NationStates Jolt Archive

Many people around here don't know that Marxist-Leninism is alive and well in the US and that there are actual organizations out there with the goal of a new, revolutionary society in mind.

Bob Avakian is one voice in this struggle, chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, a participating party in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). The RCP's philosophy if Marxist-Leninist-Maoism, or MLM for short. A bunch of his speeches have been made available online, here at bobavakian.net

I'm not a member of the RCP, but I am a Marxist-Leninist (leaning towards Maoism) and frankly alot of what he says makes an emiment amount of sense to me. I'm interested in hearing about what people think of the speeches and talks that have been made available, and the ideas being put forward especially "Interview on the elections with Michael Slate" near the bottom, on the left side. It's only five megs and it talks about stuff of immediate urgency (so does the other stuff, though, which you should check out too!)

Let the commie comments fly!

That's the beauty of the experiment in freedom called the United States of America...you actually have the freedom to associate yourself with such fringe movements, without fear of waking in the middle of the night with a rifle on your back, courtesy of the local Communist Party.

That, my friend, is why the USA has lasted for 228 years, and why the Soviet Union collapsed after only 74.

That's the beauty of the experiment in freedom called the United States of America...you actually have the freedom to associate yourself with such fringe movements, without fear of waking in the middle of the night with a rifle on your back, courtesy of the local Communist Party.

That, my friend, is why the USA has lasted for 228 years, and why the Soviet Union collapsed after only 74.



Even though I strongly disagree with Communism, you are dead right.

Even though I strongly disagree with Communism, you are dead right.
No need to qualify it. I disagree completely with communism and all the evil it unleashed in the world in the 20th Century, however, I will always defend the rights of those who believe in communism.

I'm sick of all these mischaracterizations of Communism. Nobody wants to put a rifle to anybody's back; I'm not even sure I could safely say I'd trust the power over life and death purely to the apparatus of any state, a revolutionary one included.

And BTW, the "why did the Soviet Union collapse?" thread is somewhere else, so please take any such comments or questions about that, there. Marxist-Leninists have a developed position on the Soviet Union which varies depending on what ideological ML framework you're talking about. I'm not going to go into it here.

I'm sick of all these mischaracterizations of Communism. Nobody wants to put a rifle to anybody's back; I'm not even sure I could safely say I'd trust the power over life and death purely to the apparatus of any state, a revolutionary one included.

And BTW, the "why did the Soviet Union collapse?" thread is somewhere else, so please take any such comments or questions about that, there. Marxist-Leninists have a developed position on the Soviet Union which varies depending on what ideological ML framework you're talking about. I'm not going to go into it here.



So you believe in the "teachings" of Karl Marx, yes? That is what I base my view of Communism on, not Cuba, China, Vietnam, etc.

the bottom line problem I have with Marxism is simple. It is based on the fundamental proposition that Man is Good, and will work together in harmony ensuring that each gets according to his needs and each contributes according to his gifts (women too of course).

I simply don't believe that human nature works that way. The basic human traits of Greed, Selfishness and the principal of reciprocity make the concept of Man is Good hard for me to believe.

Bob Avakian is one voice in this struggle, chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, a participating party in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). The RCP's philosophy if Marxist-Leninist-Maoism, or MLM for short.

of course you realize that i am the vanguard of the masses (http://fileserv5.soundclick.com/fastk9/VIPD/davidrovics+vanguard.mp3).

Let's try this with a different word association, shall we?

I'm sick of all these mischaracterizations of fascism. Nobody wants to put a rifle to anybody's back; I'm not even sure I could safely say I'd trust the power over life and death purely to the apparatus of any state, a revolutionary one included.

And BTW, the "why did Nazi Germany collapse?" thread is somewhere else, so please take any such comments or questions about that, there. We National Socialists have a developed position on the Third Reich which varies depending on what ideological fascist framework you're talking about. I'm not going to go into it here.

