The 'Neo' in Our Name

  1. vagrantmoralist
    vagrantmoralist
    I'm new to Revleft, but I've noticed a trend that was one of the reasons I typically stay away from leftist organizations and boards - ideological purity. Actually, I believe it ties into the unpopularity of our group (despite my thinking that logically, neo-Marxism and neo-socialism is the only rational course). It seems to me that many people on the left have a very set definition of socialism/communism, and any attempt to disagree leads your argument to be branded as simply 'apologising for capitalism'.

    That said, is that something you've noticed at Revleft? I am new, so perhaps I'm misreading it, but it is disturbing and I think accounts for a lot of the weakness on the left, this habit of refusing to update ideas that are so laughably outdated. What do you lot mean when you call yourself a Neo-Marxist?
  2. jookyle
    jookyle
    It's basically saying that there are ways and forms in which capitalism works today that weren't(couldn't) have been adressed by the great figures of the past. It's just a call to update Marxist thought to combat the evolution of capitalism and it's neo-liberalist policies. It's not really a tendency as much as it is a commitment to taking an active approach to contribute to Marxist to adress contemporary problems of capitalism.
  3. Positivist
    Positivist
    I consider myself a neo-marxist because I believe that material conditions have changed significantly since the times of previous socialist thinkers, and also because I recognize that these thinkers are not inherently infallible in their ideas.
  4. vagrantmoralist
    vagrantmoralist
    Positivist, I could marry you because that's so true. Too often our fellow comrades treat Marx' words as gospel and god. I am a Neo-Marxist because the world is no longer so easily divided between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, because capitalism has brought an unprecedented era of peace and even some prosperity, because the internet has radically redefined human social relationships. Marxism needs to address those questions, and we need to be asking them.
  5. Positivist
    Positivist
    Yes but unfortunately much of this is fiercely rejected on this site. If the world were to be organized according to the customs and ideas of revleft than we'd see something very similar to the Soviet union at war with Somalia.