Yep, just discussions! You can participate on your own time. The first week’s reading discussion was posted this morning, and the current week will take about 45 minutes of reading/listening to get through so it’s not too late to catch up by any stretch.
You too comrade!
Have an excellent week, everyone! A reminder that study is a lifetime duty of any comrade, and a shameless promo for the reading groups beginning on Hexbear’s c/Marxism and c/Soviet today!
As always, communism will win.
Thanks! I have tried to add the missing audio books when I can and replace the poor quality ones, I’ll have to make an effort to review my audiobook selection and replace with yours. Thank you so much for recording them! o7
PSL has much fewer resources, so that’s probably why you see them that way. It must be said, though, organizing within a demcent org teaches you entirely different lessons than organizing in a big tent, and that’s an important task to grapple with. Pushing for a move to democratic centralism is one of the most important struggles alongside revolution, because both are practically prerequisites to effective org training. That’s why I can say the PSL is nearly always going to be better for a new organizer to train in. The PSL branch has to be especially bad, and the DSA chapter especially good, for me to think the DSA may be better experience.
Good luck on pushing for these, though. The DSA as a revolutionary and demcent party would be great to see, and would be the basis of aligning on Marxism-Leninism. I just worry that that process is going to take a much longer time than just directing people to PSL and pushing to improve the weaker aspects of PSL.
I guess the way I see it, while I appreciate the struggles of the comrades in DSA trying to push it to be better, PSL is far more effective at creating excellent cadre. The US needs, above all, more experienced organizers with better theoretical understanding. Part of that struggle is within the DSA, of course, but if I want to improve the level of the communists in the US, their membership is better spent in PSL.
That’s why I’d be happy if the DSA had a radical rupture and a revolutionary split, or if it completely restructured into a demcent org, but I have a very difficult time believing that is on the horizon. In a moment where reformism is extremely dangerous, the revolutionaries in DSA need to be working harder than ever to develop good cadre development programs and utterly tear the reformists to pieces.
Thank you!
Do you believe democratic centralism can genuinely be implemented in an organization where two of the largest chapters openly reject the concept of binding national policy? Does the DSA even have the ability to de-chapter them, given its second-international style structure? These are the kind of reasons why most MLs tend to reject organizing within the DSA as a primary means of praxis, especially considering social democracy is having a major resurgence. Combatting that from within is useful, but at what point does it become necessary to split from the DSA?
Thanks! Please share anything you can think of if you do!
Amazing! Have you been following the current basic list, and if so, do you have any feedback? Anything particularly helpful or unhelpful? I’d love to trim it down while retaining as much utility as possible.
Absolute banger, what an incredible resource!
How do you plan on turning the DSA from a big-tent reformist org into a democratic centralist revolutionary org? If you do not have plans for democratic centralism, how do you plan on avoiding the inherent pitfalls of the DSA’s organizational structure?
I hope as many people join as possible! With that being said, I will also be participating, as I have not yet done a step-by-step readthrough myself. I will actively be looking for feedback on improvements. Primarily, I wish to ruthlessly cut what does not add tremendously to the guide, as I firmly believe the goal of this guide is to equip people with the basic knowledge needed to join an organization active in their areas, and carry on your studies with the party you join.
I also think this list will be very helpful both for new comrades that have not studied much, as well as comrades that have studied a lot. I have included lesser-read works that I believe deserve study and discussion. Each weak, I will give my thought process on why I included each work, why they have their place, and whether or not I think they should be taken out or replaced.
I will be reading everyone’s comments eagerly, and cannot wait to study alongside everyone! The same goes for the Sovietology group, I learned a lot, and cannot wait to learn even more!
The Sovietology reading group over on Hexbear was a tremendous success, and we will be continuing with Soviet Democracy by Pat Sloan. This was based on the early Soviet democratic model, and provides a fantastic look into how socialist society can integrate the people into the decision-making process, countering narratives of a shadowy party controlling everything from the top down. Sign up here, today!
Furthermore, we will be beginning a reading group for the basic Marxist-Leninist reading list I made! I highly recommend both those new to theory and those who are already familiar to join. I have included a mix of modern and classic works, many perspectives, and some lesser-known works. At the same time, it is not designed to be a compendium of everything esoteric and fringe, it’s designed to prepare you to join organizing efforts and equip you with the tools you need to excel in our shared struggle! Sign up here, today!
And thank you comrade Edie for running it!
Absolutely not, the people of the US mostly base their politics on which party they hate more. This isn’t a symptom of a system people want to retain, most feel the need for something new but aren’t organized and see no way out. Fixing both of those is our task.
That’s a great idea! I also like the reading group format, it was a chapter a week and it flowed really well.
Theory can be difficult! Sometimes it helps to set up a reading group with comrades to help bounce understanding off each other.
Prolewiki’s back up, so I’m back to reading through their articles.
I have finished This Soviet World, along with the rest of the Hexbear reading group for it. What a great work! It’s like a Blackshirts and Reds but for people that are already pro-Soviet. The language regarding minority nationalities is dated, but the actual content is very useful for debunking myths about the USSR.
Starting to reread the introductory works on the reading list I made in anticipation of the theory reading group starting soon on Hexbear, as well as Soviet Democracy for the continued Sovietology reading group on Hexbear.
Speaking of, join the Sovietology reading group!
Join the reading group for the basic ML theory reading list I made!
Both start up again soon, on Hexbear!
In the context of the oppressed country, the national bourgeoisie and proletariat / peasantry (as far as they still exist) can be allied. However, this allyship is not to be confused as a permanent allyship. Both the national bourgeoisie and the proletariat / peasantry cooperate against imperialism while fighting each other for ultimate control over the direction of the liberated nation. As the proletariat, we should use them precisely as far as they oppose the imperialist bourgeoisie, and undermine them as far as they work against the dictatorship of the proletariat, either before or after its establishment.
They cannot be allowed to form a dictatorship of the national bourgeoisie. If they do, it becomes far more difficult for the proletariat and peasantry, who need to somehow overthrow the dictatorship of the national bourgeoisie without resulting in a replacement with a dictatorship of the comprador bourgeoisie. This is the complex struggle of the proletariat and peasantry in Iran, Russia, etc, and why for now they balance opposition to the nationalist bourgeoisie with allyship against imperialism.
As a Statesian, my role is simpler: oppose the US empire by any and all means, undermine anything that serves to further imperialism and work to end it entirely.