OR:

I'm sick of all these mischaracterizations of the Mongol Empire. Nobody wants to decapitate anyone and use their head for a pyramid; I'm not even sure I could safely say I'd trust the power over life and death purely to the apparatus of any people, a nomadic one included.

And BTW, the "why did the Golden Horde collapse?" thread is somewhere else, so please take any such comments or questions about that, there. Pre-Medieval tent dwellers have a developed position on the empire of Genghis Khan which varies depending on what audience we're talking to. I'm not going to go into it here.

Oh, don't mind me. Just having some semantic fun. By all means, try to soft pedal your monstrous, murderous little ideology. "Pursuit of happiness", all that. :D

(Wow, that's a pretty fun game! It's almost impossible to replace those words with anything that you agree with!)

Anyhoo, "meh". I'm a communist, but Lenin can take a running jump, for all I care, and if he lands on Marx, all the better. They've set the movement back generations, but of course that doesn't mean that any capitalists living at the time when it finally makes-up lost ground won't be red faced.

I can't really see how there's any point messing about with tainted movements designed for different circumstances than exist today in the US. Seems like laziness. Time to do some thinking instead of just reading and to formulate more adaptive revolutionary ideologies, surely? Not in the Marxian flip-flopping sense of adaptation, mind.

the bottom line problem I have with Marxism is simple. It is based on the fundamental proposition that Man is Good...

The fundamental principle of Marxists is that people are sheeple and cattle, too stupid to run their own lives and easily led. And that anyone who doesn't follow their model is a capitalist lackey that needs to be lined up and shot with the rest, or "rehabilitated' in a work camp.

"Man is Good" my arse. If Marxists thought Man was good they wouldn't have killed so many of them.

the bottom line problem I have with Marxism is simple. It is based on the fundamental proposition that Man is Good, and will work together in harmony ensuring that each gets according to his needs and each contributes according to his gifts (women too of course).

I simply don't believe that human nature works that way. The basic human traits of Greed, Selfishness and the principal of reciprocity make the concept of Man is Good hard for me to believe.

Right on. Plus, there's always the question of how to organize your communist state. You can swing any direction from a virtually anarchistic state that freely shares equally, or you can go all the way to the extremes like China and the USSR did with all-powerful national governments. In one, you rely on the mercy of the masses, in the other, on the wisdom of individual men. Neither is appropriate in my book.

Anyhoo, "meh". I'm a communist, but Lenin can take a running jump, for all I care, and if he lands on Marx, all the better. They've set the movement back generations, but of course that doesn't mean that any capitalists living at the time when it finally makes-up lost ground won't be red faced.

Hey, guess what. Socialism and capitalism aren't incompatible. Ask the Swedes.

While the Marxists were murdering people in the name of preserving a secular feudalist state (thought Marxists were socialists? Guess again...), the liberal democracies quietly merged capitalism and socialism in the "mixed economy" systhesis we have today.

Marxists sit one or two steps below Nazis in my book. Both are Leftists as far as I'm concerned. What Marxists are keen on is imposing a new feudalism on the general public, one that replaces an ideological dogma for a spiritual one. If you want to consider yourself one, that's your problem.

What I'd say Marxists have most clearly proven, whether associated with the Bolsheviks or Maoists or, most recently, the Ba'athists, is that anyone sharing a planet with them had best make sure their military forces are well supplied and trained.

The only revolution that ends with broad social justice is a revolution in education.

Educated people tend to lean socialist, uneducated people tend to lean nationalist.

Countries with highly educated populations such as the socialist states of northern europe are so far the pinnacle of progressive humanity.

Venexuela is a victory for progressive humanity, and if her people can resist the meddling of the CIA and the venezolano establishment then it may well end up the finest country in south america.

Communism is an unworkable economic theory grafted into a less workable political reality. Which is why no communist government has managed to survive once the people got a taste of capatalism, and no communist government has ever been brought into power peacefully.

Communism, Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, etc. are unrealistic forms of government, and cannot stand against the test of time.