On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.

He didn’t always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!

Some significant works:

Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

The Civil War in France

Wage Labor & Capital

Wages, Price, and Profit

Critique of the Gotha Programme

Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)

The Poverty of Philosophy

And, of course, Capital Vol I-III

Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don’t know where to start? Check out my “Read Theory, Darn it!” introductory reading list!

  • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.mlEnglish
    693·
    8 days ago

    Today I honor Cowbee’s Sisyphean task of explaining that production/trade and capitalism are two different things 🫡

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
      442·
      8 days ago

      It gets easier, actually! So I wouldn’t call it Sisyphean. Different parts of Lemmy have different levels of understanding, if I can get parts mostly aware to be more aware, then that helps trickle into other instances, and it’s easier than doing so in instances where Marxism is seen hostiley.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
          25·
          8 days ago

          Not really “trickle down.” If I go to a MAGA conference, I am going to be immediately attacked. If I go to a place with progressives, I’ll face less hostility. If I go to a place with Leftists, then I’ll generally be recieved favorably. If this Leftist base solidifies, it can expand and fold in the more radical of the progressives, and then expand outward.

          In other words, if it takes immense effort to “wololo” a MAGA into a Leftist, but much less effort to “wololo” a progressive into one, then it’s better to focus on the progressive so that the new Leftist can also aid in the “wololo-ing.” As the proportion of Leftists grows, and more proletarians go from MAGA to liberal, and liberal to progressive, this Leftist movement becomes better able to fold more people into it.

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
              11·
              8 days ago

              As Marx’s favorite maxim goes, “Nihil humani a me alienum puto [Nothing human is alien to me]”

              I love memes and gaming, same with Marxist-Leninist theory, same with space, science, and technology. Connecting to others with shared culture is part of what makes us human.

              • Peter G@mstdn.plus
                112·
                8 days ago

                @Cowbee @Cypher Marxist-Leninist theory is fine. Theoretically the concepts of communal ownership and resources sharing is a laudable one. Too bad the only example of this concept actually working is Star Trek. The instances when it’s been tried in the real world, ended in authortarainism and/or collapse.

                • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
                  14·
                  8 days ago

                  All countries are “authoritarian,” what matters most is which class is in control and thus exerting its authority. In Capitalist society, that class is the Bourgeoisie, a tiny minority of society. In Socialism, that class is the Proletariat, the majority of society. Countries like the PRC are labeled “authoritarian” not due to how the people themselves feel, but because Capital is limited by the government. Even if over 90% of Chinese citizens support the CPC, western media slanders the system as “authoritarian” because their corporate masters can’t move as they please in Chinese markets.

                  • WhatsTheHoldup@lemmy.mlEnglish
                    1·
                    11 hours ago

                    Countries like the PRC are labeled “authoritarian” not due to how the people themselves feel, but because Capital is limited by the government.

                    Countries like the PRC are labeled authoritarian because they do not provide basic human rights such as freedom of speech.

                    I will quote exclusively from your own source you have linked

                    “Gathering reliable, long-term opinion survey data from across the country is a real obstacle,” said Ash Center China Programs Director Edward Cunningham. “Rigorous and objective opinion polling is something that we take for granted in the U.S.”

                    You were accurate about the satisfaction rate towards Beijing.

                    in China there was very high satisfaction with the central government. In 2016, the last year the survey was conducted, 95.5 percent of respondents were either “relatively satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with Beijing.

                    Why do they suggest this rate is so high?

                    According to Saich, a few factors include the proximity of central government from rural citizens, as well as highly positive news proliferated throughout the country.

                    What about local government approval rates?

                    At the township level, the lowest level of government surveyed, only 11.3 percent of respondents reported that they were “very satisfied.”

                    This result supports the findings of more recent shorter-term surveys in China, and reinforces long-held patterns of citizens reporting local grievances to Beijing in hopes of central government action. “I think citizens often hear that the central government has introduced a raft of new policies, then get frustrated when they don’t always see the results of such policy proclamations, but they think it must be because of malfeasance or foot-dragging by the local government,” said Saich.

                    Saich contends that the lack of trust in local governments in China is due to the fact that they provide the vast majority of services to the Chinese people.

                    That was a very interesting read, thank you for linking it but I don’t think it says what you think it says.

                • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
                  111·
                  8 days ago

                  Western supremacists tend to use “Authoritarian” only to demonize the countries that stood up and fought back against colonialism / imperialism.

                  And it usually is never directed against the actually non-democratic / oligarchical countries like the US, who’ve bombed and meddled with nearly every government on the planet.

                  You should question your preconceived notions about China, Vietnam, Cuba, and the USSR, because you likely grew up in a country that has spent the entire historical period of the cold war, trying to strangle those countries and many others out of existence.

                  • mamotromico@lemmy.ml
                    4·
                    7 days ago

                    I swear dessalines has some kind of custom alert setup for whenever someone mentions “authoritarian”

                    Fucking love it