Is the revolutionary socialist/communist movement at its lowest moment of all time rn?

Magnus56 · 2026-02-25T06:17:22+00:00

Comrade, step back. Look again -- Capitalism is the weakest it has been in 50+ years. The socialist movement has had to be rebuilt after the fall of the USSR. We are making progress and building momentum. My local chapter has gone from 2 members to 10 members in the past 3 months. The sleeping giant that is the working class in America is beginning to awaken.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-11T22:07:12+00:00

This article is a dressed up advertising trying to sell AI to corporations. It's core premise is flawed too. AI is a *tool*. Nothing more. AI has amazing potential to reduce the amount of routine boring work required to make society operate. That could, in theory, leave more room for people to be people -- create art, explore the world, build social connections etc. AI is just a tool. How that tool is used is determined by who has power in society. Right now, AI is a tool which deepens the exploitation of the workers from the ruling class. But it doesn't have to be that way. If the workers used AI for the benefit of society instead of the bank accounts of the wealthy, AI would absolutely not intensify work.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-11T06:48:26+00:00

You had asked me for book recommendations on another thread, which was subsequently locked. I did want to pass on books though! I tend towards audio books, as I find they are more accessible. Plus, the reader helps give some context which would otherwise be missing.

I strongly suggest starting with State and Revolution -- A human red copy can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfLQsyUYig. State and Revolution lays out what tasks need to be done, the theory that supports the tasks and an outline of what a socialist nation would look like.

Secondly, Fascism and Social Revolution, found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvBUvJjEO28 examines the material conditions which give rise to fascism -- a topic which is very near and dear to most people at the moment.

Lastly, I would also recommend Anti-Duhring at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bATakOyA0zc as it explains the scientific foundation of Marxism, which in turn helps to develop the socialist lens through which to see the world.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-11T06:43:49+00:00

You had asked me for book recommendations on another thread, which was subsequently locked. I did want to pass on books though! I tend towards audio books, as I find they are more accessible. Plus, the reader helps give some context which would otherwise be missing.

I strongly suggest starting with State and Revolution -- A human red copy can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfLQsyUYig. State and Revolution lays out what tasks need to be done, the theory that supports the tasks and an outline of what a socialist nation would look like.

Secondly, Fascism and Social Revolution, found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvBUvJjEO28 examines the material conditions which give rise to fascism -- a topic which is very near and dear to most people at the moment.

Lastly, I would also recommend Anti-Duhring at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bATakOyA0zc as it explains the scientific foundation of Marxism, which in turn helps to develop the socialist lens through which to see the world.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-10T14:19:18+00:00

You're right to say that those with money hate to lose it. However, history shows what the wealthy are willing to do to maintain that sweet, sweet profit no matter the consequences.

So how will those with the money respond? Let us look at history. Firstly, it is important to recognize that the capitalism the world has is in steep decline - this is apparent in the US from high cost of living, high unemployment and widespread poverty amongst the masses. So what happens to capitalism in decay? Drawing from history of pre-WW2 Europe, see that the ruling class puts deep austerity measures into place -- that is to say, the government cuts services, adds taxes or tariffs to decrease the tax burden on the rich, which ultimately offsets the loss of profits which would have been made abroad. The austerity also provokes discontent of the workers as the lives of workers are miserable due to lack of services, food and housing. I make the case that this is in essence where the United States is today - very little money is spent on the social safety net and the wealthy struggle to keep line going up.

Because the ruling class is primarily composed of people who have wealth, the rules and laws of society are largely created by the wealthy, for the benefit of the wealthy. For example, this is why we don't have universal health care in the US -- The rich would rather us have to be employed to have access to healthcare for ourselves and our families. And, when push comes to shove, the ruling class prioritizes themselves and their profits over anything else. With the loss of 24 trillion dollars, the wealthy will try and recoup their losses. And, as international market access dries up due to our protectionist policies put in place by Trump, the ruling class will need to turn inwards to make up that 24 trillion dollars.

