,I believe that Qadhafi brought socialism to Libya,improving the living standards of all of its inhabitants greatly.

Qadhafi did make Libya more prosperous, but he did not bring 'socialism' to Libya by any Marxist standard. The most we could say is that Qadhafi might have had a sincere left-wing conviction (of a kind... he was explicitly anti-communist and empowered Islam as a state religion and a strong theocratic influence on his theories), but this is mere speculation. What is a matter of fact, though, is that he came to power through a coup and the relation of the Libyan workers to the means of production did not change in such a way with his takeover, or in the decades afterwards, as to lead to socialism. Nationalization is not socialism - it is state capitalism (where socialism is described as workers' control of the means of production, directly, not through a state that rules in their name).


He nationalised a commanding stake in the nation's oil industry while keeping the west at bay and having cordial relations with the Warsaw pact (while it was in existence).I believe that Qadhafi's Libya played a key roll in sustaining left wing national liberation movements worldwide.I also admire Qadhafi's efforts to unite unite and improve Africa.I believe that his main mistakes were his (fatal) rapprochement with the US and UK and his decision to cancel Libya's nuclear program.

All of these are good achievements from a Libyan nationalist perspective but have little relevance to the worldwide socialist cause.

Qadhafi's Third International Theory seems, to me, to be a strange mixture of genuinely socialist and bourgeois, social-democratic ideas, combined with several problematic passages including lifestyle policing (mandating strict gender roles for men and women, banning wrestling etc.) that is not really worth following, even if I can see how it might attract some to the revolutionary left.

[Guardia Rossa]

Whenever there is a "Third Theory", be sure that it means "Nationalism for the "interests" of the people", or, shorter, "Fascism".

Welcome anyway, let's see what happens.

[Ricemilk]

Obviously we're not on the same page politically but I'm no less happy to see you onside, Galbatorix994. It sounds like you're well informed on your favored theories and there are potentially interesting conversations to be had. Welcome!

[Galbatorix994]

Whenever there is a "Third Theory", be sure that it means "Nationalism for the "interests" of the people", or, shorter, "Fascism".

Welcome anyway, let's see what happens.

I beg to differ.It is admittedly true that third way ideologies often appeal to nationalist sentiments,however,this patriotism does not always take the form of fascism.A third way is often (though not always) based on political non-alignment combined with patriotism and socialism,therefore treading a path between communism and capitalism (usually leaning closer towards communism).Many third way ideologies are vastly different from each other,the only thing they have in common being that they embrace neither communism or capitalism.This is exemplified by the fact that Nazism and the Third Universal Theory are both classified as third way ideologies,despite being on the complete other sides of the political spectrum.