Question: Why are you a Socialist/Communist?

[tooAlive]

I'm just curious to know what personal experiences have led you all to subscribe to leftist ideologies such as socialism and communism.

You can go into detail about your experiences, or not. It's up to you. I'd just like to know what exactly is it that drives a person to your side of the political spectrum.

Was it a financial struggle, someone you met, a family member, professor, experiencing poverty, seeing others in poverty, ect.. Or perhaps some of you are actually very well off financially. No specifics necessary if you don't want to, just a brief description of what it was that made leftism "click" for you.

Also, I'd like to know if any of you have actually lived in a country that has "claimed to be" socialist or communist or experienced a leftist regime first-hand.

[Ele'ill]

I posted about this in the other thread that's somewhere on the main boards. I'd like to add a question to this thread if that's okay gonna post it anyways, What helped you kill the cop in your head and what was that moment like? No specifics.

[Sinister Intents]

Good question comrade. I am a socialist because I believe wholeheartedly it will lead to a better world where everyone can enjoy the fruits of their labour. Socialism will allow for so much more in this world and it will allow everyone an equal opportunity in life.
Edit: I'll elaborate further on your post when I'm not on a cellphone

[tooAlive]

I posted about this in the other thread that's somewhere on the main boards. I'd like to add a question to this thread if that's okay gonna post it anyways, What helped you kill the cop in your head and what was that moment like? No specifics.

Not sure I quite understand. Is that question directed to me? If so, can you be a little more specific?

Good question comrade. I am a socialist because I believe wholeheartedly it will lead to a better world where everyone can enjoy the fruits of their labour. Socialism will allow for so much more in this world and it will allow everyone an equal opportunity in life.

Thank you for your answer.

I'm glad those are the reasons why you have sided with this ideology as a means which you think will help achieve them.

But I was more interested in knowing what personal experiences led you to side with socialism/communism.

Frankly, I believe a lot of people would want the same things you've written there -- both on the left and right. And each person believes his or her ideology is the best way of achieving those things and they each have a reason for it.

That's what I'd like to know.

What made you side with socialism.

[motion denied]

I'm a German agent.

[Sinister Intents]

I'm just curious to know what personal experiences have led you all to subscribe to leftist ideologies such as socialism and communism.

You can go into detail about your experiences, or not. It's up to you. I'd just like to know what exactly is it that drives a person to your side of the political spectrum.

Was it a financial struggle, someone you met, a family member, professor, experiencing poverty, seeing others in poverty, ect.. Or perhaps some of you are actually very well off financially. No specifics necessary if you don't want to, just a brief description of what it was that made leftism "click" for you.

Also, I'd like to know if any of you have actually lived in a country that has "claimed to be" socialist or communist or experienced a leftist regime first-hand.

I actually got into communism through a politically confused fascist introducing me to the concept through the CPUSA and Communist League website. The more research I did one those sites I realized NO one in my area really knows what socialism is at all. My first interactions helped me to find more and more material. In the ninth grade I did a report on Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) and the October Revolution. Later on I bought a modified version of Das Kapital and a copy of the Communist Manifesto. As time went on I read significantly more and gained more of an interest and understanding of anarchism.

Certainly financial struggles and growing up and living in poverty helped me to achieve leftist beliefs when I finally learned what socialism was, in the beginning I was extremely reactionary (rape apologia, excessively racist/sexist/homophobic, et cetera.) My experiences in life helped me to discover the realities of capitalism. My families poverty and the poverty of those around me helped show me that capitalism is solely a parasitic system. It's all about profit for the few. There are too many things for me to list, but if you feel I should elaborate I can. Why aren't you a communist/anarchist/socialist of some kind? Why the username TooAlive? What made your views click?

Of course I've never been to any of the so called "socialist countries." Socialism hasn't existed yet because it must be global much like capitalism is. In fact there cannot be a socialist country because socialism seeks a stateless, classless, moneyless society. No more borders, no gods, no masters. These far left nations and far left regimes in fact weren't left at all. You can easily find examples and evidence by browsing this forum. There are so many answers on RevLeft.