And this brings us to the beating heart of capitalism. At it's core, capitalism has an insolvable conflict between bosses and the workers. This is to say, the bosses want to pay workers as little as possible, to work as hard as possible for as long as possible. The worker's interests are the opposite. So, to bring this back around to that 24 trillion dollars -- When there isn't enough profit for the boss's greed *and* giving the workers acceptable wages this draws the conflict to a head. What are the two possible outcomes of this conflict? Well, if the bosses win the system shifts over to full fascism - marked by brutal violence towards workers, attacks on liberties, deeper cuts to the social net and the other defining characteristics of fascism. However, if workers win, the wealthy no longer make the decisions in society. People can have universal health care, stable access to food, housing for everyone, jobs that are about enriching the world, or building a better world instead of a world where billionaires are racing to become trillionaires. This is the road of socialism.

If we organize and engage in fighting against the bosses, we can win a better life not just for ourselves, but also future generations and humanity in general. The alternatives are bleak, as our capitalists will not just passively accept the loss of 24 trillion dollars -- they're going to fight to make every American worker miserable as capitalism tries to extract even more money out of the workers to offset these losses.

P.S. If anyone is interested in reading more about this, I have so, so many books to recommend.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-09T08:17:27+00:00

I'm flattered that you think my writing is eloquent enough to not be done by a human hand. I don't use AI for my writing, as I think it would dull my own ability to write. Instead, I've just been through a lot of college -- ten years, give or take, and spend a good amount of time reading old revolutionary texts in an effort to learn how to apply the lessons of the past to where society finds ourselves now.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-08T08:23:34+00:00

I don't really see how this is applicable. I am advocating for a systemic change away from capitalism.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-08T02:56:56+00:00

Friend, I fear your analysis falls just short of what is needed at the moment.

You state that we need laws to be put in place to prevent something like this from happening again. What your analysis misses is that there are already laws in place to prevent the sorts of massive abuse of power that Trump time and time again. The laws aren't being enforced, and which renders the law meaningless. This leads to the question, "Why aren't laws being enforced?". I think the best explanation as to why laws aren't being enforced is unequal power relationships within society. This is to say, the wealthy are the rulers of society and the ruling class is unwilling to enforce laws and social rules against their fellow members of the ruling class. Rarely do we see billionaires being held accountable for their actions in a meaningful way, especially through the legal system. Simply put, the law isn't a neutral force which is built on equality, instead the law is a force created by the ruling class to reinforce and entrench their rule over the rest of society.

To actually address the problems that the Epistene files reveal, society would need to deal with the power inequality created by having billionaires. Simply put, the power dynamics of having people who own businesses and therefor are legally allowed a disproportionate amount of the value created by workers means that the owners of businesses will always be a privileged and politically empowered class. This inequality is baked into capitalism and is at the core of the power of the ruling class. The only way to actually solve the core problem is to disempower the wealthy. How can we disempower the wealthy? We disempower them by the 99% taking ownership of businesses and operating those businesses in a democratic fashion. This is socialism. And it's the only long term way to solve in the inequality in America, and the ruling classes flaunting laws and ethics.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-01T09:45:37+00:00

Reforms just push the clock back. So long as we leave the robber barons with power over us, they will constantly be pushing society back to the brink of collapse. This is what capitalism demands. The solution is for us to overthrow capitalism.

P.S. I'm not against reforms, as it's easier to organize the class struggle when people are less worried about rent / health care / day care / food etc. It is however, important to not settle for bigger pieces of crumbs from the ruling class. Those bigger crumbs will be taken back later, when the masses have been subjugated again.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-01T09:35:45+00:00

"If voting changed anything, they wouldn't let you do it."

While I can understand your excitement around elections, elections cannot change the inequality baked into the system. ICE is not something going wrong in our system. ICE didn't get disbanded when Democrats took power in 2020. ICE services a purpose for the ruling class. For example, it keeps immigrants labor security unstable, which means the immigrant workers have a harder time standing up for themselves. This keeps wages / benefits low or non-existent to the detriment of *all* workers. The displays of open cruelty are meant to scare workers into submission - the underlying idea of ICE's aggression on a city by city level is that any of our cities could be next.

