Communism ComradeAvian • Now • 90%

Special announcement for a new project of ours!

Hey comrades, today I have a special announcement to make! u/Makan and I are currently working on creating a old bulletin board-style forum board for communists and Marxist-Leninists, in a similar vein to this website. However, this site will be based more around slower-paced and intimate discussions of theory, history and current events, instead of the more fast-paced tone of Lemmygrad. For those who aren't familiar with bullet board systems (or BBS forums), here is an idea of what they generally look like: https://famiboards.com/ We plan on having our own communist forum look very similar to this one with due time. Our goal with this forum board is to generate deep, thoughtful discussions about everything pertaining to advancing the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism, and we are excited to eventually be able to share this project with the rest of you comrades once it is ready! We will almost certainly be relying on additional volunteers to help run this site once it is made public, but for now, it is a two-person job. We will keep the updates rolling on our next move. Now is the time to ask any and all questions you have regarding this project. We are excited to get everyone as engaged with this as possible!

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/185305 > cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/185304 > > > Hey comrades, this is an article I've written in response to DashRendar's essay on Maoism, which you can find here: > > https://dashthered.medium.com/yo-dawg-the-maoists-have-a-point-9024983ee56a > > > > Consider this the "full" version of a response I made here on Lemmygrad just a few days ago. I realised that I had way too much to say to fit into a well-formatted post here, so I made an account on Medium and wrote an entire article instead :D Hope you comrades enjoy.

GenZedong ComradeAvian • Now • 92%

Why Marxism-Leninism-Maoism cannot work: a response to DashRendar

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/185304 > Hey comrades, this is an article I've written in response to DashRendar's essay on Maoism, which you can find here: > https://dashthered.medium.com/yo-dawg-the-maoists-have-a-point-9024983ee56a > > Consider this the "full" version of a response I made here on Lemmygrad just a few days ago. I realised that I had way too much to say to fit into a well-formatted post here, so I made an account on Medium and wrote an entire article instead :D Hope you comrades enjoy.

