Very thoughtful post. I am a Marxist in the sense that I subscribe to Marx's analysis of capitalism, and authoritarianism in general, and I'm a philosophical materialist, but the Bolsheviks lost me at the Kronstadt Rebellion. It's a relief to not have to explain what that was to you.
The older I get, the more distrustful of any corporate or governmental authority I become. I guess I'm something of an anarcho-socialist now.
You have my full empathy concerning definitions. When people genuinely believe that Democrats are Marxist, AOC is leftist, and today's Russia and China are Communist, it certainly makes it more difficult to get my point across in any meaningful way.
Which is why capitalists have done their best to distort all of those terms into something they are not in the first place.
It may seem like I'm a little harsh on Marx, although I have had a lot of time for him in my political journey and - like you - have a lot of respect for his analysis. However, being often mis-assumed to be a supporter of Stalinism I find myself having to clarify my position often, to the annoyance of Leninists and Capitalists!
I reckon Anarcho-Socialism is a good place to be, as I fit into that spectrum, although in Europe they might say Libertarian-Socialism, but - as you know - some Americans have changed the meaning of Libertarian too away from its radical left-wing origins.
It seems to me that those being called Capitalists realised that the Socialists who invented the word Capitalism usually used it negatively, and so decided to do everything in their power to get people to associate it with vague but good sounding concepts, especially fi this kept people focusing on what it actually was.
This seemed to be a very successful tactic for a while, but fortunately many younger people haven't fallen for it, which gives me hope for the future.
Thank you ! my sentiments also, 100% it has been posited recently in psychology that humanities biggest stumbling block is within our own minds in our Left Brain hemisphere its ability to emotionally over write our sensible right brain even when undeniable evidence is present, hense our beliefs are nothing but our Right Rational Hemisphere being foreclosed on by our Left. It is our Right brain hemispheres job too carry our left beyond something other than itself.......everything we apprehend is the way it is because we see it that way rather than another way.....what we attend to, and how we attend to it, changes it and changes us.....
Keep up the great work, I love your explanations.....
Capitalism can be recognized by its common core - the profit motive, which all versions share. Likewise all versions of socialism begin with the veil of ignorance.
I had no idea what I stumbled into today, but this was a truly brilliant read.
I’m not even going to pretend I took in everything on the first go. It felt like reading the introductory lecture notes from a university course, and I loved it. I’ll definitely need to carve out some time to read through all the linked articles and properly follow along with your journey.
I’m often amazed by people like yourself who hold such clear and considered visions of the world, especially as it shifts constantly around us.
Having never studied politics, philosophy, or history, I sometimes feel unable to fully articulate the ideas or emotions behind my views in the same coherent stream of thought that you manage so naturally, but I do see myself in your writing.
I’m really looking forward to diving deeper, and seeing where our thoughts align, and where they might diverge. I think there’s a lot to learn in both.
I'm so glad you found it so interesting. My articles started out like my study notes, a way of sharing what I'd been learning, and as I've learnt more then the topics I've studied have become clearer, and hopefully my understanding and ability to express my thoughts has improved too.
There is so much to learn and it can all be overwhelming, but I hope it is a journey you find interesting whatever pace you go at and wherever it ends up leading you. Thank you again for your encouragement!
You have a most interesting mind. Would you mind looking at what I posted this morning about Godwin and Economic Tyranny? I wrestle with it for days, still don’t know if I got it all right.
Thank you
Very thoughtful post. I am a Marxist in the sense that I subscribe to Marx's analysis of capitalism, and authoritarianism in general, and I'm a philosophical materialist, but the Bolsheviks lost me at the Kronstadt Rebellion. It's a relief to not have to explain what that was to you.
The older I get, the more distrustful of any corporate or governmental authority I become. I guess I'm something of an anarcho-socialist now.
You have my full empathy concerning definitions. When people genuinely believe that Democrats are Marxist, AOC is leftist, and today's Russia and China are Communist, it certainly makes it more difficult to get my point across in any meaningful way.
Which is why capitalists have done their best to distort all of those terms into something they are not in the first place.
It may seem like I'm a little harsh on Marx, although I have had a lot of time for him in my political journey and - like you - have a lot of respect for his analysis. However, being often mis-assumed to be a supporter of Stalinism I find myself having to clarify my position often, to the annoyance of Leninists and Capitalists!
I reckon Anarcho-Socialism is a good place to be, as I fit into that spectrum, although in Europe they might say Libertarian-Socialism, but - as you know - some Americans have changed the meaning of Libertarian too away from its radical left-wing origins.
It seems to me that those being called Capitalists realised that the Socialists who invented the word Capitalism usually used it negatively, and so decided to do everything in their power to get people to associate it with vague but good sounding concepts, especially fi this kept people focusing on what it actually was.
This seemed to be a very successful tactic for a while, but fortunately many younger people haven't fallen for it, which gives me hope for the future.
Thank you ! my sentiments also, 100% it has been posited recently in psychology that humanities biggest stumbling block is within our own minds in our Left Brain hemisphere its ability to emotionally over write our sensible right brain even when undeniable evidence is present, hense our beliefs are nothing but our Right Rational Hemisphere being foreclosed on by our Left. It is our Right brain hemispheres job too carry our left beyond something other than itself.......everything we apprehend is the way it is because we see it that way rather than another way.....what we attend to, and how we attend to it, changes it and changes us.....
Keep up the great work, I love your explanations.....
Capitalism can be recognized by its common core - the profit motive, which all versions share. Likewise all versions of socialism begin with the veil of ignorance.
I had no idea what I stumbled into today, but this was a truly brilliant read.
I’m not even going to pretend I took in everything on the first go. It felt like reading the introductory lecture notes from a university course, and I loved it. I’ll definitely need to carve out some time to read through all the linked articles and properly follow along with your journey.
I’m often amazed by people like yourself who hold such clear and considered visions of the world, especially as it shifts constantly around us.
Having never studied politics, philosophy, or history, I sometimes feel unable to fully articulate the ideas or emotions behind my views in the same coherent stream of thought that you manage so naturally, but I do see myself in your writing.
I’m really looking forward to diving deeper, and seeing where our thoughts align, and where they might diverge. I think there’s a lot to learn in both.
I'm so glad you found it so interesting. My articles started out like my study notes, a way of sharing what I'd been learning, and as I've learnt more then the topics I've studied have become clearer, and hopefully my understanding and ability to express my thoughts has improved too.
There is so much to learn and it can all be overwhelming, but I hope it is a journey you find interesting whatever pace you go at and wherever it ends up leading you. Thank you again for your encouragement!
You have a most interesting mind. Would you mind looking at what I posted this morning about Godwin and Economic Tyranny? I wrestle with it for days, still don’t know if I got it all right.