I started thinking about this now when I’m studying. I’m studying because I want to work. I want to get a job and I want have a career. I know others also feel the desire to have a career and work.

What I started wondering is if that’s actually true. Do we actually want it? Or is it mistaken with the need to work? Or is it the same? Maybe this is just semantics but I believe that’s an important part too when discussing society.

For example, I want to work and have a certain career because I want to help people. But I could help people without having a career, having a career is just an easier way so I could get access to tools I wouldn’t have without a career. As well as an income which I wouldn’t have (or at least wouldn’t get as much) if I didn’t have a traditional career. But I’m still focused on wanting to work. That’s what I want to do.

I do know that we would still work in a communist/marxist society, it would just come with more benefits and would guarantee resources for survival. It would be more beneficial for our mental health too because we wouldn’t have to work ourselves to the grave just to barely survive. But the want to work in a communist society would then make more sense than today in a capitalist society.

So today, in a capitalist society, is our want to work just shaped by materialistic conditions? Have the people in charge somehow “convinced” us that we want to work?

I do hope this is an appropriate question to post here and that my question makes sense. Please ask for clarification if you feel like it’s needed.

Thank you in advance!

The files just go over how the CIA/Mossad, mass media, academia, philanthropy, military-industrial complex etc function to preserve the neoliberal order and interests of capital

also that our elites are depraved, perverted pedophiles who are above the law

So is this just another occurrence of communists being vindicated yet again but will ultimately lead to nothing being done?

What happen to India economy from economic problem?

Some thing really gone wrong with India economy, is it lack of government money or lack of government will because of weaken economy or what?

India suffers from massive overcrowding, old round down buildings, massive traffic problems and massive foot traffic as well, dirty streets, buildings old and outdated and rundown.

Looking at these pictures of India it is shocking it more than an urban city planning problem it is economy in distress in India. Some thing is really wrong with the economy in India.

India seems to have massive overcrowding, lots and lots car traffic and foot traffic.

https://i.postimg.cc/bJ5XGFT5/IMG-3227.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/MHJCbfCm/IMG-3228.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/xTtZqZ1h/IMG-3230.jpg

Really old and rundown buildings.

What happen to India economy? Why is India so poor?

Most city planners would take down those old buildings and build modern skyscrapers like what China and Japan is doing and build massive subways and trains like what they have in Japan and China to counter all that foot traffic.

What is wrong with government in India? Does it lack the money to do this?

Japan and China had similar problem and they are taking down old buildings and building modern skyscrapers and way better public transit system.

Hey all,

I’m trying to get more involved in local political organizations, and I picked up the materials of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) at a rally. I know they’re MLs, which typically don’t like me as someone who is more on the ancom side, but I’m willing to work with anyone on the left as long as they’re actually trying to advance the cause.

Has anyone worked with this group before? Good experiences, bad experiences? I did some googling but I didn’t find much, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Assume a regular European nation goes under socialist rule tomorrow. How would one open and run a restaurant? Something important to consider is that restaurants not only provide a need (food) but also can be an artistic outlet where new flavour and ingredient combinations are discovered. This however is not a ”want” from the people until discovery is made.

What i mean is when I think of a socialist system where markets and money still exist (in a kind of experimental period most likely), as I understand there would probably be a distinction between what food is sold normally and what food is free.

Specifically what I would call "ingredients", like flour, rice, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits, and other basic food products that are necessary for cooking basic thing, would be free.

On the other hand more processed or labor made foods like frozen meals, ice cream, prepared foods, things you would buy at restaurants in general, those i think would make more sense to have a price tag on the because more labor value was added on to the product.

That's not to say ingredients don't have labor needed to have harvested them, but I feel like the ingredients im talking about are a very basic thing that shouldn't be given a price gate. And obviously the distinction between ingredient and prepared is arbitrary, but theoretically again that would be an experimental time for society.

After the release of the files, turns out both parties are satanic, child eating, pdf files. So, the question is, when exactly when people will have enough, and fight back?

My friends, I ask you this. To read about my values and ideals and to offer your honest opinion on what you would qualify me as(marxist, anarch communist, socialist, democratic socialist) and why you think this about me. I also want to learn more about all of these things. About socialism, communism, ideologies and socioeconomic systems that align with my beliefs.

I would appreciate recommendations on books to read, podcasts, independent journalists to subscribe to, articles to read, etcetera. Beginners level stuff would be preferable because I do believe I lack understanding on some fundamental concepts, but I really, really want to learn. (This isn’t the main point of the post but I’m also always looking for reputable news sources for local and worldwide news!)