Communism ComradeAvian • Now • 96%

Why Marxism-Leninism-Maoism cannot work: a response to DashRendar

Hey comrades, this is an article I've written in response to DashRendar's essay on Maoism, which you can find here: https://dashthered.medium.com/yo-dawg-the-maoists-have-a-point-9024983ee56a Consider this the "full" version of a response I made here on Lemmygrad just a few days ago. I realised that I had way too much to say to fit into a well-formatted post here, so I made an account on Medium and wrote an entire article instead :D Hope you comrades enjoy.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/181959 > NOTE: Please do not go out and attack or harass [@DashRendar@lemmygrad.ml](https://lemmygrad.ml/u/DashRendar) for writing this essay. This is meant to be a civil exchange of ideas, not a witch hunt. Thank you. > > Well comrades, I'm back at it again for another response post. Last time we had fun clowning on Enigma's attempt to portray Russia as socialist, but this time around things are a bit more serious. Because recently [@DashRendar@lemmygrad.ml](https://lemmygrad.ml/u/DashRendar), a well-respected comrade in our community known for his long, comprehensive essays, has gone down the hill a bit. > > Recently Dash published a 46-minute long essay on Medium titled "Yo dawg, the Maoists have a point". In this appropriately-titled essay, Dash essentially argues that Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is the only correct ideological path, that Marxism-Leninism itself is outdated and useless, and that only anti-revisionist Maoism can save us. > > Here's a link to the original essay: > https://dashthered.medium.com/yo-dawg-the-maoists-have-a-point-9024983ee56a > > I want to start by saying I have a lot of respect for Dash and I have enjoyed many of his articles, which makes it all the more unfortunate to see him adopt such an unrealistic position as this. Therefore I see it as my civic duty to respond to this essay and refute its points to the best of my ability. Unlike last time I'm not gonna just go through the article dissecting every point I can - otherwise we'd be here all day - rather I'm going to organise Dash's main points into a numbered list and scrutinise them that way. > > As Stalin would say, let us get down to business. > > **Claim #1 - "Maoists have accomplished way more than Marxist-Leninists in the past 40 years"** > > A recurring theme you will see in this essay is Dash being adamant about the fact that regular old Leninists have not achieved anything significant revolutionary-wise in the past 40 years, as compared to the several Maoist revolutions happening around the world today. While I do agree with this point in the sense that Leninists have made no real revolutionary gains since the fall of the USSR, I do find this criticism rather unfair. > > What Dash doesn't seem to recognise is just how devastated the left was with the fall of the USSR, the most powerful socialist country in the world which funded and exported revolutions to numerous countries for decades, and also funded many international communist parties. When the USSR collapsed, it was like the heart being removed from the human body. Many communist parties completely fell off due to the loss of support, and many were even outright banned as a preemptive measure, as was the case with the Communist Party of Canada. > > If anything, what China is doing today is arguably for the better by not trying to export revolution like the USSR did. As communists we cannot rely on a single state or a single central power to basically fund all our revolutions for us, tactically it's just incredibly prone to failure as the USSR's collapse perfectly demonstrated. > > This is why, as Leninists, we have instead dedicated much of our time since the fall of the USSR to learning about the structure of AES like China, Cuba, the DPRK and Vietnam, countries that have not only survived in a post-Soviet world, but continue to thrive in it. It is our duty to learn about what these countries did that the USSR didn't do, which can provide something of a framework for our revolutions so that we don't fall into the same trap as the USSR. > > Of course Dash doesn't see it that way. This is what he thinks of MLs supporting AES: > > > Where, even, is the [Marxist-Leninist] theoretical debate? It always defaults back to some form of shut up and critically support ‘Actually Existing Socialist states,’ with no theory or formula for bringing new socialisms into a state of actually existing. > > I wonder why Dash is so hostile to AES states... oh yeah, I forgot. This is anti-SWCC, pro-Mao hit piece. Of course! Dash thinks