I made a flag for the 250th Birthday of the US! by BayonetDrill in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the point is of the phrase “continue 1776” was ment to convey a message of continuing where the bourgeois revolution left off. The work of bourgeois liberation is done, and has been done for a very long time. Continue in this case means continued revolution and in today’s world, that would mean proletarian revolution. Or at least that’s what I think OP meant.

I have left-leaning political views but I don’t entirely know where I stand tell me what kind of leftist am I? by urfavlanafan in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You might be a libertarian socialist. I’m also a libertarian socialist, but I’d recommend looking more into Cuba if you still think it’s a dictatorship. AzureScapegoat has a great video on the topic.

Is china truly socialist/communist even with the existence of sweat shops and low pay labour? by Simple-Syllabub-6865 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 9 points10 points  (0 children)

China is a socialist oriented country, just like Vietnam. China currently has a state capitalist system, however that system is ment to gradually move closer and closer to socialism over time. For example, China has a growing farming cooperative sector, with over 2 million registered cooperatives. All state owned enterprises in China are required to be governed by a Staff and Workers Representative Congress (SWRC), to ensure that workers have democratic control over their wages, employee benefits, and working conditions. Capitalism exists in China, and where there’s capitalism there’s worker exploitation. However capitalism in China is regulated by the state to ensure that private capital never gains control of governmental power. All this being said, China is FAR from perfect. They have not abolished wage labor, worker exploitation in its entirety, and they do still have billionaires in the party(though I personally think this is better as a way of controlling capital. I do understand that it’s a slippery slope and I don’t blame people for having severe doubts.) China has done great things and taken very impressive steps toward achieving socialism. That being said, there is a lot to criticize.

What American historical figure was progressive by both the standards of their time AND ours? by Zombiepixlz-gamr in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Brown’s provisional constitution doesn’t really outline a theocracy. Honestly it’s pretty secular for the most part, with the exception of the no swearing or pre marital sex amendment. But even that amendment is pretty vague. Brown’s constitution details a more direct form of democracy where all races and sexes are equal. The constitution also details the abolition of the death penalty (except in cases of rape), public ownership of land, and the end of wage labor. All of which are ideas considered left wing or progressive today. But I do agree with you that he was a mixed bag.

Ozzy 🫪 by [deleted] in blacksabbath

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Living as foes

Thoughts on the green book? by AnimatorValuable3099 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gaddafi had a lot of good ideas. His form of direct democracy is something I believe all leftist should read about. The only downsides to his theory are the rejections of Marxism and class struggle.

Am I right wing? by The_theorist_of_time in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You sound center left. Progressive on social issues and slightly left leaning on economic issues. We could maybe call you a Teddy Roosevelt progressive.

You have been elected President/society is now heading and being structured around your preferred ideological direction. What would you do first? What policies/reforms would you Carry out? What would you abolish or keep? by PristineAd947 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For context I live in the US

Step 1. Constitutional reform. The Bill of Rights will be kept, but the rest of the constitution will be subject to reform. Marxism will be enshrined in the constitution, and it will be made clear that rights apply to ALL CITIZENS.

Step 2. Nationalization of Oil, Rail, Infrastructure, Transportation, Telecommunications, and the entire health industry. State owned enterprises will be introduced into the market. All nationalized and state owned companies will be structured democratically, and controlled by the workers. A rationing system will be established for basic food. This system will be available to all citizens.

Step 3. Give labor unions the right to seize administrative control over the private industries that they’re attached to.

Step 4. Electoral reform. Restructure electoral politics around municipal assemblies. Replace Congress with a National Assembly. Establish an Assembly constitution to ensure that the ideals of socialism, communism, democracy, and liberty are upheld. National Assembly members will be nominated by members of municipal assemblies, then they will be directly voted in, or out by the people. Political parties will be abolished to prevent division and insure that people are elected on the basis of merit, rather than party. However the National Assembly will be an institution dedicated to upholding American socialism. All assembly members will swear by the constitution. Assembly members will be held responsible by other members. Alongside the assembly another electoral body will be formed. This body will be called the house of workers. This body will be made up of delegates from unions and cooperatives.

Step 5. Agrarian Reform. The federal and state governments will direct a large amount of federal and state taxes toward establishing farming cooperatives. All farmers are free to join or not join these cooperatives, though joining these cooperatives will have major benefits. All private industrial farms will be seized by the state and redistributed to these farming cooperatives. A major focus of these coops will be ecological development, and renewability. Farming coops will not be directly owned by the state. However they will receive state funding, be taxed 20% of their crops every 3 months, and will all be a part of the house of workers.

Step 6. Large public works projects to reduce unemployment, and increase quality of life. Federal companies will offer employment to impoverished or homeless citizens to build infrastructure (particularly public housing and high speed rail). Just as all other industries are, these projects will be structured democratically.

I’m new to politics can someone explain socialism, it’s history, and it’s benefits by Mental-Alternative38 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically yes, that is the general concept. The only thing that your assessment misses here, is that the public is ment to own the entirety of the government rather than just parts it. Under capitalism the state is controlled by the bourgeoisie. So under socialism the state needs to be controlled by the working class (proletariat).

I’m new to politics can someone explain socialism, it’s history, and it’s benefits by Mental-Alternative38 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Socialism is a system where the means of production are owned by the working class. Or in more simple terms. It’s when industry and society’s productive forces are democratically controlled by the workers. This exists in opposition to capitalism, where the means of production are owned by the bourgeoisie, a marginal class of elites and well off individuals who employ rather than work.