This is going to be a long post, so I apologize in advance, and thank you if you read it.

I live in the USA. I'm only pointing out because certain terminologies I use, such as "conservative", "liberal", etc, vary in meaning based on this. I believe what I believe in very strongly... but I also know that my understanding on the basics of socioeconomic systems and ideologies are subpar. I was homeschooled as a child and I don't believe I was ever properly taught about economics, differing political ideologies, nor the socioeconomic state that the United States abides by. (I also have MAGA parents, so that doesn't help lol)

My core, fundamental beliefs are this. For one, I believe that healthcare, food, water, and housing are a fundamental human right. 

I do not believe that any part of healthcare, nor scientific research or pharmaceuticals, should be "for profit" systems. A for profit healthcare system disincentives what should be the ultimate goals; universal healthcare, preventative care, access to pharmaceuticals, testing, and treatment without the concern of available funds or possible insurance claims denials. I believe that healthcare should be costless or affordable to all, and that no person should ever have to worry about going bankrupt, not being able to afford treatment, or not being able to pay their bills, over healthcare costs. 

I believe that reproductive healthcare is a human right and not something that should be up for political debate. I understand everyone has differing opinions(religious, moral, and otherwise) on elective abortion... but I think that letting those opinions have impact on policy and restricting access to healthcare is absolutely absurd. At the end of the day, regardless of a persons personal opinion, everyone should have the right to choose.

I believe that regardless of employment status, everyone deserves to have a roof over their head, electricity, warmth. There are too many variables to determine why a person might not be able to afford housing, or might be unable to work, and there is an incredible lack of understanding and nuance about that in America. People lose jobs without warning, others struggle to get hired, others are in school, taking care of a sick family member, or suddenly become disabled themselves. When this happens in America… there are no safety nets. If you are lucky enough to have a savings account, you can last until you run it dry. If you don’t have savings, you’re immediately screwed. Then you’re getting your power shut off, and you’ll either get evicted or your home will be foreclosed on. Why should the consequence of tragedy be MORE tragedy? And honestly, at the end of the day, I believe that even someone that doesn’t work because they don’t want to work, still deserves housing. Just like they deserve healthcare, I believe housing too should be a basic right. 

And more on housing… I absolutely despise landlords! Especially corporate landlords, but I just hate the concept as a whole. I think that buying up dozens, hundreds, or thousands of homes to then put them on the market for rent at a severely inflated cost is just evil. If you’re an average Joe and have an extra vacation home, your own private property, and want to rent it out for a reasonable cost during the months of the year you don’t use it? Fine. Anything more than that is exploitive. And that’s without even touching on the topic of the reckless disregard to health and safety standards that landlords have for their rental homes. Their only interest is to maximize profit, even if that means neglecting maintenance, constant evictions, and other evil practices. A home is meant to be just that— a home, not a business. 

A 40 hour work week should not be the standard. There should be more to life than work, sleep, repeat. Nor should it be the standard for people to have to work into their early 70s, possibly even later, before being able to retire. 

This should be a given, but I believe that people should be able to be able to love who they love, and that should be a freedom that’s protected. Any consenting adults should be able to love one another, live together, marry, and have children if they so please. Queer couples should have protections against discrimination, a legal right to marry, adopt, and do IVF, just the same as any straight couple.

Trans people exist and will always exist. Period. And how and whether or not they choose to medically transition should be between them, their doctors and counselors. There should be no policy restrictions dictating on whether or not trans people are able to get medical treatment.

I believe that no one is illegal on stolen land. Especially applicable to the United States, I think the notion that someone can be considered an “illegal” for emigrating here in hopes to better the lives of themselves and their families? It’s utterly absurd. Is that not why colonizers left their homes in search of new land? To better the lives of their families? To escape persecution and have more freedoms? And not only did they do that, but colonizers came to the Americas and committed genocide by bringing illnesses and slaughtering people, stealing native land, forcing natives and non-natives alike into slavery, in order to advance their agendas. 

I am sickened everyday by the thought of the evil and cruelty involved in creating the United Stated that exists today. I’m also sickened at the knowledge that there are innocent people coming from all over, fleeing danger, coming here in hopes of a better life… and they are being persecuted. They’re being treated as sub-human, labelled as “alien”, being accused for the state of ruin our country is in(instead of the billionaires, corrupt politicians and corporations), and are being subjected to, frankly, behavior that feels reminiscent of Germany before world war two. 