all current AES states are revisionist. > > Well, what does Dash suggest we do about preventing revisionism/eradicating bourgeois elements in our socialist society? > > **Claim #2 - "The Cultural Revolution was good for China"** > > Hoo boy. > > That's right folks. Dash tries to argue that Mao successfully curbed revisionism and bourgeois elements of the Communist Party in China by launching the Cultural Revolution. Worse yet, Dash goes so far as to claim that the Cultural Revolution wasn't even about culture: > > > Part of the problem of understanding the Cultural Revolution (usually called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, or GPCR by Maoists) is that “Marxist-Leninists” think it was either like Mao trying to do-over China’s culture [...] Cultural Revolution is the continuation of Civil War — the fight to the death between the now dominant proletariat and the remnants of the bourgeoisie and their allies. The Cultural Revolution is the process of grinding down the bourgeoisie, taking away everything from them (their expertise, their wealth, their accumulation, their power, their institutions, and all the gates they keep) and distributing it to the masses and crushing all the capitalists and counter-revolutionaries that attempt to stop or impede this process. > > Right, because it's not like cultural elements such as Buddhism became under heavy persecution during this time period, or anything else. > > But even by your own definition of a so-called Cultural Revolution, all these attempts to "give back" to the proletariat were clearly a failure, as the Chinese economy continued to suffer from a short food supply and widespread poverty, especially among the peasantry, during the 1960s and 70s. Only when Deng assumed office did things begin to improve; so much so that China became one of the fastest-growing countries in the world as a result of market reforms and the introduction of the Chinese labour force to the global market. Only then did absolute poverty in China finally begin to take a nosedive. > > This is because the Cultural Revolution was quite unabashedly about ideology over materialism. For all it emphasised the importance of taking everything away from the bourgeoisie and what have you, it was quite obviously a movement that prioritised ideology over material reality; it was about instilling a communist mentality into as many people in all sectors of China as possible, and it was the assumption of Mao that once this process was completed and the "communised" workers had all the means of production, then everything would suddenly work out. Somehow this would suddenly cure all the widespread poverty most peasants were still experiencing as a result of the failures of the Great Leap Forward. > > This is pure idealism. And for someone like Dash who goes on and on about how Marx and Engels argued for scientific socialism in the face of revisionists of their time, this doesn't seem like a very scientific thought process to be advocating for. > > I think [@juchebot88@lemmygrad.ml](https://lemmygrad.ml/u/juchebot88) said it best in his comment underneath Dash's original post: > > > One can argue that Deng went to far, and ultimately fell into right deviation. But we should not allow this to obscure the fact that Gang of Four were massively left-deviant, and that Deng’s occasional rightism was simply the inevitable reaction. Thus, if China during the 1990s came dangerously close to neoliberalism, it was ultimately the fault, not of Deng, but of the Gang of Four. > > The reason Marxist-Leninists are either ambivalent or outright opposing of the Cultural Revolution is because it is pure left-deviant idealism that ignores material reality. And if you're a communist who rejects or ignores materialism, then, well, are you even a communist? > > > This is why you see fucking bourgeois assholes getting yelled at en masse by fifty thousand people waving red books at them in all these photos. They said or did something reactionary and the masses shamed and berated the shit out of them for it. It was fucking awesome. > > Sorry Dash, but edgy internet quotes like these aren't going to eliminate absolute poverty in China. > > Anyways, I'm going to leave it off here for right now, because my response to Claim #3 is too long to fit into Lemmy's character limit, and plus I've think I've written enough to keep you comrades entertained plenty. I'll try to come out with part two of my response tomorrow, but hopefully I've already given you comrades enough to think about with regards to the state of Marxism-Leninism and the Leninist critique of the Cultural Revolution. > > Stay tuned comrades!

