what do you mean by you haven’t been able to read theory? like is something making it difficult for you or are you not sure where to start, or is it something else? someone here might be able to help you out
this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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It is mostly due to depression and having very little confidence in what people often call "Critical Thinking Skills" And I know that, when I read something, I am literal minded due to autism, so I often make incorrect conclusions, unless I am told outright what the intended message was.
Fuck those people for making you feel that way. I felt a similar way when presented with "theory" as a whole. Some (most) of it needs to be read multiple times and possibly with a companion guide of some sort to understand imo. Anybody who pretends to understand complex archaic language without historical context without re-reading lines multiple times is either a genius or fooling themselves.
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Oh, I definitely understand depression making it difficult. I used to have a lot of trouble keeping motivated for reading even for things I really enjoyed. What changed it for me was when I started having a long bus ride to and from work, which was an ideal time for me to read and kept me consistent. Maybe audiobooks would help?
As for drawing incorrect conclusions, I think as you learn more about history and political theory, it becomes easier to have confidence in your own understanding. There's no shame in needing help either! I saw some people already suggest companion pieces, which can make the more difficult theory easier to understand. There's also communities here and on Lemmygrad (like [email protected] or [email protected]) where you can ask questions about things that confuse you, people are often happy to answer questions for those looking to learn. Something I think that could help too is reading a book written more recently as well, since they tend to use language that is easier for us to understand. A lot of the foundational Marxist works are very old, and personally I'm not sure about any good modern substitutes for them, but I'm sure there's stuff out there. Maybe someone else can chime in with suggestions.
Sorry if this response is overwhelming, I have a hard time judging that kind of thing and this is just something I get a little overzealous about.
check out channels like this one if you want to get some info in a more personal way : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q don't be worried about being literal minded or having incorrect conclusions, just study (reading, podcasts, audio books, whatever you prefer) to gather knowledge and find people to talk to about it and things will become more clear over time.
The early Red Menace episodes from RevLeft Radio that are meant to be companion pieces to some of the shorter foundational pieces of theory helped me out a lot when I was just starting to read theory:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9VMwPK_SqUuE-DQkFtceSbIjE5dzN6QA
I would do the reading and then listen to the episode and it really gave me confidence that I was actually understanding what I was reading.
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yes. even if you are a leftist, if you deviate even a little from what the clique of weirdo mods and super online "friends" (cops) agree on you will be deleted and or banned eventually.
You're here to learn, you won't get bullied. Generally when someone gets dumped on massively it's cause they came in combative and arrogant and remained so in the face of people replying with paragraphs of well written and educational rebuttals with links, if the other person proceeds to double down it's open season. This us a very comfy place to be otherwise. You're approaching with probably more humility than we'd expect let alone see often, so you're fine.
Welcome! We have a LOT of emojis and an account everyone can use if they want to pretend they're a dog!
Your 'friend' sounds like an arsehole tbh
I don't know if this is a bit or not, but either way you're all good in my books comrade
Down with purity tests.
If you want fair treatment and opportunity for all people and an end to the exploitation of the third world, you're a leftist.
Das Kapital was fundamental to my leftist awakening, don't let others tell you its scary.
I will say, an easier introduction to written leftist thought would be:
The Communist Manifesto
What is to Be Done?
Social Reform or Revolution
Settlers
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It is The Silmarillion of communism, it's not the easiest read.
Im not saying it's an easy read. It just made my own leftist economic views literal. It was one of the first leftist works I read, and if you approach it with an already leftist economic perspective it is nothing short of inspirational and enlightening.
I found it to be mostly proof of stuff I already intuitively believed. It was nice to see things laid out explicitly and it's fantastic for reference but I didn't personally get too much out of it I didn't have going in. Depends on your reading order too, I'd read most of Marx and Engels other works as well as the Lennin essentials, Parenti, and a bunch more stuff before hitting Captial.
Oh yeah that makes sense. In terms of economics it was the first work that laid out my own inherent beliefs for me and I love it for that.
I was radicalized by the 2000 election at age 9 into a radlib and the Iraq War are age 11ish sent me left. There was no fucking way I was gonna be reading Capital in my founding years cause they happened real early. Plus for a while I figured crust punk lyrics counted as theory which is hit or mud at best.
Damn my dumbass didn't call myself a Marxist till I was 22-23.
Rap, particularly Lupe Fiasco, Joey Bada$$, Killer Mike, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli definitely brought me in the fold too.
@[email protected] everyone starts at different times and different paces, so long as your hearts in the right place, you're good.
I was an anarchist for most of my time, or at least I called myself that cause I hadn't really established what Marxism was too well until I was like 25 or so, it wasn't really that I adopted ML theory, I kinda came to it organically and then found out it's what the Soviet union had been doing this whole time! So yeah, broadly leftist since a young age but didnt really have a coherent ideology aside from calling myself an anarchist when it turned out I hadn't been along until my mid 20s. I also got into the punk scene real young where very eclectic and often incoherent leftism is the norm.
But yeah, this is a global project and we need almost everyone to get on the trolley eventually, we can't afford to arrogantly dismis people for not going to the library first, that's counter productive and counter ideological
People can be pretty harsh. That's not my style. Questioning someone's commitment to their political beliefs doesn't achieve much besides creating enmity.
I prefer to have more open discussions and to invite people to develop from where they are currently to something more advanced by getting them to hash out the contradictions with themselves.
Some people here might come at you a bit strong but it depends on your tone. If you're telling others what to do, what not to do, or what to believe then that's going to attract strong negative reactions. If you tell people "You shouldn't praise Stalin - he was a vicious monster" you're inviting yourself to get roasted. If you approach it from a place if genuine curiosity with openness and honesty, and especially humility, you'll get a much better response e.g. "I guess I've only ever been exposed to people telling me that Stalin was a vicious monster so I'm kinda surprised to see someone say this about him. Can you tell me more about how you came to your understanding of him?"
You don't have to agree. You don't have to know. But if keep your ego in check and show a willingness to be humble and to learn then you'll be fine.
If you want to make a better world, you can be a leftist.
The HOW of making a better world will determine where you fit into the left, and only learning what it is that differentiates each section of the left will really teach you where you fit in and whether you agree more with one method over another.
Many leftists from the other segments will tell you you're not a leftist if you don't subscribe specifically to their segment. This is unavoidable. I am told I'm not a leftist every single day by people that don't subscribe to marxism-leninism.
Do not worry about it.
You are now to explain to us orbital hybridisation in 45 minutes, or you are not up to our standards. /s
Yes you will be bullied for not meeting our standards but afterwards you will realize how rational our standards are. (Don't be a bigot and always side with the demise of the american empire you'll be ok for a while.)
You can be a leftist. You don't have to "be" better but you do need to think better than "unions are good" and "healthcare is a right." Leftism is a rejection of capitalism, and a demand for true equality and the end of private ownership of the means of production.
As far as theory goes start with the Communist Manifesto. Its a really easy read and if you agree with it you are probably a leftist. There are Anarchist manifestos that would also be considered leftism but disagree with Marx on some things but I'm not an anarchist so I can't point you in a good direction. Deeper theory will hopefully make you a better leftist but it won't change the core idea.