Okay but engaging in socialist practice mostly looks like reading, writing, thinking a lot, listening, and talking to people. The standards of productive labor under capitalism are unnatural, but we internalize them as a measure of ourselves. Granted, being a socialist begins with an uneasy feeling that basically never goes away, but comradeship is actually really great and worth the headaches. But before I started experiencing some of the good things from engaging in struggle I had to, or like try to, abandon a lot of these capitalist conceptions of value, which alienates us from our own humanity.
We need more people engaging with socialism and politics, not chiding others about their crypto liberalism, not beating oneself up about not doing enough (but do more please.) Thinking, developing our self and our ability to reason, learning about socialism is engaging in socialist activity. Its not enough like forever, and eventually in order to keep growing you have to apply those developments to try and make changes for the benefit of workers and everybody else, but if you’re at the point where you’re just realizing you still have some liberal tendencies even though you trash libs all day on social media, then you’re probably okay to just study and just finding some socialists to have regular discussions with.
This is just the default behavior in China (and most past and present AES countries). In China, saying you’re a communist means you’re a card-carrying member of a communist party. If you’re in the party for purely careerist aims or you cheated your way into becoming a member, people will say that you’re a shitty communist but a communist nonetheless. Meanwhile, nobody gives two shits if you think communism is cool and act like the perfect communist, whatever the hell that means, if you’re not a member of a party. China isn’t like the US where you can never go to church but still claim to be a Christian because you “have a personal relationship with Jesus.” China is a place where you can disbelief the existence of gods but if you perform the proper religious rites, people will say that you are devoutly religious.
It’s dang true though, and the fact that anyone can reply to that defensively is a joke. WTF is your political ideology if all you do it turn it into an aesthetic and a set of cultural markers? That’s not an ideology, that’s a fashionable outfit that you put on, a subculture. You shouldn’t be a socialist the same way you’re a goth or a punk or whatever, it should be a plan of action that manifests itself in your day to day activities.
while i can mostly agree, your metric for being a good socialist happens to exclude vast swathes of disabled people and homeless people. some of us are out here just trying to survive and simply don’t have the capacity to commit x amount of energy to consistent irl organising. i don’t think you’re in bad faith at all but it would be a simple qualification to add that these expectations are for abled people of certain means.
It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t have to be traditional org work, but it does have to be something.
Almost everyone can do something material. In fact, I’d say many disabled and homeless people already do more than the average abled poster on this site, but don’t consider it socialist activity because it isn’t trying to pawn off the local trot newspaper or spending 7 hours kettled by the police.
Yeah exactly, even talking to other people and agitating is something, and I think lots of disabled people are definitely doing that.
we’re in agreement.
Yep. Being a socialist is defined by your actions, not your special little ideas
It can also be a nerdy center of interest instead of an aesthetic. From my experience at least. Lots of my fellow lefty NDs (and me) have zero interests in stickers and merch, don’t define themselves as anything, enjoy general political discussion but never label themselves as anything
sounds reactionary, what if you’re disabled?
From each to each. Your ability is factored in
Removed by mod
don’t be so dramatic. calling out ableism isn’t “wrecker shit” it’s valid and a simple qualification is all that the top-level comment needs to no longer be ableist. you are just concern trolling.
I mean… you are being dramatic and uncharitable first, it’s not absurd for the person above to respond in the same level of “drama”.
Those who are so disabled that they are unable to contribute in any way to a socialist project are such a small minority that it’s actively de-railing to center every conversation of tactics and strategy around them. If you continue to make such demands and get in fights with people trying to take serious actions, then you are wrecking.
Anyone capable of getting online and posting comments is also capable of doing real work for socialism via online methods. Socialist organizations need help spreading their message, doing recruiting, organizing with others, creating agitprop, etc.
I’m disabled btw. Most disabled people are still capable of contributing to social projects. Those that aren’t aren’t really a factor in our tactics or strategy.
There are people who are so disabled they can’t contribute, which means the people who are not that disabled should be working even harder to cover for them. From each to their abilities to each according to their needs.
disengage
Removed by mod
shut the fuck up dickhead
no seriously choke. if you tried to pull this bullshit with any other marginalized group you’d already be banned.
suck it out of my ass
Disengage.
Dying on patsoc hill to hold an incursion of disabled people at bay
You do what you’re able to? Which when piling on the struggle of disability to all the other struggles makes it understandable if you can’t do much.
This is the right answer imo. “From each according to their ability”
thank you for the reasonable summation and not being an asshole about it unlike a certain he/him in the thread.
If showing up is the most you can do then do that we always enjoy seeing our comrades at John Brown Breakfast Club!
yeah, this is my issue with people banging this particular drum. a lot of us are out here just surviving, that takes all the energy most of the time. and i’m lucky enough to have a roof over my head, there are those far worse off than me for whom having a “socialist plan of action” for each day is an understandably low priority compared to you know, not starving to death or dying from exposure. that’s the daily struggle for thousands in my country, many of whom are disabled also. now, as a gender gremlin, i consider my leaving the house an act of violence against the patriarchal Gender regime. i take my small achievements as they come. i read theory when i can. i wear a mask. i expend most of my energy making sure my gfs and I eat at least one meal a day. is my existence less revolutionary for being disabled and not having the capacity to physically organise like abled people can? it’s privileged shit to say, is my point.
Yeah, it was a very short sighted way to say it. Sorry. The extent to which you can make the world a better place is enough; obviously for a lot of people they are simply unable to do much more than talk to some other people, or wear a mask as you mentioned. That’s good enough.
you’re good! like i said it was obvious you were coming from a place of good faith, and we are fundamentally in agreement; phrasing just rubbed me the wrong way a bit. appreciate the reply.
No you got it all wrong, all that matters is if you
d PSLI am attacked
Socialist is a pretty broad term. So this is kind of a silly point to argue.
But historically in many countries a communist was an active party member.
If you weren’t a member you were a “communist sympathiser” or a “fellow traveller” if you were some sort of anticapitalist or antiimperialist activist.
And like that too was enough to get you brought in front of HUAC or murdered in some countries.
We all live in the 21th century and these words and meanings are going to change, I know I will alternate somewhere between the simplicity of “I’m a communist” to the nuance of “I think Marxism-Leninism has provided us the best answers to overthrowing the present state of things”
Got mutual aid tomorrow comrades🤘fuck the police
Socialist practice is what you do before the big game.
right wing folks jump to action much more readily than us. no wonder they are still advancing while we crawl.
even mangione was kind of chuddy and he had to be the one to deliver us the head of a ceo.
are lefties that depressed and hopeless? i think our collective armchairs have been heating up lately.
right-wingers are far less likely to be imprisoned or murdered by the state for engaging in their praxis. this is idealist analysis, the reasons for the left being in disarray are material, not because we’re thinking wrong.
i dont think they take people like mangione lightly but i see your point. what to do about that?
Mask.
Damn, I almost responded to that comment. I would have been Hexbear Famous
Nice try.
It simple wild that I encounter this thread while scrolling on 🍠
I’m a socialist with liberal characteristics
Sometimes I am poop when I should be shit
deleted by creator