Reddit Action Front ComradeAvian • Now • 85%

Is this really a good idea?

Do we really need to be spending our valuable time "raiding" other threads (i.e. just posting a bunch of troll comments in them)? Just seems really pointless and bad for optics to me.

Communism ComradeAvian • Now • 94%

Refuting the idea that Russia is socialist (response to enigma)

EDIT: Please do not go out and try to harass or insult Enigma. This post was not made to create a witch hunt against them. This post was made to criticise his stance on Russia and nothing more. End of story. Hello comrades. Recently a fellow comrade of ours named [@EN16MA@lemmygrad.ml](https://lemmygrad.ml/u/EN16MA) wrote out a little masterpost to the Communist forum here on Lemmygrad titled "Russia is Marching Towards Socialism". In this post, Enigma makes a number of claims about the current state of the Russian Federation, but the most prominent one is what the title says: that Russia is moving towards socialism, and has effectively become a dictatorship of the proletariat under Putin's rule. Here is the original post: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/175705 I hate to come down on a fellow comrade like this, but to quite blunt, this post is a hunk of shit. It is absolutely riddled with the most ridiculous claims that grasp at perhaps the world's longest straws to try and make the argument that Russia in its current form is any way "socialist". It only serves to make the rest of us MLs look like complete buffoons with no knowledge of history or foreign affairs. This post of mine aims to debunk Engima's claims and hopefully put both them and the rest of this community on the right path with regards to Russia, so that we all have a better understanding of what exactly is up with this country and where we should stand on it. It is very clear that Engima has no real understanding of current Russian politics and that is what I aim to address in this response. > According to the words of Vladimir Putin himself, since 2020 Russia has been in an NEP. The process of moving towards a socialist state began in 2020 with the establishment of a new NEP. Russia is still capitalist, specifically state capitalist with a strong market sector similar to China but it could be argued that Russia is currently a Dictatorship of the Proletariat: So basically what Enigma is referring to here is an event in April 2020 in which Putin announced a list of measures of social protection, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and changes in fiscal policy. Putin announced the following measures for microenterprises, small- and medium-sized businesses: deferring tax payments (except Russia's value-added tax) for the next six months, cutting the size of social security contributions in half, deferring social security contributions, deferring loan repayments for the next six months, a six-month moratorium on fines, debt collection, and creditors' applications for bankruptcy of debtor enterprises. In short, Putin's aim was to forgive all Russian loans and business tax payments for the next six months. I don't think I need to explain why this policy bears no resemblance at all to the NEP, other than its focus on helping small private businesses. Putin's policy here is not some wide-sweeping change to the Russian economy like the NEP was; it's literally just a COVID-19 relief scheme. The only reason Enigma tries to equate them is because Putin himself equated his policy to the NEP. This is a comically terrible point for two reasons: 1. If Enigma actually did his research, he would've known Putin's claim was bullshit to begin with, and 2. As Engima admits himself, Russia is still a capitalist system. Capitalist leaders are literally SUPPOSED to say whatever sounds the best in order to get people to trust and follow them. Why, then, would Enigma automatically assume Putin is telling the truth when he equates his covid relief scheme to the fucking NEP? This whole point is just ridiculous and clearly demonstrates Enigma's lack of knowledge on Russian and Soviet history. Well, Enigma must realise his logic is already faltering because he proceeds to try and make the argument that Russia (sigh) has already become a DOTP. How does he argue this, you may ask? > A recent example of Russia being a DOTP was when Putin at the start of the special military operation in Ukraine scolded the bourgeoisie for not falling in line. Russia deals with their bourgeoisie similar to China, with an iron fist. ...What?? What Engima appears to be referring to here, I guess, is Putin scolding members of the Russian elite for not supporting the invasion of Ukraine. How the hell does this have ANYTHING to do with Russia being controlled by the proletariat??? If anything, this only PROVES that the Russian oligarchs are still a problem, if Putin is having to call them out on live television for going against him! Regardless of how you feel about the invasion of Ukraine, this "argument" of Enigma's is really just a non-argument. I have no idea why he even brought this up to begin with, it means literally nothing. And that comparison with China is so weak. China executes its billionaires on a regular basis. Putin scolds them on national television. Come on. Russia is not a DOTP. Well, next up Enigma tries to argue that Russia is socialist because of "state planning" and nationalisation: > 3/4’s of the economy is owned by the state, while there is also strong and vibrant small and medium medium sized firms in a market sector which have been promoted by the state as alternatives to foriegn oligopolies. You know, South Korea also executed five-year plans during its recovery from the Korean War. Does that make South Korea socialist now? For Christ's sake, this is literally a liberal/conservative's understanding of socialism. Nationalisation does not equal socialism. State planning does not equal socialism. This should not have to be explained to someone who claims to be a socialist, let alone a Marxist-Leninist. > The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov has high praise for Putin and has even suggested that he should become leader of the party. This suggestion does not come from an empty vacuum, Putin has actually for the last several years not been apart of United Russia and has been antagonistic towards the party. He has instead supported Fair Russia (in the last election) who had talks of joining in a coalition with the Communist Party. Putin has also on multiple occasions praised Communism and Communist figures of the past. This whole paragraph is rather incoherent and seems to bounce back and forth between "the communists love to putin" to "putin actually hates the communists" to "putin loves communist figures". First of all, Zyuganov is a terrible human being. He opposes abortion and LGBT rights, is extremely antisemitic, and supports Reaganist trickle-down economics and the Russian Orthodox Church. So saying he's buddy-buddy with Putin isn't a very good look. Secondly, tagging Putin as a communist because he praises communist figures is just beyond laughable. Not only do Putin's policies not resemble any Soviet policies as we have established, but he has also gone out of his way a number of times to disgrace figureheads like Lenin and Stalin. Just recently, in fact, the Russian government ordered the bulldozing of a monument of Lenin reading, "Peace and Love to All Peoples!" Putin just says whatever he can to get the people on his side; in reality he doesn't have any loyalty to his country's communist legacy. The fact Enigma just finds quotes of Putin praising communists and rolls with it, really shows how unwilling he is to think critically about what he is reading, which is the essence of being a communist. Alright, so, after this point Enigma goes on a long tangent where he praises Russia for invading Ukraine, but I don't think I need to get into it. I think I've said enough already about why Enigma's little "masterpost" on Russia is one of the stupidest things I've seen from this community in quite a while. I don't mean any personal disrespect to [@EN16MA@lemmygrad.ml](https://lemmygrad.ml/u/EN16MA), but seriously dude, do your research next time. Posts like these just make the rest of us look like a bunch of uneducated nutcases and will just turn people off from the path of Marxism-Leninism, especially in times like these. Hopefully this post is what you need to start thinking more critically like an actual communist and Marxist. Russia is not socialist, nor is it on the path to socialism. I hope I have this made point abundantly clear today.

Communism ComradeAvian • Now • 100%

HUGE list of Marxist resources!