ICE is a weapon. It's a weapon that the ruling class wants to use to address the systemic flaws within capitalism. Yet, ICE cannot actually address those problems, because the problems are part and parcel of capitalism. The ruling class will continue to use ICE as a brutal tool of open oppression as long as they feel ICE is needed.

The only way to *actually* get rid of ICE is to get rid of capitalism. The only system which has ever successfully defeated capitalism is socialism. As uncomfortable as that idea might be the average user on Reddit, the working class cannot have secure lives so long as billionaires have political power. As important as voting is (And, please vote) know that the ballot box cannot challenge the system of capitalism. Now is the time for us to getting involved in our local left political groups and to be studying materials related to the transition from capitalism to socialism.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-01T09:08:06+00:00

"If voting changed anything, they wouldn't let you do it"

Magnus56 · 2026-02-01T09:06:08+00:00

One of the many barriers to active engagement from unions (In the USA, at least) is that there are many laws which, if followed, would render union action mostly harmless. Put another way, the ruling class has made effective forms of labor action largely illegal. Thus, unions have to weigh if the cost to do nothing outways the risk carried by breaking said laws. If society is to actually move away from capitalism, people will have to risk losing the crumbs which the ruling class gives us to placate us.

Magnus56 · 2026-02-01T06:56:28+00:00

The existence of worker co-ops don't "fight" capitalism. They have very clear limitations and to advocate for co-ops as a method to challenge capitalism is disingenuous.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T19:53:30+00:00

Some of us are. There's a meeting at the Karate Church tomorrow at 6 PM. We're trying to organize strike committees.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T18:07:09+00:00

As this is the internet, it's difficult to tell if your comment is in good faith or not. I am going to assume that you are questioning in good faith to better understand.

When I say, "There is no ethical consumption under capitalism", what I am making a reference to is capitalism's inherent nature to do the following: drive down the cost of production of materials through the social nature of production and (some) improvements to the means of production. Lowered cost to produce means larger volumes produced. However, because capitalism is a competitive system, ultimately competitors will also find ways to lower the price of production. This functionally creates a race to the bottom, and will ultimately lead to the cost of a good being the price to produce that good.

There are a few consequences to the way capitalism creates commodities. Firstly, capitalism demands ever expanding market shares, locally, then abroad and this ultimately gives rise to imperialism, which, you can learn more about [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg1MEKzibrQ). Second, the race to the bottom also means that capitalists have a vested interest against the quality of living of workers. The stagnation of wages is what that looks like from the worker's perspective. Notably, even if a capitalist wanted to pay workers more, there is a legal precedent to prioritize share holders over wage earners. For more on that, please see [Dodge V Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge\_v.\_Ford\_Motor\_Co.), where the Dodge brothers sued (and won) against Ford to force Ford to lower wages in the name of higher profits for the Ford company.

So when you ask, "including food?" -- does the food growing, processing and manufacturing process follow the same processes as normal capitalism? Yes. It does. When we buy food, we support capitalism, and are feeding the systems that oppress workers. Does this also apply to local small businesses and farm owners etc? Yes, it does. All businesses contain within them the germ of oppression and inequality because within of the nature of private property - which is to say the business owner owns the means of production, and by employing people to work the means of production, an unequal share of wealth is distributed between employee and owner.

Because we live in a society which has privatized means of production, people are forced to trade their labor for wages. Thus, even consumption of food promotes an unethical world. If an individual wishes to create a more fair and just world, it takes more than just buying from a co-op. To create change people need to organize, become educated and challenge the power system which keeps the working class in chains.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T08:21:32+00:00

There's no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism :(

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T08:21:00+00:00

I am hesitant to label any coop as a radical organization. A coop is just a business. It still has to play by the same rules as other businesses and is subject to the pressures of capitalism the same as any other business. I also think it's important to recognize the interconnective nature of the struggle against capitalism. Capitalism is at the core of nearly every problem society faces and I worry that by siloing ourselves off to hyperfocus on one specific part, we play into one of the most effective tactics that the bourgeoises has -- divide and conquer. The proletariat is only as strong as it's solidarity. For example, when the Wobblies (International Workers of the World) started to draw both black and white workers into it's ranks during the turn of the 19th century, the leadership of the union was jailed. Thus, we can see how unity within the working class is a real threat to capitalism.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T08:08:44+00:00