[Sinister Intents]

I posted about this in the other thread that's somewhere on the main boards. I'd like to add a question to this thread if that's okay gonna post it anyways, What helped you kill the cop in your head and what was that moment like? No specifics.

What killed the cop in my head was his lack of food and oxygen. It was wonderful, just a moment of pure insanity and mental freedom!

[#FF0000]

I posted this in the other thread but i can expand on it a little bit. I was raised by a military family that was also broke as fuck. So of course, I was raised on stories about the revolution and asked a lot of questions about my dad's military history and this and that, and I think that influenced my world view in a big way, especially in my distrust of government and "power" in general. I think it's also what got me to empathize with "the little guy", along with my own experiences with poverty and, to a lesser extent, being bullied in elementary/middle school.

Then there was in my dad's (who is somewhat conservative) throwing me all sorts of ridiculous curveballs, such as when I asked "who are the bad guys now that the [Persian Gulf] war is over?" and he said "they were never any bad guys" and told me that the Iraqis were the same as us and it's only their government that was bad and this and that -- which is fucking mindblowing to a toddler.

One way or the other I was still always kinda patriotic as you'd expect a kid with my background to be, up until 9/11. After the attacks I decided to read up on 20th century American history beyond World War 2, and found myself seriously disillusioned by what I found, with the Banana Wars and the US overthrowing democratically elected leaders left and right, etc. etc.

From then on I just started to read everything I could to try to make sense of the world and ended up reading about Marxism after a friend of mine pointed out that every single person you meet says the same thing about communism (human nature/good in theory) but there's no way in hell that even 90% of them have even glanced at the Manifesto.

And yeah, I read up, liked what I was reading for the most part, and here I am.

What helped you kill the cop in your head and what was that moment like? No specifics.

I actually wanted to be a cop when I was really, really young. As I grew older, I grew out of it, though. For the most part, even has a vaguely conservative patriotic dummy pre-teen, I always found it natural to distrust people with power whether it comes from a badge and gun, property and a bank account, or office.

[BIXX]

What killed the cop in my head was a cop peppers praying me. It wasn't a fast death, but more like a slow bleed out.

[Ele'ill]

it was a lot of things but work killed the cop in my head, or gave me the gun anyways. It is usually overwhelming like trying to swim in a flash flood, the way cops swarm you and if there's a peep you get killed but they messed up. It was a big slip up on their part, they put too much pressure on at the wrong time and outside of their linear policy book going-ons like the little window with smokey bubble glass in some corner of one in a million industrial parks across the country it broke and I saw the entire night sky for the first time and heard the crickets and cicadas and the light of the earth meant nothing any more.





insurrectionary poetry while drunk fuck off I was like 16

[tooAlive]

I actually got into communism through a politically confused fascist introducing me to the concept through the CPUSA and Communist League website. The more research I did one those sites I realized NO one in my area really knows what socialism is at all. My first interactions helped me to find more and more material. In the ninth grade I did a report on Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) and the October Revolution. Later on I bought a modified version of Das Kapital and a copy of the Communist Manifesto. As time went on I read significantly more and gained more of an interest and understanding of anarchism.

Certainly financial struggles and growing up and living in poverty helped me to achieve leftist beliefs when I finally learned what socialism was, in the beginning I was extremely reactionary (rape apologia, excessively racist/sexist/homophobic, et cetera.) My experiences in life helped me to discover the realities of capitalism. My families poverty and the poverty of those around me helped show me that capitalism is solely a parasitic system. It's all about profit for the few. There are too many things for me to list, but if you feel I should elaborate I can. Why aren't you a communist/anarchist/socialist of some kind? Why the username TooAlive? What made your views click?

