b man's introduction

[b man]

Hello all. My name is b man and I am new to the ideas of Karl Marx, and I have recently been reading a lot of his writings as well as other socialist stuff because I have become convinced that capitalism is flawed beyond conventional means of repair. I was a follower of Milton Freedman and a member of the Libertairian Party for a long time, but I opened myself up to skepticism and I was able to see how silly my belifs really were.

I am fasinated with what I have been learning and I am eager to meet like-minded people and start to get involved.

One question I have regerds support for socialist nations of the 20th century (and Cuba). Do the general leftist people on this board support the USSR and others?

[funkmasterswede]

Originally posted by b [email protected] 02, 2007 08:48 pm
Hello all. My name is b man and I am new to the ideas of Karl Marx, and I have recently been reading a lot of his writings as well as other socialist stuff because I have become convinced that capitalism is flawed beyond conventional means of repair. I was a follower of Milton Freedman and a member of the Libertairian Party for a long time, but I opened myself up to skepticism and I was able to see how silly my belifs really were.

I am fasinated with what I have been learning and I am eager to meet like-minded people and start to get involved.

One question I have regerds support for socialist nations of the 20th century (and Cuba). Do the general leftist people on this board support the USSR and others?
There is a relatively large proportion of people on this board, mostly Marxists and variations thereof that support the USSR and Cuba. However, I would not say that most people on this board do. There are many anarchists and libertarian socialists like myself who see the inherent authoritarianism in the attempts.

Welcome to the board, don't criticize the Bolsheviks or some people will call you Bourgeois :P

[redterror19]

Originally posted by b [email protected] 02, 2007 08:48 pm
I was a follower of Milton Freedman and a member of the Libertairian Party for a long time, but I opened myself up to skepticism and I was able to see how silly my belifs really were.

One question I have regerds support for socialist nations of the 20th century (and Cuba). Do the general leftist people on this board support the USSR and others?
There's some good stuff to Libertarianism. Most of them know the drug war's about something other than protecting people from themselves. I'm new to the forums, too, so I thought I'd say 'hi.'

You'll find a wide variety of opinions on USSR. I see the restoration of capitalism after the death of Stalin. I admire Castro's willingness to stand up against the US, but I'm not able to give much of an opinion on Cuba. The US has killed a lot of people there.

[Aurora]

Welcome aboard :)


One question I have regerds support for socialist nations of the 20th century (and Cuba). Do the general leftist people on this board support the USSR and others?
Well all anarchists do not support the so called "socialist nations".
Stalinists(who call themselves marxist-leninists) believe that the USSR was socialist until Stalin died.
Maoists have the same stance on the USSR as stalinists they believe stalin was 60% good 40% bad.They also believe that the PRC was socialist until Mao's death.
Trotskyists beleive that the USSR was socialist until party democracy was ended and the purges of the old bolsheviks began.
Marxist-Leninists(non stalinist) believe that it was socialist until about the time of the purges and lenin's death.
So called "orthodox marxists" believe the USSR was never socialist
Im not sure about Left Communists and "Autonomous marxists"

Oh and some of each think that Cuba is socialist,not all though. :P

It gets even more complicated when you factor in diferent sects of each ideology,such as Jucheists and Hoxhaists etc

You'll find the left very split over such issues ;) dont let it get you down though we do alright :)


Lol i didnt realise how long this post is.

[b man]

Thanks, that was pretty helpful.

[CornetJoyce]

It was a very shrewd maneuver to appropriate the term "libertarian," which is how anarchists such as Barto Vanzetti described themselves. The lp of course is no more Libertarian than the "democratic" party is Democratic or the "republican" party is Republican. But the lp eschews the out and out fascism of the GOP so they have a certain air of morality.