The Philistine’s Question

Look at the numbers, the Philistine says! How on earth will our tiny party ever hope to catch up to these relative Goliaths of opportunism? By avoiding the sordid activist rat-race to begin with. We can, with absolute certainty, state that it is only our current which remains not only authentically communist but genuinely anti-capitalist; therefore, it is only our party which truly represents the interests and historical aims of the proletarian class in today’s society, no matter how small we may be. Where is the proletarian? It only appears and expresses itself as a class, here in our party. Outside it, it is merely individual workers scattered to the wind. Therefore, there is no competition to be found. The Marxist doctrine of social crisis guarantees the restoration of a mass proletarian movement, and it is on these historical grounds, not on the passing fashions of bourgeois politics, that our Party has systematically and patiently carried out its work of revolutionary preparation. Within the all-consuming bourgeois world, countless imposters have come and gone, each demonstrating an immature and spurious understanding of the revolutionary social science of Marxism. When the next social crisis once again compels the working class masses into struggle, these programmatic fictions will be brushed aside by the proletariat with no greater effort than that required to flick an ant from one’s skin. Behind the aesthetics and the game of appearances played by these Stalinist parties, lies not a proletarian program but a program of a radicalizing petit-bourgeois middle class.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation ran a national ticket in 2024 that outperformed every prior self-proclaimed “socialist” presidential campaign in decades. The Communist Party USA’s membership rolls are climbing for the first time in a generation. A brand-new American Communist Party is finding an audience before it has finished writing its own founding documents. Each presents itself as a more hardcore alternative to the Democratic Socialists of America, yet each alleged break turns out, on inspection, to be almost entirely rhetorical. What we have is not a movement of the proletariat but the continual downward spiral of the American middle class, disillusioned and reaching for answers to questions which the existing political establishment cannot give, yet still unwilling to give up their childish attachment to the fairytale of bourgeois democracy hoping deep down to fix and right the wrongs of the bourgeois world they desperately want to preserve so they can continue to live their comfortable individual bourgeois lives filled with all its personal interests, hobbies and shopping habits. Our Che Guevara t-shirt wearing heroes have arrived once more! So for the activist intelligentsia it is out of the fryer and into the pan.

The PSL and CPUSA co-organize with the liberal DSA sects, endorse the same Democratic candidates, and converge on the same liberal demands, progressive taxation, expanded voting rights, government budgetary reform of the military, reached by the same petitions, performative protests and canvasses, so-called "organizing". The ACP leans elsewhere: less ballot line, more podcast promotionalism, and leader-worship, plus an open nationalism its own program calls "socialist patriotism", what members and critics alike call "MAGA Communism” filled with its petit-bourgeosis nostalgia for the traditional nuclear family. It is hard to imagine a more repugnant distortion of communism than reading these groups’ so called programs which reek of the most turgid liberal nationalism and reformist drivel. It is no wonder they repel the actual proletarian like noxious bile despite all their attempts to appeal to the “masses” and to “meet them where they are at” by spewing abject ignorance and stupidity. Each group waving its own large red flag, competing with each other to catch the eye of the latest generation of organizational window shoppers and weekend warrior radicals, to herd the imagined masses into their respective tiny corrals and bleed their membership dues for their petit-bourgeois political ends: DSA’s dead end cul de sac fenced by the Democratic Party, or PSL’s and CPUSA’s and the ACP’s boosteristic "Marxism-Leninism".

Underneath the differing veneers, lies a single convergence: everything these organizations offer, the marches, the branded merchandise, the uninspired activist mantras parroted in the streets, is theater performed by imposters who have stolen the costumes of communism and Marxism while repudiating its script. None of these groups are ahead of the organic party at all, because the thing they are growing is not a real party, something they have no comprehension of.

History has run this experiment before: these are typical bourgeois party machines, built to contain and administer a layer in motion, and machines of that kind are no match, over time, for the one thing they cannot manufacture, an organic party welded to an invariant program that is defended and prepared for the true resurgence of the proletarian masses to social struggle. It does not herd the declassed middle classes toward itself to cobble together some sort of engine to prevent the social catastrophes capital promise, it is constituted by the same historical process that produces that very crisis in the first place, and will be there, unchanged, when the machines built to contain that crisis have each in turn been ground up by it. We weathered the counter-revolution. They perpetrated it.
All these groups owe their basic orientation to the same unresolved question: what to make of the Soviet Union, in its time, and China today. Stalinism and its Maoist descendants treat one or both as viable "socialism"; Trotskyism has held the former USSR, and China today, to be a degenerated workers’ State worth defending.