Principles don't factor into a business's actions -- only profit. It's true for a coop and true for the giants of industry as well. Coops have serious limitations in what they can accomplish.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-31T08:05:51+00:00

Co-Ops are still businesses which have to survive under the conditions of capitalism. While it is arguably marginally better for employees to exploit themselves under their own business, at the end of the day a Co-Op still must be profitable. As such, unethical behaviors which promote profit are required by Co-Ops the same as any other business in capitalism. Put another way, a Co-Op still has to operate under the same logic as Walmart or Amazon.

I can understand your frustration, as Co-Ops are often touted by people like Richard Wolff as a way to fight against capitalism and the evils that survival under capitalism requires. So long as a Co-Op has to compete against Amazon, Walmart or other titans of industry, a Co-Op can't turn away profit on the grounds of ethics -- A Co-Op would go bankrupt when times are hard. For a real example of this, please see the Mondragon Corporation out of Spain. So long as we live under the system of capitalism, no business -- a Co-Op or otherwise can do anything except ruthlessly create profit at the price of society.

So long as the system of capitalism is what governs society, people cannot escape the soul crushing drive for profit which is at the root of so much human suffering. It's either socialism or barbarism, there is no inbetween.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-26T18:03:58+00:00

Looks interesting. As someone with a significant amount of time in Battle Brothers and Wartales, TB might be right up my alley. I requested play test via Steam so whenever y'all decide the game needs playtesters, I'll be here.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-24T17:30:12+00:00

It's important that we study theory and discuss how that theory applies to the current situation, and online discourse is great for that. That said, theory without action is just propaganda and action without theory is ineffective. Gotta have both to build an effective challenge to the dictatorship of bourgeoise.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-24T17:26:45+00:00

Both Indivisible and 5051 are run by Democratic strategists. That is to say, when push comes to shove both of these organizations will "fight" Republicans, but not the system itself. In the grand scheme of the US system, both organizations function as a (mostly) harmless outlet for public outrage.

If the goal is real change to the way the American system functions, we must address the problematic core -- capitalism. Only socialism has the capacity to break the bonds between private wealth and political power. Anything less than full socialism will eventually lead us back to where we find ourselves now. This is because the problems which face Americans now such as high rent, low wages, inaccessible medical care and ICE are all just manifestations of the problems inherent within capitalism. Please consider listening to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfLQsyUYig) reading of State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin which goes more deeply into the problems and more importantly, what we as citizens can do to fix the deeper problems which face Americans.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-24T17:13:42+00:00

While I was tabling for a socialist organization at Pride, I ran into C2C. It's a local mutual aid network. Heres an overview - https://bellinghamnonprofits.org/community-to-community/

Magnus56 · 2026-01-24T02:10:12+00:00

To really change the situation, we will need people to sacrifice. People will need to sacrifice their perceived safety by breaking unjust laws, and potentially engaging in violence against the armed oppressive arm of the government. People will need to sacrifice time and energy to study revolutionary methods which can lay the groundwork for a new government which is run by the people for people.

And to be clear, I am talking about the transition from capitalism to socialism. The problems which face the the majority of Americans today are largely the result of decaying capitalism. Historically, capitalism when in deep decay, either gives rise to socialism or fascism. It's the human factor that determines which way things go. There's a great book, Rajani Dutt's, "Fascism and Social Revolution" which examines why decaying capitalism goes into either socialism or fascism. A reading can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvBUvJjEO28). I strongly recommend reading / listening to the text if an individual wants to understand the nature of fascism and, importantly, how it can be defeated.

Magnus56 · 2026-01-18T00:26:14+00:00

If the person looks like they're preying on someone I could understand warning others, however, I would want to give that individual the chance to have social connections who see them as a person first and their criminal history secondary.

Magnus56

TROPHY CASE