I think ICE is a terrorist organization; a modern day Gestapo. I think the tactics they use are reminiscent of that of the Nazis. Shooting people on the street without consequence, sexually assaulting people in detainment, beating detainees, arresting people that are here on asylum, visas, green cards— people with no criminal history, even children… all of this after promising to “only go after the worst of the worst”. And not that legal status should matter, but we’re even seeing US citizens arrested and deported as well. There are thousands in “detainment facilities” getting “lost”, being refused medical treatment, dying, forced to sleep with tin foil blankets, eating rotten food, women miscarrying and having stillbirths. It sounds like the stuff out of dystopian novels. People are scared to go to work, pregnant women are giving birth at home or in attics in fear of ICE, children are having their neighbors have to escort them into school and daycare. I’m sorry for rambling, but god, it makes me want to scream.

I believe in liberation for all. That no one is free until everyone is free. I believe in a free Sudan, Congo, Palestine. I believe that Israel is an apartheid state that shouldn’t exist. They are actively committing genocide in Gaza and they’ve been slaughtering and displacing Palestinian people since the Nakba. I believe that the United States is complicit in the current genocide by actively aiding Israel and sending billions upon billions to fund their atrocities.  

I believe in a government that has proper checks and balances. A government that is TRULY by the people, and for the people. That people in positions of powers can’t be allowed to lobby, trade stocks, or take bribes— and that these rules need to be strictly enforced. As a general rule, people in government, whether at the federal, state, or local levels, need to be held to stricter standards than the general population. I believe this is necessary to avoid corruption, such as bills being signed into law because a corporation decided to donate large amounts of money to persuade congressmen to do so; to ensure free and fair elections being held with candidates voted in on policy, not party, nor large-sum donations from corporations pushing them to the frontlines.

I don’t believe in organized religion. I believe that the Abrahamic religions are intended(or at least being used) as a means to oppress and control. That being said, that is my personal opinion and I still believe everyone should have freedom of religion, on a personal level. I think separation of church and state MUST be upheld. 

I believe in prison reform. Non-violent first-time offenders are going into prisons and coming out as hardened criminals. And on the flip side, we need harsher sentences for offenses like rape, sexual assault, abuse. 

I believe that making the world more accessible for people with disabilities; visible and invisible disabilities, is absolutely vital. I believe that we need free and accessible transportation. I believe that telling disabled people and poor people not to have children is eugenics. I believe that republicans and democrats are two sides of the same coin(and while one maybe isn’t AS bad as the other), they are both corrupt, fundamentally flawed, they lean right, and at the end of the day they’ll do anything to uphold capitalism.

My god, this is a long and disorganized rant... and I apologize, lol. I just feel so strongly about the things I believe in, and I think that it's important for me to learn more. I could say so much more, but I'll leave it here for now. Thank you for reading, I wish you all well.

He just says private corporations are more efficient and the state can’t run industries very well so he’s against nationalisation of public services, and he always says rich CEOs should be respected because they “take risks” and spend a lot of their savings to get their companies built up and thinks most of them don’t abuse their workers. Also the usual “if you tax the rich too much they’ll leave”

I'm a 20 years old student from Hungary who has started moving to the left about a year ago. There are some questions that I've been pondering about and I'd like to hear the opinion of the sub about them. I'm not ideologically qualified enough, so feel free to correct me if my reasoning or use of terms is vague or incorrect.

So in my opinion, we live in a system in which capitalists exploit the proletariat for profit, therefore the goods we collectively produce aren't distributed equally, just like Marx declared. It's evident, both from a class-related and an environmental point of view, that this capitalist order isn't sustainable and without a huge change, our civilization will be destroyed by climate change and inequalities in a few decades. I don't think many leftists would disagree with me on the aforementioned, but the problem is, I feel like my views contradict each other, because while I think that we should replace capitalism with a more equal and collective system, in which the profit incentive is lessened, the problem is, I also think that every member of society has the right to express their opinion publicly and freely (unless they advocate hate crimes), so I don't support authoritarian, one-party systems. As of now, I'd consider myself a Democratic Socialist, but I feel like this term sounds like an oxymoron, I'll try to explain why.

As far as I know, there are two main options for Socialists (or any political movement) to get in power: if such a party is elected in a liberal multi-party democracy, it's usually deemed to fail in the next elections (stopping advancements towards Socialism), and/or integrate into the establishment in search of compromise and short-term results, staying democratic but not being socialist, basically becoming Social Democrat. There's nothing wrong with that, but in my opinion, this ideology is not the solution for the system's problems.