They’ve all abandoned the real communist program, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the abolition of wage labor, mercantile exchange, and the profit-driven firm as the actual content of communism. No, they worship the State owned enterprise and the proliferation of reformist pandering. State capitalism as socialism, as a guarantee on a future job for the middle classes and their radicalizing parties.

Full article here:

http://www.international-communist-party.org/English/TheCPart/TCP_070.htm#MACHINES

Under the long counter-revolution, every generation has produced its own batch of modernizers, fixers and updaters of Marxism. Unable to explain the defeats of the proletariat through the objective course of class society’s development, due to their position outside the party as small circles of individual critical "thinkers", they have one after another, in their personal genius, decided that, in order to save humanity, they must take the Marxist doctrine, "back to the drydocks", fixing what appears broken to their discerning academic minds. Yet, isolated as they are, they can never conceive of the doctrine in its entirety, and always repeat errors they cannot see, errors already surgically treated by our Marxist forefathers long ago.

It is the recurring social position from which the deviation is generated: declassed intellectuals, students, and professionals formed by the individualist culture of the bourgeois academy, claiming Marx as one of their own while moronically dismembering his work. To the relativist philistines, Marxist theory is merely the construct of a few great “thinkers,” one opinion or perspective among many, a “grand narrative” in need of improving if not deconstructing altogether since it’s all a product merely of its time and all men being equal they only need to treat Marx with the same mediocrity that permeates their every fiber, the dialectical and materialist worldview essentially inconceivable by brains which have been thoroughly blended, shaken and stirred by the bourgeois academy. They serve up a theoretical cocktail filled to the brim with different ingredients that refreshes and brings relief to all those troubled with the heavy weight of the moral and social responsibilities that come with holding a true revolutionary Marxist materialist praxis. Who needs systematic historical evaluation of the complex real events of the counter-revolution when you can selectively pick and pull facts to establish theoretical platitudes based on bourgeois common sense which professes to know all to well the lessons and consequences of the Russian Revolution? This is the essence of the historical mutilation that is “When Insurrections Die” by Dauve in End Notes 1. You know what the revolution really needs? Supposedly another hack to fix the errors of the Italian Communist Left.

The reductive conceptualization of “value-form” critique, “real subsumption”, a-political anti-“work” refusalism and "anti-programmatism" merely conceals an old proposition: that capitalism can be abolished without the conquest of political power, without the dictatorship of the proletariat, without the communist party, and without the historical continuity of the programme. It is the immediatist and anarchist refusal of political mediation updated with the appropriation of select positions long defended by our tradition in order to create a blase demoralizing theoretical corpus to convince its readers against all of Marxism’s essential conclusions, prognosticating their adherents return to the nihilist and defeatist bogs from which these petit-bourgeosis vitalists have emerged baptized and born again.

Read full article at the link http://www.international-communist-party.org/English/TheCPart/TCP_070.htm#COMMUNIZATION

This is a sort of open ended question/discussion topic that I’ve been thinking about the past couple of days. That is how we can educate workers on the basics when denialism is so thoroughly entrenched into the so called “common sense”. Many workers not only have a wrong idea about socialism, but even capitalism. And most have no desire to learn.

It’s a frustrating thing and I’m wondering what those more well versed in theory and experience might have to say on the topic. It’s of course possible my entire approach to this is misguided. And if it is I’d want to hear what course should be taken instead. I’m simply overwhelmed by the degree to which anti Marxist propaganda has permeated itself into the thoughts of almost every working class person I see.

Thank you all in advance

I get the feeling they were doing their own thing separatedly. Did Pannekoek never polemicize against Bordiga (or the reverse) for example? If not, why (language barrier?).

We know what labour vouchers are so I won't get into them. I've heard varying opinions about this. We know we can't have the vouchers be accumulable or transferable, as it would be a problem if someone has saved 10,000 hours over years and spends them all at once as now society needs to produce enough goods to accommodate such an unexpected spike.,

But how long should vouchers last? What is the logic to determine how long it should last?