This is what you might call a "reupload" of a HUGE list of Marxist resources compiled by u/SavageTruths74 over on Reddit. Reddit has begun to take down people's resource compilations as "spam", which is what happened with SavageTruth's USSR megathread. Therefore I want to help preserve his compilations by uploading ALL of it here onto Lemmygrad, where it will be guaranteed a safe space free from censorship. NONE OF THIS IS MY OWN. This is all compiled by comrade u/SavageTruths74. Dude put a huge amount of time into putting this all together and it deserves to be shared more. Must read/watch: a must watch to understand the impact of former socialist nations https://www.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/hnc2cr/capitalism_is_unsustainable/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDoqQNWtni0 The difference between personal and private property Books: Reform or revolution by Rosa Luxembourg https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/ Farm to Factory by Robert C. Allen https://eastsidemarxism.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/robert-c-allen-farm-to-factory-a-reinterpretation-of-the-soviet-industrial-revolution-1.pdf How Europe under-developed Africa by Walter Rodney https://archive.org/details/HowEuropeUnderdevelopedAfricaByWalterRodney/page/n1/mode/2up Unequal exchange: The prospects of socialism https://web.archive.org/web/20170919180937/http://snylterstaten.dk/english/unequal-exchange-and-prospects-socialism-communist-working-group Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism https://archive.org/details/FundamentalsOfMarxismLeninism Das Kapital by Karl Marx https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.124455/page/n5/mode/2up The communist Manifesto by Karl Marx https://archive.org/details/ComManifesto/mode/2up Its not over: Learning from the socialist experiment https://www.ebookphp.com/its-not-over-learning-from-the-socialist-experiment-epub-pdf/ Economic problems in the USSR by Josef Stalin https://archive.org/details/economicproblemssocialismussrstalin The Myth of Capitalism Reborn: A Marxist critique of Theories of Capitalist Restoration in the USSR https://archive.org/details/TheMythOfCapitalismReborn/page/n53/mode/2up Killing hope: US military and CIA interventions since World war 2 https://archive.org/details/pdfy-q0ULBH2DJICRS3Vg/mode/2up Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm Imperialism The Highest Stage Of Capitalism By Lenin https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.3317/mode/2up The State and Revolution by Lenin https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch01.htm Wage Labor and Capital https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/wage-labour-capital.pdf Marxism and Feminism https://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1979/marxism/ch12.html Economics for dummies, to help people understand capitalism but be wary, it is semi pro capitalism https://archive.org/details/EconomicsForDummies_/mode/2up The great conspiracy against Russia by Michael Sayer and Albert E. Kahn https://mltheory.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/great-conspiracy-against-russia.pdf \ Towards a new socialism by W. Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pd Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of communism (an absolute must read for Marxists-Leninists) https://eastsidemarxism.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/michael-parenti-blackshirts-and-reds-rational-fascism-and-the-overthrow-of-communism.pdf Late Victorian Holocausts by Mark Davis (how the introduction of capitalism causes famine) https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00dav_wbr Anti Communism: Who benefits from it? by Vladimir Mshvenieradze. it reveals just how prevalent anti-communism was and still is. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-V4quceAKK9bXVaOEx0Nm4xXzQ/view Youtubers and Youtube Videos: Hakim (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q TheFinnishBolshevik (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCvdjsJtifsZoShjcAAHZpA Every anti-communist argument debunked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjwL1mSrPLA Benji (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDG87s_QtD4YrIamqb9k5WQ DemocraticSocialist01 (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/user/MrReco12 ComradeSloth (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtETWkXOblKAN5V1GUfnyg Tovarisch Endymion (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTG-iJm0HtjWVOAwN8sA4Xg Spooky Scary Socialist (Marxist-Leninist youtuber) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl_A_42M6kvjH8Gr-rwfCUw Capitalism is destroying us, socialism is not an option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpV_wVYOEg How capitalism is theft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEzJovH2yo Resource document pages and Archives: huge socialist FAQ/essays on every topic https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md http://www.bannedthought.net/ big articles on socialism on many topics http://www.bannedthought.net/ A complete Marxist archive https://www.marxists.org/ Socialist history https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pxjkfhzh65ZfVEAJrv0NE96YFqhFAM1EQOokHoLFW6M/edit The basics of Marxist-Leninist Theory https://archive.org/details/basics_of_marxist__leninist_theory Massive document page debunking anti socialist lies by Albamc35 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rRBtOd7tCPwJgXNy4m1PLvDnPrbMcn6yMe7mVIIHZfA/edit The case for Marxism-Leninism https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uOAy23Rouv_Mg14_NgcEOm-K19ragMTlB03RV7Td01Q/edit Another document page debunking lies against socialism https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/edit