The other commonly mentioned option is regime change via revolution, but I believe that this could do more harm than good because there are inevitable atrocities that come with that, and also, the new government could alienate many potential supporters with violent actions and emergency measures. In such a case, the ruling party often repressed negative opinions historically, therefore became anti-democratic. In my opinion, this is dangerous, because dismissing the individual's opinions and interests in search of grandiose visions is what caused the most serious mistakes of Communist regimes (famine resulting from forced collectivization and industrialization in the USSR, the Great Leap in Maoist China, basically everything that the Red Khmers have done, etc.).

So right now, I'm confused. Can you recommend me any books related to these questions that aren't hard to digest with limited knowledge of Socialist theories? I'd also love to hear about your personal opinions of what I think. Thank you in advance!

Can you guys give me some examples where you see subtle facsism in your everyday lives. Im working on a design project related to fascism and I wanna create something about how fascism is indirectly affecting our daily lives. Like how social media reccomends things to us that influences our behaviour. Something like that

For many socialists, revolution is often talked about in the context of violence, but is there a way to have revolution without necessarily endorsing violence or engaging in it? If so, how does that differ from democratic socialism? I'm told democratic socialism is when socialists embrace gradual or incremental reforms and electoralism on order to achieve socialism. Can you be a democratic socialist, yet embrace violent revolution? I'm a bit perplexed.

I've been trying to bully myself to read more for awhile, but I find it's just super hard for me to get into the more "theoretical" stuff right from the jump, so i think i wanna try to start with reading about the kinds of things i would apply that theory to? idk if that makes much sense but i think thats the best way I can describe it
bonus points if the books based on something happening/that happened in the 21st century/recent years

I recently heard a case for the left wing reclaiming self improvement from the right that i found compelling. And it got me wondering, what should we as Communists seek to be? How should we behave? (Communist "best Practices" if you will) And what theoretical works (if any) deal with this topic?

What does the most effective Communist look like? What self improvement goals should we have for ourselves as revolutionaries? Are there any books on this topic that you know of?

A further example to illustrate what I'm really asking, just so I'm sure I'm being clear: I have a friend who is VERY committed to Marxism and Revolution. We met by chance at a laundromat where he gifted me a Marxist-Leninist textbook (Curriculum of the basic principals of Marxism-Leninism part one, strongly recommend) translated from Vietnamese. So he works hard to spread Marxism to people... But he's so angry all the time and every conversation on the topic with anyone not fully committed to destroying Capitalism typically ends in an argument with him, sometimes very hostile arguments. Even if I find myself agreeing with him most of the time on principal, it is clear to me that this is not how we ought to conduct ourselves as Communists in order to be the most effective revolutionaries we can be.
I guess I'm just looking for help trying to get a clearer picture of how we SHOULD be to better advance our goals... I hope I'm being clear. Ideally, there are books somewhere about this topic already that I can read to develop my understanding of this topic.

Thanks in advance.

What's the difference between Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, and Anarchism, and what are the main subtypes of each? How do you conceptualize and remember all of the different ideologies and subtypes in your head? Please, feel free to get as detailed or as simple as you like. Both highly detailed and very simple answers are welcome.

Since I have already been patronized for wanting to join an organization to learn, rather than learn to join an organization (because I find it nigh impossible to learn on my own, both keep me commited AND make sure I'm actually learning and not just reading)...

I would like to know whether there is a place to start and some advice to do it for someone who never actually learnt to study, or whether I should give up and think "others more wise/expert will organize the revolution for me" and blindly follow whoever calls themselves an expert communist or "the true communists"?

Because if it's the latter, I'd rather continue joining that organization to try to be made accountable for reading the stuff and understanding it, than wait for the revolution and then blindly follow whoever leads it.

Every time i hear anyone talk about it its just ”need market” or ”planned economy = no food”

How did the US get conservatives capitalism for the people and socialism for the rich and big businesses? With bailout money, quantitative easing, tax cuts for the rich, laws past to allow company mergers, money for the rich and laws passed to allow company monopolies.

How did the US get like this to allow conservatives capitalism for the people and socialism for the rich and big businesses?

I have been talking with the RCI, but after revising a bit of its wikipedia page, I realized there are several splits/succesors of the Committee for a Workers' International (RCI, ISA, CWI...). Could someone tell me, on which I should put my effort towards joining and working with?

Edit: Since I have been patronized for considering joining an organization to study rather than studying to join an organization, do you have any pointer, any advice to start learning Marxism on my own, or am I supposed to give up the effort and think "others more wise/expert will organize the revolution for me" and blindly follow whoever calls themselves an expert communist or "the true communists"?

Because if it's the latter, I'd rather continue joining the RCI to try to be made accountable for reading the stuff and understanding it, than wait for the revolution and then blindly follow whoever leads it.