I feel like the latter makes more sense because US labor movements have never been that strong. I might be wrong though.

Probably the main reason why I still wouldn't consider myself a marxist it's because I can't understand his views on peasantry. Considering peasantry as a reactionary class just doesn't coincides with reality, because the most prominent revolutionary movements which can be considered socialist or left communist were led by peasants such as makhnovia or zapatistas. But I haven't read Marx that much except communist manifesto (I want to read das capital but now I'm reading some anarchist theory), so I think I could misunderstand him or even get caught in right communist propaganda. I'm asking that on this subredit because it seems like the most educated on Marx.

Are there any book shops that sell Left Communist literature that ship globally? I can find most of the texts online , but reading on a screen fries my delicate eyes

Indian, farmer, diagnosed with OCPD and undiagnosed ADHD. I know basic history and understanding of communism but not to the level of engaging in a debate with someone who's against communism. I only take notes digitally because I can edit, copy, paste whenever I learn new information, physical notetaking hurts me because if I get a new notetaking idea then the pages where I used the old idea will be a waste like I'll begin to despise myself (I'm going to therapy for this reason)

Due to my condition I can only focus on one thing. For ex, If I need to learn theory I'll only read theory for the whole day and won't be able to do any farmwork, can't follow any current affairs and I'll be left behind. If I follow current affairs then I can't do the rest. If I do farmwork then I'll be physically and mentally tired and call it a day off.

But there are a few other problems too and you can understand how my line of thoughts work. If I'm fixated on reading theory and come across a term or texts that mention some historical event then I can't move forward without understanding the whole thing. For ex. While reading the principles of communism I came across the word "profit" and I'm like "I need to understand capitalism, need to read adam smith, how profits and incentives worked in pre-capitalism era before moving on to the next line", and when I came across the term "Industrial revolution" I'm like "I need to read age of revolutions, fuck me napolean took over france right after french revolution how did that impact the revolution, is there any other example of people fucking over a victorious revolution in the name of leading.. \*google shows up reddit post "lenin hated stalin, he knew he was power hungry"\* man fuck me is this even true? now I have to read stalin to know whether he fucked up the revolution.." and the rabbit hole goes on and on.

And currently in India, there are a lot of things happening. Especially that as a communist that I need to engage in like student protests, where liberals misuse students for their personal gains etc etc but if I need to follow that then I can't make myself read theory. But if I engage in those things without theoretical knowledge I can't defend myself

I also have personal issues.

So amidst all these I often get depressed (obviously because I'm diagnosed with Comorbid anxiety with Dysthymia) and do meaningless things like playing online chess mindlessly, playing with my dog, walking in my farmland, watching porn as last resort to sleep because I can't reduce my headaches and stress caused by this chain of thoughts and overthinking otherwise. Literally procrastinating throughout all the events. I guess India is ripe enough for a revolution as my friend once said and I'm betraying it by doing nothing, lenin will also despise me.

I wish I had a well informed comrade with myself 24/7 irl and they'll answer every question that comes to my mind which will solve this situation easily but sadly I'm surrounded by regressive pro capitalist racist ethno-fascist people who are in need to be educated. But I can't do that with half baked knowledge.

So instead of doing the mindless activities when I feel stuck, I need some materials, speech which I can read at any time, any page and get the fire back in me, knock some sense into me, makes me forget my personal problems and give the revolutionary hope to move forward in faster pace so that I can join/contribution to the movement that's taking up shaping up right now

I want a critique on Cultural revolution , I think its a deviation from social revolution ( communism ) can you guys help me with link of ICP that criticise cultural revolution ?

Capitalism Rearms
World War and Communist Revolution
International Communist Party
Public Meeting and Q&A

Saturday 10 October

As the capitalist powers rearm and imperialist conflicts spread, humanity is again being driven toward the slaughter of world war. The bourgeoisie calls its armaments “defence” and its wars struggles for “peace” and “democracy,” but behind these slogans stands the struggle of rival capitalist states for markets, resources, and power. This talk will examine the march toward a third imperialist world war and defend the only proletarian answer: not pacifism or choosing between rival imperialisms, but the international class struggle against capitalism itself.
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Hi. I do not call myself a left communist but I have been influenced by primarily Italian Leftcom theory for a few years even if I disagree with some of it. I did not know where else to ask about this as all other marxist subreddits that IK of in my opinion are full of people who do really do not know what they are talking about for the most part.