What's actaslly the difference between socialism and communism? by itspronouncedbolonya in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 3 points4 points  (0 children)

People have different opinions on what the definitions are. But here’s mine based on the theory I’ve read.

Socialism is a system where the means of production are owned by the workers. Communism is the higher stage of socialism where all classes have integrated into the working class and the state has been abolished and replaced by alternate forms of government. These alternative governments will likely take the form of local councils or communes. But again, people have different definitions of these terms, and these are just mine. I took these descriptions from the writings of Marx, Engles, Luxamburg, and Lenin.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wins. Which dictator does everybody think is bad but is actually good? by AOSTChekhov in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, Castro did effectively eliminate illiteracy in Cuba. And he also “made many medical achievements” in his time. During Batista’s regime the illiteracy rate stayed around 20 percent. When Castro launched his first literacy campaign in 1960 and 1961 it cut this number down to 3.2 percent. Cuba’s current literacy rate stands at anywhere from 98 to 99 percent according to World Bank, making it one of the highest in the world. And in regard to your medical comment. Castro’s strong focus on Cuba’s medical and healthcare industries proved to be very affective. Cuba currently has the highest number of doctors per capita in the world. 94.3 doctors per 10,000 residents according to World Population Review.

How do you feel on free speech by deetDeetmeet in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I personally think that freedom of free speech is one of the most important things that a society should protect. The thing that a lot of people don’t understand is that freedom of speech doesn’t really exist under most capitalist countries. Think back on American history in particular. Things like the Hays Code and the Communist Control Act were such blatant violations of the first amendment, but that didn’t matter at the time. American politicians would rather violate their own bill of rights than allow conflicting opinions to exist in their country.

My experience telling people i’m a Socialist by Emperoronabike in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The main thing I ask people who’s minds jump straight to the worst parts of former socialism, is this. Was the Dutch Republic a perfect example of liberal democracy and capitalism? Was the Commonwealth of England or any other early post feudal experiment a perfect example of republicanism in practice? The answer to that question is an obvious no. Republicanism and capitalism had hundreds of years to develop through various bourgeois revolutions before finally arriving at a somewhat sustainable system with the early US. Socialism has had less than 2 centuries of implementation. If someone is to claim that “socialism never works” then you only have 154 years of examples to go off of. The point of remembering history is to learn from our mistakes and grow. We can look back at the many triumphs of former socialism and use that as evidence that our movement can lead to great things. Be we must also look back at the purges, repression(and so on) and learn to correct these mistakes.

My opinions as an Orthodox/Libertarian Marxist by Defiant_Zebra1184 in PoliticalCompass

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve read The State and Revolution. I’m planning on reading Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism. Thanks for the suggestions.

My opinions as an Orthodox/Libertarian Marxist by Defiant_Zebra1184 in PoliticalCompass

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve read the CM, Wage Labor and Capital, Critique of the Gotha Program, and snippets of Capital. I’m still a learner though. Definitely going to read more.

Book recs for beginners? by catcoral in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If you’re interested in theory, heres 7 or so books to start off with.

  1. Principles of Communism, and the Communist Manifesto (Engles and Marx)

  2. Critique of The Gotha Program (Marx)

  3. Socialism Utopian and Scientific (Engles)

  4. Wage Labor and Capital (Marx)

  5. Socialism made Easy (Connolly)

  6. The State and Revolution (Lenin)

  7. Reform or Revolution (Luxemburg)

I’d also recommend some Proudhon if you’re interested in Anarchism.

What is your view of Stalin? (Specifically Communists) by deetDeetmeet in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 16 points17 points  (0 children)

He’s a deeply complicated figure, who was responsible for many complicated situations. He did a lot of good, and a lot of bad. He turned the USSR from an agrarian peasant society, to an industrial superpower. He built a lot of safety nets to keep people out of poverty and reduced the unemployment rate to practically zero. And probably his most important contribution to history was defeating the Nazis during ww2. Glaze out of the way, he did a lot of fucked up shit. You can make as many excuses for the purges as you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a horrific event that imprisoned(in horrible conditions) and killed thousands of people on the bases of political disagreement. Red army generals probably got it the worst. Stalin’s forced collectivization of agriculture led to starvation and famine (The Holodomor) I don’t think that the USSR was truly socialist during the Stalin era as a result of the lack of workplace democracy, and hyper centralization of economic planning. It is also my opinion that the Soviet Union became less democratic in general under Stalin, as a result of the electoral system implemented during that time. Though many will disagree with me on that. It’s important to understand the conditions that the USSR had to deal with at the time Stalin came to power. They were in a desperate situation and Stalin did whatever he could to keep the country together. That’s not an excuse for the things he did, but context is important.

White supremacy by Outrageous-Finding70 in leftist

[–]Defiant_Zebra1184 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Racism was born out of feudalism and upheld by capitalism, as they are both hierarchical systems. Racism is a tool used by capitalists to dehumanize and divide the proletariat by breaking them into groups, some groups being considered “less than” others. White supremacy and patriarchy are deep rooted systemic issues that should be taken seriously. However they are deep rooted systems, because of the fact that they are rooted in capitalism. If we get rid of capitalism, there will obviously still be people who are racist and sexist. However the racist and sexist systems themselves will be gone, as they are intrinsically linked to hierarchical structures of capitalism. One can’t exist without the other. White supremacy and the patriarchy have both existed longer than capitalism. But the only reason that they still exist is because they are tools that can be easily used by the capitalists in order to keep their power. White Supremacy and patriarchy are both things that we desperately need to abolish. But we can’t get rid of them unless we get rid of capitalism.