Of course I've never been to any of the so called "socialist countries." Socialism hasn't existed yet because it must be global much like capitalism is. In fact there cannot be a socialist country because socialism seeks a stateless, classless, moneyless society. No more borders, no gods, no masters. These far left nations and far left regimes in fact weren't left at all. You can easily find examples and evidence by browsing this forum. There are so many answers on RevLeft.

I posted this in the other thread but i can expand on it a little bit. I was raised by a military family that was also broke as fuck. So of course, I was raised on stories about the revolution and asked a lot of questions about my dad's military history and this and that, and I think that influenced my world view in a big way, especially in my distrust of government and "power" in general. I think it's also what got me to empathize with "the little guy", along with my own experiences with poverty and, to a lesser extent, being bullied in elementary/middle school.

Then there was in my dad's (who is somewhat conservative) throwing me all sorts of ridiculous curveballs, such as when I asked "who are the bad guys now that the [Persian Gulf] war is over?" and he said "they were never any bad guys" and told me that the Iraqis were the same as us and it's only their government that was bad and this and that -- which is fucking mindblowing to a toddler.

One way or the other I was still always kinda patriotic as you'd expect a kid with my background to be, up until 9/11. After the attacks I decided to read up on 20th century American history beyond World War 2, and found myself seriously disillusioned by what I found, with the Banana Wars and the US overthrowing democratically elected leaders left and right, etc. etc.

From then on I just started to read everything I could to try to make sense of the world and ended up reading about Marxism after a friend of mine pointed out that every single person you meet says the same thing about communism (human nature/good in theory) but there's no way in hell that even 90% of them have even glanced at the Manifesto.

And yeah, I read up, liked what I was reading for the most part, and here I am.

I actually wanted to be a cop when I was really, really young. As I grew older, I grew out of it, though. For the most part, even has a vaguely conservative patriotic dummy pre-teen, I always found it natural to distrust people with power whether it comes from a badge and gun, property and a bank account, or office.

Thank you both for sharing your experiences so far. It certainly helps a lot in regards to understanding why you believe what you believe.

Looking forward to reading more of your experiences and what ultimately made it click for you.

As for me? I'll hold off until a few more of you have posted before posting why I believe what I believe.

Keep em' coming.

[Sinister Intents]

Thank you both for sharing your experiences so far. It certainly helps a lot in regards to understanding why you believe what you believe.

Looking forward to reading more of your experiences and what ultimately made it click for you.

As for me? I'll hold off until a few more of you have posted before posting why I believe what I believe.

Keep em' coming.

You might be waiting a while, you should share anyway.

[tooAlive]

You might be waiting a while, you should share anyway.

Perhaps. But that will inevitably bring up another discussion.

I don't mind waiting a bit.

Besides, I see quite a few people have read the thread already. Maybe they're still writing out their experiences.

[Ele'ill]

I think you should just go ahead and post and that will bring in a different audience from the group that is here now who has already posted in the other recent thread on the main boards. imo

[Sinister Intents]

I think you should just go ahead and post and that will bring in a different audience from the group that is here now who has already posted in the other recent thread on the main boards. imo

I second what Mari3L says. There have been similar threads as well.

[Skyhilist]

I'm in it for the money, I don't know about everyone else.

[tooAlive]

Alright, since popular demand seems to want me to post my experiences, lets give the people what they want.

It all started when my parents immigrated from Cuba a few decades ago. They hadn't met yet, but both came for pretty similar reasons a few years apart.

As you've probably guessed, my parents' country of origin has had an influence on my current political beliefs. And yes, before you say that Cuba isn't socialist or communist, and therefore not reflective of your beliefs, I know.

Anyways, flash forward many more years to when I actually started getting interested in politics. A professor at my local community college introduced me to the concept of "redistribution of wealth."

I'm sure you've all heard the story of the professor who told the class if they thought redistribution of wealth to be fair, he'd then redistribute their grades. And as students started to realize there was no point in trying to get A's as they'd simply get the average of everyone's grades, they stopped studying so hard. Eventually, they all started getting F's. Well, that was more or less what we talked about, and that got my gears turning politically.