I am not as educated as I would like to be (working on remedying that; a few years ago I read most of the fundamental Marx and Engels texts as well as some Lenin, Bordiga, Althusser, and a few other texts here and there from other theorists and groups like Endnotes. Working through Capital vol 1 ATM and understanding how much I missed out on by not doing that first). But I have long desired to organize, or just to do anything other than read. But it wasn't until relatively recently that I could start seriously considering it for multiple personal reasons.

I do not necessarily have high hopes for what is happening in Spain right now but I think organization might be more relevant now than it has been in a while.

Are there any groups worth organizing with that are not Stalinists or do not really have a clear view of the principles of communism or is it worth biting the bullet and joining one of these?

I only know of some parties. Mostly MLs and Trots. PCTE, PCPE, CJS, CRT.

There are also some theoretical publishing (?) groups, like Grupo Barbaria and Balance y Avante who seem to be more leftcom leaning. But they do not seem to have a properly organised structure or party to speak of and idk if it's possible to join them when I am not as educated in theory as I would like to be. I am pretty sure that all of these groups are present at least in the Madrid encampment.

Is it worth just entering one of these parties? I would probably go with the Trotskyists frankly. Apologies if I said something stupid.

I'm looking to get involved in left communist politics, how do I go about joining a group or a party? I'm read in Marxism and I'm based in the UK.

In my opinion there's no marxist-leninism, only leninism. Why? Because I'am not sure Marx would have agreed with the ideas of Lenin. But let's stick to marxist-leninism as a description to avoid confusion.

My critique of marxist-leninism is that the people who subscribe to its ideas of organisation is that they think you can separate the means to an end from the end itself. They want an authoritarian party to take over the state and bring about socialism. Their imagination is that after this is done, the party and the state would abolish itself. I think this is very unlikely to happen. We have several examples of and how it went wrong. Independent socialist/anarchist movements got crushed violently by force.

That's why I think we need to create an alternative society right now and expand it and get people on board. We need to withdraw as much structure as possible from the state and capitalism. A nice concept is that of prefigurative politics, which is defined by Paul Raekstad and Sofa Saio Gradin as:

**We define prefigurative politics as the deliberate experimental implementation of desired future social relations and practices in the here-and-now.**

If you are interested in it, their book is called *Prefigurative Politics Building Tomorrow Today*.

Is their any meaningful difference between the 2?

Also what are some good readings on Historical Materialism?

Here is the full quote: "Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists. On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form, this family exists only among the bourgeoisie. But this state of things finds its complement in the practical absence of the family among the proletarians, and in public prostitution. The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course when its complement vanishes, and both will vanish with the vanishing of capital."

I understand how the bourgeois family is based on private gain, with family capital, inheritance and so on. But I don't understand how the family itself is absent among the proletarians.

my dad's a communist and he said I should start reading theory, and I'm also very curious abt it and wanna learn more. How and from where should I start reading theory? sorry if this is a stupid question

and what are the texts that i can read about this topic

This post was firstly addressed for anarchists but I think a lot of leftcoms would agree too because a lot of them are either antistateist or want to destroy the state at some point. I consider myself something in-between anarchist and leftcom.

I’m required to write a year long research paper, 6-8 pages, on the Russian Revolution for history class. I want to study it critically and form a hypothesis (I already have a general understanding of the Russian revolution and its potential) around the outcomes of it. Primarily aimed towards the question, “Did the Russian Revolution produce communism; if it didn’t, at what point, and what events happened during its history prevented it from doing so; and if it did, at what point, and what events happened during its history which allowed it to?” (My understanding and answer is no. It didn’t. And its potential was essentially gone circa early-mid 20’s)

I have a base understanding of the Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks role, Lenin’s theory of the state and revolution, etc. I just need detailed, critical and reliable information. I don’t care if anything is written by non-communists, just as long as it is factual and logical. I am, of course, also open to reading books or texts by the anti-Soviet communists as well.

At the moment I am reading the pamphlet, ‘the Bolsheviks and Workers’ control’ by Maurice Brinton. But I am planning to read far more than that. As this is an in depth study.