massive right winger fact sheet (click left tan for an index of subjects) https://socdoneleft.github.io/stinky_rightwinger_factsheet.html#public_healthcare Socialist archive https://revolutionarydemocracy.org/index.htm Huge socialist book archive https://archive.org/details/@ismail_badiou Huge Marxist-Leninist archive https://neodemocracy.blogspot.com/ Huge soviet archive and pro socialist articles https://northstarcompass.org/ Huge Marxist archive by comrade Bluesytb full of information/books on many subjects https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18fVB3IGbVOwHhDETEeytx0ZJNa-3iwO- Another good socialist archive including non socialist but still relevant topics. https://ebookcollective.tumblr.com/archive Complete resource list on the USSR https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qeYeYeLN7uKxfMdoe7TAmOMD2fmgyZdU_urvW6eAsRg/edit#bookmark=id.ie987hvbw24t basically everything you need https://en16ma.neocities.org/site/Why_Socialism.html Good Marxist Blogs and websites: Super insightful, information filled Marxist-Leninist blog https://espressostalinist.com/ Another good Marxist-Leninist blog https://aredinohio.wordpress.com/ Another insightful Marxist-Leninist blog https://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/ Another good blog by the youtuber TheFinnishBolshevik https://mltheory.wordpress.com/ Information filled Articles and Posts: Lies about the history of the soviet union https://www.northstarcompass.org/nsc9912/lies.htm Effects of US embargo on Cuba https://www.cetim.ch/the-effects-of-the-us-embargo-against-cuba-and-the-reasons-of-the-urgent-need-to-lift-it/ The need for planning by Joseph Ball http://maoists.org/needforplanning.pdf Here is an archived post of his FULL of information debunking almost every anti-communist argument. https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c4j3xl/useful_studies_and_sources_for_debating/ A socialist resource list by Komradsuvo https://www.reddit.com/user/komradsuvo/comments/hcgha0/mine/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share (found by comrade Jobhi) Declassified post WWII Marshall Plan documents 'communism has a much greater ability of ending hunger and transitioning backwards societies into modern world powers' https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Memo_PPS23_by_George_Kennanhttps://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/6uhar8/comrades_reading_the_declassified_post_ww2/https://imgur.com/a/qD3jF 35 Countries where the U.S. has supported fascists, drug lords, and terrorists https://www.salon.com/control/2014/03/08/35_countries_the_u_s_has_backed_international_crime_partner/ in socialist Poland the average person consumed more animal proteins than western Europe https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/c42sx4/in_the_mid1970s_the_polish_peoples_republic/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share the gulag argument debunked https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/g92l9v/putting_the_gulag_argument_to_bed/ Detailed post on the achievements of the USSR https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/8h8c77/looks_like_we_need_another_space_race/dyiju07/ Basically every anti communist myth debunked https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/wiki/debunk a VERY big list of resources for socialists https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/93swdx/a_very_big_list_of_resources_for_socialism_and/ Very interesting stats on capitalism https://i.imgur.com/6W4Iwly.jpg Masterpost dealing with the purges, and Holodomor also by comrade Flesh_eating_turtle https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/e8kpow/masterpost_on_joseph_stalin_and_the_great_purge/ The black book of communism debunked https://medium.com/@discomfiting/debunking-communism-killed-more-people-than-naziism-7a9880696f67 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvZoAATfOw https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1997/10/31/les-divisions-d-une-equipe-d-historiens-du-communisme_3811179_1819218.html https://web.archive.org/web/20000304051103/http://www.feedmag.com:80/essay/es271_meta3.html https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7n6ql2/is_the_black_book_of_communism_an_accurate_source/ http://guerrillaontologies.com/2014/05/attempting-the-impossible-calculating-capitalisms-death-toll/ (the link includes a section on the black book of communism).

Communism ComradeAvian • Now • 100%

Expanding our horizons?

So, with everything currently happening it's pretty clear that as Marxist-Leninists and revolutionary socialists, we cannot continue to rely on big sites like Reddit to host our communities. I personally love what Lemmygrad is doing here, creating an alternative community that has almost the exact same style as the kind of site most of us are used to, i.e. Reddit. Not to mention the people trying to make communities on places on Matrix which operate similarly to Discord. However I think all of this raises an even more important question: how willing are we, as a community, to try and "expand our horizons" beyond what we're normally used to? I say this because, as much as I love Lemmygrad and Matrix and other Reddit/Discord alternatives, they're kinda suited more for fast-paced discussion and memes, and not necessarily for a lot of the more in-depth conversations that require more thinking and time to respond. @Makan and I have been going back and forth about this, about trying to experiment with different styles of platforms for building a community more suited for deep, well thought-out discussions that aren't as much of a free-for-all as places like these tend to be. What do you comrades think? Am I over-thinking this, or should we truly work on "expanding our brand" a little bit?