Have more taglines like "Hey [username], read Lenin's Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism."
That got me to read it, then I checked out a book of his selected writings. The command worked!
I'm not sure if this thread is a parody of the other thread about Chapelle Roan, but taking it at face value -
Honestly it was interacting with y'all that got me to take reading theory more seriously. I had read a few basic things like the Manifesto and some other short things, but hanging around this community and seeing all the discussions from people more learned than I really got me to tuck into Lenin and Stalin's works.
Look, there's a very simple answer here - standardized testing. The hordes of people yearning to post on hexbear will not be discouraged by a volume of text or two which they must read and then pass a test on in order to create an account (entrance exams).
In order to maintain an account in good standing, all accounts must regularly undergo testing on some randomly chosen Marxist text from a list determined The People's School Board (it will be all Marxists texts of course, all of them).
Failure to pass bimonthly testing will put your account in bad standing and you will become unable to post to or see "fun" coms (badposting, the_dunk_tank, shrekland) until your standing improves. Only theory comms will be viewable and only questions or commentary on theory will not be removed. Failure to pass even one test within a year will result in a ban.
Just wanted to add to this. Instead of points. We have users score on the last test and overall grade since they were a user on the site. Report Cards will submitted at the end of the year. You will have a cumulative GPA. You are only sent to theory purgatory once you are failing for the whole school year. We will have long written responses where a group of hexbears will grade you and give you feedback. High scoring students will get extra badges.
Don't worry, I'll keep quoting the important bits in the comments, along with quoting leftist theory. Hexbears will absorb it eventually, through osmosis I guess.
[REDACTED LIST] got me to finally read Lenin, highly recommend it. It's convenient to read on my phone during lulls in the day, finally got through beginner-advanced and now I just have Org theory left (I had read other various pieces from Marx, Engels, Politzer, etc. before but this list got me into Lenin specifically).
Edit: see the comment thread, I'm spooked about the list I linked originally. Just use the Prolewiki beginner guide linked below IMO.
I don't understand why diamat is put at the very beginning? I'm putting a book together to radicalize my wife and it's wagelabour and capital, socialism from utopian to scientific and then state and revolution.
Also why is it using google analytics?? What the fuck
I don't understand why diamat is put at the very beginning?
In my opinion, understanding Diamat from the get-go is important, it makes the rest of Marxism-Leninism easier to learn and analyze. It puts you in the right frame of mind.
Also why is it using google analytics?? What the fuck
I did not know this, can you elaborate? I'm not great with that kind of stuff so I can remove it from my comment if it's unsafe, don't want to put anyone in privacy risk. I found it on Lemmygrad and it seemed to be alright, so that's why I've been using it.
Failing the one I linked, Prolewiki's is great too but not nearly as comprehensive or in-depth, not that it's trying to be. It's just the basics, but I highly recommend Politzer's Elementary Principles of Philosophy regardless, it's the best intro to Diamat IMO.
I’ve been trying to get people to do this irl but it’s harder than it seems chat. Especially when you get the reputation as the only outspoken socialist in the group
Nah, I'm in Europe and it's similar, being the only openly Marxist even in a quite progressive group of friends means you're seen kinda as a good-hearted crazy radical.
Nah, I'm in Europe and it's similar, being the only openly Marxist even in a quite progressive group of friends means you're seen kinda as a good-hearted crazy radical.
Nah, I'm in Europe and it's similar, being the only openly Marxist even in a quite progressive group of friends means you're seen kinda as a good-hearted crazy radical.
Nah, I'm in Europe and it's similar, being the only openly Marxist even in a quite progressive group of friends means you're seen kinda as a good-hearted crazy radical.
It's okay, our brains have been conditioned to other forms of media if you haven't built a habit of reading dense text over a long period. There might be some good video summaries or other forms that would be easier to take in, or audiobooks as queermunist suggested
ChatGPT bullet points summaries of people who just post excerpts from news articles and treat that as a genuine comment or interpretation of the facts thereof, with a prompt like "analyze this but from a marxist leninist analysis". (That really annoys me btw, people just posting a paragraph and highlighting it. Say what you mean/interpret. It's a lot t have the reader have to sus out what you mean".)
Read a page at a time of State and Revolution and Imperialism: Highest Stage of Capitalism. Afterward, just paraphrase the theories from those publications and remember to cite his works when addressing topics of conversation like news, politics, and economics.
e.g: Saying something as common knowledge in Hexbear like "Police are inherently reactionary in a bourgeois state since state violence is the means of mediation of class conflict between the capitalist and labor classes." is in fact, Lenin's premise of why the state exists in State and Revolution.
ChatGPT bullet points summaries of people who just post excerpts from news articles and treat that as a genuine comment or interpretation of the facts thereof, with a prompt like "analyze this but from a marxist leninist analysis". (That really annoys me btw, people just posting a paragraph and highlighting it. Say what you mean/interpret. It's a lot t have the reader have to sus out what you mean".)
I don't like this. Marxist analysis is very detailed and has a lot of depth to it and a lot of ways to go wrong. ChatGPT is almost entirely trained on liberal sources, and thus results in a liberal impersonation of Marxist analysis. Marxist analysis is a method of thought, not a syntax, making LLMs struggle with it quite a bit.
In a bourgeois democracy, the role and nature of the police are complex and often controversial. Based on the principles outlined in ProleWiki, we can analyze the police in bourgeois democracies as follows:
Function within the Capitalist System
The police in a bourgeois democracy primarily serve to maintain the existing social and economic order, which benefits the bourgeoisie (ruling class) at the expense of the proletariat (working class)[1][2]. Their main functions include:
Protecting private property and enforcing property laws
Suppressing working-class movements and strikes
Maintaining public order in a way that preserves bourgeois interests
Relationship to State Power
In bourgeois democracies, the police are an integral part of the state apparatus, which Marx and Lenin described as an instrument of class rule[2]. The police, along with other state institutions, help to enforce the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie" - the political dominance of the capitalist class.
Role in Social Control
The police play a crucial role in social control within bourgeois democracies:
Enforcing class divisions: They often disproportionately target working-class and marginalized communities.
Suppressing dissent: Police are frequently used to break up protests and demonstrations that challenge the status quo.
Maintaining ideological control: Through their actions and public presence, police reinforce the legitimacy of the bourgeois state.
Contradictions and Limitations
While the police in bourgeois democracies claim to serve and protect all citizens, their actions often reveal the class nature of their role:
Selective enforcement: Laws are often applied more strictly to working-class and marginalized communities.
Protection of capital: During labor disputes, police typically side with employers rather than workers.
Militarization: Many police forces in bourgeois democracies have become increasingly militarized, reflecting the state's preparation for potential class conflict[4].
It's important to note that individual police officers may not be consciously aware of their role in maintaining class society. Many join the force with genuine intentions to help their communities. However, the institutional structure and function of the police in bourgeois democracies ultimately serve to uphold capitalist relations of production and bourgeois political dominance[1][2].
Add it to the 100%-happening Tamemoji game where the user myst copy and paste a paragraph of theory from the Marxists.org website to feed their tamemoji every week.