How can I make dialectical materialism make sense? What's the most straightforward read that explains it?
I couldn't even hack stalin's explanation rip 😢
What was that meme about sleeping with the partners of deployed soldiers as praxis?
I keep seeing it thrown around, does anyone have it? cheers
Why do anarchists seem to be more prone to action than some other leftist groups/Why do anarchists get most of the press these days?
Title. Is it because looser adventurism gets more headlines? is it an image thing? Dunno how to articulate reliably what I'm thinking, just seems like all I hear about are "anarchists squat building", or about food not bombs (admirable work so I hear), or is it just down to difficulty in organising in other groups?
What are the most competent parties that you know of outside AES States in the organising, building, teaching and supporting? I'm trying to find more reading on the subject
Oeh new term noted, thanks. Are the Starbucks unions emerging yellowed yet? Some pretty young people leading them I hear, wonder if they've started off toothless due to inexperience.
Excellent point!
Questions about trade unions
Trade unions seem like a handy way for workers to organise, albeit with some exceptions, like say cop unions.
- What place do they have in socialist society? They exist in at least Cuba and China, but Solidarity in Poland enjoyed CIA funding.
- What benefits do they offer workers in these societies that aren't already offered by a socialist state, or do they serve a different role?
- How does one convince people of the benefit of trade unions in spite of their fear of corruption of said unions in non-socialist states?
Again, I could be going about it all wrong but yeah.
Thanks!
If you're interested in a straightforward English language account of life in the GDR, I recommend "A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee" by Victor Grossmann, who defected by way of crossing into Soviet occupied Austria.
He addresses the perks (price fixed goods (at least staples), cheap public transport, the position of and benefits to the worker) and what could be considered drawbacks by western readers (Stasi, press freedom, limited travel opportunities, industriality of the region) in a fairly evenhanded manner. It's been years since I've read this so I might be a bit off base.
A good companion piece is "Stasi State or Socialist Paradise?" for a more analytical "overview" rather than the perspective of one man.
Both of these works deal with the end of the GDR and it's bleak.
Soldiers of Imperialist States as compared to soldiers of either neutral or involved as peacekeepers?
I'm wondering what the theoretical differences are between soldiers implicated in imperialist conflicts (for natural resources, whatever) versus soldiers implicated in peacekeeping and/or solely national defense, such as Austria, Switzerland or Ireland.
This isn't a "not all soldiers" post by the way, but is it considered there's a distinction?
Given conditions under which soldiers are recruited in the United States and presumably others are predatory, how are individuals from say, the Austrian Bundesheer (conscript service) distinct from that of other nations and the conditions under which they're recruited and so on.
Thanks and apologies for any lack of clarity.
Excellently phrased, thanks. Ongoing process is all i need I reckon, cheers!
AES (Actually Existing Socialism) vs. "Building Socialism?
I hear mixed things about countries that are building socialism vs are described as socialist.
Am I overthinking their stages? Especially with a timeline expected for china to hit socialism by their own definition posted a bit back, don't have a link offhand.
What is the Casio F91W of the socialist world?
Is there a similarly cheap, durable digital wristwatch made in AES states by a worker's cooperative or state enterprise there?
Would love to know.
This is amazing. There's so many counterpoints to peoples' claims that human nature is selfish but this is nicely put
Good term. Is there a dictionary/internall wiki page of terms emerging from lemmygrad yet?