Shortly afterward, my family and I went through a pretty severe financial situation. Long story short, my dad got sick, had to retire early, his retirement wasn't nearly enough to pay for the house, let alone bills, ect.... Needless to say, it was pretty rough. If it wasn't for the miracle that my dad was finally approved for disability 2 years later, I don't know where we'd be.

I don't mean to post up a sob story, but just so you know that I too have gone through financial struggles and hardships. And my beliefs aren't shaped or influenced by the lack of a struggle, so to speak.

Although during that time I was able to spend a lot of time studying politics (yes, including Marxism), debating politics, ect.

Now, into politics...

Let me start off by saying that I understand communism. I truly do. I think it's a wonderful idea -- no sarcasm intended. If the world could actually operate in such a way, it'd be great. Nobody would starve, we'd all have everything we needed, medical care would be readily available, everyone would be able to cherish the fruits of their labor, ect.. A truly perfect world.

So, how could I possible disagree with such a system?

Go grab a drink, as I'll continue it on the next post. Need to rest the fingers for a little bit.

[Sinister Intents]

Alright, since popular demand seems to want me to post my experiences, lets give the people what they want.

It all started when my parents immigrated from Cuba a few decades ago. They hadn't met yet, but both came for pretty similar reasons a few years apart.

As you've probably guessed, my parents' country of origin has had an influence on my current political beliefs. And yes, before you say that Cuba isn't socialist or communist, and therefore not reflective of your beliefs, I know.

Anyways, flash forward many more years to when I actually started getting interested in politics. A professor at my local community college introduced me to the concept of "redistribution of wealth."

I'm sure you've all heard the story of the professor who told the class if they thought redistribution of wealth to be fair, he'd then redistribute their grades. And as students started to realize there was no point in trying to get A's as they'd simply get the average of everyone's grades, they stopped studying so hard. Eventually, they all started getting F's. Well, that was more or less what we talked about, and that got my gears turning politically.

Shortly afterward, my family and I went through a pretty severe financial situation. Long story short, my dad got sick, had to retire early, his retirement wasn't nearly enough to pay for the house, let alone bills, ect.... Needless to say, it was pretty rough. If it wasn't for the miracle that my dad was finally approved for disability 2 years later, I don't know where we'd be.

I don't mean to post up a sob story, but just so you know that I too have gone through financial struggles and hardships. And my beliefs aren't shaped or influenced by the lack of a struggle, so to speak.

Although during that time I was able to spend a lot of time studying politics (yes, including Marxism), debating politics, ect.

Now, into politics...

Let me start off by saying that I understand communism. I truly do. I think it's a wonderful idea -- no sarcasm intended. If the world could actually operate in such a way, it'd be great. Nobody would starve, we'd all have everything we needed, medical care would be readily available, everyone would be able to cherish the fruits of their labor, ect.. A truly perfect world.

So, how could I possible disagree with such a system?

Go grab a drink, as I'll continue it on the next post. Need to rest the fingers for a little bit.

Popular demand? democracy? the only democracy possible is direct democracy, the US is a bourgeois democracy. Your teacher represents the state communism has nothing to do with wealth distribution, communism involves the elimination of wealth comrade. I get everything you're saying, can I direct you towards some helpful literature?

edit: drunk by the way. I wasn't drunk earlier.

[Sinister Intents]

I don't see any reason why you can't be a communist!

[tachosomoza]

“I don’t know. But I’m flexible. As was stated earlier, all of the countries that are emerging today from under the shackles of colonialism are turning toward socialism. I don’t think it’s an accident. Most of the countries that were colonial powers were capitalist countries and the last bulwark of capitalism today is America and it’s impossible for a white person today to believe in capitalism and not believe in racism. You can’t have capitalism without racism. And if you find a person without racism and you happen to get that person into conversation and they have a philosophy that makes you sure they don’t have this racism in their outlook, usually they’re socialists or their political Philosophy is socialism.”

Pretty simple. That's a Malcolm X quote, by the way.